Page 23 of Wicked Knight

“Which one? I saw a couple.”

My pulse leaps and my breath stills, tightening my lungs as shock courses through me.

He sawa coupleof shows?

My God. He was closer to me than I could have ever imagined. And he was here in New York, not away like he usually is during the summer.

I’m so stunned, my mind struggles to form my next thought and a series of emotions ripple through me. Fascination. Excitement. Doubt. Confusion.

Opening week was six weeks ago. Why didn’t he let me know he was here?

We could have talked then.

“Thank you. Thanks for coming to watch me.”

He dips his head in a curt nod. “It seemed fair. You’re at my games.”

“That’s different.” I’m a cheerleader. That’s always been something fun to do to compliment ballet. It meant I also got to see him. Even if it was from afar. But back to the more pressing matter of us. “You know we need to talk. Right?”

“Yeah.” He moves, closing the meager space between us.

His proximity sends shivers of heat rushing over me, but I try to breathe and stay focused. “It’s been three months.”

“I know.” Those eyes fasten to mine like glue, and something dark and predatory lurks within them.

Dmitri moves even closer, and the air fizzles from my lungs. I’m left breathless, and all he’s done is be near me.

I realize he’s way too close. Closer than he’s ever been. Even when we were friends. His gaze intensifies, becoming sharp,unwavering,as if he’s speaking to me without words, telling me something secret. Something more.

Something I’ve always felt for him. For whatever this thing is between us.

And what is this thing?

The last time I checked, we were supposed to be friends, so there should be nothing. Truthfully, we’ve never really felt likefriends.

I always thought I was going to be with him. That he would be my first everything. That he would be mine.

Then things changed, and I was left floating around in a black hole with no beginning and no end.

He tilts his head, moving even closer, and my skin prickles, every hair standing on end, charging with electric, with heat, with desire.

Focus.

Breathe.

Focus.

I have to know what’s going on. It would be foolish of me to stand here like a mindless fool, swooning over him, when there are so much more important things at stake.

“When are we?—"

He swoops down, crushing his lips to mine, stopping my next words with a kiss. A kiss that shuts down everything inside my body in a way that I’m not sure will ever work again.

I’ve barely had time to process that he’s actually kissing me when he slips a large possessive hand behind my head, angling my face so he can thrust his tongue into my mouth and deepen the kiss.

The sweet sensation of tasting him awakens my body like an engine roaring to life. My heart pounds, my lungs burn, my skin blazes like the sky on the Fourth of July.

His lips, demanding and unyielding, claim mine with desperate urgency that’s intoxicating, and the world narrows to this moment.