Page 39 of Uncrowned

“You like the way I smell? Uh… thank you?”

“It’s nice.”

“Well, you smell nice as well.”

“…V?”

“Yeah, Penelope?”

I didn’t miss the huskiness of his voice.

“This isn’t going to last, is it? You being nice to me like this.”

He paused. “No. It’s not.”

I nodded, leaning my forehead against his chest.

How did this feel so comfortable? So right? I should be fighting this stranger with everything I had. He killed my parents. He killed John. He was also the only one who had treated me civilly in as long as I could remember. The long talks. The care in his words as he refused to let me talk down about myself. I was so conflicted. Or… I should have been.

Arms tightened around me and stubble against the top of my hair had my eyes flaring wide.

“You don’t have the mask on.”

V stiffened.

“Can I feel?”

“Feel?”

“Your face. I can’t see it. Can I feel it?”

“No.”

“I’ll let you feel mine.”

“Penelope—”

“Real quick. I just… please.”

He made a sound. “You have one minute.”

I smiled, easing my hand up. Coarse hair met the pads of my fingers, and I followed his jaw up, moving over his cheek to his eye. I pushed even higher, closing my eyes and seeing him come to life in my mind. I followed his forehead up to thick hair…slightly curly hair, but big curls. Barely even curls, almost waves?

My hand dropped again, tracing down his straight nose, easing to caress over full lips. They parted and my breath caught as he bit gently into my finger. My own lips separated, and I didn’t think as I slid my leg to settle between his. All the emotions I’d had when we talked on the phone came barreling back through. It kept coming. That warmth—the tingling—the yearning… He’d been a savior then, too. But that’s not what he was—or was he?

“I think you were right. Bald. Bad teeth. Crooked nose.”

V laughed again, shaking me in his arms.

“You’re beautiful,” I breathed out.

He grew silent, moving in. Lips brushed mine, and I kissed him back. I couldn’t stop my hands from settling against his chest. Where I’d meant them to be a wall to keep him back, my nails sunk in. V moaned, deepening the kiss and slipping his tongue into my mouth.

Tingling and heat took over. I quickly broke away.

“We can’t. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

No words. V eased back, disappearing from the bed. When the light came on and he was back in the mask, I regretted ruining the moment. He said this wouldn’t last, and somewhere deep inside, I knew he was right. There was a darkness about him that I wasn’t going to escape. I had no idea what V planned to do with me, or if he was serious about anything he’d already said. What I did know was if he was telling the truth, I was safer away from him.