Eyes lit with joy, Marion turns to me. “Hannah, I’m going to see the new baby! I won’t be long, and you’ll be safe with Ashwood.” She glances over at Kane, who’s busy tightening the straps of Shadow’s saddlebags. “Don’tdo anything I wouldn’t do.” She winks before turning to follow the woman, leaving me with a fluttering heart and a stomach full of nerves.
I step out of the shadows and approach him. I’m drawn to Kane in a way I don’t quite understand and am not interested in fighting.
His back is to me, and everything in me wants to shout his name, run to him, throw myself into his arms, and wrap my body around his—to kiss him and tell him that I see him, I know him, I’m falling for him. But this isn’t the end of a holiday rom-com, and I don’t feel like much of a main character.
Instead, I walk to him on wobbly legs. My heart is a trapped bird flapping in my chest like I’m back in sixth grade and Johnny Bellows has just moved in next door.
Kane glides his palm along Shadow’s back as he rounds the mare and secures the last few buckles on the saddlebags, his brow furrowed in concentration.
“Leaving so soon, Lord Ashwood?” I call out, much braver than I feel.
He looks up, and I catch the flicker of a smile before his gaze darts around the near-empty square. “The middle of town is no place for a lady such as yourself. No matter how well disguised.”
“Afraid you’ll have to save me again?” A coy smile pulls at my lips.
“Afraid?” He runs his hand through his jet-black hair. “Never.”
Shadow knickers in agreement.
“You know, I almost like the way you play the hero.”
His brow arches, and he stares down at me. “Is that what’s keeping you here?”
I stiffen slightly, but it’s enough. I can tell he noticed by the smirk that lifts the corner of his mouth. “You know what’s keeping me here. I haven’t found my purse, the card…”
Kane takes a step closer, his presence as overwhelming as ever. “And once you do?”
“The Tower will heave a sigh of relief that I recognized its error, and the Empress will take me home. Back to my life. Away from being afraid of getting murdered because I don’t belong, and back to being afraid of getting murdered if I go for a run at night.” I shrug, hoping he sees nonchalance and not the way I have to ball my fists at my sides to keep from touching him. “I can’t wait to get back to my realm.”
“Liar.” He moves even closer, invading my space, his dark eye boring into me. “You don’t want to leave.”
I scoff and take a deep breath, buying myself time to sort through my whirling thoughts. That breath was a mistake. All I can smell is him—pine and smoke—and I’m suddenly dizzy with need.
“I know more about you than you think, Fawn.” The air between us crackles as he slides his rough hand down my arm and grabs my wrist. He pulls me against him, our bodies pressed together, my heart clamoring in my chest. “You say you want to leave? Fine. But we both know you have a job to do before you can. And, if you did leave, you would miss me.”
I tilt my chin defiantly, even as my heart races and my knees threaten to buckle. “Careful, Kane, you’re starting to sound like you want me to stay.”
His eye narrows, and his mouth opens, but there’s no witty retort or double entendre.
For a swollen second, I think he might agree with me—that he might ignore his own rule and give me his heart.
Could it be possible?
My own heart beats dizzyingly fast.
There’s a chance Kane might feel the way I do—like there’s something more between us than the physical, something real.
Calm down, Hannah. Don’t get all clingy and scare him away.
He clears his throat and glances at Shadow before returning his attention to me. “It’s simply that your former lover was wrong about you being bad in bed.”
“Lucky for me, there are plenty of men back in Chicago just as arrogant as you.” I force myself to think about them, about the array of Chads in the city far from this dangerous, captivating man.
But instead of faceless strangers, all I see is Kane, all I feel is his touch, his strength, the way his body fits against mine.
I swallow.
I don’t want to fall in love. Not with Kane. Not unless I know he could one day feel the same.
