Page 71 of A Winter Wedding Adventure
‘Okay?’ he whispered.
She nodded curtly and squeezed her eyes shut. They’d done this before. He only had to give her a quick peck?—
Her eyes flew open, wondering if she should have offered her cheek, whether he was embarrassed to kiss her in front of his friends. He was very close, his eyelids heavy, the sharp lines of his face as familiar as the citrus-and-honey scent of him. Catching the alarm in her expression, he paused, then lifted a hand to her cheek.
It was that touch she couldn’t resist. Her eyes falling closed again, she lifted her chin and met him in the middle.
Mattia felt as though he could power the house, his nerves were crackling so rigorously through his body. He’d been thinking about kissing Kira all day, nearly done it on several occasions. Alessandra’s family was watching, expecting, but he was mainly thinking about Kira, about the emotions that she didn’t realise flickered on her face and in her voice, her layers of strength and softness – and the dismay on her face when she started questioning herself.
So he soothed her with his thumb on her cheek and honoured her with a slow kiss. He’d worked it out now, the way he could steal her breath with a hint of pressure, the perfect angle to seal his open mouth to hers so she melted with him.
Her fingers fisted in his sleeves. The softest noise of frustrated restraint reached his ears and his thoughts blurred. Kissing her brought something to life, something he hadn’t known he needed.
His hand slipped from her cheek to her neck, his thumb finding a pulse point that made his own heart leap. Following blind instinct, he opened his mouth further against hers and sparks ignited under his skin as he flicked his tongue along her lip.
She jerked back with a breathy, ‘Whoa,’ steadying him – or herself – with her hands on his waist. Risking a glance at the wedding party, he glimpsed Alessandra’s frozen, slack-jawed incredulity and wished he hadn’t.
Kira turned, tripping over her own feet. ‘I was— Fireplace lighting. Stoves. Night – not cold.’ Lifting her chin, she took off out the door.
Alessandra snapped out of her shocked stupor more quickly than Mattia was prepared for. ‘What was?—?’
He pointed firmly at the door Kira had disappeared through. ‘I’m going to—’ He pointed again when no words came, then dashed out after her, refusing to imagine what the others would say when he was gone.
‘Kira!’ he called after her.
She didn’t stop, so he followed her onto the stairs. ‘Unless you want them to think we’re jumping into bed together, you should go back down,’ she said gruffly.
At the top of the stairs, he reached for her hand and tugged her to a stop. She didn’t turn. ‘I don’t want to go back down. But I will if that’s what you want – I mean if you don’t want…’
‘Mattia,’ she began with a huff, her voice thick, ‘are you suggesting we actually…’ She shook herself and tugged him along the hallway to his room, barging inside, since he hadn’t bothered locking the door.
As she leaned on the wall studying him warily, he was reminded of the night in Salzburg, when her uneven features had intrigued him, woken something in him, but he’d had no idea he would be here with her like this, just four days later.
‘You don’t do casual,’ she reminded him steadily.
‘With you, I could.’ There was a lot more he could say, but he didn’t want to spook her.
Her indrawn breath echoed in his ears. ‘I don’t—’ She bit her lip against a wobble in her voice. ‘I won’t be your soulmate.’
‘I know.’ She had her feet too firmly on the ground to believe in that.
‘Are you sure I won’t… hurt your feelings?’ She grimaced at her own word choice.
He took a step closer, enjoying the way she couldn’t hide her reaction when they were near each other. He shook his head. ‘I can take responsibility for my own feelings.’
Her faint smile made him stand a little straighter. His blood coursed through his veins as though pressurised, as though he were on stage – except he was playing himself, a version of himself, anyway. One he liked.
Holding her gaze while a giddy smile contorted his features and adrenaline surged, he marvelled at the absence of worries or embarrassment or insecurity.
And then she said the sweetest word he’d heard all day. ‘Okay.’
28
This wasn’t remotely a good idea. In no universe did she belong in this room, with this man – who was currently inhaling deeply at her neck, turning her spine to custard. But when she slipped one hand up his back, and another into his hair, her palms recognised him.
With you, I could…
Under the circumstances, she figured Reshma’s rule book no longer applied.
