Page 50 of Bound Lies

“Don’t act so surprised, princess. I’m the one who’s being stuck with some spoiled brat who thinks a silk dress and a smart mouth will send me to my knees and make me forget that she’s the enemy’s daughter.”

I stare at Kieran for a second, the heat of his hand burning my skin.

Our chests heave, as if neither one of us can catch a breath.

I don’t know who moves first.

Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s him.

But suddenly, his mouth is on mine, and it’s not soft or careful or polite. It’s angry and raw, but my body doesn’t seem to care.

My arms wind around his neck before I can stop them as his hands dig into my waist, pulling me flush against him.

My lips part of their own accord, and then his tongue is in my mouth, moving against mine in a way that has my knees threatening to give out⁠—

No!

“Don’t.” I shove at his chest to break the contact. “Don’t do that again.”

Both of us are breathing hard as we stare at each other.

Kieran’s eyes are wild, his lips a little swollen from the kiss, and I fight the urge to take his face in my hands and kiss him again.

But I can’t cross that line. Not now. Not ever.

“You kissed me,” he grits out.

“It was a mistake.”

“Obviously.”

I flinch at his tone, feeling the last of the control slip away as the tears start to sting my eyes. “This changes nothing. I still want space, and I still want you to stay the hell away from me.”

He inhales sharply through his nose as he glares at me. “Fine. From now on, we don’t speak unless we’re in public. Behind closed doors, we have nothing to do with each other.”

My throat is so thick with tears that I feel like I can’t breathe. “Fine.”

We stare at each other for one more beat, then he turns and storms upstairs without another word.

The sound of Kieran’s bedroom door slamming shut echoes through the entire apartment and is the catalyst that finally breaks me.

I dart up the stairs to the safety of my own room and slam my own door shut behind me.

The moment it’s locked, I tear off the dress and toss it in the corner, not wanting to feel the silk against my skin for another second.

But even as I stand naked in the middle of my room, I can still feel exactly where Kieran’s hands were on my body.

My lips still tingle from the kiss, and I gingerly lift my fingers as I remember what his lips felt like against mine. Warm and surprisingly soft, a complete contrast to the rest of him.

The way his tongue moved against mine had a heat building so quickly deep within my core that it both terrifies and thrills me. I can only imagine how good it would feel to have that tongue between my thighs…

“No!” I charge into the bathroom to turn on the shower.

As I wait for the water to warm up, my reflection in the mirror catches me off guard.

My cheeks are still flushed, and my lips are swollen from where Kieran practically devoured them.

I don’t know what scares me more; how easy it was to fall into that kiss or how fast he agreed to pretend, like it meant nothing to him.