Starlight Web (Moonshadow Bay #1) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,68
the chatter from below and hurrying downstairs. Ari was there, along with Caitlin, and Killian was just taking off his jacket. “I’m sorry—I couldn’t wait to shower.” I suddenly felt exhausted.
“Not a problem. I’ll heat up the pizzas,” Ari said, setting down her wine glass. I saw that somebody had brought a bottle of zinfandel.
I curled up in the recliner, folding my legs beneath me. “Caitlin, did you fill them in on what happened?”
She nodded. “Yeah. So, have you called Rowan Firesong yet?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. I decided I’d wait until tomorrow. It’s almost ten and frankly, I’m too exhausted to even think. What do you think? Should we wait till tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I think so. Oh, I got a call about ten minutes ago from Tad,” Caitlin said. “His parents arrived, and Hank woke up. They’ll both be in the hospital overnight.” She let out a sigh. “I’m dead tired. I think I’m just going to go home, and I’ll see you at the office tomorrow morning. Let’s say nine? Tad won’t be around to squawk about it.”
“Sounds good,” I said, walking her to the door. “You want to take some pizza with you?”
She shook her head. “I’ll stop on the way home and grab a burger.”
Ari yawned. “The pizza’s in the oven. Listen, I’m beat, too. Enjoy your dinner, stay safe, and call me tomorrow.” She waved and headed down the icy path.
I turned. Killian was still sitting in the living room, gazing at the tree. “Do you need to leave too, or would you like to stay and eat?”
He shrugged. “I can stay or go, if you’re tired. Pizza sounds good,” he added.
“Then stay. I don’t think I can sleep, as tired as I am. The crap that happened today left me shell-shocked.” The timer went off. “I’ll get the pizza,” I added, heading into the kitchen, carrying my wine.
Killian joined me, helping me take the pizzas out of the oven. “We’ve got more than enough to eat,” he said, laughing.
“I thought Caitlin and Ari were hanging out,” I said. “So I bought three. Oh well, I like it cold for breakfast,” I added. “I’m weird like that.”
Killian was staring at me. “I wish you’d stop deprecating yourself.”
“What? Weird is good,” I said, snorting. “I’ve never been the ‘normal’ one, Killian. And I wouldn’t want to be. Honestly, my marriage sucked because I could never be myself without my ex going off on me. I stayed because it was easy to stay. He didn’t hit me, for one thing. And…sometimes, the cycle gets so easy to fall into. He’d bitch about my weight or something I said or did. I’d cry. He’d apologize and bring me a gift the next day and things would be better until the next time he went off on me. It’s a common cycle, really.”
“I know,” Killian said. He was standing by my side, gazing down at me. We were so close that the hairs on my arms stood up. I shivered as he leaned closer. “No one should ever make you question who you are. Your ex was an idiot.”
I nodded, feeling like I could barely breathe. He was so close I could smell him—I could smell his musk, I could feel the warmth of his body, and I could feel the current passing between us. I hadn’t felt that in so long. At the beginning, Ellison and I had something like it, but it had never been as strong of a pull as I felt now. I was almost afraid to look into Killian’s eyes, but then I found myself meeting his gaze.
He began to lean forward. “Is this all right?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
I nodded, unable to verbalize anything, and so he continued to lean in until his lips were on mine. They were warm and full, so soft against my own that I could barely believe he was kissing me. For a brief moment, I flashed back to kissing Ellison—he had always been perfunctory and aloof and I had thought that was okay.
But Killian’s kisses ignited every spark of passion I had buried away. I pushed all thoughts of my ex out of my mind as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his embrace.
After a moment, we came up for air, my heart beating a mile a minute. I looked into his eyes—he wasn’t much taller than I was—and he smiled.