“We weren’t doing anything!”I said in a hurry.“We were just resting and talking when Katsia walked right in and assumed who knows what–”
He jumped to his feet, dark eyes flashing with a mixture of anger and hurt.“Deidre was on my moss.Uninvited.”He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone cut like a knife.“Against my wishes.And lying next to you!Tisvali won’t save her this time.”
My blood turned to ice.What had I encouraged Deidre to do?A violation much graver than what I’d thought–that’s what it was.“What will you do?”
Karim began pacing.“First I have to save her from the Queen’s punishment, which may as well be execution.If I succeed, Deidre will still have to answer to me for betraying my trust.I’ve let her rule-breaking slide countless times, but this one crossed the line.”
I shivered at the firmness in his tone.Just how special was this freaking moss?“No, Karim, please don’t!”
He stopped in his tracks and settled his intense gaze on me.“Nai?”
I forced myself to hold that gaze instead of looking away likeI usually did.“You punishing her would break her heart, you can’t do that to her.”When he didn’t respond, I pressed on.“She’s your friend who has always been there for you since childhood.Who loves you so much that she would die for you.I beg you, Karim, do not punish her over something that–that I played a part in.”
That statement stunned both of us into silence.He surely hadn’t expected to hear that, and I hadn’t planned on saying it, not yet at least.But damning me or not, that was the truth.
“You.”His face and voice offered no hint at his emotions, but there was something dangerous lurking in his eyes now.Like a predator whose attention had been caught and was waiting to be unleashed upon its prey.“Explain.”
“I–I encouraged her to sit with me on the moss as we talked.I didn’t know it was a grave offense in your culture, Karim.”
His being as still and silent as a statue made more words pour out of me.“I saw it as a prank among friends.Nothing more.Had I known moss was sacred in your world, I wouldn’t have–”
I didn’t get to finish.One moment Karim was by the foot of the bed and the next, on the moss.
He moved so fast my eyes barely caught the motion.By the time my brain registered him leaping, I was already on my back with his body poised over mine.There wasn’t a single point of contact between us, but I was kept still underneath him by the power of his gaze alone.
The predator was right there, staring back at me–I should be afraid.Karim’s face a breath away from mine, his long hair like a curtain on both sides of my face cutting me off from the world until there was only us–I should feel trapped.Yet, I knew deep inside with absolute certainty that he wouldn’t hurt me.So all I felt was anticipation.
I must be losing my mind.
“Temptress is what you are,” he whispered, studying my face from this close, “not the delicate flower whose name you bear.I putmy trust in you out there, on the surface.I let you into my home.Into mygarden.On mymoss.And what did you do?”
I couldn’t speak.I could barely breathe.My heart was racing, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his.
“You tempted, Jasmine.With your innocence, your sincerity, your courage, your humor…” He inhaled shakily, as though overwhelmed with emotions.“With your care for a defenseless flower, your compassion, your strength hidden behind the softest exterior…” His voice grew less steady with each word.“You tempted.And you won’t stop with Deidre.”
“I tempted?”I whispered back.Hewas temptation personified.
Wisps of his hair, soft as petals, traced my cheeks as if they had a mind of their own.Must be because he shook his head ever so slightly.“You want me to fall.Do not deny it.I saw your groomed toes.Your smooth legs below the dress’ hem.”He sighed wistfully, closing his eyes for a moment.“This new form of temptation is meant to make me fall.”
Gosh, I had totally forgotten about thatidea of mine and Deidre’s.Yetanotherbad idea.“I just freshened up–”
“A new form of temptation nonetheless,” he said softly.He rested his forehead gently against mine, the only point of contact between our bodies.“But it can achieve nothing.”Fire blazed in his gaze.“For I have already fallen.”
My lips parted on a gasp.
With the lightest of touches, as if afraid I might burn him, Karim slid his fingers to the back of my neck, then paused.“May I touch your hair?”His words were a faint whisper, a puff of air over my lips.
He was afraid I might say no?Like hell.I nodded eagerly.Him asking for my consent only made me want him more.
His fingers tentatively slid up into my curls.“Gods, Jasmine.”Those two words came out both like a plea for mercy and a last attempt to rein in the emotions warring within him.
They were finally clear to read on his face, so close to mine there could no longer be secrets between us.He was a man dying of thirst in the desert, and I was the shimmering oasis just within reach.But what if I was only a mirage?
“Don’t hold back, Karim.”
That did it.Whatever force of will he’d held himself at bay with, was no more.His silvery lips met mine in a searing kiss.
Holy.Moly.
