know how to stop it … And I don’t even know if I really want to.
Because this man’s lips are like fire scorching my soul. His kiss deepens, and his hand moves from my wrist to my waist, cupping me tight to bring me closer to his body. An animalistic groan leaves his mouth, and it pushes all my buttons. The way he holds me is greedy, but his kiss is even greedier.
It’s a kiss that sucks all the air out of your body without ever feeling like you need to breathe. The kind of kiss that leaves you breathless without trying. The kind of kiss you never want to stop. That happens once in a lifetime.
And this is mine.
When this man’s lips slowly move away from mine to allow me a second to breathe,
the shock of what just happened overwhelms me until I remember that I already have someone to call mine. My boyfriend, Chris. Or at least he was until he kissed another woman.
And the mere thought of seeing her wrap her hands around him brings me back to reality and forces me to come face-to-face with what I’ve done. I’m no better than Chris.
The stranger suddenly says, “A kiss … for a kiss.”
Did he just … ?
My eyes widen.
He knows.
“How?” I mutter.
“Make a choice,” he says. Grabbing my hand, he pulls it to his lips, pressing a sweet, sinful kiss on top. “Him … or me.”
Why would he ask me this?
His hand rises to meet my face, and he pushes aside my hair only to pause. His brows furrow as he homes in on the side of my neck.
I gasp.
The bruises.
I try to cover them up, but it’s too late, and a blush spreads on my cheek.
My lips part, but he presses his finger against my mouth, stopping me from speaking. “Who did this to you?”
Panic sweeps through me once again. It’s too dangerous to tell a man like him.
“I … I …”
His eyes rage with a fire I’ve never seen before. “It was him, wasn’t it?” He blinks and lets go of my wrist, and for some reason, I suddenly feel cold. “It will end.”
Before I can reply, he swirls around and walks off, leaving me breathless and completely untethered from this world.
Chapter 4
Amelia
After he left the club, I didn’t want to go home and face Chris, so I asked my coworker Jamie if I could stay with her for the night. It was easier to run than to pretend everything was okay. Of course, Jamie asked about it, but I didn’t feel like airing all my personal problems, let alone the fact that Chris was cheating on me. No, I shoved that into a corner of my mind and promised myself I wouldn’t look at it again until I was ready, and she respected that.
Now I’m at work, slurping coffee like there’s no tomorrow just to stay awake.
Jamie picks up a whole bunch of books and shoves them into my arms. “Can you help me sort this stack?”
It’s so damn heavy my knees almost buckle.
“Uh, sure,” I reply, trying to keep them from tumbling down onto the floor.
Still, one of them falls, and I try to bend over to pick it up, but then the rest of the stack almost falls too, so I stop just in time.
“Oh, stop!” Jamie says, pushing some books back onto the stack. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it.” She bends over and picks up the book from the floor, only to pause near my legs.
“Hey …” she murmurs, pointing at my knee. “You’ve got a nasty bruise there.”
My eyes widen, and I quickly hide my leg behind the other one. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just … fell down the stairs yesterday,” I say, laughing it off. “It’s fine.”
She frowns at me as she puts the book on top of the stack in my arms. “You sure do fall a lot, don’t you?”
“I bruise easily.” I shrug, winking because we’re both thinking of that same song now.
“Ha-ha …” She rolls her eyes. “I swear to God, Amelia, you’re like a textbook bookworm, complete with the whole clumsiness.”
“I know. That’s why this job is so perfect for me,” I reply.
“Exactly, so go, go, go!” She nudges me forward, so I take the hint and walk off before she asks any more questions that I don’t want to answer.
I carry the books to the bookcase with an empty shelf that needs to be filled. I put most of them down on a table