“All right. Night.” Saxon waved. “Thanks for the waffles, Stella-roo.” His hand shot out and he snapped the head off of a carnation and tucked it behind his ear. “Catch you all on the flip side.”
Wyatt watched him walk away. “That is one odd duck.”
“I wonder what he was like as a kid.”
“He still is a kid.” But Wyatt didn’t want to talk about Saxon. As the keyboardist crossed the street, he turned back to Stella. “I swear to you, I have no idea how I got that necklace.”
Her lips pursed, but she nodded. “I believe you. Last night was insane. I’m not sure we’ll ever really know what happened.”
“I guess if this is the worst of it, we’re lucky.”
She nodded in agreement. “Though I’m not sure how lucky Katie is feeling. Have you talked to Cort? How is she doing?”
Wyatt was embarrassed to realize he’d been so wrapped up in his own concerns, he hadn’t actually asked how Katie was doing. Waking up a vampire was kind of a big deal. “He didn’t really say. But he didn’t sound as excited as I thought he would about not being married.”
“He likes her. He has for a while. I’ve seen him watch her.”
Wyatt went for it. Staring down at her, he said tellingly, “Like I watch you?”
Stella sucked in a small breath, the flowers bouncing below her chin as her hand shook. “Do you watch me?”
He nodded, slowly. “So much that I can’t believe you haven’t noticed.”
“Maybe I was afraid to notice.”
“Do I scare you? Do you want me to back off?” He would if she asked him to. He wouldn’t like it, but he respected Stella too much to push her.
A car drove past them, the bass pounding. Stella stared at it, contemplative. “I don’t understand why you like me.”
Relief allowed him to stop clenching his fists. If that was all she was worried about, he could work with that. He moved a step closer to her. “Are you kidding me? What’s not to like? You’re smart, compassionate, beautiful. You care so deeply about the people in your life. I think you’re amazing.”
“I don’t feel amazing. I feel uptight.”
“It’s because you weren’t getting any,” he teased. “I know it wasn’t doing good things for me either.”
She gave a short laugh. “Maybe. But I’ve never been into casual sex.”
“Me either.” He’d thought the “I love you” had made that pretty obvious. “I can show you again how not casual I am about it if you’d like.”
“Saxon told me I should have told you what I was feeling. That it wasn’t fair of me to run away like that. He’s right.”
Nerves drew taut again. This could work in his favor or it could go horribly wrong. She had yet to really define her feelings for him. And she hadn’t answered his suggestion to get it on again. This wasn’t a big deal. Just the rest of his eternal life.
Total torture.
“You did what you needed to do.” He wasn’t going to criticize her emotions. It had been bad timing. “Johnny’s death may have opened the door for us to do what we did, but it also made it just about impossible for you to deal with it. I get that.”
“You are probably the most solid, stable, kind man I’ve ever known.”
That was something. A little like what you’d say about a pet, but at least it was positive. The street was quiet, oddly so, no one coming in or out of the diner. The cobblestones were dark and damp from having been recently hosed down, and hanging plants twirled lazily to his left from a balcony. He didn’t respond, wanting more than that. Wanting not just compliments, but her heart.
“I’ve used my brother as a crutch to hold on to the past, you know. Saxon reminded me of that—that no matter how it’s been, we cling to pieces of our mortal selves. Johnny’s death reminded me that you can’t fight change, and sometimes you shouldn’t.” She gave him a smile. “Being afraid of love is just stupid. Why would I deny myself the chance to be in a relationship with someone as wonderful as you?”
She thought he was wonderful. She had said “love.” Wyatt felt pleasure build up inside him, warming his limbs, his heart. This was good.
“You tell me,” he told her, brushing her hair back off her cheeks. He would never get tired of the sensation of her skin beneath his fingertips, of staring into her deep green eyes, luminous pools of desire.
“I wouldn’t. Because while I may be a lot of things, I’m not stupid, and I’m not usually illogical. And being with you is actually very logical.”
Wyatt drew his finger across her lip, teasing the flesh, before pressing the pad of his thumb into her fang. “You’re going to have to give me a little more than that, Stella. I don’t want to be your logical choice. I want to be the choice you can’t resist.”
Maybe it was stupid to push. Maybe he should just take what he could get. But he would be miserable that way, when he wanted everything. He would be insecure and jealous and would ruin it before it could ever grow into something permanent. He knew that. So he asked for everything and held his breath waiting for her response.
She leaned into his touch, her eyes half-closed, her lips parted deliciously. With her fang, she pricked his thumb and sucked his blood gently. “Oh, I can’t resist you. I love you.”
That was more than he could have ever hoped for and he figured he could pretty much die a happy vampire now. “Stella, I love you, too.”
He drew his finger back and replaced the probing touch with his mouth, his lips a soft press onto her while he processed his emotions. His. She was his. It was almost impossible to comprehend. But he could hear it in her sigh. Taste it on her tongue that quested for entrance before he could even get his bearings. He could feel it in the grip of her fingers in his shoulder. He could smell her arousal. For him.
Their kiss turned from gentle and appreciative to carnal in a heartbeat.
Before, he had held back just a little, unsure of her reception. Now there was no dissembling on either of their parts. They wanted each other and they wanted each other now. Her hot little fingers threaded into his hair and her tongue tangled with his as he crushed her against his chest. The floral packaging crinkled in protest, but he didn’t care. He wanted to feel her, every inch of her, and he pulled her hips in tight against his throbbing erection.