Page 25 of Her Brother's Keeper

“Countdown is starting!” Hayden called and we struck out that direction.

I found Maren in the back corner of the media room, folded up on one of the stools from the bar. She was smiling and watching everyone and almost seemed a touch relieved when she saw me. I went over to her and she smiled, slipping off the stool and standing. I leaned my butt against it and the counting started, everyone shouting in unison.

“Eight!”

I smiled at the enthusiastic smile on Maren’s lips as she counted with everyone else. The jubilation and excitement thrumming through the room a contagious thing.

“Six!”

“Five!”

“Four!”

I joined in on the count.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

“Happy New Year!”

The ball on the television flared bright, the room brightening as a result, the only light coming from the big screen.Auld Lange Syneas sung by the crowd in Times Square booming through the speakers. Maren turned and hugged me jovially and we drew apart and in her enthusiasm, her lips landed on mine.

I’d seen it a thousand times in the movies and on TV. The guy and the girl, they kiss, and time – hell everything – just freezes around them. I’d never had it happen to me, though; not until right then. An electric tingle suffused my lips and it was like it jolted my heart, the damn thing skipping a beat entirely while that electric pleasure flowed through my veins and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. It was a split second our lips touched but it might as well have been the shortest eternity.

Maren drew back slightly, surprise painting her features as much as it probably painted mine. Her dark eyes wide and her equally dark hair tumbling around her face, I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t stop myself, and if I were going to hell for it, then so be it. I bent my head deliberately and kissed her again. I kissed her for real, tasting her this time, and I had zero fucking regrets.

Chapter 10

Maren

I held my breath, I hadn’t meant to, I was just excited. I’d kissed him and I’d pulled back from it, longing squeezing my heart in its fist. He’d quickly glanced over my face, a deep, lusting longing in his eyes and had bowed his head, his arms tightening around my body and drawing me close.

He kissed me back.

He kissed me back, and it was everything every girl has imagined at one time or another. His mouth warm against mine, his tongue gently asking permission, touching lightly against my bottom lip. I gave him access and I swear to god, I melted. He deepened the contact, his tongue stroking expertly against mine, and I would have given him anything, anything at all that he wanted from me, had he only asked for it.

He didn’t, however. If anything, the thing I admired about Nox, was his level of control. No matter what, no matter the situation, he always seemed in control and ready to handle it. This was no different. While I wanted to climb his body and have him take me anywhere but this room full of people to finish what I’d started; he had the patience to follow the wiser course of action. He broke the kiss, both of us breathless, chests heaving in shallow gasps.

He rested his forehead against mine, and licked his sensual lips, his eyes opening to pin my gaze with his.

“I have to stop, Angel. We both have to stop.”

“I know,” I gasped, and I couldn’t keep the mournful tone from my voice.

“Trust me, baby. I don’t want to. I want to take you to my room and finish what we just started, but it’s not a good idea.”

“I know, it’s not safe, for you or for me… They might take Sage and I can’t let that happen.”

“They might decide I need to serve some jail time, and I can’t let that happen either.”

I closed my eyes again and just tried to hold onto the intimate feeling like we were in our own private bubble.

“Take me to your place,” I murmured. “I just want to be alone with you, to talk; to listen to something other than the worries and the heartache for a time.”

His hold on me tightened just a little and he drew back to look at me before nodding finally.

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