Page 28 of Shadowkissed

My throat tightens.

“Dante—”

But the word barely makes it out before he leans in and kisses me.

Not soft. Not shy. Like he’s claiming something. But this is a claim I seem to want, or my body does. It’s not like Serpahiel. Not at all.

And gods help me, but I kiss him back.

12

DANTE

Her kiss burns through me like wildfire the moment she gives in.

Not a spark. Not heat.Flame.

It's not soft. It’s not cautious. It’s like she’s breaking something—between us, in herself—and using her mouth to set the damn boundary on fire.

And I let her.

Gods, I lean into it like I’ve been waiting my whole damn life.

She tastes like secrets. Like dusk. Like the moment before a thunderstorm breaks. Her lips are hot and sure, but there’s a tremble under it—like she doesn’t want to need this, but can’t stop herself either.

I know the feeling.

When I finally pull back, just a breath’s distance, we’re both breathing too hard. Her eyes flutter open. Violet. Luminescent. Unnatural.

But beautiful.

And not just the kind that turns heads on the street. The kind thatunsettlessomething in your gut. Makes you feel like you’re looking at a creature who’s seen the world burn—and survived.

Her obsidian hair spills around her shoulders in waves, catching the low light like strands of moonlight caught in ink. The tattoos that wind across her collarbone and down her arms shift subtly, like they’re alive—glowing faint, ancient runes inked into skin that was never meant to be ordinary.

And those shadows? They move when she does. Like they’re loyal to her. Like they’d kill for her.

“You’re…” I start, but I can’t finish it. There’s no damn word big enough for what she is.

Liora tilts her head slightly, a hint of mischief curling at the corner of her mouth.

“Careful, wolf. You start looking at me like that, and I might get the wrong idea.”

“What idea’s that?”

“That you don’t care what I am.”

I stare at her for a beat.

“I don’t,” I say, and I mean it.

That shuts her up.

She glances away, like the truth of that lands somewhere she wasn’t ready to look. Her jaw tightens. Her fingers twitch at her sides.

“Don’t say things like that,” she murmurs. “Not to me.”

“Why?”

---