The Puppet Assassin [TTR sequel]

The Puppet Assassin - Ch 24 [An Enticing Possibility -|- Dizelde]

Turning around was a little harder than I thought it would be. He could balance easily but I didn’t trust myself and I knew I would’ve tipped over if he wasn’t holding on to me. As I moved around, my legs shaking slightly because I was tensing them too much, his hand shifted underneath my t-shirt. I glanced up at him, startled at the suddenness of his warm touch, but he wasn’t looking at my face or my hands. His eyes had a faraway look.

We were so close, hardly an inch apart. I could feel his breath, I could see the clear colour of his eyes, I could see his parted lips… hmm.

“Dizelde.”

I looked up quickly, surprised that he was looking at me properly. I fought back a blush at the knowledge of him seeing me stare at his lips. He leant forward, one hand was firm on my back, holding me balanced against him, the other reached past me and leaned against the tree trunk. He wasn’t trembling at all, despite the slightness of the branch we were on, despite the height, despite… how close we were. He seemed assured. Well, that made one of us.

His head lowered and I was disconcerted when he pressed his lips softly onto the top of my head. It was an intimate move, something that showed care and adoration. But it wasn’t like we knew each other that well, we weren’t even dating. He lifted his head and I could feel the sudden rise in speed of his heartbeat. It set off my own, pumping blood fast through my body. My breathing became shaky. His grip tightened on me, pressing me closer, his hand moving upward, under my shirt, to press between my shoulder blades. I should’ve been flustered by my shirt rising to bare my stomach but I looked up and felt compelled to do so much by the look in his eyes.

My mouth was drying up so I swallowed, twice, feeling more and more nervous. He had closed his eyes and his actions were worrying me. It was as if he were trying to control himself. But I wanted him to kiss me. I would start it myself but I wouldn’t be able to reach him unless he bent down. I really, really wanted…

I gasped as the hand on my back pushed me upwards, making only the tips of my toes touch anything solid. His eyes were wide and he was leaning in again, though this time there was no mistaking. He was going to kiss me.

I closed my eyes, waiting, impatiently. They snapped open when he kissed low on my jaw, just beneath my left ear. I wrapped my arms around his neck, using one hand to try and hold him still as I moved my lips towards his but he chuckled teasingly, the sound rumbling lightly in my ear, and kept his lips in place. I held back a whine. Crap! He was making me nearly lose control of myself.

He opened his mouth and I felt his teeth skim my skin. More gnawing? I was about to ask him out loud when his lips covered mine. My eyes instantly closed as all my senses concentrated on that one touch. The gentle-firmness of his lips as they covered mine, tugging, brushing, sliding. I held onto his neck tightly, afraid that if his hand stopped supporting me, I would not be able to hold myself up. The sensation of this touch was like fire sparking on my lips which was only soothed when his lips brushed over them. My heart trembled.

He paused with his teeth clinging onto my bottom lip and the same chuckle rumbled again. I could feel that his eyes were open and on me but I couldn’t open mine. I was lost in the feel of him, to open my eyes would make me lose some of that feeling. He let go of my lip and it throbbed gently for a moment before I felt his tongue dart out and swipe across it. His lips moved against mine again but this time his tongue pressed at the parting of my lips and he pushed his way in. I opened my mouth a little wider, worried that I would bite down without thinking. But thought washed away when he ran his tongue through my mouth, twirled around mine and drew it into his mouth. I forgot to breathe for a moment, so out of my mind, and had to breathe in sharply through my nose.

He withdrew his tongue and sighed. I opened my eyes, disappointed. He pulled back even more and straightened up, and then grimaced and stretched his neck.

“I thought you were taller,” he said, his voice a little deeper than usual.

Huh. What a thing to say after… that. I felt like I was burning up. My lips kept throbbing. I pulled my hands away from him and lifted one to my mouth. They felt normal. Strange, it seemed like they should feel different. He took his hand from the tree and took my hand from my lips and put it on his waist. He then wrapped his arms around my shoulders. Well, I hadn’t lied to myself totally. He was hugging me. It was more than surrounding me with warmth, I felt comfort, safety and belonging in his arms. All of a sudden I felt like asking him not to go. But this was stupid! A little more than a week and I couldn’t do without him?! I was just… floating on the aftermath of the kiss.

I rubbed his back up and down, like he was a pet or something, and pulled myself back. “Bye, Larkin. Have fun, you know, wherever you’re going.”

“It was a bad idea, kissing you,” he said softly, almost like he was talking to himself. But he knew I could hear.

“What?!”

He sighed. “Puppet, I want to take you with me,” he explained. “I already wanted to take you with me before I tasted you.”

“Oh.” Huh.

His lazy grin flashed. “Well, I can’t exactly doing that without having Liam coming to kill me so I’ll just say goodbye quickly.”

His hands gripped my shoulders and pulled me up so that he could kiss me again. He used his lips and teeth to tug and smooth my lips but his tongue didn’t come into play this time. He moved back with a quick peck on my nose and dropped. I immediately grabbed onto the trunk to balance myself and watched as he nimbly made his way to the ground.

“I’ll be back!” he called out as he reached the bottom, looking up at me to bare his teeth. It sounded like a warning and I remembered yet again his earlier words.

I’m coming back to catch you.

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Hmm, so I was thinking that I might just continue with Dizelde’s point of view from here. Luke’s not gonna disappear from the story but it goes from my mind to words a lot easier if I write as Dizelde. And don’t worry, there’ll be updates on his relationship with B and of course all the stuff about the case. I don’t think I’ll have any outraged fans though ;) Not that Luke was unpopular but everyone seems to enjoy Diz more.