Page 33 of Essence of Fear

Viktoria sucked in a shaky breath.

He added quieter, “The allure of fear is learning to love it … you’ll find power in being able to do that because then no one but you can use it.”

All at once, he moved away from her. He gave her space and room to breathe once more. But that didn’t matter. Her body was still hot. Her lungs still felt tight. She could still taste sin and fear on the back of her tongue like she always had.

That’s what he did to her, though.

He made her hot on the outside.

He stoked her fear on the inside.

It was quite a combination.

Viktoria couldn’t remember the last time she had actually felt attraction for another human being, let alone a man. She noticed someone was good-looking, sure, but it never stirred anything in her. She didn’t get a visceral need anymore. She never felt lust like it was a tangible thing she could reach out and grab.

Except she did.

Right now.

With Pav.

It terrified her, too.

Like him.

Wasn’t that appropriate?

Before she even understood her actions, Viktoria whispered, “Pav?”

“Yes?”

He looked her way again.

She leaned in and kissed him.

Hard.

6.

PAV FOUND people rarely did things they didn’t want to do. Even if the desire was something buried deep, and hidden from view, it didn’t matter. When a person got what they wanted, finally, they didn’t shy from it.

So, despite the fact that Pav could feel the slight tremor that worked its way through Viktoria’s body when her lips pressed against his, he knew that fear of hers was an undercurrent. It was secondary to the thing she wanted—him.

Her kiss lingered for longer than a second.

And then two … three.

Pav’s next choice was purely brought on from his own wants. She wasn’t nearly close enough to him on the steps, and he needed her far closer. Sliding an arm around her waist, he pulled Viktoria right into his lap, never once breaking their kiss.

A shudder ran over her shoulders and down her spine when his tongue struck out against the seam of her lips. He followed her shivers with his hands, driving them over the flimsy material of her dress and feeling the warmth of her soft body through the thin fabric. He heard the hard hitch in her breath when his hands gripped tightly to her hips, and those silky lips of hers finally parted to let him in.

That first taste of her wasn’t nearly enough. A tease, really. The lust in her blown-wide pupils mixed heavily with the taste of her fear, but he couldn’t fucking get enough. Neither could she, it seemed.

She didn’t shy away from the kiss. She didn’t turn away from letting her tongue tangle with his. It felt like war, in a way. How she fought him with her kiss, but her hands fisted into his T-shirt, and she pulled him impossibly closer.

Everything else was a background noise to her. The buzz of the backyard, and the flickering light on the porch that should probably be changed. The slight breeze whispered over his skin, but he didn’t really feel the coolness at all. He couldn’t, not when Viktoria started to grind her hips against his, and her exhale came out shaky when his teeth found her lower lip.

“God,” she whined.