Page 81 of Claimed At First Sight

“I dislike the way you say it, as if it’s inevitable.”

His eyes sparkle. “It is.”

I roll my eyes at him.

“You are deeply exhausting,” I mutter.

“And yet,” he says, “you’re still here.”

Before I can think of a response, Maximo rises from his seat across from me.

Every instinct inside me sharpens as he rounds the sofa, the firelight catching against the dark lines of his clothes while he moves with the same confidence he carries into every room he enters.

My entire body locks up as he lowers himself onto the soft leather beside me. The cushion dips beneath his weight, his thigh only inches from mine.

My pulse abandons all loyalty to me and goes rogue. He’s too close.

I don’t dare look at him, because if I turn, our faces will be so close that kissing him again would seem like the next logical thing to do.

His lips have been haunting me for weeks as it is. I don’t need to refresh my memory.

“Are we going to talk about it?” he asks quietly, his breath brushing warm against the side of my neck.

My cheeks turn crimson. “Talk about what?”

Maximo’s mouth brushes dangerously close to my ear when he answers.

“The kiss you ran away from.”

I shake my head before my brain can catch up enough to form an actual response.

I absolutely do not want to talk about it.

What I want to do is do it all over again.

No, I don’t.

Maybe if I repeat that often enough, my body will start cooperating with this story.

“It was a mistake,” I declare, forcing conviction into my voice. “And it’s never going to happen again.”

“Oh, but it will.”

I turn to glare at him, ignoring the dangerous tingles his confidence unleashes low in my stomach.

“No, it won’t,” I reply as coldly as I can, pulling my head back a tad. Our faces are way too close. “Because I do not want to kiss you again.”

A tiny grin curves one side of his mouth.

“Liar,” he murmurs.

Something sparks in the depths of his brown eyes. Then he leans in closer, his mouth brushing near my ear. His voice drops into a conspiratorial hush that slides over my skin like silk.

“Mialina,” he says softly, “I was there. You were just as into that kiss as I was. And you do want to kiss me again.”

Goosebumps race over my skin while my heartbeat stumbles all over itself.

I want to forget that I kissed him back like I’d completely lost my mind. And I definitely want to erase how addictive his mouth tasted.