“Have a feeling this one might sting.” Another smirk. “What do you mean?”
“What if we don’t like each other?” I asked. “If Guinevere’s right, ifyou’reright, and we are par animarum, that means the people we were in a past life liked one another. But we aren’t them anymore. We’ve lived different lives.”
“You can argue nature versus nurture for hours, but at the end of the day, nature does have an impact,” he said. “I can’t speak for both of us, but my instincts say not to let you go.”
My stomach flipped.
Prior to the last few hours, my instincts said to run before we got serious. But here, in this moment, gazing into those warm, inviting brown eyes…
“But if it doesn’t work out, so what?” he asked. “People get in and out of relationships every day. Regardless of some old, urban legend, no one’s taken our free will away. We don’t have to do anything we don’t want to. Worst case scenario, we’ll know if either of us is ever in danger and have a way to help. I’d like to think that winding up disliking one another doesn’t mean we’d let each other die when we could help.”
A faint laugh left me. I absently toyed with the hem of my sweater. “I’d like to think so too.”
Declan smiled. “So there. If we hate each other, we have a walkie talkie to get ahold of someone who’d be able to help us. And if we like each other…”
We have a partner for life.
His smile reached his eyes. “I know you want me to stay out of your head, and I’m gonna work on figuring out how, but it’d be nice to have a partner for life. Romantic or otherwise.”
My cheeks blushed. “Yeah, you definitely need to work on that.”
Still, I appreciated that he’d said ‘or otherwise.’
“Might have to fork over another fifteen hundred bucks to Guinevere, but I’ll try.”
I hadn’t intended to smile, but I felt one sneak up my cheeks. “Wonder when I’ll start hearing yours.”
“Guess we’ll see.” Another smirk. “But for what it’s worth, as weird as tonight was, I enjoyed dinner with you.”
“So did I,” I said. “Maybe we should do that again soon.”
“We’re gonna be busy Friday. But how’s Sunday sound?”
“Sunday sounds nice. I’m off work Mondays too, so if we’re out late…”
His smile stretched. “Are you off work tomorrow?”
“One to six.” Tingles that started on the bike sent a small tremble through my core, an involuntary clench quaking through me. “So if we were up late tonight—”
He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, holding my neck softly. His thumb brushed against my jaw, tugging my face in closer.
It wasn’t the same deep, fiery kiss we’d shared just before he railed me from behind in the library office. He was slower, more careful, more intense, and I wasn’t sure which one I liked more.
Both made my panties wet and my stomach flutter. With this one, though, my heart slowed. It wasn’t racing as his free hand slid from my knee up my skirt but throbbing softly in my ears.
I wanted more, but I liked the idea of enjoying the climb to euphoria instead of rushing to the finish. We were starting to learn one another’s bodies, and I wanted to take a moment to embrace every inch of his.
The soft indent in each of his abdominals beneath my fingertips. The coarse texture of his hands against my smooth skin. The rough feel of his lips as they opened on mine.
Unbuttoning his shirt, I lifted one knee over his and lowered myself to his lap, grinding slowly on his bulge as he cupped my ass.
“Damn it,” Declan murmured at my lips.
I kissed again, opening my eyes to meet his gaze. “What?”
He smirked. “No granny panties today.”
I thought my lacy black thong was sexy. And yes, I’d known I was seeing him today, so I dressed accordingly in case something like this happened. I’d probably have chafe burns in my ass crack for it, but I thought he’d appreciate my attempt at something a bit more risqué.