He drained his glass, holding my gaze over the rim, and even still as he slowly licked the whiskey from his lips and went on.
“Then you yank on that leash, and it all just sort of dims. Still beautiful in the shadows of course, but gods, I love to see youalight.”
Dagda save me. I was far too hot all of a sudden, desperately uncomfortable. Why had I worn such a thick dress today? I tugged at the neckline for some air, and my fidgeting must have given me away because Caelan took one look at me and grinned.
“Poetic, eh?”
He got to his feet and for a moment I thought he was about to leave, to offer me the mercy of gaining my composure in private. My heart fell, then swooped right back up past my ribcage and into my throat when he leaned in, stretching past me to set down his glass – then pausing right where he was. His other hand came up to cage me against the vanity and he hovered above me, breathing in my exhales as I gazed up at him.
“I reckon,” he said quietly, eyes grazing the blush on either cheek, “you’d let me kiss you right now, if I wanted.”
My heart was beating so hard it shook the breath in my lungs, and there was little I could do to stop my voice from trembling.
“What makes you say that?”
My Flame writhed and danced, twirling gleeful little loops around my heart.
Caelan grinned.
“Because you’re glowing, Rosie.”
My breath stopped altogether when he dipped his head, and at the first clumsy, eager meeting of our lips, golden light exploded between us. I could feel Caelan’s smile as he took my face between his palms and slowed the kiss, deepened it. This wasn’t the messy, desperate way he’d kissed me a few nights ago. This was savouring; exploring.
He kissed my top lip so soft it was almost a question, promptly answered with the slightest, most mortifying gasp from the overheated depths of my chest. He was firmer when he caught my bottom lip between his own, slowly rolled his tongue over it. His kiss dizzied me, sent something fizzing through my racing blood like a drug. I could see the pulse of my firelight behind my closed eyes, heard his slight groan against my mouth as Flame licked down my arms where I’d wound them over his shoulders.And then his hands were on me, on my back, dragging me to my feet only to crush me against his chest. His tongue swept into my mouth, a little more urgent now.
And when he backed me into the vanity, lifted me atop it to part my thighs around him, I was reminded so vividly of the last time he’d done this that my whole body shuddered with anticipation. The satisfaction that hummed through his chest told me his thoughts had strayed to that same dark closet.
“This what you want, Rosie?”
Yes, cried a needy, mindless little voice within me.
And perhaps he heard it too, because his lips moved to my jaw and his hands ghosted along the same paths they’d explored that night, trailing goosebumps up the backs of my thighs with a touch that was so assured, all too knowing.Like he remembered precisely how to touch me, the right pressure, where to kiss me to make me come undone. He was entirely in control.
And that…wasn’twhat I wanted.
It took some effort to rouse my body from its utter lapse of autonomy; it was as though each muscle had yielded, entirely content to let him light every nerve ending on fire, let his clever fingers and soft, coarse mouth coax me into a needy, raging inferno. My magic hissed when I grabbed at his wrists, a jolt of anger crackling through the flames when he immediately froze at my halting touch.
“Are you alright?”
His eyes dropped to my chest where my magic was thrashing furiously, flares of firelight lashing out between my ribs like the claws of some ravenous beast. His brow creased, concern etched into every deepening line as he drew back, but I held firm to his wrists and leaned in until our mouths touched. I spoke softly, so every word brushed my lips over his in minute, absentminded kisses.
“It’s not fair.”
“What’s not fair?”
I pulled back and flattened a hand to his chest, watched that slight crease of distress flicker uncertainly between his brows.Watched it fade and his eyes fall shut as my hand dragged slowly down his shirtfront, one finger tracing the long divot at the centre of his stomach through the fabric. He licked his lips.
“Tell me. I’ll make it fair.”
The discordant flickering in my ribs calmed as my Flame seemed to realise he wasn’t going anywhere, that I hadn’t pushed him away. It rushed into my hands and he drew the most deliciously sharp gasp as my heated fingertips curled around his waistband, brushing curious flame against the bare skin of his hip.
“Just that you have a headstart. You’ve seen me all vulnerable. Made me moan your name–”
His rough breath of laughter cut me off, and he caught me by the chin to force my eyes from his straining hardness to his equally hard gaze.
“You think I haven’t had your name in my mouth every night since we met?”
A hot shiver ran up my spine and exploded in a heady, humid fog that eclipsed my every thought. I wished my voice was firmer, less needy and pleading when I spoke my next words.
