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My eyes narrowed and jaw clenched. “And I think you’ve had too much to drink.”
“If you wanna look at it that way. Or we could look at it this way . . . maybe you just need to get on my level. And, guess what? I can help with that, because I’m just so handy.” His bleary-eyed gaze swept my body. “If you want, I’ll show you just how many ways I can be handy. Whatdya say, milady?”
His hopefulness at Brooks Street could have been seen as endearing if I’d wanted to be pursued by him . . . if I wasn’t the last girl he should ever try to pursue.
But this was different.
Alcohol distorted his charm, causing his words to give me the feeling like bugs were crawling beneath my skin. Being drunk had turned him into someone like Bailey and Finn.
But I knew men like that, and I knew Ethan. And I had a feeling Ethan wouldn’t drink again if he knew this was what he turned into.
“Go home.” I took another two steps away from him and wanted to scream in frustration when he matched them.
“Care to join?”
“Ethan, listen to me,” I pleaded. “You need to stop. You wouldn’t be acting like this if you hadn’t been drinking, but if you don’t stop, I will make you. So back away before . . .” My words trailed off when a large hand slid around my waist possessively, and my eyes fluttered shut as a whispered curse fell from my lips.
In the second before he spoke, my heart stopped as the dread that had filled my stomach spread through the rest of my body like thick oil.
But the deep, gravelly voice that came from behind me wasn’t Kieran’s or anyone else I knew.
“There you are.”
I didn’t have time to catch my breath. Didn’t have time to comprehend the rush of relief or newfound fear that surged through me when I realized Kieran wasn’t there, or that a stranger was gripping me and pulling me toward him.
I was turned quickly, only giving me enough time to see the darkness of his eyes and hear his hushed, “Easy,” before his mouth descended upon mine.
His lips were firm, the kiss hard and fast and completely unmemorable . . .
At least it should have been.
Because that’s where it should have ended.
It never should have happened at all.
But when I thought he’d pull away, his fingers left chills in their wake as they trailed along the soft skin of my throat to gently curl around my neck. His mouth relaxed against mine and his thumb pressed against my jaw, tilting my head back to deepen the kiss for just a moment.
It should have been unmemorable, and some distant part of my mind knew that it needed to mean nothing.
But it felt like that kiss had freed me.
And it didn’t matter that I was completely unaware of what I was being freed from. All that mattered was the moment it ended . . .
Because the breath I took following that kiss felt so deep and so pure, and like I’d been waiting hundreds of years for it.
Awareness hummed beneath the surface. Prodding at my memory like a gentle reminder just before I opened my eyes as he slowly lifted his face from mine.
Those eyes . . .
Recognition slammed into me, and I was sure I would have staggered back if he hadn’t been holding me so tightly.
“You . . .” Surprise and confusion and a need to feel free again made my voice nothing more than a breath.
Dark, dark eyes were staring down at me, studying me as they had every week during the last two years. But his brow was drawn together like he was trying to comprehend what had just happened. As if he hadn’t been the one to initiate it.
The hand gripping my waist tightened, and his thumb moved from my jaw to brush against my bottom lip as that same energy that always danced across my skin in his presence seemed to come alive with his touch.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my words still soft as a whisper.
