Kelly
“A kiss?!” I blurted, my voice cracking as if the single word tore through my throat. My heart lurched, the rhythm so loud in my ears it drowned the rest of the world. I could feel heat rush to my cheeks, and my breath caught halfway in my chest.
Alaric’s eyes didn’t waver. He sat there, tall and impossibly composed, though I could feel the tension radiating from him like waves of heat off a fire. “Yes,” he said, his voice deep and steady, threaded with a hunger that made my stomach twist. “I’ve already waited twelve years, Kelly. Please don’t deny me any longer. Let me get a taste of your lips.”
The words hit me like a physical touch. My pulse skipped, then stumbled into a wild gallop. He couldn’t be serious—yet one look at him told me he was. The air between us thickened until e
