Page 99 of House of Crimson Kisses
She takes a deep breath but shakes her head. “While we’re in here, we’re safe. Once I tell you what I learnt, everything will change.”
“You have no idea how much I understand,” I say, kissing the top of her head. “But for a few short moments, while we hold our secrets, nothing changes…”
She looks up at me from beneath her lashes, her eyes deep and heady, lust swimming under her gaze. And I thank the Mother of Blood that she wants to take a minute to fuck the frustration out before we charge back into this chaos again…
Wait. Thank the Mother of Blood? Oh, fuck me. I cannot be saying that anymore, either. I don’t want to think about it, though, so I force myself to focus on Red.
“I want to kiss you, but I don’t want you to kiss me back unless you mean it,” I say.
She looks away.
“I want to be enough for you, Red. No matter what I’ve done, what secrets we hold. I want you to love me and for me to be enough.”
“Don’t you get it?” she snaps. “I do, Octavia, and that’s the fucking problem. I loved you and you hurt me.”
“Loved. Past tense.”
She flings a hand off my shoulder in frustration. “You’re infuriating.” Then uses her free hand to grab my chin and tilt it down as she rises on tip toes. “You want me to kiss you with everything I feel? Fine.”
Her fingers slip down my chin and graze my throat.
She twists until her hand grips my throat and digs in, creating just a little discomfort. Her eyes hold me, waiting. As if she expects me to say stop. But I won’t. I want to see where this will go.
I want to feel everything because I need her to dig into our bond and let herself connect to me again. She needs to understand that what I did was for her.
She squeezes and yanks me to her mouth, crushing her lips against me. She moves her mouth over mine in a bruising kiss, her fingers gripping my throat the whole time like I’m hers. Like she’s claiming me. She kisses hard and fast, her tongue pushing its way into my mouth.
Her other hand grips my back, her nails stinging just the right amount.
She releases me suddenly and tugs at my shoulders, leaping up into my arms. Her legs wrap around my waist, her hands around my neck. I grip her under her arse and thighs. She tilts her head down and this time when she kisses me, it’s so much softer and sweeter.
Her lips are tender, the faintest hint of vodka and lust melded on her tongue. This time, the kiss is slow and deep and full of longing and something a little bitter. Regret? No, it’s hurt, and that realisation makes my heart clench.
Her fingers trail my skin, my throat, my back, she’s everywhere all at once. And I can’t get enough. I want to drink everything she gives me. I want to drown in her. She kisses me like she owns me; she kisses me like I am a dream she’s prayed for and not the nightmare I’ve been.
She kisses me like she loves me.
She steals my breath, my mind, and my heart. Everything disappears into the heat and electricity of our touch. This is a kiss like no other.
She pulls off my mouth and holds my gaze, frowning. Her thumb brushes against my cheek, wiping something wet away.
“You’re crying,” she says. Her words are soft under the beat of the music.
“I wasn’t.”
“Octavia,” she growls.
“You have no idea how much I love you, Verity. That is all, and for the first time in a long time, I really felt like you loved me, too. That kiss… it was everything.”
She smiles at me and inches closer, brushing her lips over mine. We share the same air, the same space, the same bond.
“Sometimes a kiss can ruin everything… And sometimes it can save it,” she says.
“Are you telling me you’re my knight in shining armour? Come to save me from the big, bad villain?” I smile.
She huffs, “I thought you were my villain. I’m certainly not a hero.”
“What if you were meant to be?”
