Page 92 of A Drop of Anguish
“Even sit on your lap?” I whisper.
His breath shudders, and then he releases me, hands up in surrender. I step away but pause, and I watch as his expression turns into that devastation I remember from the day he saw my bite.
My heart clenches again. Dammit, why does this boy have to have such a chokehold on me? I swallow and then slowly retake my place on his lap.
He releases a breath, and the look he gives me now implies that I am giving him the greatest gift he could ever imagine, and dammit, I really like that too.
His chest rises and falls in quick succession. He stares at me, and I stare at him. The intensity is so strong that I don’t dare move. Or at least, I thought I wasn’t moving. Somehow, our faces have gone from at least a foot apart to mere inches.
We’re going to kiss,I realize.
And I’m not sure how to feel about that. I want it. So badly, I want it. But there are reasons we shouldn’t, right? For some reason, that’s bad.
My brain can’t quite grip those reasons, though.
“Why did you leave the handcuffs out?” I blurt. I’m not sure where that thought even came from.
Jarron’s adorably confused as he leans back. “What?”
I turn to glance at the mangled handcuffs across the room on the bedside table. “You destroyed them. Cleared out everything else from your room. But you left those. Why?”
He examines my face. “I didn’t—I don’t really know. I guess, I keep them there as a reminder.”
“Of what?”
He swallows. “What I almost had.”
A shiver washes over me.
His lips ghost over my shoulder. “What was in my grasp and somehow slipped away.”
My breath catches.
“I still don’t know why. What did I do, Candice?”
I close my eyes. Butterflies soar through my whole body.
“Nothing,” I whisper. “Nothing you have control of. You’re fucking perfect.”
Then, I make a decision. Maybe it’s the potions in my system; maybe it’s my walls being slowly worn away by his disarming sincerity and Lola’s insistence that pushing Jarron away is a win for Mr. Vandozer.
But my realization is as clear as day: there is nothing I want more than to be desired the way he desires me. To be looked at likethis.
Before I can change my mind, I crash my lips into his.
Jarron is ready for me, pulling me tightly against him, and somehow, I find myself straddling him. His chest vibrates softly. I pull back just enough to smirk. “Purring again?”
“Only for you.” His hand curls over the back of my neck and tugs me to him. His lips are gentle but firm, and his taste is intoxicating.
His hands slide up my thighs until his fingertips are just under the hem of my shorts. His nails dig into the skin as he drags them out.
My back arches, and the gasp that escapes my lips is barely just shy of a moan. I’m in big trouble here.
I lean away again and notice people herding from the room, a crowd forming at the open door, streaming into the hall.
I straighten. “What’s happening?”
“Party’s over.” Jarron smirks. He palms my thigh, sending another jolt through me. Dammit, if he stops doing that, I might riot.
