Page 34 of Arranged Obsession
Cormac moves forward. He pulls me against him, one strong hand on the small of my back, fingers digging into the silk of my dress. I let out a light gasp despite myself, and when I breathe in, I smell him.
My ghost. God, yes, it smells so freaking good. My brain goes haywire, trying to make sense of everything, until Cormac comes close, his lips brushing mine once, lightly, then a second time, a dominating press.
My mouth opens. His tongue invades me.
The kiss shatters me. His taste is like his smell. Spicy and warm and delicious. His lips move like heaven, and his tongue rips me to shreds. He’s a monster, but if this is what a sinner feels like,then god, maybe I belong in hell. I can tumble into him and burn there if that’s what it takes. Just let this kiss linger. Let this feeling build.
Until he breaks away. I’m left breathing hard and staring at the monster that just stole me away, and the church is going crazy, clapping and cheering.
Lucy grabs my arm. “Come on,” she hisses, pulling me away. I’m not sure if this is supposed to happen, but I stumble after her.
Away from my nightmare.
Head dizzy with regret.
Chapter 11
Cormac
“I’m going to fuckingkillyou,” Dad snarls, looking like he might actually mean it. We’re alone in Finn’s groom suite while the wedding continues downstairs, everyone acting like things are completely normal.
But nothing is normal, and it won’t ever be again.
I kissed my feather.
I’m fucking ecstatic. I’m floating on bliss. Even though my father and brothers are telling me how I’ve ruined everything and I’m a fucking idiot and they’re going to slit my throat, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.
I kissed her. My saint. I worshipped her. My goddess.
And it was better than I ever dreamed possible.
Her lips were clouds. Her taste like nectar.
The little whimper she made as my tongue invaded her perfect little teeth is like music in my brain.
I’m fucking struggling not to get hard thinking about it.
God, it was glorious. No sinner like me deserves anything half that divine.
And yet here I am.
“Are you hearing me at all, Cormac?” Dad’s face is red and his hands are curled into fists. Seamus sits at the table, drinking, while Declan lurks near the wall with his arms crossed. Only Mom seems calm. “The Marinos are going to lose their shit, and they fuckingshould. You can’t just swap places with your brother! Where the hell is Finn right now, anyway?”
“Home.”
“My god, you’ve fucked up. I might expect something like this from Seamus?—”
“What the hell?” he says, raising his head. “Why am I catching strays?”
“But never from you.” Dad glares and paces, shaking his head. “You’ve been so steady, Cormac. The dirty work always seemed like it calmed you and gave you purpose, but maybe I was wrong to let you become our Ghostman. All that killing must have broken you.”
“I was broken before that,” I whisper, only half in the room. The rest of me is back in the church, kissing my wife.
“You’ll apologize to Adriano,” Dad says, ignoring me. “You’ll prostrate yourself before the Don and beg his forgiveness. You’ll explain it to cover for Finn. He’ll back the story up. We’ll do another ceremony, something small and private, and Finn will marry the girl as we planned. God, Cormac, what a fucking?—”
“Absolutely not,” I snarl at him, stepping forward. Rage rolls down my spine. My hands turn to fists. Everyone stares at me in total surprise.
They’ve seen me angry. They know what I am.
