Tainted Kiss (Tainted Knights 1)

My hands had stayed to myself, which had been a small feat in itself. I ached to touch her, to skim my fingers across her cheek, rub my thumb over her lips, trace the shape of her nose. Once I memorized her face, I would move lower, find the pulse at the base of her neck and see if it matched the same tempo as my own. From there, I would learn the softness of each one of her curves before tasting every inch of her skin.

That fantasy had kept playing through my head all through six episodes of Supernatural and while I had watched her move around the kitchen, making the most delicious smelling flatbread. And as we’d eaten dinner and then savored dessert, I couldn’t make them stop. It was making my body throb. She wasn’t helping.

The way she would sneak glances at me from under those thick, dark lashes. How she would let her hair fall into her face and peek at me through the strands. It fucked with my head and my body to the point that I knew, if I didn’t leave soon, I was going to ask if I could stay the night.

Every fiber of my soul was screaming not to rush her. That whatever was going on between us was special and I needed to take things slow with her. But fucking hell, I was leaving in a week, and if I didn’t stake a claim soon, she might not be free to be with me when I got back.

Santana stood, taking my dessert dish with her as she moved toward the sink. I watched her walk away, loving the way her hips swayed so femininely. She did it so naturally that I didn’t think she realized she was doing it. It was sexy as hell.

The ringing of my cell reluctantly pulled my eyes away from her ass and the beginnings of a fantasy I knew would leave me aching for the rest of the night. Pulling the phone out of my pocket, I saw that it was Kassa and groaned.

Santana glanced at me over her shoulder, and I grimaced as I lifted the phone to my ear.

“What’s up?”

“Hey,” her sweet voice greeted me. “So, Travis wanted me to remind you that he needs to see you all tomorrow.”

I scrubbed a hand across my face. I had completely forgotten about Travis and promising to tell the others. Luckily, he had reminded Kassa, although I wasn’t so sure if that was a good thing or not. If he was hanging around Kas and kept it up, I wasn’t sure how well this tour was going to go. Gray would eventually go off the deep end and beat our new road manager’s ass. I was pretty sure Emmie wouldn’t be overly happy with any of us if that happened.

“Where are we meeting?”

“I told him our apartment would work. If you could be here by two tomorrow afternoon, that would work.”

“Yeah, Kassa. I’ll see you then.”

“Great. Drive safely, please. I know how you are with that new car. Which you still haven’t let me drive yet, by the way.” I could hear the pout in her tone.

I laughed. “Yeah, and you won’t ever get to. I like my head where it is, and not chopped off, floating in the ocean. Gray would kill me if I let you drive my car, and Jace would help him hide the body.”

“Aw, you’re no fun.”

Santana was moving around the kitchen, straightening up the rest of the mess we had made, trying to pretend she wasn’t listening to me.

“I gotta go, Kas. See you later.”

“Bye.”

I pocketed my phone and stood, taking the dishes from Santana’s hands and carrying them to the sink myself. Taking off my watch, I started running water to do the dishes.

From behind me, Santana had gone completely silent, so I glanced over my shoulder to see if she was okay.

She just stood in the middle of the kitchen, her mouth slightly agape as she watched me add dish soap to the water.

“What?” I asked, feeling the temperature of the water to make sure it wasn’t too hot.

“You.”

I turned to face her while the sink filled. “Me, what?”

Pink filled her cheeks, but there was pleasure shining at me from those incredible dark chocolate eyes. “You just surprise me at every turn. I … like it.”

Without looking away from her, I turned the water off and crossed the few steps that separated us. Her hair had fallen over her shoulder again, and I shifted it over her back, only realizing I had done it after the silkiness had fallen through my fingers. I moved my hand from her shoulder to cup the back of her neck, my thumb seeking out the pulse at the base of her throat. Her heart didn’t match the tempo of my own.

It was twice as fast.

Loving that I could affect her so easily, I wrapped my free arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

Sparks seemed to fly between our bodies, zapping us both with the energy that bounced off us. It wasn’t painful; it was exhilarating. I wanted to see just how powerful the charge would be if our lips touched.