his and faced him. “I liked him. He’s a nice guy. Has a steady job here in New Orleans. He’s attractive.” When he winced, I continued, “So yeah, it was fine.”
A laughing couple brushed past us. He took my hand and tugged me around the corner of the Cauldron into the alley. “Then why did it last barely an hour?”
“What are you getting at?”
He shoved his hands in his jean’s pockets. “I just want to know if you’re really interested in him before I offer a proposition to you.”
I leaned back against the brick wall behind me. “What kind of proposition?”
He eased closer. “So you’re not going out with him again?”
No reason to pretend I was, I shook my head. His dark eyes flared with silver before he pressed closer, placing his hands on either side of my head, caging me in.
“I think you’re looking for excitement,” he said. “But you’re not going to find it with those men on Zapp.”
I didn’t contradict his statement. No one lit me on fire like Devraj. “Excitement, yes. But I was hoping to find more than that.”
He stared, silver eyes blazing, his thoughts seeming to whirl as he catalogued my features.
“I could give you more.” Whether Devraj was capable of anything more, I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t already willing to take whatever he had to offer.
“While you’re here, you mean?” His brown eyes glinted with silver, but I went on before he could respond, placing a hand on his chest. “Look, I want to be totally honest. After our first night, I didn’t want to do it again or let it go any farther with you, because I was afraid.”
“Of me?” His hand spread over mine, pressing hard. His heart drummed erratically beneath my palm.
“No, not of you. More of myself really.” I gave a little laugh. “Of letting my feelings grow too strong before you had to leave.”
He licked his lips, drawing my gaze to his luscious mouth. “Isadora, I feel…” He cleared his throat and started again. “I enjoy being with you. Shit, that sounds so small compared to what I’m trying to say.” The raw vulnerability in his expression had me gulping hard. He was being serious. So intensely serious. “I don’t want to waste any more time. I would never disrespect you or hurt you—”
“I know that,” I assured him. “And I’ve thought about it. I can handle this, the intimacy. I’m a big girl.” My smile was shaky, much like my nerves. But I couldn’t deny what I wanted anymore.
His heated brown eyes intensified as he caressed my face, zoning in on my mouth.
“So what I think you’re saying is, let’s not waste any more time.” He hovered closer, his hard chest pressing into mine. “Is that the wonderful news you’re telling me right now?”
“If I said yes, what would we do first?” I asked, my voice a breathy whisper.
His mouth brushed mine as he murmured against my lips, “I’ll lick you and fuck you till you come so hard you pass out wherever I take you.”
My knees buckled. He gripped my waist.
His lips brushed, coaxed, eased my mouth wider. “Tell me yes, Isadora.” He nipped again, sucking on my bottom lip before he scraped a fang along it. “Tell me you want that.”
I moaned when he pressed his mouth heavier to mine, sweeping in with his tongue. The tease of his piercing as it trailed along my tongue made me see stars.
Pulling back, he pressed his forehead to mine. “Tell me you want me.” There was earnest desperation in his plea.
“For how long?” I needed some sort of parameters. I couldn’t just go headlong into this without having some sort of boundaries. Or end date. If I could control that, then maybe I could keep my emotions in check. Maybe.
“For as long as we’ve got.” He skimmed his lips up my jaw to my neck, sipping at my skin, making me dizzy. “Say yes.”
I clutched at his T-shirt, wondering if I could really do this and keep my heart intact. I mean, sex was sex. I’d been able to compartmentalize it in the past. But none of my past lovers had managed to invade my heart. They also weren’t the kind of lover that Devraj was. Could I become his temporary lover and be fine with it when he left?
Knowing this was the biggest mistake ever, but completely unable to resist him, I murmured “yes” against his shoulder where I’d let my head fall.
He gripped my head