Page 42 of White Hot Kiss

He moved without me realizing, his warm breath dancing over my cheeks, my lips. The air hitched in my lungs. His lips parted, and I wondered what it would be like to run my fingers across them, to feel them.

“What are you thinking?” he murmured, his eyes fluttering down.

I snapped out of my haze, remembering who and what I was staring at. Thinking about him in a way I should never be considering. I was supposed to be angry with him about yesterday and the countless other things he’d done in the short time I’d known him.

Feeling dizzy, I bit my lip and focused on what my friends were arguing over. Something to do with pineapples and cherries, but a few seconds later, I sneaked another glance at Roth. His smile was smug, even a bit daring.

And I had a feeling I was in trouble.

After finishing my makeup bio exam, I dumped my books in my locker. Abbot probably didn’t want me tagging tonight, but that was what I had planned. Risking his wrath was far better than locking myself in my bedroom or being forced to be around Petr. As I shut the door, I felt an unnatural stirring of air around me. Glancing up, my heart stuttered to a halt.

Roth slouched against the locker beside mine, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. “What are you doing?”

“Jeez.” I stumbled backward. “You almost gave me a stroke.”

One side of his lips curved up. “Whoops.”

I shouldered my bag and edged past him, but he easily caught up with me. I pushed open the heavy metal doors, welcoming the cool evening air. “What do you want?”

“I thought you’d like to know that I cleaned up the mess yesterday.”

I figured as much, since Abbot and Zayne were supposed to check it out last night and hadn’t yanked me out of bed to yell at me about the corpse. “Good for you.”

“And you’re tagging, right? Even though I asked you nicely not to. I can’t let you do that alone.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve already told you why. It’s not safe for you.”

I bit back the urge to scream. “And why is it not safe for me?”

He said nothing.

Beyond annoyed, I started forward. The streets were thick with commuters hurrying to the metro hubs. Maybe I could lose him in the crowd. A block later, Roth was still at my side. “You’re angry with me,” he said casually.

“I guess you can say that. I don’t really like you.”

He chuckled. “I like that you try to be honest.”

I glanced at him warily. “I’m not trying. I am being honest.”

Roth smiled broadly, flashing surprisingly sharp-looking teeth. “That’s a lie. A part of you likes me.”

I stepped off the curb, irritated. “I’m not the one lying right now.”

Unfazed, he reached out and caught my arm, pulling me back just as a taxi zoomed by so fast it whipped at my hair. The cabbie honked his horn, yelling something obscene at me. “Careful,” Roth murmured. “I doubt your insides are as pretty as the outside.”

I was instantly aware of how my chest felt pressed against him. Warmth inexplicably flooded me, like I was basking in the summer sun. Our eyes locked. As close as we were, I could see that his eyes weren’t pure gold, but there were flecks of deep amber in them. They churned crazily, drawing me in. That wild scent of his cloaked us.

My hand curled against his chest. When had my hand landed on his chest? I didn’t know, but my gaze had dropped to his mouth. Those lips...so close.

Roth’s one-sided smile tipped up higher.

Snapping out of it, I wiggled free. Roth’s chuckle raised my hackles. I managed to cross the street without getting hit. My body still tingled from the brief contact.

And that was wrong.

Luckily, I found something to distract me. Standing on the opposite corner was a Fiend.

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