Sassy Ever After: Dragon Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Selena Kitt Page B

thought. “That would mean I’d have to eat crow.”
    “Oh?” Kai raised his eyebrows.
    “Barb,” she reminded him. “I’m going to have to hear ‘I told you so’ forever.”
    “Well, I can leave,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Then you can keep your pride—”
    “No way.” Jules threw her arms around his neck, pressing kisses all over his cheek. “I’ll eat crow forever as long as I have you.”
    “You have me,” he assured her, his arms going around her, tight. She couldn’t breathe for a minute, he held her so hard.
    “Do I?”
    He nodded slowly, his eyes serious. “More than you could ever know.”
    “For weeks, I’ve been afraid to breathe,” she confessed. “I guess I was afraid I was going to scare you away.”
    “I know the feeling.” He chuckled, shaking his head.
    “But now…” She pulled in a breath and let it out slowly. “I feel newborn, somehow… like I just took a breath for the first time. Before you… there was nothing. I don’t know how else to explain it…”
    “I know.” He nodded again and when she looked into his eyes, she saw he did know. Somehow, he did. “Jules, I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t had a lover in a very long time.”
    “It didn’t show.” She grinned.
    “I don’t mean I haven’t had sex.” He gave a low laugh. “I mean… I haven’t had… this.”
    He pulled her hand from where it was resting on his shoulder and pressed his palm to hers. It still amazed her, how tiny she was compared to him. And she wasn’t a small girl. He twined their fingers together, palm to palm, and then leaned in to kiss her.
    “What is this?” she whispered when they parted, almost afraid to ask the question. “Us… what are we doing?”
    “I don’t know about you, but I’m…” He took a deep breath, swallowing before he answered “Falling. Hard. Really fucking hard.”
    “I love you, Kai.”
    The words bubbled up before she could think about them, before she could judge whether it was the right time, whether or not she should wait for him to say it first. None of those things mattered, not anymore. This was Kai, and with him, she didn’t have to play the same silly dating games she did with other men. This man was hers, was somehow meant just for her, although she couldn’t have articulated or explained it.
    For a moment, he didn’t speak at all, and she was afraid. Then he leaned in to kiss her, soft and slow, putting everything he felt into it, and she took it all in. When they parted, she knew. He didn’t have to say it—and she would have been utterly satisfied if she never heard the words—but he did anyway, and her heart soared.
    “Oh God, I love you so much, Jules.” His eyes closed for a minute as he drew her hand against his chest, close to his heart. She felt it beating, strong and steady. “It scares me how much.”
    His confession cracked her open completely. She’d felt the same, for weeks. They’d spent so much time together—at first, out of necessity, as the planning came together for the tournament, and then, later, simply because it seemed so natural—it had grown harder and harder to deny how she felt about him.
    Okay, at first, it had been a matter of pride. She didn’t want to admit Barb was right. Then, as her feelings had grown stronger for him, she’d started being a little afraid of their intensity. How could she feel so much, so fast, for a man she hardly knew?
    But she did. And she couldn’t deny it anymore.
    “Don’t be scared.” She rubbed her hand against his chest, over his heart. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
    A sharp look of pain flickered in his eyes and Jules knew he’d been hurt by some woman in the past. He talked about it briefly, early on, but hadn’t spoken of it again. She didn’t know what had happened, or why, but she wanted him to know she wasn’t going to do that to him. Jules would never hurt this man, not if she could help it.
    “You know so much