Willow’s fingers slid down Declan’s chest as he bent over her. Anticipation built within her as she ran her fingers down the thick wall of his chest, over his abs, and down to the edge of his shirt. She lifted the ends, and her fingers touched on the soft skin pulled taut over his etched abs.
Just when she thought he was going to settle her on the ground and ease the fire he stoked so easily to life within her, he grasped her hands and pulled them out from under his shirt. She didn’t realize he’d moved away from her until she found herself sitting on the ground, alone.
Cold air rushed in to replace his warmth, and she opened her eyes to discover him ten feet away. The chill that slid through her had nothing to do with the brisk spring air as he prowled over to stand near a tree. His entire body vibrated as if he were a volcano building toward eruption.
Feeling like an idiot, she settled her hands in her lap, but her mortification over being abruptly tossed aside vanished in the wake of his obvious distress. What was so distressing about kissing her?
She didn’t know the answer, but his shoulders were so tensed they almost touched his ears, and he hunched in a way that made him look as if he expected her to yell at him. She had no intention of doing that.
Rising, Willow brushed dirt and leaves from her ass before straightening her clothes. She couldn’t deny her disappointment or feeling of rejection, but she straightened her shoulders before lifting her head to look at him again.
The hunger in his gaze and the red in his eyes caused her to freeze. He wasn’t rejecting her. That much was evident in the way his eyes drank in her body before settling on her face again.
No, whatever caused him to bolt away from her like he was a bomb and she was the spark that would blow him sky-high had nothing to do with a lack of desire on his part. She suspected that whatever drove him away had more to do with him than her.
She tried to ask what was wrong, but the words wouldn’t come out. Despite the fact his tongue was just in her mouth, they weren’t close enough for her to start asking intrusive questions. He was entitled to his privacy, even if the not knowing made her crazy.
“Is it my breath?” she teased in the hopes of getting things back to normal. “It must be bad enough to make morning breath smell enticing.”
Declan gave her a small smile as he struggled to regain his restraint over himself. He’d been so close to throwing away centuries of discipline by stripping her bare and burying himself inside her.
Then she’d started pulling off his shirt, and reality returned. He couldn’t take the chance of losing control and unleashing what he’d trapped inside him. If he did, he would end up like his father. Except he’d become more of a monster.
There were things she could never see and some things he never wanted her to learn about him. His past was a festering pit of evil and depravity, and hers was one of love and happiness. The things he’d done….
He pushed the memory away as he brought himself back to the present. She was joking about bad breath to make him feel better when he should be apologizing to her.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
His voice was so gruff she barely recognized it. When he tugged at the ends of his hair, he pulled so hard, she winced for him. She had no idea how he could do that to himself, yet he didn’t seem to feel the pain he inflicted on himself.
Willow ached to go to him and comfort him but suspected she was the cause of his suffering even if she didn’t understand why or how she was causing him such distress. He dipped a hand inside his jacket and removed a lollipop.
Her eyebrows drew together as he methodically unwrapped the candy and put it in his mouth as he stared over her shoulder and into the woods. She recalled seeing him do this before he went to Mexico, but she had no idea why a purebred vampire would eat anything human.
She could understand a turned vamp missing some of the foods they once ate; her mom still liked to drink hot chocolate, and many vamps drank alcohol, but for the most part, she’d never seen a vamp eat human food.
She had so many questions about this man, and she suspected he wouldn’t tell her anything. She’d never met anyone as infuriating or intriguing in her life. Nothing about things progressing between them was a good idea, but she found herself not caring as much as she once did.
“There’s no reason to be sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t complaining.”
His eyes flicked toward her before darting away again. They weren’t red anymore, but they were darker than normal, and she sensed he still wasn’t entirely in control. The crunch of the lollipop was as loud as a gunshot in the woods, and she flinched at the sound.
Declan pulled the stick from his mouth and used the wrapper to cover the end of it before tucking it back into his pocket and pulling out another one. From the scent, it was another banana, and he welcomed the revolting flavor on his tongue; it helped to erase Willow’s taste. Despite thinking her breath was atrocious, she’d tasted sweet, and he wanted a whole lot more of her.
“What’s with the lollipops?” she asked to divert their attention from what passed between them and the awkwardness that followed.
The corners of his lips quirked into a smile as he twirled the stick between them. “I’m curious to see how many licks it takes to get to the center.”
She couldn’t have heard him right. “What?”
“It was a commercial. But then, it was probably long before your time.”
“I know the commercial; it’s run for years. Why do you want to know the answer?”
He shrugged. “There are so many things in this world that I can’t answer; I might as well answer the things I can.”
For some reason, she didn’t buy his explanation, but she let it go. They’d had enough awkwardness between them tonight without creating more, and the way they were going, they might never see civilization again.
She couldn’t think of much worse than being trapped in the woods with someone she couldn’t look at or talk to without blushing. They weren’t to that point yet, but if they kept going this way, they would get there.
“We should go,” she said when the first rays of the sun poked through the trees.
Declan would far prefer to draw her back into his arms and finish what they started, but it was better this way.
“Yes, we should,” he said.