Incipient A Dark Paranormal Romance - Bianca Scardoni Page 0,61

again.

“Yeah, but there’s trusting someone and trusting someone with your life,” he answered pointedly.

I shrugged my shoulders, unsure of how to answer. “Would it surprise you if I did?” I asked instead, a lame attempt to circumvent the loaded question.

“Not really.” His gaze never left mine. “It would surprise me if you’d admit it to me, though.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I jerked back and then narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you implying that I’m incapable of being honest with you?”

“About your feelings? Yeah.”

Ouch. “That’s…not fair.”

“Am I lying?” he asked.

Okay, so he wasn’t exactly telling an untruth. I had been extremely dodgy and dishonest—albeit with good reason—when it came to admitting how I felt about him. But that didn’t make hearing it any less painful.

“You’re not lying,” I quietly admitted, figuring I could at least give him that much.

“So, you trust me with your life, but not with your heart,” he mused and while his voice seemed playful enough, I could see the pain and hurt in his eyes. None of this made sense to him. I didn’t make sense to him.

Hell, I didn’t even make sense to myself half the time.

“I trust you with my heart, Trace. But I don’t trust myself with yours.”

His dark brows pinched above his pensive blue eyes as he processed that.

I wasn’t sure why my heart was jackhammering in my chest just then. Perhaps it was how close we were standing or how serious the conversation had become, or maybe it was the way he was looking at me, like I was the breath to his dying lung. Whatever it was, it was making my entire body flush with heat.

“Why did you kiss me tonight?” he asked suddenly, his question knocking all the air out of my lungs.

“Why are you asking me that?” I answered breathlessly.

“Because I want to know.”

My stomach dipped and flipped every which way as I tried to decipher the look on his face. It was a mixture of curiosity and…and something else. Anger? Regret? Accusation? Was he mad because I’d kissed him? The fact that I couldn’t make out the full scope of his emotions was putting me right on edge.

My defenses immediately shot up. “Why did you kiss me back?” I asked instead and then crossed my arms.

“You know why I kissed you back, Jemma. I want to know why you kissed me.”

I bristled. “Why does it matter?”

“Because it does.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Was it just to make him jealous?”

I felt like a fly caught in a spiderweb. I wasn’t sure whether to lie or tell the truth, though something told me I’d be in trouble either way. But there was only so much running from the truth you could do before it all caught up to you. And I was so sick of running; sick of constantly lying to him about everything.

“It was at first,” I admitted, trying out the whole truth thing for once.

He considered it. “But not after?”

“Not after.” My cheeks warmed as the memory of the kiss invaded into my mind.

He dipped his head in a slow nod, absorbing it. “I can work with that.”

“You can work with that?” I quirked my brow at him, half laughing. “What does that even mean?”

“It means I’m going to kiss you again,” he said, his voice as smooth and even as melted chocolate. The air sizzled with energy as he took a small step toward me.

“Wait,” I squeaked, practically choking on the word as it came out. “You can’t do that. We can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because…it’s…and you’re…” Zero sense had been made.

“Then tell me to back off,” he said calmly as he reached up and brushed my cheek with his thumb. “If that’s what you really want, tell me to stop touching you and I will.”

I met his gaze and sighed as the humming sensation intensified between us. His eyes were dancing across my face, taking in all of my features as though desperate to commit them to memory all over again.

The way he looked at me…it was the same way he'd always looked at me. Like I was a prized painting that needed to be admired—worshipped. It made my head spin, and my knees go weak.

“Do you want me to stop, Jemma?” he asked as he stepped closer to me, his legs brushing up against my own and sending my heart into a complete tailspin. There wasn’t even a sliver of space between us and somehow, it still didn’t feel close enough.