Total pages in book: 193
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Zeke perks a brow while the rest of his face remains impassive. “No.”
“No? What do you mean no? Why the hell not?”
“Because I don’t trust a word that comes out of that pretty little mouth, princesa.”
“See…that. There! Why do you say things like that?”
His green eyes turn challenging, and he takes a step closer. “Like what?”
I refuse to back down, but I can’t deny my voice sounds unsure when I answer. “You said my mouth is pretty.”
“So what?”
“Soooo… You don’t say things like that to someone you hate. You say it if it’s someone you want to…kiss.” Zeke doesn’t respond, but the knot in his throat bobs as if he just swallowed a really large pill. For some reason it gives me a false sense of confidence, and I inch forward. “Do you want to kiss me, Ezekiel?”
I expect him to deny it immediately. Instead, he stares at my mouth for a really long time before he rejects me. “No.”
“Are you sure?” I inch a little closer, something like hope tightening inside my chest. “Not even one little kiss?” I decide to taunt. “It’s just us. The others don’t have to know.”
“You want me to help you cheat on my brothers?”
I close the last bit of distance between us, and Zeke breaks first, stumbling in retreat. I take a page out of Thorin, Khalil, and Seth’s book and I don’t let him run. I chase. His back hits the huge tree behind him, and his green eyes flare wide when I boldly invade his space. When I place my hands on his shoulders and mold the front of my body against his, his eyes take on a glassy look. “It’s complicated.”
“It’s really not,” he returns dryly. And yet he’s still staring at my mouth.
“You’ve kissed me before.”
“Seth kissed you.”
I roll my eyes. “Ta-may-toe, ta-mah-to.”
Zeke swears. “You enjoy provoking me, don’t you?”
“Yes, but only because you make it so easy.” I breathe deeply when it doesn’t feel like the whole truth and I begin pushing toward it. “And,” I add reluctantly, “when I make you angry, it hurts less to know that you’re not the man I love anymore. Sometimes, I see you and I forget. And then you see me too and… I remember. At least when you’re angry about something I actually did, it feels like I deserve the way you look at me.”
“I’m sorry,” he says with a pink tinge to his cheeks. “I’ll…try to stop. But won’t kissing you just confuse you even more?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. We won’t know until we try. It could be good for us both.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I’m confused and you’re curious. You want to know what made Seth and your brothers fall so hard for me. Well, here’s your chance.”
“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that set of lips that made them fall, princesa.”
“You could kiss those too,” I blurt and then I have to swallow my surprise and keep up the pretense that I’m in control of this dangerous game we’re playing. “But we probably shouldn’t go that fast. Just to be safe.”
“You think?”
“Kiss me,” I demand again.
“No.”
“Because you’re scared.”
“Because you’re dangerous, Aurelia.”
“So? Rumor has it you like courting danger. Maybe it’s why no matter how hard you try, you can’t stop flirting with me, Ezekiel.”
“Is that your version of what’s been happening between us?”
“No. It’s the truth.”
“I don’t want to kiss you, Aurelia.”
“I won’t offer again, Ezekiel.” I use his full name purposely and watch his nostrils flare as he bites back the command that I never do it again. And still he doesn’t take his eyes off my lips. A moment later, this tormented look enters his eyes as if the demons in his mind are divided on what he should do and waging an all-out war. “It’s okay,” I say softly, taking pity on him and deciding to end this game. “You don’t have to.”
I start to push away when he reaches out suddenly, and I feel his palms burning their brand around my biceps. “Wait. Just…wait.” He sucks in a sharp breath, and a certain resolve settles over his features.
This time it’s my turn to panic when I realize he might do it.
Zeke might actually kiss me.
Suddenly, it’s my demons that are screaming obscenities at me for courting danger.
My heart is thundering when his head finally dips and he leans forward. My belly swoops with want, and I can’t quite catch my breath. When his hold tightens and he pulls me closer, I realize I’m not breathless. I’m hyperventilating.
“No,” I say to my surprise and his.
Zeke stops immediately with a question in his eyes and a confused furrow in his brows.
We’re frozen in place, our lips a hair from meeting while I search pretty desperately for the reason I stopped him after damn near begging him to kiss me.