Page 6 of Knight’s Seduction

You don’t want him to go.

No, she guessed she didn’t, which was why she was hiding back here. The way Kryos made her feel terrified her, made her want things she never had before. She had no idea what to do with the swirling, unrelenting need building inside her when he was near. It was there constantly, pushing her to do and say things she never would have even contemplated before.

It scared the heck out of her.

“What the hell are you doing, Merri? Get out there, your shift isn’t over yet,” Frank barked at her, finally back from his break.

She inwardly rolled her eyes. Hypocrite. “I’m going. I’m going.”

Taking a deep, fortifying breath, she walked out. As soon as she hit the floor, Kryos’s head swiveled on his strong neck, his melted-chocolate gaze, surrounded by those thick, black lashes, despite his golden hair, coming straight to her.

And the wind was knocked right out of her lungs.

Her step faltered, and she paused to grab the coffee pot, using the precious seconds to fight her suddenly weak knees and the fluttering in her belly. It should be illegal to be that gorgeous. Gripping the handle tightly, she made her way around the dining room, topping off people’s coffee mugs.

Kryos’s gaze followed her every step of the way. She hadn’t looked at him again, but she didn’t need to, she felt it. And that unwavering stare caused all kinds of tingles across her skin.

She took her time getting to his table, leaving him until last because there was no getting the flutters in her belly under control.

“Coffee?” she asked when she finally reached him.

“Hey, Meredith,” he said, deep and gritty, and slid his mug toward her.

Plastering a smile on her face, she refilled his cup and made herself look at him. “Did you want to order something else?”

His gaze locked on hers, mesmerizing, looking so deep she squirmed.

“Are you avoiding me?”

Had he really just come right out and asked her that? She huffed out a laugh, face heating. “Of course not. Why would I do that?”

He sat back, and his gaze did not waver, searching hers, then he let out a rough breath and dragged a hand down his face. “I make you uncomfortable, don’t I?”

She bit her lip. Yes, yes, he did. But not in the way he obviously meant. “Yes…no, I uh…”

He cursed softly. “I’m sorry, Meredith. Truly I am. I’ve been coming here every night and…yeah, you must think I’m…” He shook his head and stood. “I’ll leave. The last thing I’d ever want is to scare you or make you uncomfortable.”

Meredith stood back as he stepped forward, despite everything in her crying out for him to stay. She didn’t understand it, but the strength of her reaction had her grabbing on to the back of a chair.

Her mouth opened, then closed as he put money on the table. Offering her a pained smile that was so impossibly sweet and gorgeous that the sight had her heart clenching, he motioned to the door.

“Again, I’m sorry if I did anything, if I—” He cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you alone from now on.” He gave her one last look.

Then he walked out.

Meredith stared after him, her heart racing, blood pumping, mind spinning.

She didn’t want him to go.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Before she knew what she was doing, she was moving to the door and yanking it open. She ran out onto the street, frantically searching the crowd, but he was gone. He’d vanished.

Still, she pushed through people, searching desperately. Panic crawled up her throat that she didn’t understand. Maybe it was because her life was about to change forever? In a week’s time, she would be engaged to a man she didn’t love.

Or maybe it was because she’d stopped reaching for happiness, for pleasure, for anything for herself a long time ago because every time she did, she’d been brutally denied.

The pain, the constant rejection meant she’d worked at shutting those feelings down to protect herself. She took what she could get. What others chose to give her.