The rain pours down, sliding between our mouths, turning every breath into something more desperate than before. He angles my head exactly where he wants it, where he's clearly imagined it, because there's no hesitation in him.
I open for him on a gasp. He growls into my mouth, the sound vibrating through my chest.
His hand grips my hip, fingers digging through fabric as he yanks me toward him. My spine hits the tree again and he's right there with me.
The kiss deepens, turning fierce. I've never been kissed like this before, and I'm certain I will never be kissed like this again.
He tastes like rain and anger and everything I've tried not to want.
My hands slide up his chest. The heat of him is obscene compared to the cold storm, and my fingers clutch at his shoulders.
His grip tightens at my neck as he kisses me like he's trying to imprint himself there. His mouth drags, teeth grazing my lip before biting down hard enough to tear a moan loose.
That pushes him over the edge as he shoves me harder into the tree. His forehead drops to mine as our breaths tangle.
He leans down and kisses me again, only pausing for a second to catch his breath.
This one is even more overwhelming, and I completely submit to it.
To him.
To this want that's been building inside me for months.
I feel him everywhere.
In the tremor of his hand.
In the tremble of my core.
In the way the rain can't cool anything between us.
He kisses me like he's wanted this longer than he'll ever admit.
And I kiss him back because I'm certain that if I don't, I'll break.
The world goes silent and all I can feel is him.
And this moment that will haunt me for the rest of my life.
I come backto the present slowly.
The carpet beneath my cheek. The cold air on my skin. The sound of Ewan's zipper pulling up.
I just lie here and try to go back to the memory I was lost in, but I can't. Reality stole that from me too.
He steps in front of me, smoothing down his shirt and adjusting his cuffs like he didn't just assault me.
"Get up and go fix yourself. You're disgusting."
He's almost at the door when he stops and turns around. "And Keira? Next time you want to play games at my table, remember Hale is only protected as long as you behave and follow the rules."
I push myself up slowly once Ewan is gone, palms flat against the rug to stop the shaking.
I sit here on the floor in my ruined dress and think of the forest. Of the first time Tristan kissed me like he'd been holding his breath for years and finally inhaled.
I didn't know then that it would be my lifeline. That one day my memories of him would be the only safe place I could run to.
The tears come without warning. Not because of what Ewan just did to me, but because I understand with perfect clarity that there was a time I was happy and I didn't even know it. That there was a man who touched me like I was more than all the terrible things I'd done.
