You'll Either Be My Wife, Or My Widow
Every breath Kira took was filled with his scent.
Austyn lifted her chin with one finger so she was forced to look up at him.
Kira closed her eyes and played possum.
'Kira.' Austyn's voice was hoarse. 'I've missed you.'
She was almost undone by those simple words.
Her chest heaved.
She had to bite her lower lip to hold back her tears.
'I have not. She spat out the words in as frosty a voice as she could manage.
'I don't believe you.'
How could she not miss him?
Kira's shoulders shook. 'Why would I miss someone who disappears without a word? Someone who treats me like plaything? You spend time with me when you feel like it, leave when the mood strikes you.'
She raised her voice. 'You don't call, you don't text. You come and go as you please. What am I? Your call girl? Even a prostitute gets a call if the customer wants to cancel! I don't want to have anything more to do with you. I hate y-' Austyn didn't let her finish.
He sealed her lips with his.
His lips were dry and chapped, the result of dehydration and spending forty hours cooped up inside a pressurised cabin. Hers were soft and delectable.
He tasted her and clung to her, like a desert wanderer who finally caught sight of an oasis.
Tears fell from her eyes and wetted both their cheeks.
She pushed at his chest.
Her hand pressed on his wound.
He grunted but refused to let go.
He would not have let go of her for the world.
Kira pummelled him with her fists but he acted like he barely felt the impact.
She hated how much stronger he was compared to her.
She couldn't run away, couldn't draw in breath, couldn't shout at him and vent all her frustration of the past ten days.
Her arms were getting tired.
She let them fall to her sides.
Her acquiescence emboldened him.
Austyn tasted every inch of her mouth with his tongue, eager for more.
It had been so long since he held her in his arms, he could not get enough of her.
His kiss took on the ravenous and urgent intensity of a man starved.
And Kira was his manna.Exclusive content from .
Her lips grew numb.
She was starting to see stars in front of her eyes.
Austyn finally pulled back when her knees buckled.
He caught her waist in time and drew her into his arms.
Kira shoved him back.
She'd barely raised her right arm before Austyn seized her wrist.
'You're not going to slap me again, are you?' He was panting as he spoke.
Kira wished she had eight arms like Shiva.
She could slap him with two and punch him with the other six.
'Let me ask again. Kira, I've missed you. Did you miss me?'
Kira wanted to clap back with something snarky, like 'What kind of stupid question is that?'
Of course she missed him.
He was all she could think of for every minute of the past ten days.
Your Either Be My Wife Or My Widow
She lost sleep over him.
She lost her appetite because of him.
She tortured herself with all the wild scenarios.
One minute, he was living it up with his old flame on a yacht.
The next, he was lying in a pool of blood with a drunk driver speeding away from the scene.
Austyn McCarthy, I did not miss you.' Kira pulled herself up to her full height.
The top of her head barely reached his shoulders.
She had to raise her head to look him in the eye.
'I did not miss you, not even for a day. And I did not invite you to come in here. You're trespassing. If you do not leave, I'm going to call the police.'
She stepped sideways out of his embrace. 'From now on, stay away from me and don't you dare touch me!'
The lust in Austyn's eyes gradually subsided.
He seemed to have just realised how serious she was.
He was prepared for her anger.
Maybe she would raise her voice, call him names, throw stuff, or punch him in the arm, or bite him.
But she would calm down once she let it all out.
Not this time, though.
Her voice was flat.
She wasn't shouting.