Page 44 of Realm of Wind and Vines
Yanking one hand away from the wall, he instead places it across my collarbones and shoves me all the way back up against the wall again, as if he needs to physically keep me away from him. But he doesn’t remove his hand. It remains there over my collarbones, pinning me to the wall.
“Stop messing with my fucking head,” Draven growls at me, his eyes wild.
“Admit it,” I retort, holding his stare with eyes full of steel. “You want me. Badly.”
He drags in a highly controlled breath.
I show him no mercy. Grabbing his collar, I yank his face closer to mine. That desperate hunger fights with the burninghatred in his eyes as I pull him so close that I can feel his erratic breaths dance over my lips.
“You want me,” I repeat, my voice pulsing with command. “You want to crush your lips against mine and rip my clothes off and fuck me hard against this wall, because deep down, you know that what I’m saying is true. I am yours. And you are mine.”
The muscles in his arm shift as he flexes the hand he still has braced on the wall next to me.
“You know that the hatred you feel isn’t natural,” I press. “You know?—”
“Did you kiss him?” he interrupts, his voice cutting the air like a blade. “Orion. Did you kiss him there at the end of the dance?”
“Why does it matter?”
“It matters.”
“I thought you didn’t care.”
“Just answer the fucking question, Selena.” His hand on my collarbones grows firmer. “Did you kiss him?”
I hold his fiery gaze with serious eyes for a few seconds before at last replying, “No, I didn’t kiss him.”
He forces out a jagged breath and unclenches the hand he still has planted on the wall. I tighten my grip on his collar and pull his face even closer to mine. Our lips are so close now that I swear I can feel tiny bolts of lightning crackle between them.
Another unsteady breath is forced out of his lungs. Dropping his hand from the wall, he takes my waist in a firm grip instead while his other hand slides up from my collarbones and towards my jaw. A ripple of pleasure rolls through my spine when his commanding hand caresses my throat before he places it along my jaw. With a firm push, he tilts my head back. His chest heaves.
My heart beats erratically as he curls his fingers around the side of my waist, tightening his grip on me possessively. His breath dances over my lips with every jagged exhale as he slants his lips over mine. I draw in an unsteady breath.
Something like a moan escapes from deep within his chestwhen his lips almost brush against mine. He flexes his hand on my waist. I tilt my head back a little more to close that final distance between us.
But right before our lips can touch, he tears himself away and stumbles back across the ground. A frantic mix of panic and hatred and desperation and a terrible, world-ending hunger burns on his entire face as he stares at me with wide eyes. His chest rises and falls with rapid breaths.
I open my mouth to speak, but before any words can make it out, he suddenly whirls around and strides away.
Slumping back against the wall, I stare after him as he disappears around the corner.
My chest heaves and I feel completely breathless after the almost kiss. Lifting my hands, I rake them through my hair and then tilt my head back. It hits the wall behind me with a soft thud. I heave a deep sigh.
Well, fuck.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Warm morning winds sweep across the grasslands and fill my lungs with the taste of fog and damp grass when we walk out of the forest and back out into the open fields beyond. Diana stops at the tree line, so we all turn back to face her.
“I will send one of my animals with a message if anything changes,” she says, sweeping her gaze over all of us. “But if you need my assistance with anything, all you have to do is to let me know.”
Draven gives her a nod in acknowledgment. “Good. I’m glad to have you on our side, Diana.”
“I never said that I was on your side.” She gives him a pointed look. “I said that I will offer assistance if you need help with anything.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, we need to convince more of the other clans first.”
She just looks back at him in silence.
