The Twisted Kiss: Doomsyear, Book 1 Read Online Free Page B

would keep him from punching him.
    He glanced at his watch—eight o’clock. Kylie was his.
    She glanced at him, then at the clock above the bar. A look of resignation came over her face, and Christian vowed to turn it to lust the first moment she let him. She said her good-byes to Carolyn and picked her way through the thronged bar to his side.
    “Glad to see you’re so excited about having dinner with me.” He kept his tone dry.
    “As I told you before—”
    “You’re not interested in a relationship right now. Yes, all of Sweet Rock knows that by now.” He accompanied that small bit of criticism with a cocky smile.
    Glaring, she pushed past him and bolted for the door of the bar.
    He exited into the night air, breathing in the late Minnesota autumn. There was a chill bite to the air, a hint of winter on its way. Like most weres, he relished the colder temperatures—all the better for running in fur.
    She hugged herself against the chill and gazed down Oak Street. This end of town was just starting to come alive, the nocturnal shops and restaurants opening at twilight. They needed to walk two blocks down, to Hessian’s, a restaurant located between vamp and were territory, but mostly frequented by weres.
    Kylie tipped her face up to the sky, where the moon was ripening toward full and stars shimmered all around the silver almost-orb. His gaze traced her jawline and the slender column of her throat, his body tightening and his cock twitching in his jeans. He gritted his teeth, clamping down on the impulse to draw her into his arms and slide his mouth over hers, then follow the line of her throat with his tongue. The closer to the full moon, the harder it was to control his desires.
    She drew a deep breath. Apparently he was doing a good job of masking his thoughts, since she smiled at him. “The council pointed out to me this morning that if I reject you and Michael, I could be rejecting my soul mates. The timing of this is bad for me, yet passing up my one true chance at love would be a pity.” She studied him closely. “Do you think you’re really my soul mate?”
    “I know you’re mine, Kylie. Known that for years.” He managed to mostly disguise the growl in his voice. “That’s all I know.”
    Her eyes widened a little and her lips parted. The slight shiver he imagined he saw may have been wishful thinking.
    Before he could do something to scare her off, he turned and started walking down the street. “I’m hungry, aren’t you?” He was hungry, but not for food. His body hummed with awareness of her and he wasn’t sure they’d even make it to the restaurant.
    Be civilized, Christian. Don’t scare her off. She’s human.
    She fell into step beside him, the heat of her body radiating out and warming his side. The faint scent of her perfume teased his nose and made his balls tighten. There weren’t many free women in his pack, but he’d slept with almost all the ones who were free. Still, he’d never had any woman affect him the way Kylie did. That’s how he knew the council was right the moment they’d made the proclamation.
    They walked in silence, Kylie looking up into the night sky and admiring the stars, Christian warring with his impulse to pull her into the dark and kiss her senseless. His hands fisted at his sides. He was losing that fight.
    Darkness closed around them as they entered a quiet stretch. Huge oak trees stood sentinel at equal intervals on either side of the sidewalk, streetlamps glowing above them and casting dappled shadows on the concrete walkway.
    Kylie glanced at him. “So, how—”
    He turned, took her by the waist and dragged her up against his chest, his other hand finding her nape. In the dim light, he saw her surprised expression and cursed his inability to resist her…then he kissed her.
    Her body stiffened against his, then relaxed. She kissed him back with surprising intensity, her lips sliding over his. His tongue found the seam of her mouth and pushed