The round boyishness of his face had been smoothed away in the last three years and replaced with hard lines. His jaw was cut, cheekbones broad and high. There was a slight hook in his nose, as if it had been broken and not set correctly. His brows formed graceful arches over his eyes and his lips appeared fuller than before. A traitorous thought seeped in: Were his lips as firm as they looked? Those lips weren’t pulled into a smile, and Dez had always smiled for me. They were parted now, and as I dragged my gaze to his, I realized he wasn’t the boy I’d fallen in love with.
Dez stared back at me, pupils slightly dilated and starting to stretch vertically. Shock splashed over his striking face, and I couldn’t understand why he was so surprised. I hadn’t changed in the three years he’d been gone. Well, I wasn’t as naive as I’d been then and my breasts were most definitely bigger. So were my hips.
His gaze dipped for a fraction of a second, and my eyes narrowed. Irritation pricked at my skin. Was he seriously standing here checking me out? But my annoyance warred with a sense of heightened awareness that I was unfamiliar with. Warmth flooded my veins as his gaze met mine. Electricity sparked in the air between us as our stares locked.
Dez moved so quickly that I didn’t even have a chance to prepare myself. One second he was a foot from me, and the next, his hand cupped the back of my head, his fingers threading through my hair.
My heart leaped into my throat when I realized what he was going to do. I opened my mouth to protest, but it was too late.
Dez kissed me.
Chapter Three
Astonishment poured into me, shorting out my senses. Part of me was too taken aback to do anything but stand there. My fist burned to connect with his jaw. How dare he kiss me after all of this? Without even saying hello, for crying out loud? But the feather-light brush of his lips stunned me.
The roar of many voices swirled through the atrium, deafening me to everything except the sound of my own heartbeat. In the back of my head, I knew that was also a part of the tradition. A kiss to seal the claim before the entire clan, but the last time I checked, I hadn’t accepted crap. That snapped me back to reality.
Dez tightened his hold around the back of my head and snaked an arm around my waist as I started to pull away. The pressure on my lips increased when he pulled me against him. Every thought scattered. His chest was rock hard and broad against mine, his arm a steel band even I couldn’t break. Heat pooled low in my stomach at the profound sound rumbling up his chest. My pulse thrummed when the kiss deepened. Somehow my hands ended up on his shoulders and I wasn’t pushing him away.
My first kiss...and it was everything I’d imagined it to be, with the exception of there being an audience for it. But it was hard to acknowledge them or their cheering and whistles. Flames scorched my already heated skin. Dez’s lips moved against mine, working the tight seam open. I gasped, wondering where in the world he’d learned to kiss like that. Jealousy flared like a beacon on the heels of that thought. Okay. I didn’t want to know how he’d learned.
Someone cleared his throat loudly. “As thrilled as I am that you are happy to see my daughter, I do believe you can stop now.”
Dez slowly lifted his mouth, breathing heavily as he tipped his forehead against mine. The quick glimpse of his eyes showed the pupils dilated, and the irises were a deeper blue, like a pair of shimmery lapis lazuli. He closed them, exhaling raggedly. “Jasmine.”
At the sound of his deep voice, so different than I remembered, I broke his hold and jerked away. Stepping back, I placed my hands against my flaming cheeks and then lowered them, folding my arms over my breasts. Confusion swelled in the wake of conflicting emotions. Happiness. Fury. Excitement. A whole lot of lust. And then another heaping of anger. Added to the fact that his reappearance was so sudden, I didn’t know what to make of it all.
Dez’s eyes never left my face. Not for one second since we parted. The stare was as intense as the sensation of being pressed against him, as searing as his kiss. The door to the front lawn loomed beyond him and I had an urge to make a run for it.
I was slow to pick up on the chatter around me, but it was my father’s words that cleared my thoughts of the haze.
“So it’s settled,” he said, causing my jaw to hit the floor. “The ceremony will take—”
“Wait!” I spun toward my father. “Nothing is settled.”
“Excuse me?” Dez said, speaking two words for the first time.
I ignored him. “Nothing is settled. I have not accepted the claim.”
A hush fell over the gathering clan. Needless to say, this was about to get a whole lot more awkward.
My father’s brows furrowed, and I was acutely aware of Dez moving to stand beside me. “It didn’t look like you were going to say no a few seconds ago.”
Dez touched my arm. “Jas—”
A sick feeling bloomed in my stomach at the use of his old nickname for me. Stepping away from him, I met his stare. “No. You do not get to call me that.” I kept my voice low, but I knew we were being overheard. The clan, mostly male, was worse than old ladies when it came to gossip and drama. “You do not get to walk back into my life and—”
“Okay,” my dad said diplomatically. “I think you two need to talk.”
I tipped my chin up. “I’m not sure there’s anything to talk about.”
Dez held my stare for a moment and then looked away, a muscle thrumming along his jaw.
“Jasmine, the pair of you need to come to terms. You have seven days to make a decision. No reason to make a hasty choice.”
“My decision isn’t—”
“We’ll talk,” Dez interrupted, grabbing hold of my arm in a firm but gentle grip. “And we won’t need the full seven days.”
I glared up at him. I was tall, but Dez towered over me now. “Oh, it’s so good to see that your arrogance hasn’t changed.”
Dez’s lips tipped up in one corner. “I think you’ll find that a lot hasn’t changed.”
“I don’t think I really care.” I tried to pull away, but he held on, his grin going up a notch. “Seriously.”
His eyes glittered with challenge and something else I couldn’t put a name to. “We’ll see about that.”
Finding privacy inside a houseful of people who obviously had nothing better to do with their time than eavesdrop proved difficult. We could’ve gone upstairs to my room or the one that used to be his, but that seemed too intimate and would’ve been too much for me right then. I was already off kilter enough.
We ended up outside, in the garden along the back of the mansion. The moon glinted off the stone walls built around the peaceful patch of land. On any given night, you could find a couple sneaking off among the thorny rosebushes and juniper trees. Not that anyone needed to sneak. Wardens were almost always in the way of making babies, but perhaps it was the appeal of doing something seemingly naughty. I honestly didn’t know.
“You look beautiful.”
I stared at the roses. At night, their petals looked like black velvet. “Do you really think that’s going to get you anywhere?”
“I’m not trying to get anywhere.” His voice was closer, and a tingle of awareness skimmed down my spine. “It’s the truth. You were always something to look at, but damn, you’re beautiful, Jasmine.”
My heart jumped at his words no matter how badly I wanted to remain unaffected. A cool breeze stirred my hair and caused the hem of the stupid gown to float around my calves.
“Look at me,” he cajoled, tone gentle, even a little bit teasing.