Page 2 of Kiss Me Honey Hone

“I believe this is for you?” he said, dipping closer so she could hear him over the music and he held out a single red rose.

She blinked, taken aback. As everyone always was when he spoke to them in this calm, confident manner. Because he was hideous. Deformed. Wasn’t the usual type of man who would be so brazen as to approach a beautiful woman. But after a while, because he knew them so well by now, she, like the others before her, would conclude he was non-threatening enough to engage in conversation at least. As she was on the periphery of her group of friends, she welcomed the distraction from feeling out of the loop. And she had the upper hand here, because she was way out of his league. She wouldn’t get her heart ripped out by someone who looked likehim.

Perish the thought.

No one would believe someone so deformed had wooed her.

So with a confidence unwarranted, she smiled back, polite and easy. Nothing but companionship. That’s what university was for, right? To meet new people. And she was proving she wasinclusive. Wasn’t put off by how he looked. What did they call it? Ah, yes. Woke.

“Oh.” She took the rose because she was polite.

He focused on the moment that was coming.Hermoment. Her final act elevating her status from cast aside to theNext Big Thing. He watched her lips as she spoke, unscarred,perfect,and his blood boiled. Thunderous rage coursed through him. He wanted to tear them apart.Biteright through them. Cause irreparable damage. The way she had done to him.

Because he couldn’t everkissthem. Not properly.

She’d never let him.

So he had to dothis.

He edged closer, one hand still on the plastic of the rosesleeve, allowing her to tug out the flower. Then he angled his face just right, letting his lips meet hers. It was nothing more than a fleeting act. But he lingered a fraction longer, enough for the balm to transfer. To stick. On him, it was as harmless as water. But with the heat of another’s skin, the toxin would absorb through pores, seep into bloodstreams, and get to work.

She pulled back, as he knew she would, looking at him with mild surprise, perhaps a hint of confusion. Repulsion, too. But no suspicion. What was there to be suspicious about? He was just a disfigured man wanting to be loved. And she was too polite for her own good.

“I’m sorry but…”

He held up his hand to stave off the unnecessary rejection. Because itwasunnecessary. He wasn’t asking for anything more from her. He’d see her again, of course. In a different place. A different way. And he couldn’twait. She would be magnificent!

So without another word, he stepped away, slipping into the crowd, leaving her to return to her friends where she might be more comfortable but was less seen. As soon as she licked her lips, the toxin would enter her bloodstream andshe will shine!

She’d feel a faint headache, a hint of light-headedness, but she’d write it off as just another bad drink choice. Then it would deepen, numbing her muscles, slowing her heart, quieting every nerve until she fell gently, almost peacefully, into darkness.

He shivered with delight. If only he could be there when it happened.

But he knew his limits. He’d tested this many, many times.Don’t get too bold.That’s what he’d learned. Because as soon as he became too at ease with this, he’d get sloppy. And he couldn’t be sloppy! No. He had to beperfect. Because incompetence meant it would all stop.

He never wanted to stop.

Couldn’t.

Becausehewanted to reign supreme. Prove he had won. Thathe was better thanher. She hadn’t ruined him completely. He’d just found another way to live and his revenge was being far superior in her domain. If he couldn’t gettoher, then he wouldshowher.

One way or another.

But for now, he returned to his shadowed corner, lips tingling, and took out the moistened wipe from the packet in his pocket to wash away the remnants of balm. Not a drop could touch his tongue even if he’d developed an immunity. Then he watched from afar as she once again tried to ingratiate herself into the throng, her last night bright with oblivion. Satisfaction settled over him. The grim contentment of a job well done. She hadn’t wiped her lips, as other might have. He knew she wouldn’t. She had far too much lip gloss to ruin. Vanity is everything.

The world should learn—kisses weredeadly. They caused rack and ruin.

Only the most cautious would survive.

And the ugliest.

So, for now, he sat back to toast his next victim. She was just another in a long line of those who deserved what they got because they gave in to temptation.

A lesson for us all there, I think.

Chapterone

Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come

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