Page 22 of Enchanted Kisses
Butterflies rushed my stomach. As badly as I wanted to kiss him, this was out of the ordinary. Caiden didn’t make a move—and certainly not toward me.
“Why? I mean, why now and not before?” I stared at his lips, tempted in a way I hoped wasn’t obvious.
So much for making him work for my forgiveness.
He ran a hand down a long strand of my hair. “If I had kissed you sooner, I would have had to leave sooner. And I wasn’t ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“To face what was necessary for me to be here. You changed me, and because of that, I changed everything.”
His breath brushed my nose and fogged my mind, making it impossible to think, let alone comprehend the meaning behind his words. I needed to make a decision: put an end to my wondering and longing and kiss him, or push him away like he had done to me.
Maybe I wouldn’t even like the kiss. Then I could move on. Right?
Before I could decide, something crashed into the door.
We both glanced out the window. The light had gone out.
“That’s what I heard outside my room,” I said.
Caiden pressed his hand over the lock and held it there. He closed his eyes and murmured under his breath.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure it’s locked.”
“That’s not what it looks like to me.”
“Come.” He took my hand and led me to my bedroom, locking the door.
“Why’d you do that?” In the past when Caiden was over we’d always lock the door for privacy, but now it felt weird.
“Since when does that bother you?” He brushed past me on his way to the window and peered through the blinds.
“Since now.” I folded my arms over my chest. “We can’t just pick up where we left off. What happened changed things between us. We’re not the same.I’mnot the same.”
He frowned. “Lily,” he whispered my name as gentle as a breeze.
“Don’t. Don’t say my name like that.” It was how he used to get to me, and I already felt like I was caving too easily. “Explain why you left and if what I thought I saw when you disappeared was real.”
He eyed me for a long, hard minute. “It was real.”
“The gold and silver swirls and you vanishing before my eyes?”
He nodded.
“How?” I asked, trying to understand.
He sat at the end of my bed, his brows pinched with stress. “Do you remember the stories I used to tell you about the sentries and the two realms they guarded?”
“Stories? Now? Really?” I tried to rein in my emotions. Even though Caiden’s stories had a way of removing me from this world and my problems by taking me to a far-off mythical place, now wasn’t the time.
“Please, hear me out. It will all make sense in the end, I promise.” He patted the mattress. “Sit.”
I hesitated, then plopped down beside him. “This better be good.”
“Do you remember the story about the king of the sentries and the Realm of Death?”
