Page 123 of Jeweler to the Blessed
He kicked the door shut behind him, his eyes not leaving mine. “This should work.”
I took it and turned, pulling it on as I headed toward the kitchen. “Thank you.”
I felt him on my heels when I dropped the rag back in the bucket.
“Hart.” I turned again, looking up at him through long lashes.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say. I just wanted his name on my lips. I’d felt so much when I’d chosen him tonight. I wanted to choose him again. We weren’t guaranteed infinite time.
“We kissed,” I finally said.
His smirk was back, but the smolder in his gaze changed its meaning. “I’m aware.”
“Was it to help my magic?”
His hand lifted, like he’d touch me. He let it fall again, unsure. “No.”
It was what I wanted to hear. I believed it; I just didn’t know where that left us. Something of my intent must have crossed my face.
“It’s a bad idea.”
I thought I’d known that once. At some point, I’d thought no Blessed could be trusted. I’d thought they all took indiscriminately—but not Hart. Hart gave. Hart protected. Hart cherished.
He was still in my space, standing much closer than necessary.
Something in my gut—something deeper—said I needed to reach for him. That I’d regret it if I didn’t. And as much as I didn’t want to trust my gut, it’d proven itself on more than one occasion. Some things couldn’t be reasoned.
Thisfeltlike one of them.
My hand quested the length of his arm, following the curve of his shoulder to his neck, his cheek—just as I’d cupped it in the forest. Conflicting emotions flitted across his face, but I didn’t miss the nearly imperceptible tilt of his head into my palm. His eyes widened when heat flared again with our contact. Whatever I felt every time we touched—he felt it too.
“I want you.”
If possible, he went even more still. I wasn’t sure he was breathing. “Chaos?—”
“Please don’t. I don’t care about the reasons we shouldn’t. I don’t want to think about being Blessed, being Eris’s Champion, Vaddon, or the Cursed King.”
My hand slid down to his beating heart as I took a deep breath. “I just want to feel this.”
He raised a brow at me, assessing the honesty of my words.
I let him read the truth on my face. “Tell me no if you don’t want me, but please don’t say no out of some thought that I don’t know my own mind.”
He growled—a primal battle warring within him. I didn’t know the stakes. But that smirk was back, and I felt the scales tip in my direction. “No part of me doesn’t desire you, Chaos.”
“Then what’s the problem?” My hand slid to the back of his neck, exploring the feeling of our connection.
I opened my mouth to question this strange heat coursing between us, and then all thoughts scattered as he took my invitation, his lips closing over mine.
If his kiss in the woods had set me aflame, this was obliteration. I wanted more, demanded more, and he was a man unleashed.
His breathing was uneven as his hands tangled in my hair. He cradled my head, and his tongue swept into my mouth. I moaned in delight and my eyes widened in surprise at the sound. Our gazes locked, and satisfaction danced in his. Then he captured my lips again, savoring the sound like a fine wine.
“Tell me, is this the chaos you meant to loose?” his words whispered across my skin as he kissed my jaw, my neck.
I wasn’t sure, but I knew I wanted more. My back arched, my body pressing farther into him. Understanding the command, his hand dropped from my neck to my chest, cupping my breast over my tunic. I wanted him closer. Thenext whine that slipped from my lips encouraged a low chuckle.
His fingers found my pebbled peak through my tunic. The pinch was exquisite, shooting heat straight to my core. And he was there, catching my gasp with another scorching kiss. His tongue swept in again, leaving me breathless.
