Page 90 of Dangerous Promises

"Well? Are you finished?" he asks, nostrils flaring.

I look him up and down and know I'm fighting a losing battle. Even if I wanted to stop myself, I never could. With him, I never have been.

"No," I answer honestly. "I'm nowhere close to finished."

He only gets a second to frown before I am rushing at him, breaking all the boundaries, tearing past all the silent lines we put in place, and pressing my lips to his. Time stops in that moment. All the panic melts from my body as if I have beenwaiting my whole life just to feel my lips press against his for the first time.

I'm forceful, not giving him an inch as I throw everything I have into this with him. I throw my arms around his neck as his lips move against mine. He grips my arms and pulls me away from him, like his only choice was to physically rip my lips from his because he couldn't bear to part from me.

His breaths are heavy as he looks me up and down, something confused and unsure in his eyes. He searches for something. I can't tell if he's looking for permission or fighting for something within himself. But if he is, he loses.

His hand wraps around the back of neck, pulling me back in against him and coming at me twice as hard as I'd come at him. He smothers me with this kiss. Funny that of all the things we've done, a simple first kiss is the thing that feels the most intense and garners the biggest reaction from my body. Months, or probably years, of stress melt away from me.

Something inside my body shifts. Rifting on its axis as he holds me. As if we were two people who were never meant to get this close. Alexei touches not only my body, but something deeper with this kiss. He reaches into me and he rips apart my soul.

Oh, God. He tastes good.

That thought is both terrifying and peaceful.

He holds me so close that there is no space left between our bodies or secrets between our hearts. He's touched me in every way imaginable, but this is maybe the most intimate thing we've done together. It is definitely the most dangerous thing we've ever done together.

A death promise was one thing, this is something else.

This breaks more promises and crosses more lines than either of us ever intended. Because a kiss isn't about lust. It'sabout something else. Something that I know has always been there but until now has gone unnamed.

Our lips slowly part, eyes remaining closed as our foreheads stay pressed together and we share our breaths. I open my eyes first, and get to witness the array of emotion that crosses his face when he opens his to see me.

He gulps as he takes a single step back, watching me curiously. But I can see it as he comes alive to the same panic that I felt. He frowns, his hand dropping from my neck as he steps back on unsteady steps. He looks just as untethered as I feel.

He wipes his mouth and buttons his shirt, still watching me with heavy eyes and even heavier breaths. I can't read all the emotions running through his mind but I can certainly see them on his face as they play out in real time.

He puts his hands up in surrender, tongue poking out to touch his canine, before he shakes his head and spares me only a single confused look as he rushes away. The door closes gently behind him but with a force that feels like a rattled bang as he leaves me standing alone.

I raise my fingertips to touch my swollen lips.

Today, I closed a door. And opened a rift.

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

Alexei

My lips are on fire.

From afar, she was curious and intriguing. Up close, it is worse than I could have imagined. If I thought there was something nuclear between us before it has now reacted. I am spun into her web, breaking me down, bleeding me dry, cutting off my oxygen, and yet I relish it and I welcome it.

She has shattered me.

With a simple press of her lips against mine something inside of me has broken.

She should have been easy to kill. In fact, I had plenty of opportunities to do it. I knew I was going easy on her. Possibly the whole time. Telling myself it was for the fun of it.

But I let it go on and on and on.

I crouch down next to the pool at the DeMarco estate, still reeling from the feel of her lips on mine. I reach down and scooppool water to my face, attempting to wash the scent of her off me.

It does not work, and endless cleansing would not subdue me from her now. The water slides easily off my tattooed hands but it doesn't rid me of the feeling of her on my lips or in my hands.