Kellan sniffed, his jaw flexing hard, along with his fist. Knowing someone was going to start hitting someone else, I grabbed Kellan's face and made him look at me. "A girl at school kissed me! Okay?"

Kellan blinked, his expression relaxing. "A girl?" Twisting his brows, he searched my face. "Really?"

Sighing, I shrugged. "Yes, a girl. Denny and I haven't done anything wrong. You stepped into a situation that was easy to take out of context." Stroking his cheek as I watched his face relax, I murmured, "But I didn't kiss her back. I haven't kissed anyone...but you."

His dark blue eyes searched mine for what felt like an eternity, then he gave me a small, crooked smile. "You got kissed by a girl, and I missed it?"

Shaking my head, I thumped his chest with my hand. Clearing his throat, Denny took the small moment of levity to make his escape. "I'll let you two work this out."

Maybe remembering that Denny was here, Kellan shifted his attention back to him. "What are you doing here?" he asked, slightly calmer than before.

Denny sighed, shaking his head. "Look, I don't want to be involved with this. I'm here for work, nothing more, I told her to tell you way back in February that I was here, but she was scared to..." He sighed, looking uncomfortable. "But that's between the two of you and I don't want to be here to watch you discuss it."

Kellan straightened, then nodded at Denny, apparently respecting his honesty. Denny inched by him, never breaking eye contact. Once clear of him, Denny looked back at me. "Thanks for listening, Kiera. I'll call you tomorrow."

He glanced back up at Kellan, then twisted to get his jacket and quietly left the apartment. Exhaling the knot of tension, grateful that at least another blowout hadn't happened, I waited for Kellan to twist back around and face me. When he did, his face was tight again.

"He'll call you tomorrow? What? Are you guys...buddies now?"

Shaking my head, knowing I'd messed up, once again, I trailed my hand down his chest. His stomach tightened as my fingers drifted over his abs, but his face showed nothing but irritation. "Yes, we are...and I'm sorry I didn't tell you he was here." I shrugged. "I didn't know how you'd react."

Bringing his hands to his hips, his jaw tightened. "You didn't know how I'd react, or how you'd react?"

Tilting his head, his finger came out to touch my chest. "Maybe you thought you'd start back up again." He leaned into me, his face furious again, and his lips so close it was tantalizing. "Maybe you were hoping for it to start back up again?"

I tried to push him back from me, but only ended up pushing myself down onto the couch. Kellan stood before me, seething in anger as he stared down at me. Even though I hated the situation as I looked up at him, he'd been gone for so long that I was momentarily blown away by how attractive he was, especially when he was angry.

Licking my lips, I murmured, "Nothing happened, Kellan, and I didn't want anything to happen. Denny and I are just friends...I promise."

He studied my reaction, then leaned down and pulled me back to my feet. Every part of my body pressed against him when I was standing again. After so many months apart, it made me ache to touch him again, to be with him, to think about making love to him. I knew that it was a weird thing to feel when he was so angry at me, but I couldn't help feeling it. His hand firmly holding my backside didn't help either. I was nearly panting at him as he stared down at me.

"Don't lie to me, Kiera," he slowly enunciated, his lips coming down to hover right in front of mine.

My heart racing, I shook my head. "I'm not, Kellan...I swear. I never touched him like that. I gave him a hug because he was sad, because his girlfriend got stuck back in Australia, but there's never been more than friendship between us while you've been gone...I promise."

I leaned towards him while I spoke, my body unconsciously pressing into his. My hands drifted to his chest and I could feel his heart racing too. He lowered his head to mine. "Kiera...don't, don't lie to me...please."

I groaned as his other hand shifted to my waist, his fingers on my bottom squeezing. "I'm not, Kellan..." My fingers heading up to thread in his hair, I whimpered into his parted lips. "Please...believe me..."

His lips parted more as he breathed on me. His hand slowly slid up my chest and he closed his eyes and groaned when his palm ran over my breast. I hissed in a breath, clutching him tight. "Kellan, please...take me..."

He groaned, crashing his lips the short distance down to mine. I moaned between our mouths as his tongue slid into mine, possessively claiming me. I loved it, and tightened my fingers in his hair. His hands shifted to grab my thighs, lifting me up to carry me. I clenched my legs around his waist. Our breaths frantic, our mouths furious, he turned us around and started walking us to my room.

I couldn't care about anything but feeling more of the hardness that was pressed against my abdomen. I tried to rub against it while we walked, and Kellan whimpered, leaning against the wall as he stumbled in his step. "God, I want you so bad..."

I mumbled something back that was along the same lines, then found his mouth again. I'd missed his mouth for weeks, I couldn't miss another second.

He set me down and slammed my bedroom door in almost one movement. Then our frantic kissing shifted to frantic stripping. I ripped his jacket off, he ripped my shirt off. My bra was practically torn in half as he jerked it off of me, his mouth instantly suckling. It sent a jolt straight through me and I cried out, fiddling with my pants. Pausing, he jerked those off, then worked on the rest of his clothes.

I was drenched with need by the time he was pushing me onto the bed. Our mouths still attacking each other, he moved over the top of me. Breathing heavy, he paused his body against my entrance. Writhing beneath him, I cried out for him to do it, for him to take me. Gritting his jaw, he plunged into me, taking me hard, like he really did want to claim me.

Pushing hard and fast against each other, we were both cli**xing in no time. Legs clamped tight against him, I shook as the explosion hit me. He shook as his body poured into mine. Slightly sweaty, we rode out the intensity, moaning after each level passed through us.

When it was over, he sagged against me. I panted, my hand covering my eyes as I recovered. Slowly pulling out, he shifted to my side. "I'm sorry, that's not how I wanted our first time after so long to be..."

I twisted to look at him as he moved to his back and stared at the ceiling. After a long moment of silence, I asked, "Do you believe me? About Denny?"

He sniffed, and didn't look at me. But then sighing, he finally looked down and met my eye. "Yeah, I believe you." He didn't look happy at believing me, but at least he believed me. I nodded, then leaned over to kiss him.

We lightly kissed and when I broke away, I whispered, "I'm glad you're here. I've missed you..."

He smiled, warmth in it for the first time since his surprise appearance. "I've missed you, too...if you couldn't tell." He laughed a little and indicated his nak*d body with his hand.

I bit my lip as I examined the expanse of flesh before me, then gave him another quick kiss. I'm gonna brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I'll be right back." I sat up, then looked back at him. "You won't leave, right?"

He shook his head. "I'll be here, Kiera."

I smiled, quickly stood and rummaged through my drawer to pull on pajamas, then dashed out of the room. I felt Kellan's eyes on me as I left the room. Feeling dazed, nervous, euphoric and guilty, I hurried to finish up in the bathroom.

After brushing my teeth, I leaned against the counter and took a long, calming breath. That had been too close to being something awful. And even though Kellan had said he was fine with it, that he believed me, he didn't really seem that way. He seemed...hurt. And I'd never wanted to hurt him again. That promise had even been one of my New Year's resolutions.

But I'd done it. By not telling him the truth from the beginning, by concealing a fact that I knew would bother him, I'd hurt him again. And just when I was starting to believe I didn't suck.

Closing my eyes, I pushed out the vision of his face when he'd caught me. He'd been so mad... And even though he'd said he was surprised, he hadn't really looked surprised, like he knew I'd cheat on him, eventually.

My eyes popped back open when I heard a door slam. My head snapped around when I registered that it was my bedroom door that had been viciously shut. Throwing open the bathroom door, I stepped out into the hall. Kellan's back met my vision as he walked...no, stormed away from me.

"Kellan? What are you doing?"

He ignored me. The only reaction he gave that he'd even heard me was his hands at his sides squeezing into fists. Completely dressed again, he headed to my bag and started rummaging inside it. Pulling his hand out, I saw the flash of his car keys in them. Shoving the keys in his jacket pocket, he started heading for the front door. He was leaving? The very thought got my feet moving and I scampered down the hallway.

I managed to get to the door first, standing in front of it so he couldn't escape me, not without an explanation. "Are you leaving?"

He stood in front of me, staring right through me as his jaw tightened. I think if I'd been anyone else, he'd have grabbed me and thrown me to the floor, physically removing me from his path. His eyes were narrow, his breath heavy. He was pissed...again.

Leaning back into the door, I shook my head at his complete lack of a response to my question. "Why? Because of Denny? I already told you nothing-"

His eyes snapped up to mine, cutting me off as effectively as shouting. In a tight, cold voice, he sneered, "Nothing? You must think I'm an idiot." Narrowing his eyes even more, he shook his head. "I may not be as 'brilliant' as Denny, but I'm not stupid, Kiera."

He put his hand on my arm and harshly tugged me. "Now, get out of my way!"

I resisted his pull and shook my head again. "Not until you talk to me. Why are you so pissed?"

His mouth dropped open and he took a step back. "Are you f**king kidding me?" Frustrated, he took another step back, bringing his hands up to run them through his hair.

Feeling confident that maybe he'd yell at me instead of just making a run for it, I slightly moved away from the door. "Okay, I should have told you about Denny, I know that, but we didn't do anything!"

Kellan closed his eyes, his body shaking a little as pure anger flooded through him. Keeping them rigidly squeezed tight, he slowly said, "I need to get away from you. Please move, so I don't do something really stupid."

Then I did something really stupid. I grabbed his face, making him look at me. Touching him forced him over what slim edge he had been holding on his control. He knocked my hands away and pushed my shoulders back, until I bumped into the door. Seething, he attempted to dial down his temper as he stared at me.

Ignoring that his fingers were digging into my arms, I shook my head. "No, talk to me!"

Clamping his jaw shut, he shook his head and took a step back. That brought my temper to the surface. He was hiding something from me. He was keeping secrets from me. How dare he get mad at me for not mentioning Denny, when he was outright lying to me! At least my secret hadn't involved cheating. Kellan's, I was sure, did.