“Yes,” I breathed. “I want this. And I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
His expression twisted into a frown. It wasn’t the answer he wanted. Taking hold of my hand, he drew it to his mouth, grazing his teeth over the palm. I shuddered against the contact that sent shivers down my spine. He gently pressed his lips to the inside of my hand, and there was a strange kind of reverence in the gesture. He continued his exploration of my forearm, peppering a trail of kisses to the inside of my wrist.
He wanted to slow things down,I realized. Well, screw that.
Used his grip on my hand as leverage, I drew him closer and crushed my lips against his for the second time.
I felt him smile against my lips. “So impatient,” he murmured.
I gave him a hard poke in the ribs. “You’re doing it again,” I admonished.
“Ow! Doing what?”
“Being an ass.”
He laughed. “Was I? In that case, you have my sincerest apologies.”
I kissed him again, more insistently this time, tracing my tongue over the seam of his lips.
He gave a pained groan, drawing back long enough to meet my gaze as his fingers curled around my throat. His eyes burned so dark they were almost black. “Sometimes, I think you might be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me,” he murmured.
A strangled noise escaped my throat, somewhere between a laugh and an objection.How right he was.ButI huffed a laugh and replied, “Believe me, the feeling’s mutual.”
That hard, gem-like quality in his gaze melted, softening as he smirked down at me. His hand was still clasped around my throat.
“Are you going to kiss me now, or will you waste more time making excuses?” I demanded, unsure where this bold, brazen Arden had come from.
His eyes flashed a second before his lips collided with mine, and this time, the kiss was urgent, more like our first kiss beneath the fairy lights at the Yu-Ri manor. His hand left my throat to thread through my curls, anchoring me to him.
Refusing to let him take control, I kissed him back hard enough to leave bruises, forgetting the blistering heat of the fire and reveling in the warmth in his touch. His lips seared me at each point of contact, kindling the fire in my blood until I was sure I would burn, a mortal body razed to ash. Dimly, I wondered why I didn’t spend more time kissing Casimir. I began to regret my choice of denims, as they made maneuvering somewhat difficult, though they didn’t stop me from climbing onto Casimir’s lap in the course of the kiss.
A familiar heat was beginning to build in my core. As Casimir’s hands moved lower to snake around my waist, a frustrated whimper escaped my lips. I’d told him I wanted this, so why was he holding back? I tugged his lower lip between my teeth, biting down hard to get the message across.
“I’m not made of glass,” I hissed against his lips.
He drew back, his lips swollen and cherry red, eyes wholly dark. He huffed a short laugh when I tugged at his curls, a little harder than necessary.
I didn’t have time to do more than gasp as he knotted his fingers into the hair at the back of my skull, angling my head back so that I had to look down through my lashes to see him.
“Are you always so violent?” he murmured.
“Only with you,” I breathed.
He laughed softly against my skin, and then, without warning, sank his teeth into the curve of flesh between my neck and shoulder. I expected him to make it hurt, to prove that he could hurt me, too, but he was gentle, teasing.
I dragged a hand beneath his sweater, wanting to be closer, to remove the barriers between his skin and mine. Understanding my intent, he yanked off his sweater, allowing me access, but still, I couldn’t get close enough. I wanted to crawl inside his skin and live there. If his scent had been overpowering while we studied, it was nothing in comparison to now; heady, brimming with smoke and leather.
I tore my lips away only long enough to rip off my sweater and toss it into a corner, feeling Casimir’s gaze on me as he tracked the movement.
To no avail, however.
The Darkseer made no move to touch me further, maintaining his hold on my curls and the barest graze of his fingers along my ribcage. I ground my hips against him, nipping at his throat for emphasis. He hissed at the contact and drew back long enough to meet my gaze. “Stop that,” he growled.
“Why?” I challenged him, my voice coming out breathless.
He shook his head. “Farrow, I want to be clear, this was not what I expected when I asked you to come over…”
I rolled my eyes at his gallantry. “Yes, yes, you are ever the gentleman.” I was growing impatient. “Can we continue kissing now, please?”