When Sparks Fly (24 page)

*

I’m standing in the front of the church as the vows are being exchanged and I haven’t heard a single word because my eyes keep being pulled to the dark haired beauty in the tenth row.

Angel is dressed in a violet dress that makes her gray eyes pop. Her olive skin is glowing and my hands twitch to feel its softness. I’m watching with rapt attention as she stares at Ezra and Tenley with a sweet smile on her lips. A tear falls and she swipes it away, and then her eyes slowly move to mine. Without a single word being said, she tells me a million years of things. I’m breathless, staring into her eyes, drowning. More tears fall and she doesn’t wipe them away. Avery looks at me then at her sister seated beside her, she leans in to whisper something in her ear and Angel pulls her lip between her teeth, nodding her head. My eyes fall to her lips and she releases it, smiling—all knowing. My lips burn; they ache when I see the kiss shared between Ezra and Tenley. I imagine my lips on Angel in a scenario much like this. I imagine what would take place after a kiss.

“Would you like to dance?” I ask her at the reception. Her eyes lift and she smiles, giving me her hand.

I inhale the scent of her skin—Jasmine and Vanilla. It’s intoxicating and I get buzzed instantly.

“I’m glad you came. Is it weird?” I ask.

She leans back and laughs. “Yeah, I kind of thought it would be, but no. Everything happens for a reason, I believe. He’s happy now,” she says and turns to look at Ezra twirling Tenley while she laughs.

“And you? Are you happy now?” I ask, pulling her just a little bit closer to me.

Her eyes meet mine, searching. “I have a feeling that I will be.”

I smile as she lays her head onto my shoulder as we dance. I move her hair and my fingertips just barely feel the skin on her back. I smile when I see her feather tattoo, the one visible in her profile photo as Raven. “You look beautiful, Angel,” I tell her.

She doesn’t say anything, but when I look down at her, she’s smiling, which makes me smile, too. I kiss the top of her head and my heart begins to beat triple time when her hand grips my suit coat, as she gets just a bit closer to me. Her body against mine like this is driving me mad and I want to do many things to her, make up for lost time. As if she can read my mind, her head lifts, her eyes melting into mine.

“Kane?” she breathes my name.

“Angel?” I breathe back.

This is the first time we’ve seen one another in what feels like a lifetime. I watch her chest rise and fall as her hand touches the buttons on my shirt at the same time my fingers dance along the skin at the nape of her neck. She shuts her eyes and breathes. I stare. Hypnotized by her. Wanting her. Needing her.

The look in her eyes when she opens them sets me on fire. Her fingers fall from my chest and she steps back looking at them, struggling to decide something. Then she reaches for my hand and gray locks with blue as we search one another. A gentle tug on my hand and I’m following her.

We’re outside, the stars in the night sky twinkling wishes I hope come true. She pulls me until we’re away from the plantation and into the gazebo that is lit up by clear lights. Private and beautiful.

She turns around and my eyebrow lifts as I wait. A slow, seductive grin tugs at her lips as she moves into me. Her hands glide up my chest and to my jaw at the same time my own wrap around her back and pull her flush against me making her softly gasp. I reach behind the nape of her neck and the smile she gives me is the ending to my resolve.

Our lips touch, just for a moment. Pausing without movement as we catch our breath. Her tongue tastes me and I groan, and then I taste her in return. When her mouth parts in invitation, I fall into her heaven—my Angel.

We kiss for what feels like hours and yet it’s not enough. “Come with me,” I tell her.

“Where?” she asks breathlessly.

“Trust me,” I say. I watch her reluctance dissolve into willingness.

She’s in my SUV and I’m having a hard time watching the road because her dress has a slit and her left thigh is visible. Skin I ache to touch, to taste. Her gaze tracks mine and she grins as she looks out the window, away from me. “Where are we going?” she asks.

“My condo,” I admit and hold my breath.

Just as I expected, her head whips around. “Your what?”

I ignore her question and turn down the drive that will bring us to my private condo on the beach, my island of concentration. The cave I want us to get lost in. Her eyes are burning a hole in my face, but then she takes it in and all I hear is her heavy breathing.

The condo sits off the ground and I pull into the driveway that is underneath and kill the engine, turning to look at her. “I live here.”

She gasps and her eyes widen. “You what? Live here? What do you mean?”

I smile nervously. “I mean… I live here, Angel. I’ve been living here for some time now.”

“But… I’m confused. I thought… some time? Like how long is some time?” she asks, tripping over her words.

“Long enough. Do you want to come inside?” I hold my breath.

She nods her head and I tell her to stay put so I can open her door for her. I can’t read her expression and it makes me nervous as fuck. As we walk up the stairs, I hear her mutter, “He lives here?” like the thought is absurd. I grin and open the door for her to come inside.

“Welcome to my home,” I whisper, stepping aside so she can enter. I’m beginning to sweat because I’m so solicitous and her face is a mask, giving away nothing.

“You really live here?” She turns to me.

“Yes, I really live here. I realized that writing can happen anywhere, but home is only where the heart is.” I step close to her, touching her face, “And my heart has always been with you, Angel.”

Her eyes become glassy and I’m afraid right now because I can’t gauge her reaction and it’s causing panic to rise.
Is she happy? Kind of pissed? Both?
I don’t know. I can’t tell, but then…

“Is that a line in a book?” she says with a laugh.

A smile tugs at my lips, the relief rippling away in waves. “Can I make you a drink?” I ask.

She shakes her head and something dark dances in her eyes.

“No?” I ask for clarification.

“No,” she breathes. “Show me where you write,” she says instead, glancing around the space of my living room and kitchen.

It’s an open floor blank with neutrals and whites blending together. It’s bare right now of decorations, just furniture and essentials.

I nod my head and walk her to my bedroom where my desk sits. “This is where I write.”

“In your bedroom?” She lifts her brow cutely as though she thinks this is a lie and I’m making a move.

“It’s quiet.”

She sees my computer, walks over to it, touches the keyboard completely lost in thought. She then moves to my bed and stares with yearning. I watch with anxious energy as she sits down on my bed. I find it hard to breathe, suddenly feeling hot seeing her there. Angel is on my bed, and fuck, she looks sexy as sin there. The things I want…

“Do you ever write here? On your bed?” Her voice. Damn. It’s breathy and enticing.

“Yes.”

“Did you talk to Raven here?” Her head tilts.

“Yes.”

“Me?” Her eyes lock with mine.

I smile and move closer to her, her gaze trailing up and down. “You are Raven,” I answer.

“Did you fall for her?” she asks.

I stop, tilting my head, wondering why she’s asking me this. “Did you fall for K. West?”

Her hand touches her heart. “You are K. West.”

“That I am.”

I’m standing right in front of her now, looking down at her on my bed, tempting me in that violet, sexy-as-hell dress… and I’m wishing she would stop talking about Raven.

“You flirted with her,” she says with a smile.

“You flirted with him.”

“That I did,” she bites her lip.

“What were you thinking when you were her?” I ask, removing my coat because I’m too hot.

She begins to breath heavy. “That your head was a dangerous place for me to be.”

“And?” I remove the tie. She watches.

“But it was the only place that I wanted to be and I was possessed. I knew I should stop it, but I…”

“Created a lie.” I whisper with my eyes narrowed. “You tricked me into sharing with you.”

She stands and looks up to me, our chests almost touching. “I did. I’m sorry. I just wanted… I felt… I…” she struggles and casts her eyes down.

I tilt her face up. “Don’t hide. I forgive you. Do you forgive me?”

Her lip quivers, her eyes climbing inside of me. “Yes.”

My hand lifts and touches her cheek. She turns into my touch, her eyes shutting. “No more pretending, Angel.”

“I want you to kiss me again, Kane.” Her eyes flutter open and we stare at one another.

My lips move down to hers and in an instant we’re ignited. It’s not a soft kiss like earlier tonight. No, this kiss is starved. We attack one another. A frenzy of lust overcomes us.

“God, I’ve missed this,” she says climbing up my body.

“Hmm…” I grab her legs and glide my hands up her skin, tasting the spot on her neck that has been driving me wild all evening. Her head falls back as she moans and gives me more.

“I don’t know how far to take this, Angel,” I say, resting my head onto her chest, trying to catch my breath.

She pauses and I lift my head to search her eyes for the answer. She reaches to her side and slowly lowers the zipper on her dress. I watch without moving. The dress pools at her feet and standing before me in black silk perfection is my Angel.

“God, you’re beautiful.”

“I fell in love with you when I was seventeen and my heart was broken. I fell in love with your heart when you made me laugh at a time when all I wanted to do was cry. I fell in love with your lips on the night in your room when you kissed me for the first time. I was consumed and fell in love with your body on the night that you touched me for the first time. I fell in love with your mind so many times that I lost count. I was yours then and I’m yours now, Kane. I never fell out of love with you. Not even when my heart wanted nothing to do with love.”

“I’m so sorry, Angel,” I say feeling like I’ve tortured this girl. Who does this to the person they love? She’s standing here before me, offering her body to me, her heart and I’ve hurt her so much.

“I know. Remember the makeup sex between Micah and Aria?” She grins.

“Yes, I wrote them.”

“Yes, you did. And let’s not pretend that you didn’t think of me when Aria chose him over Landon. Let’s not act like you didn’t picture my body on your bed with you.”

“You’re crazy,” I breathe.

“Am I wrong?” she asks.

I let my gaze travel her body and shake my head. “No, I picture your body in every scene I write.”

“And what do you do with me, Kane? Show me.”

Damn.

I sigh, my chest heavy and then I’m on her. Her moan becomes my pulse. I’m hovering over her body on my bed, ready to show her everything, but I need her to know that this is real… this isn’t fiction.

“We’re not Micah and Aria.” I make her look at me. “Fuck! We’re not K. West and Raven. This is you and me. Angel, do you hear me? This is me wanting you, needing you. Me. Just me. Do you understand?”

I gaze into her gray eyes, sucking in a breath as her hands touch my lips. “Yes. You and me. Kane, it’s always been you and me.”

I make love to her, cherishing her body the way I should have her heart all those years ago.

‡
Chapter Seven

Angel