*Olivia* Before my next heartbeat, he slides his hand around my neck, holding me still as he slashes his mouth across mine. He is not gentle or polite. He is almost savage with his desire to deliver what I have requested. I relax into him, offer up no objections when his tongue urges my lips to part and slides smoothly into my mouth. Heat spirals through me, melting my bones as though they are little more than tallow. He touches me with nothing except that one hand and his mouth, yet it seems as though he caresses me everywhere, inside and out, shallow and deep. How can a kiss be this powerful, eliciting such yearnings? His hand clutches the back of my head as though he would hold me there forever while his mouth ravages mine. I wonder if he tastes the brandy on my tongue that I taste

