Page 46 of Ticket to the Stars: Part One

His expression was too intense, I had to look away. “Like you care. Maybe me being hurt would’ve been for the best. Then you could get someone else instead of me. I’m just a drag, right?” I didn’t know why I said any of that. It wasn’t like I wanted to get hurt, for those men to… do what they were about to do.

I guess I was still pissed and offended at what I’d heard Priest say earlier.

The hand around mine squeezed harder. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s true. It’s obvious I’m not one of the guys, and I never will be.” Softer, I said, “I’ll never be one of you.” My voice cracked when I said it, and again I had to look away. Holding his gray-eyed stare was a lot harder than you’d think.

I was seconds from telling Priest to let go of my hand—I didn’t need him to lead me to the Redborne like I was some petulant child who needed their hand held the entire time, but I didn’t get the chance to, because Priest pulled my arm and spun me around. Before I knew what he was doing, he had my back against the wall of the building we stood near, his body big enough to be all I could see as he boxed me in.

“You’re right,” he acknowledged, shadows dancing across his face as he let go of my hand… only so he could bring both of his hands to my face, cupping my cheeks in a smooth gesture that told me he was confident in what he was doing.

Warmth flooded into me from those hands, and his tall frame inched closer. His hands angled my head back. It was hard to have a single steady thought, but I managed to say, “What are you doing?” My heart raced, and not because of what almost happened in that alley.

“What I wanted to do since the very first moment I saw you,” Priest whispered back.

I couldn’t ask him what he meant by that, because in the next moment, without saying a single word more, I had my answer.

His mouth came down on mine, his tall figure hunching over to do it. My head was angled back against the stone of the building, his hands sweeping past my cheeks and tangling in my hair. His eyes had closed, but mine were wide open—mostly because I was shocked.

Shocked, confused, surprised. Any and all.

Priest waskissingme.

Priestwas kissingme.

I didn’t even have time to figure out what to do. Priest pulled his mouth off mine as he murmured, “It’s better when you close your eyes and kiss back,” though not by much, because each word he spoke caused his lips to graze mine. “So close your eyes.” His breath bloomed hot across my face, and I panted, unable to catch my breath. “And follow my lead.”

Follow his…

He was going to kiss me again? After I’d stood there like a statue with my eyes wide open the entire time?

I listened to him, my eyelids fluttering shut as his mouth pressed against mine again. This time, I knew what to expect. This time I knew exactly what his mouth would feel like on mine, and it was all too easy to melt into him. His lips pushed and pulled against mine in a slow, agonizingly drawn-out kiss, igniting a fire deep within me that I’d never felt before.

Oh, it was nice. So nice. After giving in, after I started to kiss him back… let’s just say I understood why people liked kissing so much. There was an intimacy laced with every tug and pull, whether you were the one surrendering or the one claiming.

Priest’s lower half pressed harder against me, making me moan into the kiss. He didn’t seem to mind; he swallowed up the sound, kissing me harder. The fingers woven into my hair tugged, not hard enough to be painful, but enough to make a sweet contrast to the firmness of his lips on mine.

What were we doing?

Chapter Twenty – Priest

What was I doing? After following her out of the Redborne, my only goal was to drag her back inside. I’d been listening for her to leave her room all night, so I’d heard her when she’d tiptoed down the hall while trying not to make a sound. My thought was to sit her down on the couch and have a private discussion with her, apologize for the things I’d told Bishop earlier—because, let’s face it, they were all lies.

But that’s not what happened. Angel was faster on her feet than I’d thought, and by the time I’d caught up to her, she was cornered by two skeezy looking men who wanted a fun time with her.

So, after saving her from them, I’d taken her by the hand and started to walk home… only, she’d said some things, and then I’d said some things, and then something in me snapped. My willpower? My right versus wrong detector? My logic? Take your pick.

Fast-forward a minute later, and I had her against the building, my body pressing against hers while my fingers tangled in her hair and my mouth ravaged hers.

Her lips were so much softer than they looked. They were the perfect lips to kiss, and as I continued to kiss her, I couldn’t help but wonder what those lips would feel like roaming across other places on my body. Heat filled me, a certain longing below the waist that made my dick twitch.

God. Why did I want this girl so bad? It wasn’t like I was hard-up for pussy. I could have anyone I wanted. Girls threw themselves at me, even when I wasn’t Priest from Black Sacrament. There was absolutely no reason why this particular girl should make me as crazy as she did.

Was it because Ramona had told us she was off-limits? Was it only because I wasn’t supposed to want her that I did?

No, it felt like more than that. It was real. It was desperate. It was the kind of craving I couldn’t begin to describe, something I’d never truly felt my whole life. A deep-seated hunger that gnawed at my insides, only sated when feeling those soft, supple lips on mine.

Angel moaned into the kiss, and I ground my lower half on her harder, unable to help it. My cock was steadily hardening to steel—it’d make the walk back to the Redborne a chore, but right now, the last thing on my mind was pulling off her and going home. I was right where I wanted to be. Right where I needed to be.

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