Heartless

❆ Twenty Two ❆

Twenty Two

I was drowning.

The second his lips descended onto mine, something swelled inside of me. A torrent of uncontrollable emotion surged from my chest and into his as we fell against the sheets. A hand buried deep in the wild tangles of my hair and another propping him up, Beast pressed himself closer and moved his lips against mine, a deep plea in his gentleness that my body eagerly responded to. My arms snaked around his broad shoulders, failing to encompass all of him, then latched onto his waist. I parted my mouth with the desperate need for air and felt a fire erupt on my skin as he swept his tongue along the bottom of my lip, taking it into his mouth and drawing a painful moan from my aching chest.

In eighteen years, I'd only been kissed once before, and that was by Gabriel when I was six and we were playing a game. I still didn't know exactly how to kiss someone, but as he'd said earlier tonight, Beast was an excellent teacher. Now I pined for his lips, yearned for the feel of his hands as he pushed my hair away from my burning face and caressed the subtle curve of my hip, the way he drew out both cries and moans from me and reacted with his own hushed whispers. His hands pushed the torn jacket from my shoulders, and I slipped my arms out of the sleeves with a delicious shiver.

I tugged him closer until he collapsed on top of me with a strained grunt. Our bodies moved together in a rhythm I craved more of. His lips devoured mine once more and moved off to sear the skin of my neck, low grumbles buried deep in his chest. My eyes fell closed with the sluggish move of blood in my veins, my heavy breaths echoing throughout the room. I inhaled the familiar scent of him and listened to my heart boom in my ears; just beneath the palm of my trembling hand, I felt his doing the same. Every fear and doubt I'd ever felt poured out of me and shot into him. Beast took each with a firm assurance that made the tears stream faster.

From the moment we had arrived in the city, I'd wanted this kiss more than I wanted my next breath. Despite being utterly terrified and running for my life from some shadowy creature that lurked in the tunnels just beneath this very castle, and finding out the truth from a book, nothing had changed.

His hand slid along the quivering muscles of my leg and up my back, reaching to cup the nape of my neck and bring me impossibly closer. A loud moan burst from my chest as he took my mouth again. Hovering above me, he ground his hips into mine and laced our hands together, pinning my arms at my sides. It was divine torture.

Then he froze. My body still moved against his in the hope to coax him to start again, but even his lips were still, his body a taut bar of hard iron. I swallowed and licked along my lips, which thirsted for his. "Don't stop," I panted, but my complaint was no more than a breathy whisper.

He lifted his head from the curve of my neck and stared down at me. An unexpected glint of sharp metal gleamed in his silver eyes that shattered the warm atmosphere. Slowly, he turned his head to stare at our intertwined hands. I followed his icy glare to the silver ring still wrapped around my finger.

Gabriel's ring.

I opened my mouth, but he beat me to it. "Where did you get this?"

I swallowed. "Beast..."

"Where did you get it?"

I took a deep breath and licked my lips. "In the snow."

His head snapped to me. The golden tint of his flawless skin suddenly pulsed with shades of furious reds as a sudden realization dawned on his handsome features. Storm clouds of pitch black brewed and raged in the depths of darkening eyes; his body trembled. "He did this," he spat under his breath. He wrenched himself off me so forcefully I nearly tumbled over the edge of the bed. He staggered back with his hands balled into white-knuckled fists at his sides.