Page 85 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

It was subtler, more gradual.

Like the sky that swirled there wanted her to surrender.

Willingly.

The world around them blurred at the edges, and Lessia didn’t think as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.

His lips were even softer than his hair.

Full, smooth, and melting against hers.

She couldn’t stop herself from pressing her own harder against them, even as bells began ringing inside her mind, warning her against what she was doing.

She wasn’t sure what she’d expected.

But Merrick letting out a low moan and weaving his hands into her hair… wasn’t it.

His soft kiss was like a fever blooming across her skin, and a raw need, a need to be close to him, possessed her—consumed her.

Crawling into his lap, she locked her legs around his waist and deepened the kiss, desperate to get closer—to fuse their lips further, to merge their bodies as one.

If the alcohol had been a distraction…

This was something else entirely.

It didn’t even matter when the memory of Loche kissing her that first time surfaced.

If she could just have this, she could forget everything else.

She didn’t even care about Loche anymore.

Merrick was the greatest distraction.

“What did you say?” Merrick rasped against her mouth.

She tried to quiet him by brushing her lips against his once more, but Merrick pulled back, the hands in her hair holding her steady—and refusing her when she tried to look away from his hard eyes.

“I-I didn’t say anything,” she whispered.

Merrick’s jaw locked as he shook his head. “You did.”

He swore quietly as he moved her off his lap and back onto the bench. “You said I was the greatest distraction. That you didn’t even care about Loche anymore.”

“I didn’t…” Lessia started, but when Merrick raised his brows, she sealed her lips.

Shit…

She must have said it out loud.

And… she had used him as a distraction.

Hadn’t she?

“I—” Lessia swallowed as the warmth drained from her veins, crushing, cold guilt surging in its stead.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered in a shaky voice.

Merrick dipped his chin as he rose, his hands so tightly clenched that she wondered if he was contemplating slamming one into her face.

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