Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Bastian
HER ENCHANTING SCENT was nothing in comparison to the saccharine of her mouth.
Intoxicated, he’d never get enough to quench the hunger she stirred in him.
Without permission, his tongue slid between her lips.
In the tangle, he sampled the flavor he’d sought all his life.
He’d never known he needed it until that moment, now he couldn’t remember surviving without it.
She initiated the kiss and ended it too. Thank God. If she hadn’t kept a rein on sense, he’d have taken her there, damn their surroundings.
“Well…” he managed to say.
That single word was a struggle. The disorientation of her unexpected, but so very welcome, kiss, sent his brain cells scrambling.
She curled her lips into her mouth in a vulnerable show of apology.
Oh no, baby. No reason for contrition. The flush in her cheeks was there for him.
Their kiss did that to her. His guts burned in blinding envy of her teeth, her tongue, and all those places he wished to explore behind her plump lips.
She touched her nose to him, pressing her body closer too. A habit that was becoming his favorite.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
His parents must have kept on walking because they weren’t around anymore. He didn’t care, he couldn’t even remember why he’d sought them.
Every face in their periphery gawked with open interest. Not that he cared. No. Pride was what filled him. Harper wouldn’t be so used to the rubbernecking.
Legend had its drawbacks.
The spectators were aghast. He’d never kissed a woman in such a public place, certainly not a kiss like that. Other than superficial air kisses, no one kissed like that at these events, it just wasn’t done.
Her impulse was to move away, he could feel it before it happened. After sharing such an intense moment, he wasn’t ready for distance. He hooked his arm over her head, across her shoulders, to hold her body against his.
He didn’t want her to flee. If she did, he couldn’t follow, not with the reaction she’d caused behind his fly.
Putting that aside, he examined the different hues of each strand in her exquisite locks, appreciating how well she fitted against him. He could get used to this, would get used to this, when she was ready.
Getting physical with her was on his agenda, secondary to ensuring her wellbeing.
“Are you okay?” he asked the top of her head, his lips tickled by her mocha tresses.
“I didn’t mean to do that… to kiss you. You can’t blame your mother for thinking there’s something between us. This is our mess. We got ourselves into it. If you start pointing fingers, we’ll only get invested.”
“Are you telling me we’re not invested already?”
When she looked up, the answer was written all over her face. Distress matched the certainty, but he was invigorated. It wasn’t just him; she felt this thing bubbling between them.
“Bastian! Bastian!”
Keely ran up behind Harper who he kept close despite his sister’s bouncing and grinning. Elation buzzed around her all the same.
“What are you so happy about?” Bastian asked.
Her million-dollar smile glowed. “Are you kidding? You’re making out at parties? No one else would get away with that. Honestly, it’s so… naughty.”
Trust his sister to know exactly the wrong thing to say in her excitement.
“Keely,” he warned, aware of quashing anything that might discourage Harper.
His embrace grew cold when Harper turned away. She didn’t run and hide; her posture didn’t suggest being self-conscious. His guess? She was curious about his intrusive sibling.
“I’m Keely,” she exclaimed. “Your new sister.”
Keely grabbed Harper into a hug.
He tried to pry the two apart with little success. “Leave her alone, Keel,” Bastian said. “She’s not your new sister.”
Only when they were good and ready did the women let go of each other. Automatically, Harper leaned on him again. Excellent.
“When Robyn hears about this she’s going to be ma-had,” Keely prodded Bastian.
Great. Fuck. Sometimes Keely was… Keely.
“Robyn?” Harper asked, withdrawing to put a foot of space between them. “Who’s Robyn?”
“Oops,” Keely said. “Got to go.”
His sister was fast swallowed by the mass of other partygoers.
“She’s an ex…” he said. “Robyn is my ex.”
Already aware of the distance between them, he didn’t like it when she increased it with another backward step. Most people wanted to be near him. In the past, women had gone to extraordinary lengths to touch and fawn. Not Harper. Her perception wasn’t biased by his success.
Any inkling of infidelity would poison Harper’s perception of this. Integrity was vital to her.
“You don’t sound sure,” Harper said, mortified and alert. “Oh my God, why didn’t you tell me you were seeing someone? I would never have come here if I knew…”
Robyn was ancient history. Keely never liked his ex and rejoiced that they’d split up. His mom was more diplomatic but probably felt the same.
“I’m not seeing her,” he said.
Dampening the surge of testosterone-fueled possession that flooded him when Harper twisted away from his reach, he had to remember she didn’t actually belong to him, yet.
The squirm of her gaze spoke to her discomfort.
She lowered her volume to a breath. “I didn’t even think to ask. We were only supposed to be together that one night. I told you it was perfect at that.” She sighed. “Now everything’s complicated.”
He had experience with calming women down. With a drama queen sister and a vocal mother, he’d been training for it most of his life.
“It’s nothing,” he soothed, stroking the silken skin of her upper arm. The pure texture boosted his testosterone again. “I’m not seeing her, Sweet. It’s just us, you and me… Fidelity’s not too much to ask, remember?”
That wasn’t the reassurance she needed. All he needed was her close to him again. He failed them both.
“You can see anyone you want,” Harper whispered.
“We both know this isn’t real. The problem is that others don’t.
Your mother would never have encouraged me to come here if she knew you were serious about someone else.
All she wants is to see you happy, Bastian.
You let her know about this woman and she’ll feel better.
Right now, she’s telling me that you’re passing the time, screwing around with a bunch of women. She knows that doesn’t make you happy.”
His brows rose. “So now I’m screwing around with a bunch of women? How many is a bunch?”
The ebb and flow of this fascinating woman’s emotions led to captivating conversation. As long as they were talking, she wasn’t going anywhere.
“That’s not my business,” Harper said. “But you should’ve been honest, with me, with your mother, and with your family. They want you to be happy.”
Learning her buttons and how to stimulate them would come in useful later.
With that in mind, he had to ask, “Why are you so upset about this?”
Her blink was shock.
She leaned away, crossing her arms in front of her. “I’m not upset.”
Man, she was beautiful when she was defensive. It didn’t help ease her embarrassment when he smiled, but he couldn’t help himself. Finding this woman had been a blessing.
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Would needling her provoke a jealousy confession? That implication energized his attraction. Most women who got upset about his associations were dramatic about it, giving him the sense it was a cry for attention.
Not Harper.
Their potential future relied on her admitting their attraction. From what he could tell so far, she was fighting it.
Staying rigid for half a beat, she gave no hint of what was in her head. Then, just like that, she relaxed.
“Fine, yes, I’m upset. I thought you were my friend and na?vely assumed that included honesty.”
Oh, hey, that might have backfired.
“I’ve been nothing but honest with you, Sweet.”
For the first time, he wanted to answer to a woman, this one, and he wanted her to step up and claim that right.
She got more confused and shook her head downward, only to then tip it back.
“You shouldn’t have come to me that night,” she said. “This whole thing was a mistake. We’ve been sucked in deeper than we—screw around with whoever you want. But don’t expect me to be the facade protecting your secrets.”
That was almost laughable. Never took Harper long to get him smiling.
“You don’t want to be the dutiful wife while I screw anything under twenty-five in a skirt?”
Tensing, she clearly didn’t see the funny side.
“If those are your requirements, find yourself a different front.”
No sense of humor, huh? No prizes for guessing why.
“You’re punishing me for his mistakes,” Bastian said. “You do see that, don’t you? You’re still smarting over Damon and waiting for it to happen again. You’re pushing me away so I can’t get close enough to hurt you.”
“This isn’t real,” she said.
He couldn’t disagree more. What he felt might be sudden and unique, but that only enhanced his certainty.
“Feels real to me,” he said, backing her into a corner.
Angling them in the confined space wasn’t planned. It just happened. Alone as they could get in this crowded space, it was the only place he wanted to be.
Harper shook her head. “What are we doing?” she whispered. “One kiss and then we’re at each other like cat and dog.”
Bingo! She felt it too. Though her reaction contrasted his. Their magnetism enticed him while it unsettled her. When her palm went to her forehead, he rested his forearm on the wall above her head to crowd in closer.
“I’m not seeing anyone else.”
“I know,” she said, dropping her hand to his chest, igniting heat in his body beneath her dainty fingers. “It’s none of my business anyway. I have no reason not to take you at your word. You’re right. I’m lashing out because… because I don’t want to be made a fool of again.”
Wasn’t on his agenda, but he was prepared to make one of himself.
“Sweet,” he murmured, tracing his finger down her temple. “I won’t make a fool out of you.”
“Do you promise?” she said, curling her fingers until her nails bit into him, just a little.
There was something so intimate about that act, like her subconscious wanted to pull him to her. His body was willing to go. More than willing.
“Harper!”
The feminine exclamation turned them both around.
“Roxie,” he said but the woman was already reaching past him.
“Not here for you, Hunt,” Roxie said, taking Harper’s hand. “Girl talk time.”