Page 59 of Kiss of Light

Lemar frowned in irritation. He’d given her a way to save herself and she was refusing to take it.

“A final request,” he said suddenly. Ravij turned, eyebrow raised.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You’re sealing my fate, and hers. And that of all the humans in the bar. So I want a final request.”

“I don’t take requests, vampire.”

“But youdolike rules and customs. And a last request is an ancient right.”

Ravij pondered.

“And what is your last request?”

“A kiss. From Tala. To say goodbye.”

Tala stared at him in confusion. Had he gone mad? Ravij looked intrigued.

“Interesting. I do approve of old customs, it is true.” He cocked his head to one side as he considered. “Very well. But you will be held with your arms behind your back and you will be unable to touch each other except with the kiss. Get them up.”

Tala and Lemar were hauled off they ground into standing positions. Their arms were held tightly, wrists pushed up between their shoulder blades. Tala gritted her teeth as the bones in her still-healing arm were wrenched painfully.

The vampires pushed them towards each other until they were standing a foot apart.

“What the fuck are you doing?” hissed Tala. “You know I don’t…”

“Do it now or forget it. No tricks.” Rajiv had the high-powered rifle pointed at Lemar’s head. “Last chance.”

The Vetali leaned towards Tala.

“Trust me?”

“I…” she swallowed. “Yes.”

Her whole world narrowed to Lemar’s face. His eyes, staring into hers. His mouth, slowly descending. She held her breath.

The first touch of his lips sent a shiver though her whole body. They moved against hers, gently at first, then more insistently. Her mouth opened and Lemar kissed her more thoroughly, branding her as his, claiming her with his lips and tongue.

The tension flowed from her as she melted under his touch. How could she have been afraid of this? It was concentrated pleasure. The way he tasted her, the way he darted his tongue into her mouth, entwining it around hers. The sensuality was breath-taking.

She deepened the kiss, wishing she had her hands free to curl round his neck and pull him closer. Heat flared in her stomach. She wanted this moment to last forever.

“Tala, the light-bringer,” Lemar murmured, his lips still on hers.

His words drifted through her haze. Of course. This is what he had intended when he had asked for a kiss. It was the only way to touch her.

She pressed her lips more firmly against his and released the power from her hand, flooding the parking lot with shocking brightness. Dimly, she heard strangled yells as vampire after vampire disappeared in a cloud of dust, the smell of charred bones briefly settling around them before that too disappeared.

But all she could feel, all she could think about, was the kiss.

He didn’t break apart from her until the last vampire had evaporated. His hands finally free, he cupped her face, gazing with satisfaction at her deliciously swollen lips, her dilated eyes.

“For someone who doesn’t kiss, you are sensationally good at it,” he murmured. The light died and Tala went white.

She collapsed to the ground as a tsunami of crushing pain and nausea tore through her. Her head was pounding. She vomited a stream of bile, clutching her stomach. Every bone in her body shrieked in torment.

“Tala! What’s wrong?”

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