CARDIGAN, acotar ¹

chapter forty three

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CHAPTER FORTY THREE

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THE WORLD FELL — and suddenly, nothing else mattered as carson's lips brushed his.

it was soft yet fierce; bittersweet. eris's arm banded around her waist, keeping her rising on her toes to kiss her.

but then carson pulled away a moment later, landing back on her feet. her cerulean eyes were wildly glazed.

"i'm still mad at you," she breathed.

"yell at me for it later," was all he said, and surged forward to kiss her again. he backed her up against the wall, lips never separating.

there was nothing sweet about this kiss; it was hungry and lust-fueled. in that moment of time, they were just two starved people acting on their desires for one another. where words failed, their kiss spoke.

all sense of self ripped apart when carson fisted his shirt, drawing him closer — then turning them around. his back hit the wall, and eris couldn't help but smirk against her lips. as if noting that, carson smirked, too.

then her hands went around his neck, tugging him closer. his own hand landed on the small of her back, the other threaded through her hair.

he couldn't stop. didn't want to.

kissing carson was like settling himself aflame — and eris couldn't help but love the way it burned.

but guards were still patrolling the halls, and amarantha's ball was a mere short distance away — filled with crowds of faeries, including his own father who would kill him if he found out. yet he didn't pull away just yet.

so he kissed her — wild, demanding and deep. it wasn't anything like the first time. that night had been teasing and innocent, nothing compared to now — to their fight for dominance over the other. he felt her fingers graze the waistband of his pants, her touch so cold yet burning he groaned.

"wait," eris said, forcing himself to pull away. "carson — "

she looked up at him through her long lashes, lips swollen and eyes glazed.

her eyes were going to be the death of him — bright and gleaming against the scarlet shade of her gown, so dark it brought out the freckles eris wanted to count under the sun. she was going to be the death of him.

and yet, it didn't scare him.

his hand fell from where his fingers had plunged into her hair, and he tipped her chin up — finding the scar he'd left months ago. he leaned forward, and carson's pulse became a fluttering beat beneath his teeth.

whatever warning that had eddied his mind cleared, and eris didn't think twice before his teeth clamped down.

his restraint had broken, and all he could think about was her. past their tragedies, their losses, pas the sound of the key being thrown against the wall with a little snarl from carson. and eris wasn't thinking — had forgotten how to as his power fluttered to rise, warning him of another's presence.