AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That…shit?”
“Shiraz.” I reached for his hand, still weirdly clenched, and pulled out his long, tanned digits until they formed around the glass. “Just take a freaking sip, okay?”
He blinked. Several times. I did the same, hoping it spurred me to breathe. Bull, meet china shop. Ez actually called me “Ferdinanda” because of it, but always in affection—though his emotional shop was lined in leather, satin, and feathers. Not the case with Shiraz Cimarron. This man had blue fire in his eyes, burnished bricks beneath his jaw, and sheet metal walls around his heart—and right now, I’d knocked new fissures into all three.
Just by meshing our fingers.
Sheez.
I was in big, fat, fucking trouble again.
And I wanted more.
More of the heat permeating me from his skin. More of the heat radiating from those eyes. And definitely, oh definitely, more of the milliseconds in which his shields cracked, giving glimpses of a man—a person—who was more than columns, lines, perfection and duty.
More.
What would happen if I decided to go for it? If I leaned in just a little…pressed forward by just an inch…followed the invisible tractor beam of his pull, and just joined the atmosphere groupies in needing to touch more of him…
More…
Thank God one of us was still thinking.
Without another millisecond to spare, he pulled his hand away by raising it. With a deft nip, wetted his lips with the nectar.
“Mmmm.” Just like that, the steel doors were back up. He glanced at the remaining pink liquid in his glass as if regarding a calculator printout. “Yes. That is refreshing.”
My dire case of awkward dissolved beneath a laugh. “‘Refreshing’? You want some cool jazz sounds to go with that, Mr. DJ?” I hooked a thumb at the beach. “We already have the soothing wave soundtrack.”
He stared back, openly perplexed—or so it appeared. Whatever the hell it was, he softened again—not a lot, just enough—to the point his gorgeous turned back into devastating.
Dammit. I needed his steel slabs back in place. I needed my walls back in place. Trouble was, I’d taken out half the nectar by myself already, so those barriers were half in ruins—and no part of my brain volunteered for clean-up. It was an even more hopeless cause as he angled his head down, his focus sharpening from blue fire into midnight smoke…curling into my senses with the same allure.
“You do not find the nectar refreshing?”
“I find it damn delicious,” I quipped. With the same snazzy speed, an idea hit. “Hey.” I peered up with new interest, grateful for the excuse of true curiosity. “Are there different kinds of nectar, like varietals of wine?”
“Of course.” Questions sparked across his face but he said nothing else.
“Hmmm.”
“Hmmm?”
I turned my gaze toward the sea. It was mostly dark, though the moon glow and starlight formed intriguing liquid shadows along the waves. “Just an interesting idea for the wedding. What about a nectar tasting menu for the wedding reception? You could pair it to Arcadian food specialties. It’d be cool, since you’re likely to have a number of world dignitaries and celebrities there, and most will be visiting the island for the first time.”
He still didn’t say anything, though I felt the force of his contemplation. When the weight of that passed and he still didn’t speak, I hazarded another look over.
The man was grinning at me like a loon.
A gorgeous loon, with the moonglow playing on his inky hair and a new, silvery light in his eyes…
And a force of concentration stabbing through me…
filling all the fibers of me…
even down there.
Especiallydown there.
