Page 76 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

For a small eternity, we stand there staring at each other, neither of us moving or saying a word.

Thorne breaks the silence first. “We can’t do this.”

“I know.”

“This is a terrible idea.”

“The worst.”

I wet my lips again, and he releases a ragged breath. “Fuck it.”

Before I comprehend what’s happening, he winds my braid around his fist and tugs, yanking my head back.

And then his mouth slams into mine.

There are a thousand reasons why this is a bad idea, but the moment our lips touch, I don’t care about a single one.

Thorne cups my chin, angling my head to deepen the kiss. I savor the taste of him. The sensation of his hard body pushing against mine. The delicious heat radiating from his skin.

I gasp as he presses closer against me, my lips parting as he cradles my neck. With expert strokes, he explores my mouth with his tongue, devouring me like he’s starving and I’m his only sustenance.

He tastes like danger and whiskey, and I can’t tell if he’s been drinking too. Reaching up, I run my fingers through hair every bit as soft and silky as it looks.

This is utter insanity. And I never want it to end.

Something raw and primitive rises inside me. I skim my tongue over his bottom lip, then draw it into my mouth and gently bite down. He groans again, cupping my ass and tugging me so close that there’s no space between us.

Pleasure coils low in my belly. I grind my pelvis against him, and his hips rock into me as he kisses me harder. A moan escapes me. I lower my hands to his shoulders, my fingers tracing the curves and dips of his back.

Thorne stills under my touch. In the next heartbeat, he jerks away, retreating until he’s no longer within reach. I instantly miss the warmth of him. The demanding press of his lips on mine.

Cursing, he rakes a hand through his hair.

I know I should regret what we did, but no part of me does. Not in the slightest. Kissing him was reckless and forbidden, and I could get in all kinds of trouble for doing so. We both could.

And I’d still do it again in a second.

“This was a mistake.” He clenches his jaw, and a hardness creeps into his features. “It will never happen again.”

The words pummel me. I do everything in my power not to flinch.

Hishot one minute, cold the nextact gives me whiplash.

I struggle to keep the hurt from my voice. “It didn’t feel like a mistake to me.”

“Well, that’s exactly what it was. You just caught me in a moment of…weakness.”

Anger replaces the hurt, and my temperature begins to rise. “You were the one who came in here like…likethis.” I gesture to his bare torso.

He raises an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Half-naked.” Despite the heat creeping up my neck, I meet his gaze.

“It’s my room. And you were the last person I expected to find in here. So you’re going to tell me,Duchess,” he levels me with a steely glare, “what you were doing in my room in the middle of the night.”

Right. I did sort of barge into his private space. Uninvited. But how can I tell him why I was sneaking around in his room?

Once again, Abel’s advice taunts me, and once again, I push the thought away. Maybe pretending like I snuck in hoping to get lucky is the smart move, but my pride refuses to go there. Not after he just finished saying that kissing me was a terrible mistake.

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