Temptation's Kiss by Michelle Zink Read Free Book Online

her to face him. “Now tell me, damnit.”
    “I can’t have children, okay?” The tears spilled over, streaming down her cheeks. “I can never, ever have children. I would never be able to give you sons or daughters. Would never be able to give you the life you deserve.”
    He looked confused. “You can’t … Wait a minute. Are you telling me you think I wouldn’t want you because you can’t have children ? This is the twenty-first century. When I tell you I want you by my side, I don’t mean as some kind of breeder, for fuck’s sake.”
    She looked away. “It would be half a life.”
    “Lily …” He put his hand on her chin, gently forcing her to look at him. “As far as I’m concerned, my brother can have a whole bushel full of children to further the family name.” He crushed her to him, his voice so fierce she couldn’t deny the truth in his words. “I want you. And if I thought I was the man you really needed—the man you deserve—well, nothing would ever come between us.”
    She tried to make sense of what he was saying. After hearing her deepest, darkest secret, was he really saying he didn’t deserve her ?
    “What are you talking about?”
    He sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll never be the man who’s home for dinner every night at six. I’d have to leave you in the middle of the night. I’d have to risk leaving you alone—not just for a day or a week or a month, but forever if something happened to me. And we all know it can.” He shook his head. “You don’t deserve that. You deserve a man who can be by your side every day. Who can sit next to you on the couch and read at night. Who can help you do the dishes after dinner and grow old with you.”
    She looked up at him, surprised to feel a smile tugging at her lips. “So we don’t deserve each other? Is that what we’re saying?”
    He chuckled, rubbing a hand across his face. “I guess so.”
    She looked into his eyes. “I love you, Kane. I think I’ve loved you for a long time. And after all of this, well … it kind of sounds like no one else will have either of us.”
    He threw his head back and laughed, the sound like warm syrup in her veins. He twined his hands across the small of her back, pulling her closer.
    “I’m not saying I agree, but I’m thinking maybe we should give it a try.”
    “So you’re saying you deserve me now?” she teased.
    He smiled. “I’m saying if you’re willing to give me the benefit of the doubt, I’m feeling just selfish enough to take advantage of you.”
    “Take advantage of me, huh?” She stood on tiptoe, pressing her body to his. “I think I like the sound of that.”

Michelle Zink

    Michelle Zink is the critically acclaimed author of the Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy (Little Brown Books for Young Readers) and A Temptation of Angels (Penguin/Dial). Her books are published in over thirty countries and translated in over twenty languages. The Shadowguard novella trilogy is her first adult work.
    Visit www.michellezink.com