Dark Stranger Immortal (The Children of the Gods #3)(30)

This is my woman!

Holding Syssi in his arms, he took two steps to the right and out of the Guardians’ line of sight. With a big grin on his beautiful face, he pressed her against the wall next to the doors.

Syssi giggled. Kian looked kind of conceited—like a warrior returning victorious from battle and claiming his reward by ravishing his woman.

Heck, yeah, he is welcome to ravish me anytime.

Wrapping her legs around him, she clung to him, and holding on like a monkey, peppered his neck and his chin with urgent kisses before attacking his lips.

With his hands freed from holding her up, Kian brought his palm to her cheek, caressing it tenderly until she relinquished his mouth to look into his eyes.

They were glowing, and the ferocity she saw in them would’ve been scary if not for his tender caress.

“You’re mine,” he growled, a shadow of trepidation crossing his eyes.

Did he think she would object? Wasn’t it obvious?

Then it dawned on her. The sweet man wasn’t sure and needed to hear her acquiesce.

Pulling her courage around her, Syssi gave him what he seemed so desperate for. “I’m yours,” she whispered, her voice shaky with her own fear of baring her soul. “But are you mine, Kian?”

“Body and soul, my love.” Kian’s eyes shone with tender emotion, their fierceness softened by his feelings.

“What are you saying?” Syssi whispered, her throat tight as she struggled to hold back the emotional storm threatening to erupt.

“I’m saying that I love you, my sweet Syssi.” He sighed. “I had it all planned… wanted to tell you tonight over a romantic dinner… But instead, I had to blurt it out here, in the drab corridor of our basement, with you pushed against the wall. I’m such a fucking moron.” He dipped his head and touched his forehead to hers.

“I will not allow you to talk this way about the man I love. You hear me?” Syssi pretended to scold him while her heart was overflowing with feeling. Stroking his silky hair with both hands, she waited until he chuckled softly.

“I don’t need romantic gestures, Kian, or fancy dinners to charm me into loving you.” She cupped his cheeks with her palms and pulled his head up so he could see the truth in her eyes. “Those are nice, and I appreciate the thought and the effort, but I don’t need them. This… raw and true, in its naked, unadorned essence… this feels right. Something perfectly timed and staged, but lacking in ferocity just can’t compare. I love that you feel so strongly about me that you couldn’t hold it inside for a moment longer. You couldn’t have done it better if you’d tried.”

Kian smiled, his whole face brightening. “You must truly love me to think so.” He shook his head in disbelief.

“You really love me…” he repeated in a whisper.

Didn’t he know? Or was he just happy to hear her say it?

“Of course I love you, silly boy. Didn’t I show you? Couldn’t you tell?”

“Yes, but I had to be sure. Under this guise of confidence, I’m just as insecure as the next guy.” He chuckled, pretending to exhale a relieved breath and wipe some imaginary sweat from his forehead.

“I love you… I love you… I love you…” Syssi laughed, planting sloppy kisses all over his face between one I-love-you and the next. “Now let me go before Amanda blows a gasket. She’s been waiting in the limo this whole time. We can continue later over that romantic dinner you promised me…”

“Okay.” Kian let her slide down his body, making sure she didn’t miss the bulge in his pants on her way down. Then held on, not ready to release her yet. “You’re mine, don’t forget it…” He kissed her until her toes curled and she forgot all about Amanda.





1 9

S Y S S I

“Y ou very pretty lady, still no husband?” the tiny Vietnamese asked in heavily accented English, her old face scrunched in a disapproving grimace.

Sitting on her stool at Amanda’s feet and applying bright red nail polish to her toes, she somehow managed a regally condescending attitude from her low perch.

The small nail salon wasn’t at all what Syssi had been expecting. Instead of an elegant and snobby Beverly Hills spa, Amanda had taken her to this everywoman’s place, smirking at Syssi’s surprised face.

“They are hilarious,” Amanda said in a hushed voice. “It’s like watching a comedy show while having your nails done. I love it here. The women are all from the same family and they entertain themselves by poking fun at each other and at the customers. They are shameless, especially when they think no one understands what they are saying…”

“Where did you learn Vietnamese?” Syssi whispered back. “And what the heck for?”

“I know a little, just enough to converse. Or eavesdrop. I pick up languages easily…” Amanda trailed off.

“She so pretty, no man good enough, huh?” The younger woman buffing Amanda’s nails arched her eyebrow like a scolding schoolmistress, then winked at the old crone at Amanda’s feet.

“Maybe I don’t like men?” Amanda taunted.

The woman’s jaw dropped. And with her brown eyes peeling wide in mock shock, she snorted, saying something in Vietnamese that had all the others guffaw. A fast exchange and more laughter followed.