Page 106 of Savage Empire
My ears feel hot, thinking about Leon and Apollo talking about something so sensitive. I never expected the brothers to have a conversation about me, especially not about that night.
“Why?” I sniff dismissively. “Nothing happened.”
Apollo catches my chin, forcing me to look up. “But you wanted it to.”
“It was a moment.” I pull my head back, removing his touch but keeping our eye contact. “It’s not worth talking about.”
“A moment that needed to be interrupted to stop it,” he argues. “Why were you able to look away now, but not then?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t pretend to be oblivious, it doesn’t suit you.”
My eyes narrow, disliking the audacity in his tone. “You want to know why I didn’t look away from your brother?”
“Do enlighten me,” he insists with a menacing look.
Spurred on by his attitude, I have the sickest desire to make him regret asking. No one pushes my buttons like he does. No one.
“I couldn’t have pulled away from Leon if I tried,” I start, jutting my chin up. “He had to do it because if he didn’t, we would have kissed. It was magnetic, Apollo. You know why? Because even though Leon and I will never happen, we have something that you and I don’t.Chemistry.”
“Chemistry,” Apollo repeats, spitting out the word like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“Yep,” I reply with a smug smile, loving that I’m getting under his skin. “An undeniable connection, surely you’ve heard of it? Leon is easy to connect to. He’s nice, and handsome, and he doesn’t make me question myself or?—”
“Nice?” he interrupts, scoffing. “You think you have a connection with Leon because he’sniceto you, Rayna?”
I shrug, pretending to be uninterested in this conversation. “Why not? I like when he’s nice to me.”
Strong hands land on either side of my head, effectively caging me against the hallway wall. “You’re infuriating.”
“I don’t understand why we’re arguing anyway,” I tell him, swallowing down my nerves. “I looked away from your weirdo eye contact, nothing else. Why are we talking about kissing?”
“Playing dumb doesn’t look good on you.”
“Who says I care what you think looks good on me?” I purr patronizingly. “I’m simply saying this conversation is irrelevant. Because if you think we were going to kiss, you’re wrong.”
“Don’t push me, Rayna.”
I take a step forward, forcing him to take one back. His hands leave the wall, and I watch as he flexes them, like he can’t decide what to do with them next. He’s off kilter, and I’m eating it up.
“Because kissing requires chemistry.”
“Rayna,” he warns.
“Like I have with?—”
“Don’t you dare say his fucking name.”
“And I doubtwehave any chemistry at all. In fact, I know we don’t.”
My back hits the cold tile of the hospital wall in an instant, a gasp bursting past my lips. Apollo chases it, catching the sound and swallowing it down as he crushes our mouths together in a searing kiss. My stomach swoops with a burst of butterflies at our contact, and I want to deny how good it feels, but I can’t.
One hand around the side of my neck, and the other reaching down, Apollo wraps his arm around the back of my knee and lifts. He pulls me up with ease, directing me to wrap my legs around him.
A whimper vibrates in my throat and muffles into our kiss. My head spins as our bodies mold together, my legs surrounding his hips as his chest presses firmly against mine. I’ve never had a kiss like this, and I’m torn between fully melting into it, or resisting the urge to prove a point.
Pulling back, wet lips ghosting over mine, Apollo rumbles, “No chemistry, huh? How’s this for no chemistry?”
