He shakes his head. “I’m not going forward, I’m going back.”
“Where?” I ask.
“To say goodbye,” he says, his body blurring.
I sigh. “She went to a ball on the night of February twenty-first. Might be a good time to visit her.”I hate being a good person.
“Thanks, Rose.”
“Be careful,” I yell, but he’s already disappeared. I shake my head. He hasn’t traveled for an entire year, but I’m willing to bet he’ll appear minutes off his target.Talented ass.
I turn to McGregor. “Don’t worry, he’ll be back.”
Then our real work begins.
30Mariella
I pull my fur coat across my chest and dawdle home beside the river. Snowflakes drift around me, the towering elms dusted in white. I cross the road, and a shadow stirs in the corner of my vision. Whipping around, I track the movement with a racing heart. Seconds ago, I could’ve sworn the street was empty. Twenty meters away, a silhouette steps toward me and I freeze.
I’m going to be murdered just as I’ve started to live my life.
The figure moves closer and, as I prepare to kick off my heels and make a run for it, a man steps under the glow of the nearest streetlight.
“Parker,” I whisper.
He crosses the street and strolls toward me, hands tucked into the pockets of a tuxedo. He’s always been gorgeous, but with the triangle of bronzed skin at his open collar, the sliver of white cuff at his wrists, and the bulge of his muscles beneath the fitted fabric, my breath catches in my throat. My fingers tingle with a burning need to touch him, and my chest aches with the reminder that I cannot.
A slow smile builds as he closes the distance between us, a dimple creasing each cheek. He tips his head.
“I can’t believe you’re here. How did you—” My words dissipate as he reaches out and tucks my hair behind my ear, his hand lingering over my temple. I gasp, butterflies swarming my stomach. “Wait, you can touch me? Does that mean…” I bring my hand to his, and our fingers entwine.
“I would’ve been your date and danced with you all night if circumstances were different.” He lifts my hand to his lips and presses a kiss to the back of my knuckles, his honey-hued eyes fixed on mine.
I laugh. “You mean if you weren’t from the future and on the run?”
He shrugs, the corner of his mouth tugging up into a cheeky grin. “Something like that.” His eyes stray to my ball gown, down the deep neckline visible beneath my open coat. “Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to hold a conversation with anyone when you look like this. Dance with me?”
I nod, and his hand slips beneath my coat to my waist, pulling me toward him. I breath him in: warm cedar, cut grass, and something distinctlyParkerthat heats my body from the inside out. My head rests in the space between his neck and shoulder, and with his other hand laced with mine, he leads me in a slow dance, snowflakes catching in our hair.
“Rose said I wouldn’t see you again,” I whisper.
“Did she?” he teases.
I peer up at him. “Are you okay? Where have you been?”
“Rose took me on a little field trip.” His amber eyes burn with intensity. “I came to see you as soon as I got my powers back so I could do this.”
He lowers his head, and I glimpse his mouth curving into a smile before he brushes his lips against mine.
I’ve spent months daydreaming about our last kiss—the softness of his lips and the sweep of his tongue, my body’s reaction to his closeness. The mere thought of his mouth on mine was enough to reignite the throbbing heat that had coursed through my veins.
I was convinced it wouldn’t be the same the second time around. That the fire behind his kiss would wane, or the tingling shudder that raced through my chest to settle between my thighs wouldn’t stir. Yet, when his lips meet mine, his kiss is as intense and staggering as I remembered, and for a moment I forget myself.
The chilling night air turns stifling, and every thought in my nervous brain evaporates. Everything I am, smell and feel is this intoxicating man holding my body to his, lips pressed against mine.
He wraps his arms around my thighs and hitches me up until our chests are pressed together. I bring my hands to his face, cradling his smooth jaw as I open my mouth and slide my tongue against his. His grip on my legs tightens, but he pulls back, leaving me hollow when our lips part.
My brain is dizzy and my body burns with want as Parker lowers my feet to the ground, every nerve ending aching where every inch of him touches every inch of me. My mind catches up and nervous energy flashes through me. Parker has his powers back. He can touch me. And for the first time, we’re alone together.Truly alone.No Rose to watch our every move or burst in at any moment. There’s nothing holding us back from being together. So why aren’t his lips still on mine?
