It’s not a peck like in the treehouse or at the courthouse. This is arealkiss, and it automatically soothes me. Those same butterflies I felt fourteen years ago—that I’ve never been close to recreating—are back in full force.
He kisses me back eagerly, hungrily. A near mirror reaction to this cosmic feeling flowing between us.
I’ve never kissed anyone with a beard before, but I find that I enjoy it. I like the way the soft hairs brush against my face as our lips meet and he holds my face close to his.
A masculine noise seeps between his lips and I don’t think I’ve ever heard a sexier sound in my life as I tangle my fingers in his soft hair and hold the back of his head against mine.
No kiss has ever felt like this.
Nothing has ever felt like this.
The taste and feel of his mouth against mine is addictive, and my heart is thundering in my chest. My breathing hitches as his one hand slides from my face, cradling the side of my neck. He isn’t grabbing me or holding my throat, just tenderly caressing the flesh of my collarbone and neck.
As his thumb runs lower on my throat, I realize that I’m completely naked. I should feel scandalized, not only because I’ve never been naked in a bed with a man before, but I don’t, because it’s Silas.
His tongue swipes in my mouth and I moan at the sensation, gripping his hair harder. Silas is warm, large, and perfect.
“Violet,” he whispers my name like a prayer as he rests his forehead against mine. “I can’t.”
“What?” I say, pulling back and blinking at him.
The best kiss of my life—even if I don’t have many to compare it to—and he’s telling me he can’t?
“I want to, believe me. I want to rip that blanket off you and do so many things. But I can’t do this…not if you’re not sure. Not if this is all because of the heightened emotions of what just happened, or because of some fucking spell pushing us together. You can’t kiss me and walk away again,” he says, and my hand slips out of his hair and I clutch the blanket closer to my chest. “I’m not scolding you. I’m not bringing up the past. I just can’t have you giving me any more pieces of you if you’re going to take them away again.”
It’s not a scolding, but it feels like one, and I scoot just a little further away from him.
“You think I kissed you because of the spell?” I ask, immediately feeling defensive. “How do I know you’re not here because of the fucking spell, too?”
He takes a deep breath and flips onto his back, so I do the same.
“It’s not the spell,” he says.
“If it’s not the spell for you, then why wouldn’t it be the spell for me?”
“You just learned you're a hybrid, the only one I’ve ever fucking heard of. Your life just got flipped upside down and I’m the only one here.”
“Get out,” I say, turning on my side.
I feel like I’m going to cry for the second time tonight and I’m doing my best to shut it down, though I think the catharsis would be good.
“Vi, I didn’t mean?—”
“Get out, please,” I repeat, staring at my nightstand, of the photos of me and my coven.
What the fuck am I doing?
“You can sleep in the guest room down the hall instead of the couch. Just please, get out.”
“Violet,” he says again, trying to touch my shoulder and I shift away.
He makes a noise of protest, but I eventually feel him shift off the mattress. He doesn’t shut the door right away, which is odd, but then eventually I hear the click of the knob.
A soft weight jumps on the bed, and I immediately know it’s Walter. He isn’t always cuddly, but he immediately walks over my body, his paws feeling like a million pounds each, until he’s cuddled against my chest.
“It appears I’ll have to get used to the stench of dog,”he says, and I let out a small laugh before the tears start falling.“Oh, this is terrible. Please stop,”he says, putting a paw on my chin and pushing away.
Now I have two creatures talking directly in my mind. At least Walter can’t hear my thoughts. Well, I’m not even sure if Azure can, either.
