Sorceress, Interrupted - By A. J. Menden Page 0,46

burning with humiliation. And I never blush. This cinched it. I was going to have to do something to put my strange attraction to Cyrus to rest forever. I just had to figure out what that would be.

“And now you’re thinking I’m crazy,” I muttered. Maybe I was.

He met my gaze calmly, like I hadn’t said anything potentially humiliating. “That’s not what I’m thinking at all. I was actually thinking maybe it’s time I finally settled my curiosity about the one thing I’ve wondered since the day I met you.”

I shrugged. “Why not? This evening’s been strange and humiliating, so here are the answers you probably want to know: Yes, they’re real. And no, those rumors are not true, I wasn’t having an affair with that president, nor did I kill his mistress in a jealous rage and cover it up by making it look like she overdosed on pills. I never met either one of them.”

He shook his head, laughing softly. “None of that, though, thanks for the information. No, since I’ve met you, I’ve always wondered”—his voice dropped to a low, throaty growl—“what it would be like to kiss you.”

I stared at him, not sure I’d heard right. “Yeah, right. Because hearing about my lousy past is such a turn-on.”

“Maybe it is.”

He moved forward slightly, looming over me a bit, starting to invade my personal space—in a good way. My heart sped up and my breath quickened in anticipation.

He stared into my eyes and I felt like I was drowning in them; there was no way for me to look away. “When I first met you, I thought you were incredibly hot. You know that. Everyone thinks you’re incredibly hot. But you changed my mind with your attitude. So harsh, so angry. Always trying to lord your sex appeal over us. But right now you’re not wearing one of those over-the-top outfits. You’re talking about your lousy past, talking about a guy you loved and lost, which means you’re taking a chance and actually letting down a bit of that huge wall you always keep up. And you’re doing it around me.” He reached out with a hand to brush my hair away from my cheek, his fingertips tracing my jawline, tipping my face up to just the right angle. “That is a big turn-on.”

My heart was crashing in my chest. I didn’t know if he was playing me or not. But I knew one thing: I had to get this sexual tension out of the way so I could concentrate around him again. He had my entire world spinning.

More importantly, I wanted to satisfy my own curiosity of what it would be like to kiss him.

I moved forward, leaning forward just slightly to bring my lips closer to his. But I couldn’t close the gap. I wanted him to be the one to initiate the kiss, because he wanted to, not because I forced it on him. I just stood there, helpless, waiting to see what his next move would be. Would he kiss me or not? It was a strange experience for someone so usually in control.

He closed the distance. Lowering his mouth to mine, he brought his other arm around my waist to crush my body to his. I melted into him with a sigh of pleasure.

All of my senses were heightened by the contact. The sound of our quickened breathing was impossibly loud, the cotton of his shirt as my fingers tightened around it incredibly soft. The scent of him was indescribable yet would be forever burned into my brain as Cyrus. The taste of his lips and tongue against mine was faintly like cinnamon. His mouth was a firm pressure on mine, but yielding as well. All this mixed together into one forgone conclusion—there was no way in hell I was going to be able to concentrate around him now.

But then he was pulling away. I was involuntarily moving toward him, trying to follow. Stay with me, I practically pleaded. Make love to me. Show me how life-changing happiness feels.

“My phone,” he said against my mouth.

I pulled back and opened my eyes, reality rudely settling in. “What?”

He seized the distance I’d relinquished and moved away enough to fumble in his pocket. “My phone’s ringing. No one calls me at this number unless . . . That was quick.” He pulled the contraption out, and now I heard the tinny sound of some recorded song that someone other than me might recognize as more