Page 52 of A Shadow in the Reaping
I take in a ragged breath as Ashen's gaze fuses to my parted lips. I move closer with every shallow inhalation until my skin touches his, until our breath mixes and our lips nearly meet. His hand moves across my ribs as though committing every bone to memory, like he would know each one in the dark. I realize now how much I've been wanting this moment, to hear that he feels something real. To admit that I do too. To feel his lips against mine-
"Elemental," he whispers, turning his face to the side at the last possible instant before our lips touch.
Ele...what?
...What the fuck?
Do I have vampire breath? Was it the fangria? Is it fangria hangover breath?
Oh my GodI think I've died five thousand years worth of deaths in a single second of time.
"Elemental," Ashen whispers again, his eyes trapped in some kind of epiphany that is clearly not my kiss. I have a mild sense of relief that his touch still lingers and our faces remain close. But more than that I have irritation, which is a thin veil for an unhealthy amount of angst.
So, I make my point known.
What the fuck?I mouth, tilting my head to cast a line back to his errant gaze.
"That's what we're missing. It's not just werewolves using vampires to make the hybrid. The witches must be involved as well. Perhaps even humans."
What the fuck?I mouth again with a confused shake of my head.
"I need to go to the library," Ashen says, letting go of my hand and turning away, his expression consumed by whatever thoughts are whirling through his head. Thoughts which clearly have fuck-all to do with me. He passes the edge of the bed, heading toward the door.
What the fuck?
I want to say it out loud. My hands hover in the air like I'm carrying my confused mind on a platter. I'm just standing, motionless, with some dumbass, incredulous expression on my face. Ashen stops abruptly and I have a surge of panic that I actually did utter the words out loud.
"Oh, one more thing," Ashen says as he turns around.
Within three strides he's there, right in front of me. His palms are warm on my face. His lips are pressed to mine. In five thousand years, there's never been a kiss like it.
Searing hot. Salty and sweet. Dark and dangerous. Intoxicating.
Heat cascades through my every vein, ignites every nerve like a fuse. His lips sweep across mine until I'm sure that Ashen is the only real thing in this Realm. Our tongues meet, and I taste mint and smoke and the sweet nectar of venom. I know he tastes it too, and he kisses me like I am the elixir for his very soul.
I grasp Ashen's shirt and pull him into me. There is no fucking around. There is no going back. I wrap my arms around his neck as Ashen presses my body to the wall and he makes his intentions clear, that he might be going to some fucking stupid library of ghosts but every thought he has will be consumed by one instinctive need. To be right back here, with his lips on mine.
Ashen gives a bite to my lower lip with just the right mix of pleasure and pain as he pulls away, both of us breathless and not ready to part. I open my eyes and his are fixed on mine like magnets to iron.
"I felt like I owed you after you put that image of a mating hybrid in my head," Ashen says with a dark smile. I huff a breath of a laugh and he kisses me again, this time a drugging, luxurious kiss. A deep and slow kiss, as though all we have is eternal time. When we separate, he presses his palms to my cheeks and catches my gaze, his expression serious.
What?I mouth as I furrow my brow and give him a questioning look.
"You need to stay here. It's too dangerous for a bright soul at this hour, even with me. I won't be long." Ashen looks into my eyes as though pressing every word into my brain. "Do not leave the room. It isn't safe. I will be as quick as I can."
I give a single nod. I'm not sure what would be worse about the Shadow Realm than what I've already experienced, but I don't really want to find out.
"Please, Lu. Promise me."
Jeez, he's adamant about this. I have no intentions whatsoever of going anywhere. The only thing I'm planning on doing is dreaming up creative ways to get back at him for faking me out with that kiss.
I nod again.I promise.
Ashen doesn't look completely convinced, and given our time together so far, I can't say that I blame him.
He presses one last kiss on my lips and then stalks to the door, looking back over his shoulder as he closes it behind him. I stand for a long while against the wall, replaying what just happened over and over in my mind, my fingers rolling back and forth over my swollen lips.
After a while, I sit on the edge of the bed. I'm still lost in thought when I hear a knock at the door. A surge of adrenaline hits my heart as I get up and drift silently toward it. There's another knock, and then a voice.
