Page 28 of Branded By Shadow
A tear slips free.
I hate it.
He catches it with his thumb like it offends him that the world put it there.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper.
His gaze drops to my mouth.
Just once.
A flicker.
A mistake.
A warning.
I feel it everywhere.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I say.
His voice goes rough. “Like what?”
“Like you’re about to make this worse.”
His eyes come back to mine.
“Wouldn’t be worse.”
My breath catches.
Then I’m moving.
Or he is.
Maybe both.
The phone slips from both our hands onto the bed beside us, the screen still glowing, and Shadow’s mouth comes down on mine.
It isn’t soft.
Good.
I don’t need soft right now.
I need something solid enough to hit back against the fear. Something hot enough to burn through the sound of gunfire still trapped in my head.
He kisses like he does everything else. Controlled until he isn’t. One hand at my jaw. The other at my waist, pulling me in without asking permission my body has already given. I grab his cut because I need to hold on to something, and leather creaks under my fingers.
He tastes like cold air and danger.
Like a bad idea with a heartbeat.
I make a sound I don’t recognize, and he answers with a low growl that rolls through me straight to my knees.
Then he stops.
Just stops.
