Veiled (Ada Palomino 1)

“How am I testing you?” I say, nearly breathless.

He swallows thickly, his eyes dropping down to my mouth in a heavy-lidded gaze. He doesn’t have to say anything. I already know. “I may be immortal but I am still a man with blood pumping in my veins.” He moves an inch closer. My skin heats up. Every nerve is burning. “You are off-limits. You are forbidden to me. And all it does is make me want you more.”

I shouldn’t speak. Just keep my mouth shut and watch him as his expression turns more lustful. Predatory. I already feel like I’m one big coil ready to spring. In anger, in frustration, in shameless abandon.

But I part my lips, because I know what I want and that I’d die to get it, and ask him, softly, “In what way do you want me?”

“Every way. To feel you,” he murmurs, his voice shaking like he’s trying to hold himself together with all his strength. He slides one of his hands into my hair and I automatically close my eyes. “To taste you. Every inch of you.”

My breath hitches.

I’m standing with my toes over the edge, ready to free fall.

I just need the push.

And so does he.

I put my hand on his arm, the one still planted against the wall, and lower it. I guide his hand to the small of my waist, hiking up his Led Zeppelin shirt just enough until the full heat of his palm is flush against my skin.

He closes his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose.

“You undressed me last night,” I whisper as the touch of his skin on mine sends heat straight into my core, my legs automatically squeezing together in order to quell it. “You put this shirt on me.” I pause, lick my lips. “Did you like what you saw?”

His eyes find mine, startlingly clear. Raw. I’m not scared by their intimacy. He’s always stared at me too deeply, like he sees me for all that I am and encourages it.

“Did you touch me?” I go on, tone softer than air.

His gaze never breaks. The slight shake of his head. I believe him.

“You can touch me now,” I tell him. I reach down and bring his hand further up, his fingers trailing over my ribs. His thumb brushes against the curve of my breasts, my nipples immediately going hard from even the lightest contact.

His eyes are boring into mine, flashing in shock, in amazement, in desire. He’s flickering through emotions while the truth, our argument, my anger, all disappears from my head. All I feel is deep-seated lust, a primal force that’s surging through me in ways I’ve never felt before, enough to make me bold and brazen and greedy.

I’m not myself at this moment.

And I love it.

His hand cups my breast now, thumb skirting over my overly-sensitive nipple. I can’t help but gasp, every inch of me now awake and starving for him.

Jay groans, a throaty sound from deep in his gut and he leans in, his lips grazing my cheekbone. “I won’t be able to come back from this,” he whispers into my ear, sending even more shivers down my spine. “A side of me might come out, one I can never put back. A side better left hidden.” He pauses, his thumb pinching my nipple until I’m gasping again. “The more human I get, the more dangerous I become. The more dangerous it is for us. And I can’t promise a happy ending.”

“I don’t need your promises,” I tell him, putting my hand behind his neck and holding him there. “I just need you. Right now.”

I move my head back slightly so that his forehead is resting against mine. “Besides. I’m starting to get the hang of this whole danger thing. I might even like it.” I smile. “You know I—”

His mouth is on mine in a second.

Hot.

Wet.

Feverish.

Hungry.

I’m instantly devoured.

Firm fingers at my chin, holding me in place.

His lips move against mine in a flawless rhythm, a kiss that nearly knocks me off my feet, a kiss that reaches through my mouth and down into the heart of me, erasing every kiss I’ve ever had.

I’m his first kiss.

And in a moment he’s rendered me his equal.

His tongue slips inside my mouth, teasing, testing, sending shockwaves along every sensitive nerve. Warm. Lush. It’s decadent, like sweet syrup and I’m drowning.

Where did you learn to kiss like this? I think but don’t say because words are stolen from me and I am swept under.

I grip his neck for dear life, as if he’ll be lost to me if I don’t. His thumb pinches my nipple, hard, and I’m gasping from shock and pleasure, all rolled up in one merciless feeling.

He brings his mouth to my neck, sucking a bruise into my skin, nipping me, a little taste here, a long lick there. His body shudders as he comes closer, his shoulders dwarfing my frame, until his hips are pressed against me.