And then I froze. Pretty sure I stopped breathing altogether.
He seemed to freeze too before he turned to look at me. My hand remained on the top of his head. I should definitely move it, but my brain was having trouble operating. Firing on all cylinders? It wasn’t even firing on one. More like a little poof of exhaust from an overheated engine.
“Having fun?” he asked.
I drew my traitorous hand back and shoved it into my lap. “Was just curious if head pats worked on you too.”
His cool expression fractured, revealing a smile that damn near took my breath. And his laugh…gods. The low, melodic sound found its way to my heartstrings, giving them a gentle strum.
Onyx reached over and smoothed his thumb over my chin. The soft touch sent a flood of tingles through my body. I found myself being drawn into his orbit, lured by his woodsy and smokey scent. It was intoxicating. Hypnotic.
Irresistible.
“I should go.” I cleared my throat and uncrossed my legs to stand.
A touch to my wrist stopped me. I settled back into place and looked at him. Big mistake. He was closer now.
“There your heart goes again,” he softly said, turning my face to his. “Beating so quickly. Do I make you nervous?”
“A little,” I answered shakily, going for honesty. An electric current moved beneath my skin, right where he touched me. The sensation was both familiar and foreign. Familiar in that my other men had affected me that strongly too, the connection between us sizzling before we finally came together. But it was also different. More intense and kind of terrifying in that intensity.
“Because you fear I’ll harm you?” His breath feathered over my lips.
“No.” I swallowed the tightness in my throat. “Because I’m afraid of… this. The way you make me feel.”
“How do I make you feel?”
The current beneath my skin traveled lower, the electricity fizzling throughout my chest. “Like I’m falling.”
And it would hurt like hell once I hit the ground. Because I didn’t know if he’d catch me.
“If you fear falling, you can always spread your wings, little bird.” Lord Onyx moved in closer, enough for me to feel the slightest pressure of his mouth on mine. “And fly away.”
I knew what he was saying. If I wanted to, I could get up and leave him there beneath the willow. Run from these feelings.
But they had been building since the night I woke in his castle: a prickling tension that caused every nerve ending in my body to awaken and grow restless when he was near. Every meeting with him in dimly lit corridors, every conversation and shared look, had only strengthened that connection.
I couldn’t fight it anymore.
“What if I don’t want to fly away?” I whispered.
“Then you’d be foolish.” He rested a hand on the side of my neck and angled his head, ghosting his lips over mine. “A reckless fool, just like me.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar glow.
A red spider lily. It bloomed before my eyes, rising from the soil beside Lord Onyx and sprouting long, thin leaves and spindles. The same flower that’d appeared the night in the forest when the mercenaries attacked and led me to the barrier of the Shadow Realm—to him.
“Should you ever find yourself lost, look to the lilies,”Lupin had told me.
That advice had helped me the night of the ball. Just as it was helping me now. A sign that the path I needed to choose was right in front of me. I only needed to take that pivotal step forward.
I kissed Onyx.
The moment our lips connected, it was like the earth shifted beneath me. Electricity sparked and ignited a fire in my veins, a sizzling inferno that blazed through my bloodstream.
What fanned those flames higher? Onyx entwined his fingers in the back of my hair and met my initial kiss with one that damn near stopped my heart. The temperature of his skin burned hot, and I sought more of that heat. I drew him closer, and our mouths continued to meld, teeth lightly clanging and tongues swirling together. My head spun from the intensity.
“Breathe,” he murmured.
