𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (Book 2)

Hundred-Seven

I did pull away then, only so far as to look at his eyes, blurry with the water clouding my vision and yet it could have been clear as day. Their strained expression, the almost pained look as he stared at me.

But still, his thumb brushed against my cheek, his other hand holding the scope of my nape as he drew soft circles on my neck. His gaze was piercing. A reckoning; a hammer drilling into my mind fast as waves crashing against the shore.

We stared. No walls; no shields between us. A window into the soul.

And before I could process his lips were on mine. Warm and careful and soft and yet it was demanding. All consuming.

The world ended and began with his touch. With his lips.

And I could not remember why I had resisted. Could not remember a single thought I had about anything other than this exact moment.

My lips melded with his as though they were made for me. A single fleeting kiss, as he pulled away as fast as he had leaned in. But Rhys did not go far, again resting his forehead on mine, breathing heavy, chest rising and falling in beat with my own.

And as he did, the words he whispered felt like they were seared into my mind. Ingraining themselves into my very being as though they had joined with my thoughts. "If you must see yourself as a monster, Danika, then we will be monsters together."

And then I was gone. And then I forgot.

I closed my eyes, hand clasping around his wrist as I held his hand on my cheek. Keeping it there. Wanting it there and not caring what it meant. It was all I could do to nod at his words, his head resting against mine as my thoughts, for the first time in my life, quieted.

A serene feeling I had never felt before. A feeling, now that I had gotten a taste, I did not know how I would see the world the same. A feeling of utter peace.

Rhys did not wish to change me. Nor would he. Darkness and all, he accepted me as I was. Would become a monster for me.

And so, I kissed him again, leaning up and connecting our lips as my hand slightly rested on his chest. He returned the kiss immediately, the rain still pouring all around us and yet it seemed so inconsequential.

This time it was me who pulled away, not going far. I inhaled a deep breath and stepped back a mere fraction, nodding my head half in a daze as my hair was once more soaked through with the cold rain. "We should go to sleep." I whispered, still looking at him before my eyes flickered to the clouded night sky.

He didn't answer for a long moment, staring at me the exact way I stared at him, "All right."

We lingered. Still staring as we stood outside. Rhys was the first to move. Turning his body toward the door and yet his head was still angled toward me. I put one foot in front of the other, walking at his side as we made our way through the bustling tavern, crowded with the beginnings of nightfall.

The attic door shut behind us after we climbed the stairs. I did not trust myself to look behind me. To look at Rhys in his soaked clothes without wanting...that. Whatever he was or something.

I looked down at myself, silently cursing the gods in my mind. With a sigh, I turned to him. "I have to change." I said, pursing my lips before I looked him up and down. "So do you." I added with a cringe.

Rhys arched a brow at me, no doubt coming to the nefarious conclusions his mind usually went to. My suspicions were confirmed the second his lips tilted into smirk. The High Lord opened his mouth, no doubt prepared to say something dirty, so I cut him off before he could say anything.