Page 120 of A Duet of Darkness and Dreams

“No, I just—”

“Who gave James the chance he needed? Then a place to stay when everything was falling apart for him? The way Joel and Key talk about you. How they all talk about you. It’s like you saved them. So how can you possibly be cursed when you did all of that?”

My mouth twists.

“Despite everything and everyone in your life telling you it wouldn’t happen, you wouldn’t make it, you were doomed to fail . . . you did it anyway! And sometimes love isn’t enough to save a person.”

A strand of hair falls across her face, and I push it back, thetips of my fingers brushing against her warm skin to tuck it behind her ear. Her eyes darken and that mask she wears—the one of indifference—falls away. I don’t want her to slip away too. Not now. Not ever. So I do the only thing that I can think of. I tilt her chin, then lean forward and kiss her.

CHAPTER 36

Where Do Broken Hearts Go

ISABELLA

Dave is kissing me. He’s kissing me without the influence of alcohol, without jealousy, without an unbearable sexual tension ready to burst out of us. He’s kissing me because he wants to, and the way his lips devour mine makes me truly believe he’s kissing me because heneedsme.

We melt into one another, like two pieces of butter in a hot pan. His leg wraps over top of mine, pulling me closer. My hands travel down his jaw, over his shoulder, while his hand cups my face. My nerves are alight, singing—but is he just feeling vulnerable after telling me his darkest secret? Do I even care? If anything, it helps me understand him that much more.

He moves over top of me, his lips blazing hot trails down my throat, and my core turns to molten lava. I barely notice the throb in my hand anymore. This feels too good. He feels too good. He’s all-consuming, and like a powder licked by flame, he ignites me more than anyone has before or maybe ever will again. I’m so crazy about him that if this ends badly, I may never fall in love with anyone ever again.

Knee pressing against my throbbing center, he pulls down my loose shirt to kiss between my breasts. Oh god, do I love him?

“Can I touch you?” he rasps, his fingers pulling on the strings of my shorts.

My heart is swelling as a whispered “Yes” floats past my tingling lips. My fingers clench in the bed sheets as his rough hand slips below my underwear to find that pulsing, soaking prize.

I gasp out loud when he touches me, and he groans against my shoulder. The noise ofTheTonight Showin the background fades to a dull drum as he lights the fuses to all of my nerves.

“I can’t believe you’re real,” he whispers. “It’s like I dreamed you to life.”

His fingers work their magical rhythm, and soon I can’t stop myself from grabbing his wrist and riding his hand like a mechanical bull.

“I’m so close,” I cry.

Clamping my eyes shut, his lips are back on mine and it’s enough for all of my nerves to fire at once as I explode. The orgasm rips through me, and I moan his name against his mouth as he languidly draws out my climax.

His breaths are as ragged as mine, and he rests his forehead against my collarbone. Focusing, I can feel his massive, hard length against my hip. Our eyes lock before I kiss him again. I push him over, bringing myself to straddle his body. His erection fits snugly in the gap between us, and my legs twitch as the pressure glides against my sensitive clit.

He sighs against my mouth, and I slowly trail kisses up his jaw to his ear, tugging on his earlobe with my teeth.

“Tell me what you want,” I whisper.

“I—” He gasps again. “I don’t know,” he says.

“Well,” I say, kissing lower, “let’s find out.”

“Izzy—Izzy, no. Wait.”

The sudden grip of his hands on my arms jolts me back to reality. I look up at his face, at his wide and serious eyes zigzagging over me.

“I—” I stammer. “I thought . . .”

“This is just . . . I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

And just like that, my hot-air-balloon-filled heart bursts and collapses in a fiery crash. I sit up, still straddling his hips, and blink furiously to try to ebb the flow of tears. A knife to the heart would hurt less than this as I move myself off him to wrap my arms around my small body.

“You still don’t want me?” I whisper.

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