Chapter 4 #2
“I’ll be seeing you around, and maybe you won’t have your posse around to save you or your oversized cowboy.” Evan curls a lip at all of us.
“I hope they aren’t. They hold me back from finally kicking your ass,” Nariko shouts.
Evan tosses his head back and laughs, his hand flying to his chest.
Nariko’s emotions boil over. She’s furious, and her anger becomes my own. She launches herself at Evan. Her stance changes before anyone else can recognize what she is doing.
My arms wrap around her, and I sling her against my chest, pick her up, and drag her away before she causes damage to her career.
“Let me go! Oklahoma, let me go. I’m going to kick him right in the—”
“—I know, but now isn’t the time. All the customers have their phones out, recording you. You don’t want to start a fight and have proof of it out there,” I explain, loving that I have the excuse of protecting her to hold her close.
Fuck.
She feels so good.
“Put me down and let me go! I’m going to strangle his neck. The bastard thinks he is the best when all he does is torment me because I got the grant he wished he could have gotten in college.” She kicks her legs out, trying to get free from my grasp.
“He’s a fucking asshole,” I say, dragging her to the side of my truck so they can’t see her anymore.
I spin her around, and her hair falls from the loose ponytail. The layers flow down her shoulders, stopping just at her hips.
So fucking long, just like I knew it would be.
Nariko looks up at me with those big brown eyes, her lips parting ever so slightly when she intakes a sharp breath. Her heart rate changes, increasing in its beats the longer we hold eye contact.
My eyes dart over her face, not knowing where to look, because every part of her is stunning. My fingers twitch to touch her, and I raise my hand, wanting to cup her jaw.
She watches me debate what to do before I drop my hand to my side. Her cheeks flush with a dusty pink color, and I’m dying to know how warm she must be.
I lick my lips, needing to get a hold of myself. “Are you okay?” My voice deepens, the protective mate inside me wanting to burst free.
She nods. “I’m fine. Evan has a way of getting under my skin.”
“Are you sure it isn’t more?” Her relationship with him is my business. If he is a problem, a threat, I will get rid of him.
She tilts her head, confused. “More?”
I cage her in with my arms, gripping the edge of my truck as I curl over her. “More.” The word is a growl from my throat.
Lust permeates the air, and my nostrils flare. I roll my lips to hide my fangs from her. She isn’t ready to see that side of me yet.
She rears back in disgust. “No. I hate him. There is no desire for Evan. I want him to leave me alone forever if I had the choice, but unfortunately, as long as we both chase storms, we will be in each other’s way.”
She despises him, by the way her emotions are soaking into my body. There’s no want at all. I don’t even taste hope or friendship. There’s no kind of care. It’s pure annoyance and dislike.
That’s good news for me.
It means I don’t have to kill him.
Yet.
“I wanted to rip his tongue from his mouth for how he spoke to you.” I lean a little lower, wanting to be closer to her body.
We aren’t touching. Her hands are tucked in her back pockets. Our bodies lean towards one another, and our faces drift closer.
“I want to rip his tongue out, too.”
The light drizzle turns into a downpour, yet neither of us moves. My insides twist with so much need the longer I stand in front of her. The heat comes back, the one that twists my insides into agonizing pain.
Kiss me.
I hear from her, but she doesn’t speak. Her lips don’t move. I’ve been watching them since I got her alone.
Kiss me, please.
Oh, I want to.
I want to do so much more than kiss her. But I know if my lips touched hers for a moment, I’d strip her bare right here. I’d pick her up by her thighs and wrap her legs around my waist, my cock sliding in easily because she’ll be drenched and ready for me.
I can smell her desire now. She’s soaked.
My cock hardens in my jeans, my body not understanding why we aren’t skin to skin with her.
Her want for me is so strong that I can hear her inner voice. My hand is slow and tentative when I cup her jaw. I’m gentle. I never want to be too rough with her. Given my supernatural abilities, my strength will always be a risk.
Once my thumb grazes the top of her cheeks, both of us gasp. Every brush, every back and forth, a wildfire blazes through my nerve endings.
Nariko closes her eyes, leaning her head against my palm.
“Why do you feel so good?” She nestles into my touch. “I can’t stop thinking about you. About this.”
I swallow, trailing my knuckles down her jaw, my finger ghosting the sides of her plump lips.
Because we’re meant for each other. We are destined, a plan the universe has always had in mind. Our souls are carved out of the same stardust, tying us together for life.
I can’t say that. Not yet.
“I’ll tell you one day soon.”
“Oklahoma! We have to go!” Jazz shouts from the diner entrance.
Nariko’s brother yells next, “Nariko! We’ve got something good on the radar. We have to leave now to chase it.”
The happiness on her face vanishes. “Duty calls.”
A buzzing comes from the flickering streetlamp above us, drowning out our obligations.
I don’t move, and neither does Nariko. There isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be.
Time slows. The rain doesn’t fall as fast. I watch a droplet land on her upper arm, and it swims down her smooth flesh. Suddenly, I’m jealous of water.
I’m dehydrated.
I’m parched.
For her.