Page 48 of His Darkest Desire

“I sought you out to…to apologize to you, Kinsley.”

“Well, you’re terrible at it. Let go.”

Instead of releasing her, he drew her closer with a smoothness and ease that made it seem as though she’d made no effort to resist. She planted her free hand on his chest, stiffening her arm to keep at least that much distance between them, and focused her eyes there, refusing to meet his gaze.

“Look at me,” he beckoned.

When she didn’t obey, he caught her chin and forced her face up toward his. Finally, she looked at him. The anger that had so tightly gripped his features was gone. Only sorrow and regret, deeper and older than she could fathom, remained in his eyes. Some of her own anger deflated, and her arm relaxed.

“Hear my words, Kinsley,” he said, stroking her chin with his thumb, “for they are not spoken lightly. My behavior has been…unacceptable. I said you need not suffer here, and yet my every word, my every act, has done naught but inflict further suffering upon you. For that I am sorry.”

“That apology was better,” she said, if a little begrudgingly.

The ghost of a smile passed across his face, curling his lips up ever so slightly and sparking a charming light in his eyes. But his tone was serious when he continued. “I know the pain of having everything you know torn away. Of…of losing your world. No one soothed that pain for me, but I shall soothe yours if you would but allow me to learn how.”

Vex eased closer, his fingertips leaving thrilling tingles in their wake as they trailed along her jaw and to her neck. Her lips parted.

“Though we remain bound, I’ll not force myself upon you, Kinsley.”

His hand moved lower still to her collarbone, where his thumb brushed the hollow of her throat. Her pulse quickened. All she could do was stand there, barely breathing, her gaze locked with his.

“I shall take no more from you than what you offer by your own will.” His clever, maddening touch traced her collarbone, then dipped to graze the swell of her breasts. The tips of his claws sent whispers of pleasure straight to her core. “I shall not so much as touch you”—he withdrew his hands suddenly and took a step back, breaking all contact with her—“unless you ask it of me.”

A shuddering breath escaped Kinsley. Her hand hovered in the air where it had been resting against his chest. She slowly lowered it. Though he was no longer touching her, Kinsley’s skin burned as though she’d been branded. His caresses, his words, his nearness, his darkly sensual scent, and that smoldering intensity in his eyes had ignited something fierce and forbidden within her.

Despite everything, she was tempted to ask him to touch her again, to run his hands over her body, to tease her with those claws. She longed to feel the press of his body against hers, to feel his heat…

Their eyes remained locked for several heartbeats. To Kinsley, it was an eternity. Unspoken words crackled through the air between them, charged and electrifying, only adding to her growing desire.

How long had it been since she’d last been intimately touched, since she’d last felt a physical connection with someone? Any connection at all?

All you have to do is ask, Kinsley. Just…ask for more.

As though he’d heard her thoughts, Vex reached for her. Kinsley’s heart fluttered.

Two blurs of bluish light darted up from behind Vex—Echo and Flare, both burning bright and whispering frantically.

Vex’s hand halted in midair, curling into a fist, and his jaw muscles ticked. He kept his crimson gaze locked with hers. “This is not—”

The wisps cut him off with more whispers, their voices like the wind blowing carpets of autumn leaves across the forest floor.

He snapped his face toward Flare. “You’re certain?”

Flare and Echo nodded vehemently.

A shadow fell across his face, leaving his eyes to glow only brighter. “I must take my leave, Kinsley.”

She looked back and forth between Vex and the wisps. Her heartbeat hadn’t slowed, though that now had little to do with what had passed between them. “What’s wrong? They sound worried.”

Vex returned his attention to her. Some of the tension had faded from his expression, but he seemed almost too controlled now, too aloof. “There is an urgent matter to which I must attend. Save for the lab, you’re free to move about the cottage. But you must remain indoors until my return.”

He moved to walk past her, only to pause at her side, his shoulder brushing hers. Voice lowering, he said, “It would please me, Kinsley, if you came to consider yourself my guest rather than my prisoner.”

And then he, Flare, and Echo were gone, leaving her staring at the empty open doorway.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Echo and Flare darted through the forest, tendrils of ghostfire trailing behind them. Vex followed, moving from shadow to shadow to avoid the sunlight breaking through the canopy, incessantly scanning his surroundings. Even in the shade, the daylight was bright enough to force him to narrow his eyes.