you have to kill someone who’s innocent? What if you had to kill someone you loved?”
He rose from the railing and stalked toward me, backing me against the wall. Warring emotions, complicated and nearly unreadable, clouded his face. Hands pressed to the wooden planks on either side of me, he dipped his head low. “I’m especially good at killing people I love. No more questions.”
I was a mixture of temperatures. Chilling words scraped along my exposed neck, leaving an icy tingle I couldn’t ignore. But there was a heat blooming in my chest, a growing, burning need. I needed to know more. It was frightening, and yet I couldn’t stop myself. Couldn’t bring myself to not ask questions when he was around, to not invest in something that was so plainly not meant to be.
Gently, before he could retreat, I traced the crescent-moon scar on his left cheekbone. His eyes fluttered closed. Noc was an open door. Not because he was easy to read, but because every action begged me to walk right into him. To unearth every secret of my own volition and turn it over in my hands. For the first time in years, I wanted trust, both given and received. I wanted him to believe he could share something with me.
Moving my fingers to grip his chin, I stole a kiss from his parted lips.
Noc didn’t move. My mouth met hard granite, and time stretched as nothing happened. No reaction. Not a sound or even a breath. Embarrassment burned my cheeks. Just as I decided to pull away, something snapped. And then all at once, he rushed over me, his heated kiss rough and hungry. His tongue swept into my mouth, and a broken sound slipped from somewhere deep in his chest. I locked my hands behind his neck and wrenched my fingers in his hair.
My heart thundered in my ears. It’d taken us so long to get here. So many moments of lingering gazes and subtle touches. Unbearable stretches of denial and cold fronts that had threatened to put us permanently on ice. But not now. Now there was nothing but warmth and heat.
And I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to be wrapped in him, lost in the way his hands traveled restlessly over my body. In the undeniable fervor of his kiss. Our lips meshed together, and for the first time in a long time, I felt whole. Dragging my hands from his neck to his spine, I pressed him against me. Noc gripped the sides of my waist, and delicious pressure flared from his fingertips.
He broke away for a moment and rested his forehead against mine. “Leena…”
My name on his lips only furthered my desire, and I pulled his mouth back to mine. I nicked his bottom lip with my teeth, and he dove into me. I swear I felt every raging emotion inside him in that moment. Longing mixed with pain and uncertainty. It was so visceral and raw that I nearly went limp in his arms. I wanted nothing more than to soothe those battling fears while sating his—and my—desire.
Something clicked then, a brilliant flare of warmth right in the center of my chest. I gasped and pressed my head against the wall while he tasted my neck. A steady hum thrummed through my veins, a new frenzied beat like another heart racing alongside mine. It was the exact opposite of carnal. The exact opposite of what I’d sought out in past flings. Fear and passion battled with each other, and I brought Noc’s lips back to mine to keep myself from running away.
Wrapped in the heat of him, I didn’t notice the inn door swing open until Noc was thrown off me and into the rain. He barely had time to steady himself before turning his wild eyes to the man in the open doorframe.
Hands shaking, Kost leveled me with his glare before turning his ire to Noc. “Don’t be a fool. Cool off.”
Hard eyes skewered Kost, but Noc pressed his lips into a fine line. Water dripped down his face, trailing the length of his cheekbones before sliding off his jaw. He spared me one pained look. I could’ve sworn I saw a glimmer of ice-blue flash from the inky black depth of his eyes, but it faded in an instant. And then came the wall of cold so sudden and violent that I swear the rain turned to sleet around him. Every muscle rigid, he strode past me without