“As ready as I can be,” I replied dryly. Better to keep both of our expectations low.
“I can’t promise I’ll go easy on you.” Casimir chuckled, taking a step closer.
My spine locked into place at his close proximity, my limbs going rigid, my breath hitching in my throat. My body was far too attuned to him, too sensitive to whatever gravitational pull drew me in. I felt my cheeks growing hot as he approached, at the way his gaze burned through me.
Meeting those bottomless eyes felt dangerous. Daring. Like standing at the edge of a cliff and staring into the abyss. Like murmuring Bloody Mary three times in front of a mirror and pretending not to feel frightened.
I forced myself to meet them anyway.
“Better make these last few days count then,” he said, his breath ghosting across my face.
Because that was all the time we had left, I realized.
He was standing far too close.
Something clenched low in my belly, tense like coiled wire. Faintly, I was aware of my heart, thrumming like a caged bird against my chest. My eyelids fluttered, my body strung as tight as a bow, ready to spring. If this was a glamour, I couldn’t tell. I wasn’t sure I cared either way.
“You know,” he murmured, “if you’d just wear the damn necklace, this would be a whole lot easier.”
I clenched my jaw, at once defensive. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather learn how to resist glamours so I don’t have to rely on a piece of metal.”
He sighed, and his breath ghosted across my neck, making me shiver. “So stubborn…” He traced the line of my jaw with his knuckle, his gaze dropping to my mouth.
I waited for him to lean in to press our lips together, but he made no move to close the last few inches of space between us.
And then I realized;he was going to make me do it, the prick. Of course, he was. As if reading the irritation written on my face, he gave me a familiar, arrogant smile.
It pissed me off enough that I seized the collar of his jacket and hauled his mouth to mine. The flash of surprise in his eyes just before they fluttered closed told me I’d won this round.
But then he took control of the kiss, his lips fierce and demanding.
I hadn’t realized how much he’d been holding back that night on the veranda. I gasped as his hand trailed down my spine to press against the soft curve of my lower back, the other entwined in my damp hair, all the while pressing me harder against him. For once, the nagging voice in my head fell silent, though I should have been dismayed by the way my body melded to his, by how quickly I forgot myself. It should have alarmed me enough to stop, to pull away. But just like that night at the manor, I was on the brink of being consumed by him. And just like the first time, I was powerless to stop myself.
I groaned into his mouth as his hands trailed lower, cupping my ass. The fire in my belly spread like wildfire through my veins, boiling my blood. My hands tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, wanting him everywhere. His body was flush against mine, and it was still not close enough. The heat coming off him was kindling to the fire already raging through me, his tongue a torch igniting every nerve. Seized as though by some momentary madness, my hands slipped lower on his abdomen, fumbling over the clasp of his belt.
He went rigid.
I released him at once, and he staggered back, his pupils blown wide and his cheeks a vivid shade of cerise.
Oh, fuck.
Rejection washed over me like a bucket of ice. My face burned with my rising mortification and horror at what I’d just done.
Casimir cleared his throat. “Ah, I–I’m sorry.”
This was possibly the first time I’d ever seen Casimir stumble for words.
“I’m just not sure now’s the time to?—”
“Yes!” I squeaked. “I mean, no, you’re right.” I nodded furiously, not daring to meet his eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if my face were the exact shade and color of a tomato.
He cleared his throat again.
Then, in a voice I hardly recognized, I heard myself saying, “We should probably keep things professional anyway.” I trained my gaze on Gwen’s collection of stuffed toys so I wouldn’t have to witness Casimir’s reaction.Coward, I thought.
A fuzzy bunny rabbit stared back at me with accusatory marble eyes.
What in the actual fuck was wrong with me? Two minutes ago, I had beengrabbingat his belt, and now I was insisting I wanted to keep things professional? I rambled on, the words spewing from my mouth like vomit. “I don’t think it would be a good idea. For either of us, I mean.”