Page 102 of A Curse On Black Lake
Attempting to wade through my grief has been almost all I’ve been capable of this past year. But with everything Eliana is going through, on top of trying to make sure I’m not arrested for a murder I didn’t commit, my life has slowly changed into one full of a strange sense of purpose.
After popping the top of my beer, I sit next to Eliana on the sofa. I don’t leave space between us because I want to be as close as she’ll let me. She glances at me and continues to sketch.
I close my eyes and lean my head back on the sofa, listening to the scratch of her pencil on paper.
Her pencil stops, and I peek over at her. Her eyebrows are scrunched together, and she’s focused on me. I take a swig of my beer and wait for her to figure out what she wants to say.
“There’s this … tension now, and I don’t know what to do with it,” she says.
“I do,” I grunt, and set my beer on the coffee table before pulling her onto my lap.
She nibbles her bottom lip again, and I think she’s going to put a hole through it she’s working it so hard.
I could give her other things to do with that mouth.Slow the hell down, Killian.
I grab her lip with my thumb and slowly free it from her teeth. Her stunning blue eyes darken.
Then she surprises me and moves so she’s straddling my lap. Her hands drag through my hair, and a needy groan crawls up my throat. I forgot what it felt like to be touched with such purpose. I didn’t know I was so starved for it, or maybe it’s her. Either way, I can’t get enough.
Eliana leans forward and hesitates for a moment before tenderly pressing her lips on mine.
“I really like kissing you,” she whispers.
Satisfaction rolls through me, and I smile against her lips. Keeping my hands on her thighs, I let her take control of thekiss, as we experiment together. It’s messy and thrilling. I want to learn every little detail of what she likes.
She tilts her head, and I push in, pulling a whimper from her. My second favorite sound, the first is her laugh. She nips my tongue, and I don’t think it was intentional, but I groan nonetheless.
Eliana pulls back slightly. “You should tell me to stop,” she breathes.
“I don’t want to stop,” I murmur across her lips.
She sighs, kissing me again, pressing her chest to mine.This woman.
“But we should,” she says, breathless.
“Why?” I grunt as she nips the edge of my jaw.
“Because I can’t give you what you need because you deserve someone who is sure. I don’t want you to think I’m using you,” she says, and finds my lips again.
The leash on my restraint is fraying, and I hold the back of her head in place, giving her nowhere to go, thrusting my tongue into her mouth, explaining without words that this is exactly where I want to be, with her. Her tongue curls around mine, and she makes a keening sound, throwing my blood into a boil.
She pulls back barely, but I give her little room to move. I’m not letting her go. “Eliana, you don’t know what I want. And I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be. So instead of trying to tell me I should stop something that I’m deeply enjoying, why don’t you ask me what I want?”
“Does it matter if it’s not what I want?” she asks.
I chuckle and kiss her cheek. “Yes, it does matter because I want us to want, no,needthe same things in this case. But if I haven’t made myself clear, I want you, little witch, end of.”
She blinks rapidly as if she can’t believe that someone would choose someone like her. We should never put our faith in people. They will always fail us.
Butwe can learn to trust them, and I need to show Eliana that she can trust me.
“I meant what I said. Take all the time you need.”
“Okay,” she whispers, nibbling on her lip again.
I grin and pull it from her teeth, holding her chin between my thumb and finger. “Good girl.”
Eliana’s pupils blow wide, and I put that little detail in the pocket of my mind for later.
