Where the Snow Falls (Seasons of Betrayal #2)(6)

So familiar.

So good.

She didn’t give a f*ck what her father thought. Things that fit together as perfectly as she and Kaz did weren’t wrong.

All too soon, Kaz was pulling away. She pouted, and he chuckled at her crestfallen expression before pressing another quick kiss to her lips. Violet shivered when one of his hands came up to cup her chin in his palm. She felt his thumb slide across her lower lip and then over her cheek.

“I guess that answers that, no?”

Violet let out a shaky breath. “Answers what?”

“Things,” he said vaguely.

She didn't have the first clue of what he was going on about, but at that moment, she was too caught up with the fact he was there with her to care about the rest.

There.

… with her.

In her place.

Violet’s eyes widened, and she instinctively tried to take a step back from Kaz. He held her in place, refusing to let her move farther away from him.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re here.”

Kaz smiled, lax and easy. “We’ve established that, yes?”

God, why did he have to sound so damn good when she needed to think?

“No,” Violet said, her fingers unfurling from the back of his jacket. “Here, in my place.”

“Locks aren’t really an issue for me, Violet.”

“Good to know.”

“And you haven’t called,” he added quieter.

Violet swallowed back the nervousness beginning to form. “I couldn’t.”

Kaz waved a hand high. “There’s no one here right now.”

“So?”

“Would you have called me tonight?”

Violet found his gray gaze and held it, answering honestly. “No.”

“I was beginning to think you didn’t want to call me. And then you come in here, and kiss me like that, so maybe it’s not a matter of not wanting to, hmm?”

“I couldn’t call. Someone is always around.”

“But not right now,” he reminded her.

“There’s someone outside. Tony—one of my father’s men.”

Kaz’s lip curled up at the corner. “Muscle, which doesn’t mean a whole lot.”

“It means that I can’t get out of here without him being right behind me. It means you couldn’t come here if I did call.”

“I don’t—”

“And that’s what I would have wanted,” Violet interrupted, hoping he understood. “I wanted to go—or you to be here, and I couldn’t have that, so I was waiting.”

Kaz sighed. “I missed you. I was tired of waiting.”

Violet didn't bother to contain her pleased smile. “Missed me, huh?”

He stroked her lips and cheek again with the pad of his thumb. “More than you know, sweetheart.”

“And what now?”

She couldn’t even hide the sudden dryness in her voice. It had been far too long since she had been close to Kaz, never mind having him touch her. It made her feel a little fuzzy in the head. Stupid, even. She didn’t care—she wanted more.

“Right now, whatever you want,” Kaz told her softly.

Violet’s answer was instant and immediate. “You. I want you.”

Kaz flashed her another one of his sexy smiles. “I’ve been working on that.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. You know we’re going to have to leave for a while, yes?”

Violet nodded, not bothered in the slightest. She had figured that out long ago. No way would she be able to have Kaz and stay in New York, too. Her father just wasn’t going to allow that, and she wasn't willing to let Kaz go.

Alberto had promised to kill Kaz if he came near Violet again after that final encounter four months earlier. She refused to risk Kaz like that again, but she wasn’t going to walk away from him, either.

That left her with one option.

To leave.

Violet wasn't even sure if anything left in New York was worth staying for now.

“Where have you been the last few days?” Violet asked.

“Around,” he replied.

“I don’t remember you being this vague before jail, Kaz.”

Kaz laughed. “I’ve been tying up loose ends and keeping an eye on things that matter.”

Violet wondered … “Things like me?”

“Things like you, krasivaya.”

Fisting the front of his jacket, she tipped her head up and caught the underside of his jaw with a kiss, feeling his smile form as she did so. The coarse facial hair covering his cheeks and jaw tickled her skin.

“You need to shave,” she said.

“You sound like my sister. Don’t do that.”

“But you do need—”

“Don’t,” he said firmer, cocking a brow.

Violet let him go with a laugh, and Kaz finally released her from his hold. Despite how much she just wanted to bring him closer again, she took the bit of space to breathe and think clearly once more.

She wanted to ask him a million and one things. Stuff about his family and what had been going on since he was put away. His time in lockup and all the nonsense that went with it. But mostly, she just wanted to know how in the hell they were going to get themselves out of their current situation.