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“Your responsibility going forward is to focus on your feelings about you and me and to share them with me. I need you to do that.”
“Okay.” She nodded softly. “I will.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Now that we’ve talked about what happened afterward, let’s talk about the kiss itself. You said you don’t regret it.”
“Not for an instant.” A pretty pink blush flared across her cheeks. “I loved it.”
He couldn’t keep the satisfied male grin off his face as he sat beside her and scooped her into his lap. “I have to tell you, that was the best first kiss ever.”
Surprise transformed her face. “Really?”
Did she think all first kisses were hot enough to set the house on fire? Maybe. It wasn’t as if she had anything to measure it against… “Really. Maybe you felt how hard I was for you?”
The pink on her face turned utterly red. “It was…um, difficult to miss.”
He laughed. “Definitely hard, all right.”
Heavenly pressed her lips together. “Sometimes I don’t know whether you mean to embarrass me or just tease me.”
“Never embarrass you. But tease you… Yeah, I’m guilty. I love to see you blush.” He skimmed his lips over the shell of her ear. “You’re beautiful, and I enjoy getting to you. When I’m with you, I feel more alive than I have in years.”
She blinked at him. “I haven’t done anything.”
“You’ve been yourself. That’s all I need.”
Seth cupped her jaw, swept his thumb across her cheek, then leaned in. She met him halfway, eyes closed, breath held, lips soft. Christ, she was picture-perfect innocence, so sweet and trusting. He couldn’t help himself.
He took her mouth tenderly, opening her, feeling her responses unfurl like petals in the sun. When he sank past her lips, he heard the soft rush of breath as she sighed across his tongue. Passion flared. Unlike last time, he braced for the heady need, holding himself back so she had time to examine the heat, taste the fire, explore the sensations of his lips savoring hers. He reveled in her tightening fingers, her catches of breath. Fuck, if he let it, this kiss could blaze into a full-on inferno.
Seth stopped it while he still could and eased back. She sat looking flushed everywhere—cheeks, lips, upper swells of her chest—almost as if she’d melted in his arms. He ached to dive in again. But he’d given Heavenly enough to process tonight. Her responses to him had proven his doubts this past week had been pointless, so the next step between them belonged to him—and it was a big one.
Because after tonight, he had no doubts at all. Heavenly might be confused about choosing between him and Beck at the moment…but with a little patience and persuasion, he could make her his. The doctor was nothing more than a bump in the road.
“You still want to go home?”
She nodded. “Is that all right? I have to wait tables tomorrow and I still have a paper to finish.”
He held in a curse. “Sure. How about you let me drive you home?”
“Stay. I can take the bus.”
In other words, no. Seth clenched his jaw but didn’t push her anymore tonight. “At least let me put you in a car. I’ll pay for it. But I need to know you’ll get home safely.”
She hesitated. “All right. Thanks.”
It didn’t take long to call her a taxi and let the guy swipe his card. As he opened the door for her, she paused, turning to face him. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
He nodded. “I have to fly back to New York, clear up a few things.”
Heavenly looked distinctly unhappy. “Again?”
“I won’t be gone long, angel. Believe me, nothing is going to keep me away from you.”
That made her smile. He left her with a soft kiss, then shut the door, tapped on the cabbie’s roof, and watched her speed into the night.
The minute she’d disappeared from sight, Seth turned back to the party with one thing on his mind.
He tore inside the house, barreling out to the back patio, then spotted Beck and River giving Pike a snarling dressing down.
“Stand aside,” he demanded of the duo holding Shadows’ dungeon monitor upright. “This asswipe is mine.”
As both men dropped their hold, Pike rolled his eyes. Seth shoved him against the same wall he’d devoured Heavenly against a mere twenty minutes ago. The blood roared in his brain.
Then he settled nose-to-nose with Pike. “You crossed a line. Do not ever speak to her again. Don’t even look at her. If she happens to cross you in the street, you turn and run the other way. Got it?”
Pike’s cocky bravado ensured the guy wasn’t smart enough to shut his pie hole. “What if I don’t? What the fuck are you going to do about it?”
Seth was done talking. He drew back his fist and threw all his weight into the cross punch. It landed straight across the man’s jaw. Pike’s head snapped back with the impact. His teeth knocked together with an audible crack. Seth saw the exact moment the blood flow to the main artery in Pike’s head stuttered. Seconds later, the man crumpled, sliding down the wall, temporarily unconscious.
