Page 22 of Seduced By Darkness
“Stop panicking,” he says.
“I’m not panicking.”
“No?” There’s a teasing light in his eyes and his fingertips graze my cheeks. “All you have to do is say one little word, Vi, and I am bound to obey you.”
“I don’t like this bargain.” The mask slips from my skin. “I don’t like holding your fate in my hands. I can’t believe you made that promise.”
“Maybe it was a test.” He lowers the mask.
He looks at me as if I’m beautiful, as if he’s trying to memorize the fine lines of my face. His eyes flare wide, drinking me in.
It’s such a vulnerable moment. I’ve never been beautiful. Not at my mother’s court.
“A test?”
“You passed,” he whispers. “If you weren’t concerned about the situation, then you wouldn’t be the woman I want you to be.”
I can’t help thinking….“Do you do this every Lammastide? Throw yourself upon the mercy of a stranger?”
“Always.” And then he laughs. “Never. I’ve never wanted a woman like this.”
“Stop it,” I whisper.
“Stop what?”
“Stop looking at me like that. Stop looking at me as if I’m beautiful. I’m not. I know I’m not and I’m fine with it—”
He lifts a hand, brushing that gloved thumb down my cheek. “Who told you such nonsense?”
“I have seen the women of my court. I don’t compare—”
“You don’t compare yourself to other fae, Vi. Because I have never seen one such as you. Compare yourself to the stars and dare them to shine half as bright.” His fingertips rest on either side of my face. “You were made for the night. You were made for moonlight and stolen kisses.” His thumb brushes against my lips. “This mouth was made for secrets. It was made for me.”
A skittering breath escapes me. “You’re good.”
He leans closer and my heart erupts. “I speak only the truth. Maybe I am the night. Maybe you were made just for me. Maybe you’re perfect as you are.”
Our breaths mingle. I don’t even know how he’s done it—slipped through my defenses while I wasn’t looking. He’s a stranger. I should be on guard. But here he is, his thumbs stroking my mouth so gently I want to let him kiss me.
But he doesn’t.
“You would have to command me,” he murmurs as if he can sense what I’m thinking. “I will not take what is not freely given. Command me, Vi. Tell me to kiss you.”
My heart flutters like a captured butterfly.Find a stranger…. Take what you want from him….I never dreamed this would actually be happening. I never thought for a second that there might be someone out there tonight who would tempt me to push past my natural reticence.
A shiver runs through me. He’s so patient, merely waiting for me to make this decision.Yesorno? It’s in his eyes.
But what is in my heart?
“Kiss me.” The words are out before I can stop them. “Just a kiss.”
“As you wish.”
His hand slides through my hair, cupping the back of my nape and then he draws me into his arms. My heart skips a beat as his lips brush against mine. He’s not the first male I’ve ever kissed. But hefeelslike the first. Because he doesn’t simply grab me and maul me.
His lips whisper over mine as if they’re saying “Hello.”
Back and forth. There’s a luxurious kind of gentleness to him, as if he’s got all the time in the world to taste me, and so he wants to do this right. It’s the kind of kiss a first kiss should be.
