Page 35 of Darkness Consuming
Chapter Eighteen
What Love Feels Like
Violence
A plan has been made. I’ve been here for nearly a month, but finally, a plan has been made. It’s dangerous but it’s the only way. I didn’t realize I needed them until they were here.
I wish it didn’t have to be all of us. I wish they’d understand how responsible I feel for the three of them.
My head tilts to find that Cameron has turned away from me. His back is to the three of us while he faces the wall. My fingers push through Link’s hair. He lies against me. His hard body rests between my legs while his head uses my torso like pillow.
I peek down at him. It’s late. Everyone’s been asleep for hours, but all I can think about is what tomorrow will bring. Until his pretty eyes meet mine.
The flickering candle light gleams against Link’s gaze while we stare quietly at one another. There’s so much magic in his strange but beautiful eyes, he’ll never know how much I lose myself in his gaze sometimes.
As much as I tried to avoid it, Link was my friend when I thought I didn’t have any. He forced that friendship and I never even realized how much it kept me from slipping into my dark thoughts.
His attention drifts to Cameron before he starts to shift against me. He drags his body up mine until we’re face to face. His lips are poised just above mine.
“About what I said in the bell tower,” he pauses. His words give an odd sinking feeling within my stomach but there’s a smile on his lips. A smile that almost makes the awful feeling slip away, “I didn’t say all that stuff to force your feelings. I didn’t even know that’s how I felt until I said it. I—I won’t say it again. I didn’t mean to make anything strange between us.”
Suddenly, that sinking feeling changes. It’s my heart that’s sinking now instead of my nerves.
He won’t say it again …
My brows pull low as I try to think of something to say. Why do I suddenly want him to say it?
I lean into him, my lips skimming his smooth jaw line. My mouth is just against his ear as our bodies align with every single touch.
“Say it.” It’s a quiet and pleading request that makes him shift against me. My lips press lightly just beneath his jaw, right along his neck.
When I pull back from him, a hesitant smile creeps over his features.
“No.” He studies me as he says the simple rejection.
My eyes narrow on him. I’m all but pouting because he won’t confess his love for me. Once again, he and I are playing a game with our emotions. Maybe it’s the only way we know how. Or maybe it just feels safe. It’s safer to tease one another than to actually admit I lov…
The smooth feel of his jaw meets my lips again as I lean close his other ear. Another sweet kiss is pressed just below his ear and he shivers against me. The feel of him weak beneath my touch sends his shaking feelings into my own body.
“Please say it.” My voice is breathy against his skin. His palm slips beneath my shirt and presses to my ribs before stroking slowly down the length of my body. A fiery line of tingles is left in the wake of his touch.
He tilts his head toward mine, our lips skimming but not quiet brushing.
“No.” Warm breaths kiss my mouth and I can’t help but run my tongue along my lips at the feel of it.
We pause there just like that for several seconds. Our gazes lock with the lantern light gleaming in our eyes. The space between us is nonexistent and yet enormous all at the same time. The heavy breaths that fall from my lungs come so rapidly it seems like they’re trying to keep pace with the hammering of my heart.
We’re playing a game. And I feel like I’m losing.
I try only once more. Just slightly, I tilt my head until my lips skim across his. It’s the smallest of touches, his soft lips just lightly against mine.
It steals my breath away entirely.
“Please?” The whimpering sound is barely a whisper.
But it seems to break him.
“I love you, Violence.” The warmth of his gaze strikes across mine. I’ve never seen him more serious than he is right now. Whatever he sees in my features seems to terrify him, or maybe it’s my silence that’s owning him in this moment.
