He kissed me.
I recoiled immediately, but it was no use; his hand had climbed to the back of my neck and held me still. He tasted like whiskey and cedar, sucking me in immediately and sending my head spinning. His tongue probed at my lips.
I should be afraid of this. Crushed by what it would do to my parents when they saw this tomorrow morning without having heard from me. But at the same time, everything faded to darkness. I didn’t notice the staccato flash of camera bulbs; all I could see was his face. I didn’t hear the reporters shouting questions at me; all I could hear was his breath mingling with mine. I didn’t feel the cool evening air; all I could feel was his skin on mine. He held me against him, but I couldn’t move away even if I tried. We were tethered by spider silk wound tight around my chest, tugging me ever closer.
My eyes closed.
I didn’t think.
I parted my lips.
He hesitated at first, caught off guard, then plunged his tongue into my mouth. It wasn’t aggressive or violent. He traced along the top of my mouth, causing me to shiver. I licked his lower lip with my own before I came back to myself and pulled away.
He looked at me in awe. “What the fuck was that?”
The surrounding noise rushed back to my ears, cameras popping in earnest and questions called louder as the reporters lost their minds. I turned my head quickly, and he let his hand drop back to my waist.
“Don’t do that again.” I couldn’t breathe. This had to be his fault. He had done something, tricked me somehow. It wasn’t possible that I had just kissed this man in front of the entire world, not after what he’d done to me.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
I ignored the question and started walking again, pulling away only to be wrapped up again as he matched my pace. His damn hand wouldn’t leave my back. His lips wouldn’t leave my mind.