The Krinar Eclipse, page 18
part #0 of Krinar World Series
Strong hands caught her by the waist and steered her back toward the table.
Normally she would have hated it if a man tried to steer her around like that, but when Seth took control, somehow it was like he was caring for her, spoiling her. What a strange and…wonderful thought. Maybe he wasn’t like Xander after all.
“Allow me,” Seth said, his eyelashes sliding down to half-mast in that purely male, bedroom way that sent her into a wild flash of arousal. She was sucked in by the seductive lure of his rich baritone voice.
Okay… This man seemed to have been created out of thin air from the fantasies of women around the world. That meant something about him had to be wrong. He had to be a womanizer or married or something. After all, what did they say about when something looked too good to be true?
The last thing she needed was to be in another relationship, but if she could have one night of fun with him, why not? There was something about him that promised long, sweaty nights and sweet, intimate mornings. Things she’d once longed for in a relationship and now feared. Because good-looking men couldn’t be trusted not to stray, and she couldn’t trust herself not to be the fool who got her heart broken again and again.
She sat down at the table and had the good fortune of watching him bend over a little to reach for a bottle of wine inside her fridge. Damn, those jeans fit his body just right. It made her thirsty just to look at him. He quickly found a bottle of shiraz and two glasses. He handed her one and sat down opposite her at the table.
“So, what are your plans if you’re just passing through?”
“I’m hoping to work for a bit and then head to Colorado, maybe settle down.”
Harper took a bite of her salad and watched him spear a piece of chicken on his fork and look at it in momentary concern before he ate it.
“Do you like it? Is it too dry?” She immediately felt like an idiot. She shouldn’t care if he didn’t like her cooking. She wasn’t lacking in self-confidence, at least not in general terms.
“It’s surprisingly good. I’m not usually a fan of grilled chicken, but this is fantastic.” Her shoulders lowered as she released the tension in them.
“Relax, Harper. I’m not going to bite,” he teased her.
She choked on a swallow of her wine. “What?”
He took another bite, watching her as he chewed and swallowed. “You look half-terrified of something. I’m not some secret food critic. I’m just a man.” He chuckled as if at some private joke.
“I’m not terrified of you,” she argued.
“Really?” He quirked a brow, still grinning at her.
“Really. I’m just not used to having guys over lately. I don’t even know why I invited you.”
The smile didn’t let up. “So you don’t do this for all your brothers’ new hires?”
“Not at all.” That was the thing that was bothering her. Even when she was dating, she preferred to spend the night at the man’s place, not hers. Her apartment, even though it was small, was her refuge. Her Fortress of Solitude. It was decorated with her favorite pictures of the London and Paris skylines and other places she feared she would never be able to see. There just wasn’t money to spend for a trip like that, and her savings always ended up going somewhere else. So her home was off-limits to the men she casually dated.
“You’re just sweet, that’s all,” he replied. “Sweet and brave. I saw you stand up to that man tonight. You weren’t scared of him at all, just pissed, but you barely showed it.”
“I could have handled him if I hadn’t been outnumbered. But I’m not an idiot.” She hated how frosty her tone sounded right now, but she was used to defending her actions because her brothers always assumed she couldn’t take care of herself.
“I never said you were.” He finished off his wine as though it were a glass of water. He was not even buzzed. If she tried to keep up with him, she’d be swaying on her feet in a matter of minutes.
He finished his salad and put his plate in the sink after cleaning it. Something that simple should not have turned her on, but damn, it totally did. Then he took the bottle of wine and put it back in the fridge.
“I can clean up,” she said quietly. “You should get settled. If you have a car, you can park it outside the garage tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” He started to leave but paused as he noticed the artwork on her wall. He approached one black-and-white photo in particular. It was of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris from before the fire that had ravaged it in 2019. The fire had ruined the nine-hundred-year-old structure, devastating the world with its loss. The art and relics inside had been rescued, but some of the priceless stained-glass windows were gone forever.
He reached up to touch the towers, the only parts that hadn’t collapsed in the raging inferno. “This was taken before the fire, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. My parents went to Paris for their honeymoon. Mom loved the cathedral. She and my dad went to Mass there.” Harper’s voice thickened as she joined him in front of the framed print.
Pictures were the only way she felt she could relate to the world without headaches. Words were hard to read, which meant she relied heavily on audiobooks to read. But photos truly were worth a thousand words. When she looked at the Notre-Dame, she saw the past, she saw her parents, she saw beauty, faith, and devotion, not necessarily one of religion but to culture. And so much of it was gone, carried away on the winds over the Seine.
“If the Krinar had been there, they could have saved it.”
“The Krinar would have tried to save it?” That surprised her.
“Yes, they could have put out much of the flames. The roof was made of nine-hundred-year-old timber, and much of the pews and altars in the church interior were all made of wood. But they could have stopped it if they’d been there. They value human culture.” Seth’s gaze was solemn and distant in a way that stirred Harper’s heart. Whoever this man was, he had a connection to the cathedral on some level, the same way she did because of her parents.
“Were you ever there? Did you see it before the fire?” She didn’t stop herself as she reached out and put a hand on his arm.
A world-weary sigh escaped his lips. “I saw it a year before the fire. I never quite got over the reality that what I saw so clearly and looked as if it would last forever is gone.” He shook his head and turned toward her. “Thank you for dinner, Harper.” He changed the subject so abruptly that she was caught off guard when he leaned down and kissed her.
With a gentle brush of those soft, warm lips over hers, an electric pulse sparked between them. Harper reached up to curl her arms around his neck without thinking. His kiss was a force of nature—raw, sensual, demanding, yet coaxing as he assaulted her senses. Hints of leather and sandalwood mixed with a clean scent that reminded her of fresh laundry and rain. He tasted like the shiraz they’d shared, sweetening her tongue in response.
He groaned and lifted her up by her waist, carrying her to the kitchen counter, where he set her down, bringing her closer to his height. She parted her legs, and he stepped in between them, like an ancient dance they had done a thousand times before. Heat pooled in her belly as a wave of sensual fire carried her away with building pleasure. He threaded a hand in her hair and cupped the back of her head as he devoured her lips.
God, it felt like heaven to be kissed like this, and Seth was a master. She was consumed by him, the way his hands roamed reverently down her back to her hips, the way he caressed her hair as though she were precious to him, but his kiss was open-mouthed and raw, dirty in the best possible way. A girl couldn’t help but get turned on by this, so much so that it hurt. She whimpered against his lips, desperate in a way she hadn’t been in a long time, with a need born of a longing and hunger she’d never felt before now. All of her previous lovers paled in comparison to this man and how he made her feel.
“Bedroom, now,” she hissed and clawed at his back, wanting to drag him closer to her. He separated their bodies with a soft pop of their lips and cupped her face in his hands.
“You are tempting me in ways I’ve never been tempted before, but we can’t. Not tonight.” He licked his lips, and his eyelashes fanned as he blinked almost dazedly, staring intensely at her mouth. “But soon.” He whispered the words with such sensual promise that she trembled with excitement.
“Soon,” she echoed, still a little stunned that she had just tried to take him to bed when she barely knew him.
“I want to know you, all of you. Inside and out.” He brushed the pad of his thumb over her lips, and she closed her eyes, savoring his touch. It felt so good she almost cried. Had it really been that long since she had let a man touch her like this? With such intimacy? Not just to get her in bed? Not in the last couple of years, it seemed. The realization made her eyes fill with tears, and before she could stop herself, she was crying.
Seth wrapped his arms around her, and she burrowed against him. Despite the pain inside her, her thoughts were dancing drunkenly around her head. She had held on to so much hurt, so much loss for so many years. Not even her brothers knew what she’d been burying all this time. Yet this man holding her had broken down her defenses with one searing kiss.
“Hush…” He pressed his cheek against the crown of her hair. Then she was carried into her bedroom as though she weighed nothing at all. He set her down and turned to study her dresser.
“Pajamas?” he asked in a soothing voice.
She sniffled, hating how vulnerable she was in that moment, but the tears still flowed freely down her face, and she couldn’t make them stop. “Top drawer.”
He came over and handed her the pajamas, then pulled back her comforter and sheets. She got up and headed for the bathroom to change, but then she paused at the doorway.
“Please don’t go. It’s not about sex. I just…” I just want to be held. She thought it with such agonizing sorrow that it made her body burn with shame. This level of vulnerability was too much for her.
“I’ll stay,” he promised and settled back on her bed.
She rushed into the bathroom, changed, brushed her teeth, and wiped a cleansing cloth over her face before she came back into the bedroom. She hoped the puffiness around her eyes would go away soon. There was nothing worse than being near a gorgeous man and looking like crap.
Seth lay on his back now, still fully clothed. He nodded at the empty side of the bed in silent invitation. She came over on anxious tiptoes and climbed into bed, turning off her nightlight. Silence settled in the room. Her heart pounded as she turned toward him, and even though he lay on top of the covers on the other side of her bed, he cocooned her, as if he knew that was exactly what she wanted.
“Good night,” she whispered, the tears finally starting to dry upon her cheeks.
“Good night…Queenie.”
Ordinarily she never would have let anyone call her that. That belonged to her mother. But when he said it, it felt like a promise, a vow, an endearment, and a hundred other intimate things that made her chest tighten and hope blossom inside her.
Whoever you are, Seth, you’re already making me fall in love with you. And I swore I’d never do that again.
***
Sef lay awake long after Harper had fallen asleep, his mind racing and replaying that kiss over and over. Somehow, the human female had gotten even deeper under his skin than before. He was mere hours into this mission, and already he was losing control of himself. He knew he should contact Arus, perhaps have another guardian assigned to the Kings, but he didn’t want another Krinar male anywhere near Harper. The mere thought of it choked him with possessive fury.
Was this how his brother had felt about the president’s daughter Bianca? The woman he had betrayed his very position to woo? It was no wonder why they had come to blows over her. Sef had been ordered to remove her from Soren’s presence before they became too attached, but it had been too late. Once a Krinar had claimed a charl, they became highly territorial and fiercely possessive.
He was already feeling that way now about Harper. Damn it all.
He held her until just before dawn, then carefully and silently slipped out of her bed and wrote her a note, leaving it in view on the pillow next to her before he left. Instead of returning to his room, however, he pulled out a small device from his jeans that could unlock any door and used it to pass through the garage and into King’s Bar.
Sef took an hour placing small microdot cameras in key locations inside the bar and the storeroom. The storeroom was quite large, and ten chairs had been set up for a meeting. By the looks of things, the meeting had already been held. Sef took a mental note of the number for his next report. Ten rebels. Mason, Liam, and eight others, and they had connections to other rebel movements throughout the United States. He needed faces, though. The cameras would pick up their faces, and they could be run through the Krinar databases, which had access to all of the United States’ identification systems—not that the Americans were aware of that fact. They could run driver’s license photos, passports, thumbprints, criminal mug shots, all of it. Then they could track their past movements and see just how far this infestation had really spread.
He would figure out who the other rebels were and then determine how to proceed. Whatever he did, though, it would hurt Harper. At the very least, her brothers would be taken into Krinar custody for threat evaluation. If they were determined to be beyond rehabilitation, they would have their minds wiped and be reeducated to remove the danger they posed to his people. Such was the way of things.
Harper would lose her brothers, or at least lose the men she had known. They would become different people. It was a harsh punishment, but it was necessary to protect lives, both Krinar and human. The sooner the humans trusted the Krinar and accepted them and let them maintain control of certain things, the better off everyone would be.
Except for Harper. She would never forgive him. That shouldn’t have chilled the blood in his veins and made him dread the future, but it did.
Want to know what happens next with Harper and Seth? Grab your copy HERE!
About the Author
USA TODAY Bestselling Author Lauren Smith is an Oklahoma attorney by day, who pens adventurous and edgy romance stories by the light of her smart phone flashlight app. She knew she was destined to be a romance writer when she attempted to re-write the entire Titanic movie just to save Jack from drowning. Connecting with readers by writing emotionally moving, realistic and sexy romances no matter what time period is her passion. She’s won multiple awards in several romance subgenres including: New England Reader’s Choice Awards, Greater Detroit BookSeller’s Best Awards, and a Semi-Finalist award for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award.
To connect with Lauren, visit her at:
www.laurensmithbooks.com
lauren@Laurensmithbooks.com
Other Titles by Lauren Smith
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Ever After Series
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The Surrender Series
The Gilded Cuff
The Gilded Cage
The Gilded Chain
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The Krinar Eclipse by Lauren Smith
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Lauren Smith, The Krinar Eclipse
