Page 19 of Love Bites
“What happened, Katheryn? Who attacked you?” He wanted to reach for her, fill the empty space between them to comfort her. But she had stepped away for a reason.
“Attacked? No one attacked me, Ignacio. Is that what you thought?”
For a moment, relief whooshed from his lungs. She hadn’t been attacked. She was fine, unharmed physically.
For the first time, he noticed her attire. A green halter top that left the flat of her stomach bare and inviting. A short, black skirt hugged her hips sexily, and to top it off, she wore thigh-high black boots. Sexy as hell, but they were clothes for clubbing. That raised an even bigger question.
“Then, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
Her face heated with embarrassment. “It’s nothing important. Don’t worry about it.”
He looked at her with a raised brow. “If it weren’t important, you wouldn’t be feeling this way.” Then he observed her, took a step forward until they were nearly touching again. “Do you want to talk about it, love?” he asked, his voice husky and sweet.
Katheryn swallowed and took a breath. She obviously didn’t want to talk about it. But, instead of replying, she leveled her face up to his. Their lips were only inches apart. He held his breath at the flare in her eyes, the sudden heat that passed between their gazes.
When she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his, ever so softly, he felt everything else fall away, His mind reeling.
Dear God...
10
Could she do this? Could she let go? The answer came when his fingers trailed sparks against the bare skin of her arm. Yes. Yes, she could. From one second to the next, their lips were meshed together.
A little flame, a tiny spark suddenly blazed into a heated inferno between them: fire and ice. A wave of fireworks crashed down on them.
Everything flew from her mind. She couldn’t remember what had made her upset. All she could feel or think about was Ignacio, right in front of her. The way his thumb softly caressed her cheek, the way his lips were so gentle on hers, the heat rising from their bodies and blending together.
Katheryn suddenly wanted to be closer to him with no space separating them. She felt if she didn’t hold on, he’d fall away from her. So she gripped tight. She twined her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him. Wrapping one leg behind his thigh, she thrust her hips up to meet his then curled her other leg around him.
Ignacio palmed her bottom, lifting her up to him. The skirt rode higher up her thighs. She rocked her hips against him, nibbled at his bottom lip. He sucked in a breath and moaned.
Smiling against his lips, Katheryn slipped her fingers beneath his shirt. He groaned.
“Wait,” he broke apart from her. “Wait a moment.”
Katheryn breathed heavily. “It’s okay,” she whispered huskily. “I want this.” She tried kissing him again but he turned his head away. She flushed.
“So do I,” he assured her. “But we can’t. Not while you’re heartbroken.”
“How do you know I’m heart—” she protested, but he put a finger to her lips.
“I recognize what those tears are, Katheryn. They are the tears of a broken heart. And I will not bed you as a mere distraction while another man is on your mind.”
She flushed profusely, but he kept going.
“When and if I do bed you, Katheryn,” he said, pressing his nose to hers, “it will be because I am not only in your mind but in your heart, as well.”
She closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against his. Embarrassment assaulted her. He was right, of course. She had tried using him to distract herself. She’d needed to feel close to someone in that instant, to get rid of the pain, to live. Everything else had fallen away, and it had been just Ignacio. She couldn’t get enough of him.
A moment of silence passed between them before Katheryn sighed and said, “I suppose you should put me down, then.”
“I suppose I should.”
Another minute of silence passed, and they stood frozen in their position. Her legs hooked behind his waist, his palms resting comfortably on her ass, their breaths mingling together. He didn’t appear to want to let her go, and she didn’t want him to, either. But it had to be done.
His fingers were warm on her bare flesh. She shivered. Very slowly, and reluctantly so, he slid her back to the ground. His hands traveled up the length of her backside, fingers splayed across her bare back, toying with the strings of her halter top. She could tell from his body language he regretted putting her down and would have loved nothing more than to have had her right there in the alleyway. But he was being respectable, responsible, and Katheryn’s heart swelled because of it.
“Sorry,” she murmured shyly, a little embarrassed. Heat crept up her neck to her cheeks.
