Chapter Ten
I WAKE UP TO THE FEEL of Kaz gently nibbling on my lips.
And for a few seconds, my entire universe shrinks to this.
His mouth. My mouth. The slow, warm press of his teeth catching my bottom lip, the tiniest tug, and then his lips again, and I don't open my eyes because if I do I'll see his face and if I see his face I'll combust and they'll have to scrape what's left of me off his very expensive sheets.
I want the nibbling to last forever.
Except...
Matt.
The name crashes through my perfect morning like an alarm I forgot to turn off, and I find myself pressing my hands against his chest, which is incredibly hard, as in impressively hard, like someone carved it out of warm marble and then wrapped it in a cotton shirt that is unfairly thin, and I can feel his heartbeat right there against my palm, and his skin is so warm through the fabric, and—
You're getting distracted, Kitty! Focus!
So I manage to roll out of the bed...and I do it so fast that I roll all the way down to the carpeted floor.
Oops.
The carpet is soft, at least. And thick. The kind of carpet I'm pretty sure my entire former apartment could have fit on, and I'm lying facedown on it like a starfish that's given up on life.
I quickly sit up, saying, "I'm okay."
Kaz is still in bed, propped on one elbow, his dark curls falling across his forehead in a way that should be outlawed before nine in the morning.
His eyes are on me. Just on me, with that quiet focus of his, and his expression is the expression of a man who has just watched his fiancée launch herself off his bed and is clearly wondering how we got here.
"Are you certain?"
"Yep—"
"Then come back here."
He's reaching for me already, and I'm leaning towards him already because honestly, Kazeyuki with his sleep-tousled hair is just...so...oh, I don’t even know how to put it to words. All I know is that it’s doing something to me, it’s making me feel all sorts of things, seeing Kazeyuki like this, and knowing that for the rest of our lives, I’m the only woman who will ever see him with his hair all messy and soft-looking as his dark eyes tempt me with promises of untold pleasures, and his jaw with its faint shadow that makes him look rougher and hotter, and oh gosh, the shirt he’s slept in has ridden up enough that I can see a sliver of his stomach as he starts to pull me close—
Matt!
And I jump back to my feet and back away from him like he's just been infected with the T-virus, and yes, I'm a fan of Resident Evil, and I'm proud of it.
"Katherine?"
He's sitting up now. The sheet has pooled at his waist, and his shirt is wrinkled from sleep, and his dark eyes are tracking me with that focus of his that makes me feel like I'm the only thing in this room, this building, this continent.
"I'm sorry," I say helplessly. "On any given day, I would so love to stick to you like glue, but I have somewhere to go?"
He studies me with hooded eyes, and it is the most intensely broodingly beautiful sight. Kaz in bed, his long fingers resting on the sheet beside his knee, and the weight of that gaze pressing against me until I can feel it in my knees.
"Can I not change your mind?"
Oh yes, you can.
Absolutely.
You can change my mind any—
No, no, no!
Instead of answering him, I just dash out of his bedroom, and the door clicks shut behind me, and I press my back against it for a second to catch my breath, but even through the door I can feel him in there, still looking at where I was, and my face is on fire.
I go back to my room, lock the door, and...whoa.
I start fanning my face as I walk to the en-suite with still-wobbly legs.
Has Kazeyuki Collington always been that seductive?
I mean, seriously, it's like he was doing his best to not make me leave—
OH.
MY.
GOSH.
I'm already reaching for the shower handle when it hits me, and I just feel like the biggest idiot in the world for completely missing it, and the next thing I know I'm dashing out of the en-suite and running out of my room and—oomph!
I run into a brick wall that’s all solid and smooth, and smells really, really good, too. Who knew brick walls could—
"Katherine?"
—talk?
Oops.
I look up with a weak smile as I absently do my best to secure the teensy weensy towel I barely managed to remember grabbing and wrapping around my body.
I know this could’ve waited. Could’ve. But shouldn’t have because things like this matter a lot, and it’s best not to have misunderstandings over them.
Allowing more time to pass would allow storms to brew even in teacups, and since I don’t want that at all—
“I’m sorry,” I say sheepishly.
"Sorry for what?"
"You obviously didn't want me to leave—"
His face turns expressionless. "It's fine. I shouldn't—"
“—but idiot that I am, it was only when I was in the shower that it all became clear, and I finally understood what you were hoping you didn’t need to spell out.”
His hands are still on my shoulders, and his jaw does that thing where a muscle shifts beneath the skin, just once, and then nothing.
"You want us to buy rings, right?" The words tumble out of me in a rush, and I can’t help but smile at the way he stares at me. It’s like he really can’t believe what an idiot I am.
“I know, I know,” I say ruefully. “I should’ve gotten it from the start, like how you obviously wanted to surprise me today, but I'm just so bad at taking hints, and I'm so, so sorry about that.
But how about this? I just realized now's the perfect time for you to meet Matt, and then afterwards, we can shop for rings.
" I beam up at him. "What do you think?"
"What...do I think?"
I nod eagerly.
"I think you should go back to the shower because you're making it hard for me to concentrate."
Because I really am an idiot over stuff like this, I spend a fraction of a second wondering what he means.
But then another fraction of a second passes, and when Kazeyuki deliberately lets his gaze trail down and down and down until I finally remember that my towel is about to unknot itself and reveal what no other human being has seen except for my parents—
Aaaaaah!
I spin around and run, my bare feet slapping against the floor, and I can feel his gaze on me the entire length of the hallway. Every single step. Like a hand resting on the back of my neck, and no, no, no, don't be tempted to do anything stupid like pretending to accidentally drop your towel and—
Mph.
I actually trip on my own feet, and I barely hang on to my towel.
"I'm okay," I call out to him without turning back, and I don't stop moving until I'm safely inside my room with the door locked and my dignity in shambles.
Kitty McKenna, keep this up, and before this day is over you won't have a fiancé left.
And I didn't know it at that time, but what is it they say about famous last words?