Chapter Fifteen
Owen stilled and the expression in his eyes made my world tilt. His gaze moved over my face, slowly and deliberately, before settling on my lips.
My pulse stumbled.
What was I doing? Was I moving too fast?
“There’s your company’s policy to consider…” I whispered, hardly breathing.
“Fuck policy.” He set his glass down. Stood up.
He moved to my side of the island, his steps determined. I couldn’t look away as he stalked toward me, his entire body coiled with barely leashed desire.
“We need to go slow.” Was I reminding him or myself?
“How slow?” His voice was barely more than a whisper. He swivelled my chair toward him, took the wine I forgot I was holding, and set it aside.
Placing one hand on the back of my chair and the other on the counter, he caged me with his hard body and enticing warmth.
Heat flushed my skin, travelling up my chest and neck, and I swayed toward him.
He leaned in slowly, giving me time to pull away, but now that he was here, my worries and fears fled.
There was only Owen, and I was exactly where I wanted to be.
His first kiss on my cheek was a feather-light touch that sent my already racing heart skyrocketing. I breathed in the scents of wine and aftershave and ran my hand along the stubble of his jaw. His breath shuddered against my skin. I sighed, loving that he was as affected as me.
“This slow?” he murmured, his lips trailing along my jaw.
I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t even remember the question. My thoughts were a chaotic whirlwind. All I could do was feel. I tilted my head and opened my legs so he could stand closer.
I slid my hands up his chest, and a growl of approval rumbled through him as my fingers found and played with the soft hair at the nape of his neck.
He nuzzled me, his stubble scratching and tickling my delicate skin. I shifted restlessly. Damn. The man hadn’t even kissed me yet.
“Aggravating man,” I said, but the words ended in a gasp when he nipped at my ear then finally moved toward my lips.
“Kira?” he whispered, only a breath away from where I needed him to be. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
I was still nodding when his mouth claimed mine with raw possession. Delicious, molten heat curled in my belly, and a moan of pure need tore from me. I arched into him as a wildfire burned to life between us.
Dear God, this man could kiss.
Winding his fingers through my hair, he angled my head and kissed me even deeper.
His tongue slid along mine with teasing strokes and wicked suction.
I kissed him back just as fiercely. We became needy and reckless.
The expert strokes of his tongue turned our breaths ragged, but I wanted more.
More of him. More of everything. I tried to pull him closer, but I was too low to get the friction we both craved.
“Fuck,” he groaned raggedly against my mouth, then slid his hands to my ass and lifted me easily.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he immediately rocked against me.
I moaned at the pleasure of being pressed so close to him, of how natural it felt to cradle his hot, hard length against my softness.
Every hiss of his breath, every murmur of my name, wound me tighter until a knot formed between my legs that ached for release.
Too soon. The thought popped into my head unbidden, and I tried desperately to ignore it. You didn’t wait with Todd. Look what happened.
I groaned. But this is Owen.
Everyone leaves.
I tore my mouth from Owen’s, gasping for air.
“Sorry. Can’t,” I panted. “Too fast.”
He stopped, his mouth moving to my neck as he continued to breathe heavily. When he pulled back, his eyes were dark and unfocused for a moment. Then a grin of pure satisfaction spread across his face.
“Now that was our first kiss.” His eyes fell to my mouth again, and he ran his thumb along my lower lip. “Beautiful,” he murmured.
He leaned forward as if to kiss me again—and damn it all, I would have let him—but with a shuddering breath, he took a step back.
I hated that distance between us.
“I’m sorry, Owen,” I whispered, heartbroken that our first kiss had ended like that.
“It’s okay, Kira.” He didn’t look okay as he scrubbed a hand through his hair, his chest rising and falling. “You don’t ever need to apologize for going as slow as you need. It took me by surprise, too. I usually have more control.”
He moved to the other side of the island as if he needed to put something physical between us.
My eyes followed his movements as he returned to his meal, noting the strength of his hands and the muscles in his forearms. His broad shoulders and square jaw.
I imagined running my lips along his stubble and feeling it scrape against my skin.
Maybe I did want more.
My cheeks heated. No. This had been enough. For now. I wasn’t ready to take things further, but my thoughts were still jumbled, and I was restless with desire. My body wanted more, even if my heart wasn’t ready. Still…I bit my lip remembering the feel of his skin against my own.
“Kira,” Owen growled. “Stop looking at me like that. I’m only so strong.”
His hand gripped his wineglass stem so tightly I wondered if it would break. He half perched on his chair, looking ready to pounce.
“That was an incredible first kiss,” I said with a grin, looking at him over the rim of my wineglass.
“Stop talking about kissing,” he demanded. “Talk about something else.”
I chuckled. “Okay. Let’s talk about Charles. That should help cool things down.”
He huffed a laugh.
“There’s one thing that’s been bothering me since the night he disappeared.”
“Just one thing?” Owen asked, taking a bite of his dinner.
“I can’t figure out why he got sucked into the portal and not you or Jace.”
He shrugged. “Jace and I are stronger. We were able to hold on to something.”
I screwed my face up in thought. “No, that’s not it.
None of the furniture was disturbed. He was taken by Craos on purpose.
He’s connected to all this somehow, but I don’t know how exactly.
He had the stone in that ‘Fortingall Dig’ box.
I wonder what else happened in 1963? He said he chose love, and it was the best decision he ever made.
But he didn’t tell me the whole story. What do you know about your grandmother? ”
“Marion?”
I nodded.
“Just that their marriage was the classic love story.”
“How so?” I asked, taking another bite of my dinner. “This meal is delicious, by the way. Thank you.” I meant it. As someone who rarely cooked and lived on the meagre wage of a teaching assistant, I appreciated good food, especially a homecooked meal.
Owen looked pleased with my praise and added a little more risotto to my plate.
“I don’t remember everything.” He paused eating as he tried to remember.
“Granddad told me the story when I was just a boy. He and Marion met in Scotland in 1963. Marion was a geologist, and they were both searching for the same artifact. Probably the Rootstone. They got to know each other over the days leading up to the final discovery and fell in love.”
“Do you remember anything else?”
“They found the sword during that dig, as well.”
“Did your grandmother keep any field notes or journals?”
“Yes, but they were all donated years ago to the university archives.”
I nodded, mulling that over. “Hopefully Shae finds something. Can you think of anything else your grandparents told you?”
Owen shook his head. “Honestly, my family grew estranged from my grandparents over the years, and I wasn’t as close to them later in life.”
“Why? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“During that rough part of my life that I mentioned before, my mother and her parents had a big fight, and their relationship grew strained. My parents divorced, I got busy with my military career, and we all grew apart.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s why I wasn’t there for Granddad when he was moving, why I believed him when he said he didn’t need help.
I still feel so damn guilty. I’m glad you were there for him, Kira.
Truly. Over the years, he would reach out to me, like when he called to tell me about you, but we were never as close as when I was a kid.
I regret that. When we do find him, I want to hear his stories, and I want to say how sorry I am that I didn’t visit more often. ”
I squeezed his hand across the counter. “We’ll find him, Owen. I promise to do everything in my power so that you get to hear his stories.”
“Come here,” he murmured, and I leaned over so he could give me a gentle kiss.
“Thank you,” he whispered against my mouth, and I smiled.
Maybe we should take things further tonight.
From the look on Owen’s face, he was thinking the same thing.
All I would have to do is get off my chair and walk around the island.
Owen would pick me up and set me on the counter, sliding his hands up my body…
My phone pinged, and we both jumped as the spell broke. Owen groaned and I giggled, giving him one last peck on the lips before I checked to see who had texted. Sylvia. Of course, it would be Sylvia ruining our moment.
Sylvia: Meet me at Lions Head Provincial Park Friday at 4.
Me: No training tomorrow?
Sylvia: Need time to recover.
Guilt flashed through me.
Me: Okay. See you Friday
“Up for a road trip this weekend?” I asked Owen, looking up from my phone.
He cocked an eyebrow. “To where?”
“The Bruce Peninsula.”
“Why?”
“No idea. Probably more communing with nature. We’ll need a hotel for the night. It’s a four-hour drive one way.”
“Our first road trip.” Owen smiled in anticipation.
I couldn’t resist teasing him. “Yeah, let’s bring Jace, too. He’d probably enjoy it.”
Owen’s smile faltered. “I’m not sure I like the name of another man on your lips right after I mention we’re about to have our first of something.”
I laughed at the disgruntled look on his face. “I didn’t say his name after our kiss.”
“Damn right you didn’t,” he growled, “and don’t you ever.”
I stifled a laugh.
His sigh was extra dramatic. “Fine. Let’s bring Jace. He probably would enjoy it. I’ll text him.”
“I’ll ask Shae as well. Oh, should we get snacks?”
“Definitely. What’s your favourite?”
“Anything chocolate. You?”
“Salty. Let’s go now.”
We shared an umbrella when we walked to the corner store, our arms wrapped around one another as we laughed and talked.
A bell jangled as we entered, and we began browsing the narrow, overstocked aisles.
Behind the counter, the clerk’s watchful eyes flickered between us and his phone, and outside the city moved fast and loud.
But with Owen by my side, the store felt warm and kind and built just for us. Our shoulders brushed, our glances lingered, and everything seemed lit from within.
And I thought it magical indeed how the right person could make the ordinary become extraordinary.