Blood of Destruction (Cursed Fae of Orphydice Manor Book 1.5)

He doesn’t budge except for his heartbeat, which is pounding furiously below my fingers. One of his hands slides from my side to cover my hand over his heartbeat, trapping it there.

“And what . . .” His tone is so soaked in restrained passion, I’m not sure I’d be able to make out his words if it weren’t for my keen hearing. “What, pray tell, would it take for a man to prove himself to you?”

My own heart is pounding, and I don’t like that. I had forgotten I even had a heart. Began to think I was born without one. “A true man would know the answer to that.”

Using the new opening by my side, I slide to freedom, away from the counter, and a few inches further away from Lateef. But he still has my hand.

“I’m not sure, Miss Zahra, that you’ll approve of how I know to do so.”

I shake myself away from staring at the hand that won’t obey me and break free and turn my gaze back to unfocused. Because I’m tired of pretending to be less than I am. Just as I’m sure Lateef is tired of keeping himself in the tidy box that he prepared for himself. I meet his fiery gaze for a daring second. “Do it.”

Lateef drops his hold over my hand, and I realize with horror that it no longer has any excuse to remain there. Yet it does remain. Before I can make myself pull away, Lateef brings the disobedient appendage closer to me by swooping toward me. I can barely track his movements with my poor eyesight, but one arm is wrapped possessively around my waist, and the other is clutching my jawline. That hand tips my face upward. Then his lips find mine.