Page 14 of Knight’s Seduction

“This is for you,” he said, still grinning.

She took it from him. “Why?”

“I’ll be honest, I have no idea how to win over a female, but I thought flowers would be a good start.”

“Female? You make me sound like an animal on one of those wildlife shows. And what do you mean win me over?” What was this? She didn’t think he wanted anything to do with her, and now this?

“Sorry, I’m not that great with, uh…women. I don’t usually…I don’t date much.”

No, but she’d bet he did other things. Like take them to his bed before moving on to the next one. That’s what bad boys did, right? Charming, sexy, leather jacket-wearing guys who had the power to talk…kiss, a woman right out of her underwear, then once they got what they wanted, never look back.

Kryos isn’t like that.

How would she know? She didn’t know him. He was a guy who came into the diner, a guy who had walked her to her car and kissed her when she’d asked for it. She’d made it easy for him, an easy mark. He probably assumed she did that kind of thing a lot.

Meredith took a step back. “I need to get home.” She rushed around him and headed down the side street to the back of the diner. The sound of his boots thudding against the pavement was right behind her.

“Can we talk? Just for a few minutes?” he asked as he closed the distance between them.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” She unlocked her car. If she could just get away from him, from his overwhelming, confusing presence, she could think clearly again.

“I kissed you, Meredith, and you kissed me back. There’s something between us, something special, and I’d like to…explore it,” he said, taking her hand in a warm, firm grip.

“I’m sure you would.” She pulled her hand free. “But it was a…mistake. I should never have run after you that night. I wasn’t thinking straight. I’m not…I’m not like that.” Her attraction to him wasn’t real. It was just cold feet. Nerves about taking the next step with David, that’s all.

“No,” he bit out. “You’re wrong. That night you followed your instincts, and they led you to me. How can that be wrong?”

Everything inside her wanted to move closer to him, which was why she needed to stay way. He made her feel off-balance. He made her want to do reckless things. She had to get her head out of the clouds and back on solid ground. He was not for her. Spending any more time with this man would destroy her future with David. The future her parents wanted for her. She couldn’t lose sight of that.

“It was wrong…because I’m going to marry David.”

He stilled, his broad shoulders seeming to grow wider with every one of his ragged breaths. “You said you weren’t engaged?”

“We’re not, yet. But he’s spoken to my father, and he’s taking me out tomorrow night. He’s going to ask me…and I’m going to accept.”

“You were pressed up against me, your mouth under mine just two nights ago. You don’t want him, and we both know it.”

She was shaking as she yanked the car door open. “It was a mistake,” she repeated.

Kryos took another step closer, but not close enough to touch her, and confused idiot that she was, she wished he would. She wanted him to close that gap between them, tug her into his arms, and kiss her again. To take the choice from her, so she didn’t have to pretend that she didn’t want him as much as she did.

That innocent-looking curl on his forehead moved as he shook his head. “You wanted my hands on you.” His jaw tightened and his eyes grew darker. “I can still taste you, can still feel an imprint of your curves against me…those tight, sweet little nipples against my chest.” Another step closer. “And I can still smell the slick heat of your pussy, desperate for what you know only I can give you.”

If she wasn’t holding on to her car door, her knees would have given out. God, those words made it clear he was no angel, despite the perfect beauty of his face—they were rough and hungry and said in a way that told her that it wasn’t the first time he’d spoken like that.

A deep ache throbbed almost brutally between her thighs, and she had to bite back a whimper. What was he doing to her? She had to get away. She needed him to stay away.

“I-I don’t know who you think I am, but that’s not what I…I don’t jump into bed with men I hardly know—”

His eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to make you think… I’m not—”

“No, that’s exactly what you meant, and I can assure you I’m not the woman you’re looking for. You’re handsome and I enjoyed our kiss, but that doesn’t mean I owe you more, that you can come here and talk to me the way you just did. What happened two nights ago will never ever happen again.” She was shaking, because even though she shouldn’t like it, his rough, crude words and what they promised had made her tingle all over. Had made her want to be the woman he thought she was, free and adventurous. The kind of woman who took pleasure and made no apologies.

But she couldn’t be that woman. She would never be that woman.

“Meredith, hang on—”

“You need to stop coming into the diner, Kryos. I’ll be gone in a couple of weeks, but until then, I want you to stay away from me.”