Something snapped between us, I wasn’t sure what, but one minute I was on my back the next we were rolling off the bed, landing with a soft thud as his hands went behind my head to break our fall. His mouth, however, never left mine.
Kissing Timber was like experiencing hunger and thirst all at once, only to ever feel satisfied when he kissed me back, giving me small morsels of what I needed, what I would kill to have.
I threaded my hands through his blond hair, then ran them down his arms, the minute my skin touched his tattoo, the spell was broken.
Blisters appeared on my fingertips where the black had touched.
Timber broke the kiss and gripped my hands in his with a frown, careful not to let any part of his tattoo touch my skin. “I don’t understand.”
His skin took on an unnatural glow almost pulsing beneath the black.
And before my eyes, the tattoo slithered up his neck wrapping around it like a chokehold, stopping just below his chin only to draw slow intricate circles up the sides of his face.
It was beautiful and terrifying.
“What’s happening?” I asked in a quiet voice.
“You’ll have to be more specific. Are you talking the bite, the kiss, the deeper kiss, or the fact that I’m stuck in a tattooed prison made up of ugly plants?”
Tears filed my eyes. “It’s not funny.”
“Death never is.” He blew across my blistered hands and then sighed. “I’ll call Cassius, he’ll take care of this.”
“And what about you?” I just had to ask.
“I don’t think—” He gulped. “—that I’ll be a problem much longer.”
He started to walk away.
Urgency filled me. “What did you see? In my blood?” I called out.
“The sun,” he said seriously. And then he walked off like that was a good enough answer.
I stumbled after him, chased was more like it, and when I caught up, I grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. “What does that mean?”
We were in the doorframe, chests heaving for different reasons or maybe just the same one we refused to discuss.
The kiss.
“If I knew,” he said hoarsely, “I would tell you.”
“And the kiss?” I crossed my arms.
“We got carried away.” His jaw flexed before he looked down. “It happens.”
“You’re too controlled to use that excuse.”
With a smirk, he leaned over until he was inches from my face. “And you’re what? A demon expert? Or just an expert on self-control?”
“It happened.”
“Yes. It did.” He pointed at his face. “Clearly. Every time I touch you I get punished, maybe it’s a warning sign… not to touch the human that houses the sun.”
“The sun’s a star, try again.”
He snorted out a laugh of disbelief. “Wow. Yes, the sun’s a star—also known as Ra.”
I gaped at his retreating form. “I’m not housing a god!”