Well, the angle might have been a little off, but … “I was delirious. Possessed. This train is haunted, you know.”
“Oh, we’re blaming the spirits now?”
“I’m not blaming—would you just let me go?”
“Do it again.”
I stop wriggling. Jesse watches me closely, not a trace of humor left.
At my bewilderment, he traces the curve of my chin with his thumb. “Do it again, Mina.” Low and husky. Heat scorches the back of my neck.
My heart judders like a motor struggling to kickstart, and I desperately wish I had any frame of reference to rely on. Kissing Alex had been easy, simple, about as unnerving as a sunny day.
He hadn’t held my eyes like he might cease to exist if I looked away. He hadn’t touched me like he wished he could fuse me to his bones.
I grab Jesse’s collar with both hands, the soft leather bunching in my fists. My breath emerges in stops and starts, and Jesse’s brows begin to furrow, concern overtaking everything else. Always concern, and always for me.
Business colleagues.So many lies out of such a beautiful mouth.
“Mansour, you don’t have to—”
I slant my lips over Jesse’s, cutting off whatever unnecessarily honorable words he’d been about to offer.
For a second, when Jesse’s lips stay slack beneath mine, I commit myself to wandering into the woods to live among the frogs and fish forever. It’s the only rational solution. The trees will keep my secrets, and I can wither away in humiliation.
I pull back a fraction, resolved on my new life plan, and Jesse finally reacts.
I gasp as he swings me upward. My legs dangle over the side of the seat, my torso angled to the right. The mild discomfort of the position quickly wanes when Jesse grabs my arms and pulls me flush against him, smothering my next gasp with a kiss that reaches the very tips of my newly thawed toes.
The next few minutes pass with the hazy cadence of a fever dream. I rake my fingers through the waves of Jesse’s hair, my nails sliding over his scalp. He fists the fabric at my hip, holding on to my blouse so tightly that no iron or steamer has a hope of smoothing out the creases he’ll leave.
Before today, I would have sworn that I’ve been kissed. That I’ve known what it’s like to want someone so badly, you can scarcely breathe through it.Kissing is fine,this Mina would have said.I just don’t quite see what all the fuss is about.
What a silly girl.
“Mina,” Jesse groans, the single word so decadently tortured. It’s raw, stripped of any sarcasm or imperiousness. Just bare Jesse, and it goes through me like a shot of adrenaline.
I crawl higher on his lap, my mouth moving to the long column of his throat, determined to wring out a million more of those sounds.
Except as soon as I lean forward again, the solid body beneath me vanishes, and I find myself alone in the seat.
Jesse bows forward in the aisle, gripping the seats on either side of him while he catches his breath. “Damn it, Mansour. Damn it.”
“Did I do something wrong?” It comes out wobbly and a little frightened, but the whiplash has temporarily knocked my pride away.
“Yes.“ A beat passes before Jesse finally looks at me. “No. No, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s my fault.”
“Your fault for what?”
“That shouldn’t have happened.”
The looming threat of tears abates, replaced with indignation.
“Why not?” I don’t appreciate being yanked around like this. Eighteen is too old for him to have the emotional maturity of a soccer ball.
“You’re seeing someone, Mansour. Or you will be, when we get rid of this curse. I’m not interested in being a rest stop on your journey back to your boyfriend.”
Taken aback, I stare at him openmouthed. He thinks I’m planning to get back together with Alex?
