Instead, Aofe was smirking, like she’d known this entire time why he’d been avoiding her.
Which, of course, she did. She was brilliant.
That little spark in her gaze didn’t dim, not as her eyes trailed down his chest, to his flicking tail, then back to his face. “Is that so?”
There was no embarrassment on her cheeks beyond the natural soft pink flush of her skin, though Kizros could feel his own warming at how thoroughly she watched him.
He shoved his glasses back in place. “It was a peck on the cheek.”
“Factual,” Aofe replied with a hum. “So what would you consider a kiss?”
He grunted past the lump growing in his throat. “Lips. Tongue. Hands.”
“You’re just listing body parts, Kiz.”
His jaw clenched at how she said his name. “Aofe.”
She blinked innocently. “I’m asking a serious question. What do you consider a kiss so I know what to do nexttime?”
Next time.
Kizros wet his lips.
“I don’t know what your customs are,” Aofe continued, eyes dipping to his mouth. “But I’ve spent most of my life being told what I can’t do. So when I see something I want, something I can control, propriety or not, I’m not afraid to say it.” She stepped closer, tilting her chin further. “Kizros, I would very much like to know how you want to be kissed so I can do it right.”
“Aofe,” he rasped, then swallowed to keep his initial thoughts back. He didn’twantto reject her, but he couldn’t take advantage of this position.
It didn’t matter, because she saw everything. Damn twitch in his eye.
She leaned back, smirk fading. “Unless you don’t—you don’t actually want that with me.”
Now her cheeks went from pink to red, and she turned away faster than he’d ever seen her move.
His tail whipped out, twisting around her hips as he yanked her back around. His body was quick but gentle, and as his tail deposited her against the back wall, he caged her within his arms.
Aofe sucked in a breath, eyes wide as he leaned down to meet her eye to eye.
“One thing first,” Kizros muttered, fascinated with how the blackness in her eyes grew to nearly encompass the blue. “Before I tell you how you consume my thoughts and make me want to bloom every flower in this damn city for you, Ineed to know you don’t feel this way simply because I gave you sunshine.”
Her brows pinched, eyes flickering over his face so quickly he noticed when she connected the threads and froze.
“You weren’t given a choice,” he continued, so painfully close to her body that he could feel each rise and fall of her chest. “I nearly killed you, and I hold the source of one thing that you need to live.”
Aofe’s lips twisted, head tilting toward the back door in thought. “Then let me ask you something.” She turned back to him, and in that moment, he felt as if she were the one caging him in. “If either of us didn’t want this, or it didn’t work out, would you take that sunshine away from me?”
He snarled in disgust. “What? Of course not, I’m not a?—”
“Monster?” she finished, brow raised. “I know, Kiz. I’ve met monsters. It’s the whole reason I’m here.” Her hands flexed on her crutches. “This is why you’ve been avoiding me?”
Shame clogged his throat, so he closed his eyes and nodded.
A breath passed, and then a soft touch brushed over his cheek. He leaned into it, opening his eyes to find Aofe’s thumb stroking where she’d pressed her lips only days before.
“It’s not because of the sunshine,” she whispered.
Kizros slowly inhaled, using the breathto control his restraint. How else was he supposed to justkissher, still feeling that guilt coil in his belly? Barely two weeks had passed in Heck, and she’d spent that time in an infirmary, his shop, and her room. He’d either cooked for her or brought food back for meals, sheltering her from the outside world and making him her only source of comfort. How could she have suffered all those horrors of her past and still chosenhim, of all demons, when she hadn’t seen any more of this world?
And yet, he was selfish, because despite those thoughts, he was leaning closer. Feeling Aofe’s breath across his lips. Watching her eyes darken in that strange, intense way.
