Page 49 of A Touch of Darkness

The kiss is…everything, each touch a clash of emotions too much to bear, too powerful to stop. There’s a tension, raw and ferocious, like the world around us could fall away at any moment, and it would still be us, entangled in this moment. His hands move to my waist, pulling me closer, if that’s even possible, fusing our bodies together until we’re one, and I feelthe heat of him, the way he needs me in the same breath I need him. My pulse thunders in my ears as the kiss deepens, the air between us whispering unspoken words, unresolved anger, and undeniable longing.

It’s messy, it’s fierce—there’s no control, no restraint, just a desperate need to consume each other in a way that feels both inevitable and terrifying. The taste of him is on my lips, and the world outside—everything that’s so fucked up right now—ceases to exist, falls away like it was never a problem at all. All I can hear is the rush of my heartbeat, all I can feel is the surge of energy between us, threatening to tear us apart even as it binds us together.

When we finally break away, I’m breathless, my thoughts in a swirl of confusion. His eyes are locked onto mine as we both pant, searching—pleading—for something, and I don’t know what it is.

“I can't let you do this alone,” he murmurs, voice hushed, almost broken. “Please don’t make me.”

And for a moment, I don't know if he’s talking about the mission or something deeper, something neither of us is ready to face.

I wake up tangled in sheets that feel too constricting. My dorm room is cloaked in shadow, the faint glow of streetlights seeping through the blinds. My chest feels tight, like I’ve been running a race I didn’t sign up for.

And then it hits me—the memory of last night.

Lucian.

The kiss.

The thought alone sends a shiver coursing through me. My fingers drift to my lips as if I could still feel his touch there, his cold, unyielding presence pressed against me, yet somehow igniting something warm and electric. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was… a shift. A breaking point. It felt like every single thing in the world aligned, like it suddenly made sense.

I have never, in all my life, felt that way.

But then he pulled away.

I groan and throw the pillow over my face, wishing I could smother the memory along with my embarrassment. He didn’tsay anything, not really. No explanation, no promise. Just those maddening words: “Let me keep you safe.”

Safe from what? From who? From him? From the Solstice Society?

From myself?

A laugh escapes me, bitter and sharp, as I shove the pillow aside and stare at a lone cobweb on the ceiling. The irony isn’t lost on me. Lucian Draedon, the centuries-old vampire who exudes danger and secrets, wants to protect me. How am I supposed to believe that? And yet, some twisted part of me… does.

I believe him much more than I believe that Amara woman. When I step back from our conversation, I know Lucian is right. She’s telling me flowery ideals and trying to suck me in for her gain—at least that’s what it felt like.

And I’m afraid if I go back and try to get any more information, they won’t let me leave. What if the girls and Lucian are right and they really do just want to use me as a weapon? All signs point to that, now more than ever. I’ve been thinking about my next steps, and I think what I need to do is take initiative with learning more about these inherited powers of mine. I want to learn more about myself, my lineage, about what I can do. Because I think, if I can figure out how to wield these powers, I can use them to help get Lara back.

Could I be wrong? Sure. But are there many other options?

I sit up, my knees drawn to my chest, and rest my forehead against them. My mind is a battlefield, warring between what I know and what I feel. I can’t help my thoughts from spiraling back to Lucian.

He’s dangerous. I know that. He’s a fucking vampire, for God’s sake.

The way he moves, the way he talks—it’s like he’s always holding something back, something that could tear me apart if Iget too close. But then there’s the other side of him, the side that looked at me like I was the only thing in the room. The side that kissed me like he meant it, like he… needed it.

And it’s that side of him I can’t stop thinking about.

I let out a shaky breath and glance at the books scattered across my desk. They’re mocking me, those ancient texts filled with riddles and half-truths and mysteries waiting to be solved. None of them have the answers I need. Not about the curse, not about Lara, and certainly not about Lucian.

Lara.

Her name is like a knife, cutting through the haze of my thoughts. The grief is still there, raw and aching, but it’s tangled with something else—hope. It’s reckless and fragile, but it won’t let go of me. I can’t stop hearing her voice, faint and fleeting, like a whisper carried on the wind.

And that feeling… it’s starting to scare me.

I push myself out of bed, the cold floor shocking my bare feet. I pace the room, the walls feeling closer with every step. I’m not built for this kind of waiting, this kind of helplessness.

The kiss, the curse, Lara—it’s all too much. And yet, it’sallconnected. I can feel the threads weaving together, forming a trap I can’t escape. Lucian knows more than he’s telling me. The Solstice Society is hiding even more than we’ve discovered. And Lara… Lara is caught in the middle of it all.

Of course, they took the sister that always knew how to get out of anything and left the one that can’t find her way out of a damn paper bag.

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