Page 12 of Ghosted AF
“—and you call that atemper tantrum?” he finished, ignoring the interruption. “You know what? This is fine. I can fix it.” Jerking out of my grasp, he dropped to the floor and begangathering the fallen quills. “We can put them back. That’s what we’ll do.”
With super glue? I didn’t know what kind of thoughts he had swirling in that brain of his, or if he was thinking at all, but we would not be turning my wings into arts and crafts time at the community center.
“Rylee, please stop.” Falling to my knees beside him, I tried to take his hands, but he batted me away and continued gathering feathers. “Rylee! Damn it, stop.”
“Don’t worry,” he assured me, his voice somehow both flat and frantic. “I’ll make it right. I might need to watch a YouTube video, but it shouldn’t be that hard.”
“You can’t just glue them back on. That’s not how any of this works.”
“Right. Of course. I probably have a needle somewhere.”
What the actual fuck? Now he planned to sew them back on, like a goddamn quilting circle?
“Rylee!” I bellowed, grabbing him by the face and forcing him to look at me. “I’m not hurt. My feathers will grow back. Everything is fine, okay? No one is in danger.”
When he just continued to stare at me with glassy, red-rimmed eyes, I couldn’t take it anymore. The instincts I had been battling back for days forced their way to the surface, demanding I do something—anything—to erase that look from his face.
So, I did the only thing I could think of, the only way I knew how to comfort him.
I pulled him to me and slanted my mouth over his.
five
~ Rylee ~
Iinhaledwithasharpgasp, every muscle in my body seizing at the feel of Caius’ lips pressed against mine.
My brain malfunctioned, throwing out error messages like digital confetti. A pause. A hush. A reboot.
Then everything came rushing back at once.
The room started to spin, blurring at the edges, and a sharp hum buzzed in my ears. My heart thrashed against my ribs, pounding out a desperate rhythm that pulsed up into my throat. The scent of down and something wild, something uniquely Caius, filled my head with every panted breath.
One by one, my muscles unlocked, the tension evaporating until every limb felt like jelly. Thrown off balanced, I swayed on my knees, but the shifter caught me easily, wrapping an arm around my waist to keep me upright.
His lips melded to mine, soft and pliable, and his warm breath fanned against my skin. His tongue darted out, the tip tracingthe seam of my mouth in barely there touches, a suggestion rather than a request or a demand.
I submitted willingly, leaning into him as I parted with an inaudible sigh. The invasion sent a current racing through my veins like tiny lightning bolts of pleasure, and heat bloomed across my skin.
Every stroke of his tongue against mine felt frightening yet comforting, foreign and familiar in equal measure. Though my mind didn’t have the words to explain the sensations, my body responded, evoking memories of an event that had never happened.
Time stood still, or so it seemed, but all too soon, Caius pulled away, his kiss-pinkened lips quirked into a satisfied smirk.
“That’s better,” he said, his voice rough, belying his cocky expression.
I had no idea what had just happened, but it felt big, life changing. The sort of thing that demanded acknowledgement and reverence. Maybe a parade.
So, of course, wires got crossed, thoughts got tangled with feelings, and when I found my voice, I ended up blurting out the worst possible thing I could have said.
“I think I love you.”
I couldn’t decide if his laughter made me feel better or worse. Either way, I kind of wanted to die.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered, my skin heating with embarrassment. “I have no idea why I just said that.”
He stroked my face and petted my hair, his touch gentle, soothing. “You don’t have to apologize, but let’s wait until the endorphins wear off and see how you feel then.”
“I don’t understand any of this,” I admitted. “I like you, and I really want to kiss you again, but my insides also feel like they just got dropped into a paint mixer.”
