Page 84 of Untamed

“Baciami, Ares.” The plea escapes me in a breath, my fingers curling around the back of his neck. It would be so easy to lean in, to close the distance and take what I want, but I don’t.

Because I’m not just feeling this.

I’mdrowningin it.

“Per favore,” I whisper, and I feel the moment he shatters. His arms slide around my waist, tight, pulling me against him until there’s no space left.

No him. No me. Onlyus.

My heart is a drum in my chest, threatening to break bone.

“I’ve never kissed anyone before,” I say softly, not looking away. I don’t know why I tell him, maybe because he needs to know this matters.That he matters.“I waited for the right moment… the right person. And it’s you, Ares. I want it to be you.”

I breathe, tremble, confess, “God, I feel like I might die if you don’t kiss me.”

“Christ,” He exhales sharply, a low, strangled sound that punches out of his chest like it was ripped from somewhere deep, and it breaks something open in me.

And then he leans in.

His mouth presses against mine, lightly at first, like he’s giving me the opportunity to stop or pull away. And when I don’t, his lips brush over mine, dexterously parting my lips with his. My head is already spinning, but when I feel him suck and nibble on my bottom lip, my legs turn to jelly and my knees almost buckle.

Oh God.

Ares kisses like he’s been starved for my taste, like denying himself was killing him and he can’t bear it another second. His hands grip my waist, holding me like I’m both precious and necessary, like letting go isn’t an option anymore.

Everything inside me stops. The world as I know it stops spinning on its axis.

I thought I knew what kissing would feel like. Soft. Maybe clumsy. Shy, even. But this, this feels like breathing after suffocating for so long.

His mouth moves over mine slowly, like he’s trying to memorise every line and curve. My fingers instinctively comb though his hair, anchoring myself because I’m afraid I might fall otherwise. Not just physically.All the way.

Ares’s hand comes up to cradle my jaw, the pad of his thumb brushing my cheek, and the way he holds me, so gently, like I’m fragile and I’ll break if he holds too tight, makes my heart ache in the best kind of way.

He tastes like warmth and scotch and everything I’ve never let myself hope for.

When he pulls back just enough to breathe, our lips are still touching, our foreheads press together, and I swear I can still feel the kiss lingering on my lips like something sacred.

“You were worth waiting for,” I whisper, eyes still closed, my breath tangled with his.

“I’ve never been worth anything...until you,” he replies, voice rough and awed, like I’ve given him something he never thought he’d have.

But it’s not enough.

Not yet.

I open my eyes and look up at him.. His gaze is still on my mouth, like he’s etching the shape of it of it into his memory,or the way it felt under his. I can tell he’s trying to be good and gentle...as gentle as a man like him could be.

But I don’t want gentle right now. I rise on my toes and slide my hands back up his chest, curling around his neck. His breath stutters the second I lean in and brush my lips over his again, an invitation this time. A question I already know the answer to.

He doesn’t make me wait.

Ares kisses me again.

But this time, it’s different.

It’s deeper. And it steals the air from my lungs.

One hand slides to the back of my neck, anchoring me to him, and then his mouth parts just enough to tease mine open. His tongue brushes lightly against mine, slow, coaxing, wicked, and a soft sound escapes me before I can stop it.

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