“Hmm…” Invitation dances along every inch of him, and I find myself barely able to breathe. When I do, all I can smell is sweet, entrancing tulips. “I think it’s more than that, isn’t it?”
He reaches out, grabbing my hand in his own, leaving me unable to reply from the stutter in my breathing. Not that it even matters—he already knows the answer. With a slight tug of my hand, he pulls me to my feet, bringing me face-to-face with him.
“Don’t get me wrong. This little game of ours has been very fun.” His voice is a low hum as his gaze slips across my body, his fingers slowly sliding up my arms. Goosebumps crawl along my skin everywhere hetouches. “But wouldn’t you like to do something…morefun?”
My imagination turns ravenous.
Dirty thoughts sprawl across my mind with a voracious delight, and need fills my core. Judging by the carnal recognition on his face, I’m sure that’s exactly as he intended, too. His eyes fix upon my mouth, his breathing rapid and unstable.
“Such as?” I lick my lips slowly, enjoying his rapt attention. I’m tempting him, I know, but I can hardly help it anymore. This anticipation tearing through me, this adrenaline—it’saddictive. I’ve never been this starved for someone’s touch.
As if he can read my thoughts, he wraps his arms around my waist, leaning his face down towards mine. He’s sowarm, so close, and I’m dying to taste him. “Would you like me to tell you, or would you prefer I show you?”
Whatever stupid excuses I had for resisting him, I don’t care anymore. Truly, I can’t think of a single person on the planet who could rival how attractive Dusk is. He is literally divine, and the only thing keeping me from experiencing him is my acceptance.
Fuck everything else. I want this.
“Show me, Dusk.”
9
For an angel, Dusk’s responding smile is devilishly alluring.
His grip on my waist tightens, and in one fluid motion, he tosses me back onto the bed. Faster than I can comprehend, he’s on top of me, his hips straddling mine. He leans forward, his mesmerizing eyes searching mine. A slight concern mars his brow.
“You’re trembling,” he whispers, his voice both sensual and carnal.
My breath shudders. “Not from fear.”
“My beautiful, sweet Dawn.” Sighing, he brings his lips down to my ear, brushing his face along mine. “Tell me you haven’t been aching for this since the moment we met, and I’ll stop. Just say the words.”
“I… I can’t do that, Dusk.”
He pulls back, just enough to look me in the eyes, before brushing a stray hair away from the side of my face. “Youcantell me no.” His voice wavers with something akin to human-like vulnerability. “Are you sure you really want to cross this line?”
I’m slightly taken aback, caught off guard by the sudden display of emotion.
Emotion.
Recognition sinks into me.
If it hasn’t been clear to me before, I can see it now, clear as day: His emotions are every bit as real and complex as my own. Being an angel doesn’t make him invincible. He’safraid. Of what, I’m not sure. Maybe me, maybe himself. And if I’m being honest, I’m afraid, too. A part of me knowsI’m playing with fire, but it doesn’t make me want him any less. I’ll take my chances of being burned if it heats the hollowness in my soul. With everything that’s happened, everything that’s going to happen, I feel an overwhelming need to cling to these good moments.
“Yes, I’m sure—” The words have barely left my tongue beforeour lips collide like the early morning sun meets the twilight.
The wildness of the kiss is exponentially sinful. We breathe in each other with greed, lust, and gluttony. It’s everything I wanted, everything I imagined it to be.
His hands slip behind my neck, pulling me into him, angling my head in a fight for dominance. Instinctively, I grab his hair, slipping my fingers into his impossibly soft curls. I’m momentarily distracted by how incredible it feels—like silk, clouds, whispers, and sunlight. I’m floating, my whole body relaxed as I let him devour me.
Until I’m jolted back to reality when he pulls my lower lip into a sharp bite.
My eyes flash open, a gasp escaping me in the brief moment of air he allows me. I’m slightly surprised, but I’m even more shocked by the amount of pleasure it gives me.
Dusk pauses, only for a few seconds, to smile against my lips. “Do you like that?”
“Mm—” I gasp, cut off by the intoxicating feeling of his lips suddenly on the crook of my jaw. He kisses the skin gently at first, savoring the taste of me, before trailing down my neck. An eagerness builds in his path.
It’s entrancing. Intoxicating. A drug that I never want to stop using.
