by Lauren Smith
“I…”
His hands were still holding her waist, his body pressed against hers. She couldn’t think; her brain short-circuited. His hands on her, so hot to the touch…They were standing so close, faces mere inches apart, and the world around her seemed to burn with a heat along her skin. Her breath quickened.
Kat struggled to think logically, but all she could think about was how much she wanted to kiss him.
“Are you able to stand on your own?” He smiled, the single flirty twist of his lips making her knees buckle again.
What the heck? She’d never had a problem with her legs working before.
“Er…yes,” she finally managed to say.
“Good.” His hands dropped, but the movement felt reluctant. He trailed his hands down her body, the light but suggestive skimming of his palms over her waist, then her hips, sent little throbbing pulses throughout her entire body. He didn’t step away, either, but kept close to her, his eyes still fixed on her face. “I’m glad to have prevented a nasty fall.”
Before she could reply, the bartender leaned over the counter and spoke. “What can I get you?”
Mr. Tall and Sexy shifted slightly, allowing Kat to slip into the space next to him, their shoulders and arms touching as she answered.
“I’ll have a pint of Nelson’s Revenge, please.”
The stranger next to her chuckled. “Are you sure about that?” he asked. “That’s a stiff drink and likely to bring tears to your eyes.” There was a hint of teasing in his tone, and Kat couldn’t resist responding.
“I’m sure. Besides, I’m more likely to start crying at the sight of a butterfly than a stout ale.” She laughed, then realized what’d she said and blushed.
The man angled his body toward her, propping one arm on the counter as he stared down at her.
“Butterflies make you cry? What on earth for? Don’t tell me you’re afraid of them.” Humor heated those blue-green eyes of his, and she felt an answering heat sweep through her body.
“I…well, it’s silly really…” She hedged. She didn’t normally open up to people, let alone strange, beautiful men in pubs. But there was something about the way he was watching her, his intense focus on her and his interest in what she was saying, that gave her courage to continue.
“I used to live in Texas with my dad, and we saw monarch butterflies when they migrated. But now with their habitats dying out, I rarely see them. When I do get lucky and one flies past me, it’s beautiful…and sad.” She shrugged her shoulders, glancing away. “I know that sounds silly.”
“Not at all,” he murmured softly. “No sillier than how I feel when I look at stained glass windows. It’s the same for me, that mixture of melancholy and beauty. It’s not often I meet someone else who thinks about things like that.” His intense scrutiny tore her in two directions, between the need to squirm and to go very still.
The man possessed an overpowering, seductive and masculine presence. She caught the scent of pine and something clean and crisp that sparked her other senses to life. It encompassed her like some dark spell, leaving her with a desperate need to stay close to him. The things those girls had whispered about him came rushing back…“bad reputation”…“god in bed”…Whoever he was didn’t matter, she just wanted him. Wanted to curl her arms around his neck and get as close to him as possible.
“I think about that stuff all the time,” she said, unable to tear her gaze away from his.
He lifted his glass to his lips and sipped. It wasn’t ale he was drinking but something else, a dark, warm gold color, probably Scotch. She realized she must have been staring at his mouth when he licked his lips and spoke again.
“Keep staring at me like that and I’m liable to kiss you.”
CHAPTER 2
Desire and hunger lit up his eyes, heating the strange mixture of blue and green. It almost made her forget that she was talking to a stranger. It really was possible to lose yourself in someone’s eyes. Maybe the poets weren’t wrong about love at first sight. She didn’t love this man, but she was…captivated by him, which felt like love, in a strange sort of way. The lightness of her head, the wobbly knees, the fascination with him.
“There’s nothing stopping you from kissing me,” she breathed. Her heart was pounding against her ribs as excitement skittered through her. Would he accept the challenge and kiss her?
His eyes softened, but there was a dangerous glint to his expression, one that warned her that if he kissed her…it wouldn’t be chaste, wouldn’t be sweet. It would be the sort of kiss that made a girl forget where she was and moan helplessly for more.
They were mere inches apart now…When had she leaned into him? Somehow she had shifted closer, fixated on his mouth, the full sensual lips. The bit of the cider ale she’d been drinking earlier made her thoughts a bit muddy. Well, all but one thought.
I want him to kiss me. If he won’t, I’ll kiss him first.
Before she let herself think better of it, she seized the chance to be reckless and rocked up on her tiptoes, curling her fingers into the lapels of his coat as she kissed him. Hard. It was wild, the way she let go and just gave herself into kissing him. Her own sexy stranger…
His hands gripped her waist, fingers digging in slightly, making tingles of excitement shoot down her spine, clear to her toes. His lips were soft and warm, moving against hers hungrily. When he angled his face, he caressed her lips with his tongue. The startling, erotic feel of it had her mouth parting, and he thrust inside. The little teasing strokes of his tongue against hers created shivers deep in her belly. He overwhelmed all of her senses, and Kat couldn’t catch her breath. There was no escaping his strong hold, and she didn’t want to. His lips were a drug, and she couldn’t get enough.
Every cell in her body pulsed and hummed to life when the kiss turned slightly rough, as he nipped her bottom lip. She rocked her body into his, desperate to get closer, to feel him completely surrounding her.
All mine. She smiled against his lips just as their bodies separated a few inches and she gasped for a breath. Blood pounded against her temples, and she panted and glanced up at him. Stark, raw lust burned like coals behind his eyes as he stared down at her, an almost animal ferocity in his expression.
“That was—”
Before she could finish, he curled an arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him for another kiss. The touch of his lips this time was feather light…as though he were savoring her. A simple, almost innocent brush of mouths, before she shivered, and a little moan of longing escaped. Suddenly he rotated her, pinning her against the bar, his mouth taking her hungrily, seeking entrance to hers. She parted her lips, more from surprise than anything else. When his tongue slid in and teased hers, she whimpered. The bare hint of stubble rasped against her skin as he kissed her, making her sensitive to every sensation.
More, I need more of this…
No one she’d dated in high school had kissed like this, as though he had all night to taste her, explore her, excite her. Nothing else mattered, nothing but this man and his life-altering, seductive lips.
When his mouth parted from hers, she blinked and stared up at him, wondrously dazed.
“You were too tempting to resist. Makes a man hungry for more when a woman looks at him like that.” He brushed the pad of his thumb over her swollen lips, his eyes tracing the shape, along with his finger.
“Like what?” she asked, fascinated by his words just as much as his hands and the way they touched her.
His laugh was dark and rich like a pint of Guinness. “Like she needs to be kissed, to be taken by a man who knows just what to do to make her moan with pleasure.”
Taken…the word was heavy, dark, forbidding and yet it filled her with a secret thrill. She could picture this man taking her, doing a thousand erotic things that would blow her mind and her body apart.
She struggled to respond, but what could she say to the man who’d just changed her life with one mind-blowing kiss and talked t
o her about how he could make a woman moan with pleasure? Had she really just made out with a complete and total stranger? She needed to do something, anything, to lessen the suddenly awkward moment.
She thrust out her hand and said, “I’m Katherine Roberts, but everyone calls me Kat.” It felt silly to introduce herself after the kiss they’d shared, but she did it anyway.
The man stared at her hand and then took it, raising it to his lips rather than shaking it. He brushed his mouth over the backs of her knuckles in a caress, like an old world prince greeting a lady. Her heart fluttered inside her chest at the little romantic act. She’d never met a man who’d done that before, and it made her imagine what it might feel like to have his lips on other parts of her body.
“Tristan Kingsley. It’s been quite the pleasure meeting you.” The blue-green of his eyes rippled with glints of light like a summer lake at noon. “I’d like to kiss you again—”
“Tristan! There you are!” A light, feminine voice shook Kat out of her hazy daydreams of being wrapped in his arms again.
A tall blonde with stunning, classical features and a killer sense of style stood in the pub’s doorway, watching Tristan and Kat. Her pink lips were curved up in an excited smile, and her blue eyes were bright and merry.
“So sorry I’m late. The snow is quite wretched on the roads,” she said as she strode over in her too perfect high-heeled boots and skinny jeans.
Kat wanted to melt into the floor but shuffled her own scuffed boots instead. Her face heated when Tristan released her hand and glanced at the blonde woman. Just like that, Kat was forgotten as he stepped around her. So much for her dreams of a man like that paying attention to her. She was just another passing fancy while he waited for his girlfriend to show up. A wave of nausea mixed with anxiety rolled through her stomach. This was why she was afraid to take risks. Because rejection hurt like hell.
“Celia!” Tristan grinned, as he opened his arms to embrace the beautiful woman.
Oh, God. She really is his girlfriend. Of course she is. Tristan looked perfect with Celia. It was obvious they were a couple. A couple of beautiful, sophisticated people. Like a pair of models from a Burberry ad. She’d never had a snowball’s chance in hell with a guy like him.
Kat slipped away, her pint of Nelson’s Revenge in her hands as she left Tristan and headed back to her friends. Mark and Lacy were watching her when she dropped down into her seat and covered her face with her hand.
“Wow, Kat, that was…” Lacy reached out and gave Kat’s shoulder a pat.
“Mortifying? Pathetic?” Kat supplied, as she finally dropped her hand from her face and set her glass down next to Mark, nudging it in his direction. Drinking the pint seemed to pale in comparison to the adventure of being kissed by Tristan Kingsley.
“Well, the kiss was kind of hot…until that other girl showed up,” Mark observed with a smirk, but he had a point.
She’d been totally on fire and hadn’t wanted to stop kissing Tristan. It was as though her life had depended on touching him, on feeling his muscles move beneath her hands, and his mouth exploring hers. There had been nothing else in the world she’d wanted more than him in that moment. She’d never felt like that before about anyone or anything.
“I know, right? What kind of guy kisses someone like that when he has a girlfriend?” Lacy said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Mark laughed. “Obviously that guy.”
Kat winced. “Do you mind if I just go back to the dorm? I think I’ve had enough of this place tonight.”
“But it’s your birthday.” Lacy pouted.
Kat shrugged. This was the first time she wasn’t celebrating with her father. They’d moved from Chicago to London in August and neither of them had thought about what it would mean when she was two hours away at Cambridge for her birthday. Somehow celebrating without him didn’t feel right.
“What about cake?” Mark asked before drinking some of his pint.
“No, thanks.” Kat shook her head and brushed some dust off the table, avoiding looking in Tristan’s direction.
How was it possible to still feel his lips on hers when he was a dozen feet away?
“Are you sure?” Lacy asked, her brows knit together in concern.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I’d rather just go back to the dorms. I have a lot of studying ahead of me in the next couple of weeks before final exams.”
“Well, drat,” Lacy said. “All right, you go home, then.” She nudged Mark. “Go pay for the drinks. It’s on us tonight, Kat.”
“Thanks, guys.” Kat stood and tucked her chair under the wooden table. “See you both tomorrow?”
“Bright and early,” Lacy laughed. “Did I ever say how much I hate 8:30 a.m. classes?”
Mark leaned over and kissed Lacy’s cheek. “That’s why I’m the smart one. My first class is never before 11 a.m.”
“That’s right, rub it in,” Lacy grumbled, but she was smiling at him.
“Bye, guys.” Kat was still laughing as she exited the pub. She didn’t want to think about the mysterious Tristan Kingsley or how he kissed. Better to just forget it and move on. It had been a fun adventure, even if a short one.
The snow blew in thick currents around her, and the dim streetlights looked like glowing golden orbs in the darkness. It was a bewitching sight.
Most of the small shops around the pub were closed, but one was still open. Its merry lights called to her as she approached. A bakery. Cakes, breads, and other sweets filled the windows. Behind the glass counter, a plump woman was checking a tray of cookies, the front of her blue apron dusted with small white splotches of flour.
“Maybe just one,” Kat murmured, entranced by the sight of the small chocolate cupcakes with elaborate swirls of icing. It was her birthday, after all. Kat entered the shop and the brass bell above her head tinkled.
“Hello, dearie,” the woman said and wiped flour-covered hands on her apron. “Come to get a late-night snack? You’re just in time, I was ready to close up early due to the weather.”
Kat peered through the glass cases, trying to decide which one of the little cakes would taste as good as the man she’d kissed only minutes ago. She doubted anything could come close.
Tristan. Tristan who had a girlfriend. Kat mentally kicked herself. She’d pretty much thrown herself at him and begged to be kissed. Maybe he didn’t normally go around slipping his tongue between a girl’s lips and setting her on fire inside. Then again…if he’d been a good guy, he wouldn’t have done more than a chaste peck on the cheek.
Focus on chocolate, not hot Brit you’ll never see again. She went back to studying the contents of the case. When the entry bell clinked again, she didn’t turn around.
“Have a need for something sweet?” A rich, decadent voice, smooth as chocolate, filled her ears.
She spun to find Tristan standing there, snow dancing about him as he let the door close behind him. He walked toward her with lithe, graceful steps. Her body trembled with a little wave of excitement at the mere sight of him. I shouldn’t be happy to see him, he has a girlfriend…But that didn’t change the rapid beat of her heart.
“Evening,” the baker said merrily.
“What are you doing here?” Kat sputtered. The moment the words were out, she slapped a hand over her mouth.
His chuckle made a warm flush creep down her cheeks. “I saw you left the pub and…” He paused, his brows drawing together. “Well, I didn’t want you to go off on your own. I saw that your friends remained behind.” It was a lame excuse, and they both knew it. For some reason that made her want to smile.
“So you’re protecting me from snowflakes?” She couldn’t help the partly amused and partly sarcastic tone of her voice.
Tristan shrugged and joined her at the counter, peering at the desserts. “Snowflakes can be treacherous buggers.”
This time she couldn’t stop her laugh. “I’ll bet. Death by ice fractals sounds horrifying.”
He quirked a brow. “I
ce fractals?”
God, I’m an idiot. Sure, Kat, show him what a nerd you are. “They’re the mathematical phenomena of a repeating pattern that displays on every scale. Snowflakes are one of nature’s fractals.” She wasn’t a science wiz, but learning was something she enjoyed, no matter what subject. Ben had always teased her about it. Not that she’d minded being called a nerd. There were worse things than being addicted to learning.
Tristan glanced over his shoulder at the dancing snow, then turned back to her. “I’m surprised you know what fractals are. Most people don’t.” He leaned forward then and caught a lock of her hair, playing with the strands. Kat held her breath as every nerve in her tingled to life. He was touching her again, and she could feel every cell of her body humming with excitement.
Please kiss me again.
When he didn’t, her mind attempted to return to reality, and she remembered Celia.
“What about your girlfriend?” she blurted out.
“Girlfriend?” He let her hair drop from his fingers and met her gaze.
“That woman in the pub…” The one he looked so perfect standing next to.
“Celia?” The responding smile that lit his face filled her with envy. Would a man ever smile like that when he thought about her? Something about Tristan and the way he smiled, she couldn’t help but wish one smile was for her.
“Right, Celia,” she echoed. Her heart twinged a little at the mention of the other woman.
“She’s my cousin, not my girlfriend.”
Kat stared. This total stranger had abandoned his cousin to chase after her? Tiny flutters of excitement stirred in her stomach.
