An Angel's kiss.

Chapter Nine

But before I could fully recover, his lips found mine again, stealing another heartbeat from me.

“He was insane.”

...But what was I even complaining about? The truth was... I didn't want it to end either.

Somewhere between the chaos swirling inside my head and the moment he caught my lower lip between his teeth, teasing me with a couple of gentle tugs that stole another shaky breath from me, I barely noticed my fingers tightening around the front of his shirt. Before I could process what was happening, the floor seemed to shift beneath me.

A tiny squeak escaped my lips as he effortlessly lifted me from the sofa.

My arms slipped around his neck, holding on to him a little tighter than before.

I felt him rise to his feet.

A second later...

He was already carrying me away. I had no idea where he was taking me.

He never once broke the kiss, and I couldn't even begin to understand how he managed to open the door while still holding me.

The only thing I knew was that we were no longer in the middle of the party.

We were somewhere else. Somewhere quiet.

He gently lowered me to my feet without ever pulling away. The moment the door closed behind us, I heard the unmistakable click of the lock.

Before I could gather my thoughts, he lifted me into his arms again.

My legs wrapped around his waist as I clung to him for balance. My toes curled as his hands settled firmly around my hips, giving them a gentle squeeze while he carried me toward the bed and carefully lowered me onto the mattress beneath him.

The cool sheets met my back.

Our lips remained locked together as our tongues continued their silent battle, neither of us willing—or perhaps able—to pull away.

I had no idea if I was doing any of it right, but I found myself following his lead, awkwardly matching each movement, hoping I wasn't completely making a fool of myself.

Everything about this felt so wrong...

Yet at the same time, it felt unbearably right.

Halos ayaw ko nang matapos ang sandaling ito.

My entire body felt feverish, and a strange spark of warmth ignited at my feet, slowly traveling upward until it settled deep within my core.

Para bang may kung anong damdaming unti-unting bumabalot sa buong pagkatao ko—

Hindi ko alam kung epekto lang ba ito ng alak...

O ng mga halik niya.

I didn't know anymore.

Somewhere along the way, I'd stopped thinking about the dare.

Our breathing gradually fell into the same rhythm.

His calloused hand wandered uncertainly from the back of my neck to my shoulder, tracing the curve of my back before returning to cup my cheek, as though he couldn't decide where he wanted to hold me. Every touch sent a shiver through me. Tiny goosebumps prickled across my skin, and the fine hairs on my arms stood on end. I had never imagined something as simple as a touch could leave me feeling this vulnerable.

We didn't exchange a single word.

We didn't have to.

What passed between us was enough to say everything neither of us could put into words.

I tried to open my eyes more than once, but each attempt only blurred my vision. His face, the room around us, even the edges of reality dissolved into a soft haze until all that remained was him.

Only then did I realize my hands had found their way to his chest, slowly gliding upward until they rested against his biceps. I couldn't remember when I'd started touching him.

Maybe it was only my imagination, but the hard muscle beneath my fingertips tensed before he released a slow, unsteady breath.

"Fuck..."

The word slipped from his lips in a rough, ragged whisper, barely more than a breath between our kisses.

My fingertips kept exploring the firm contours of his chest before drifting along his neck and over his arms, as though trying to memorize every part of him. Our uneven breathing filled the room.

When he finally broke the kiss, my lips instinctively followed, unwilling to let him go. Before the disappointment of the sudden emptiness could settle in, he replaced it with a trail of soft kisses along my cheek, stopping just beneath my ear.

"Easy, Bitsy..." he murmured with a quiet chuckle.

The words were barely more than a whisper between feather-light kisses. His warm breath brushed against my ear.

His mouth found the curve of my neck, lingering there with slow, unhurried kisses before gently drawing at my skin with the patient hunger of a vampire savoring its prey.

At the same time, his free hand wandered over my thigh before slipping beneath the hem of my blouse. It brushed my waist, glided across my stomach, then climbed higher until it finally came to rest against my breast.

His hand was so large it nearly swallowed the soft curve of my chest. His touch remained slow and gentle as he massaged it, as though he was afraid that moving too quickly would shatter the moment between us.

Every instinct told me I should stop him.

Instead...

I leaned into him. Every brush of his fingertips, every kiss, every breath against my skin pulled me closer until the last bit of hesitation within me quietly slipped away.

Soft, helpless sounds escaped my lips before I could swallow them back. I didn't know where to turn my head or what to hold on to anymore.

"Oh, gosh..."

My voice betrayed me, slipping into something far more vulnerable than a simple moan.

He pressed the hard line of his body against the space between my legs, each subtle movement catching me completely off guard.

My toes curled beneath me.

He repeated the motion, his movements slow and deliberate while his large hand remained over my chest, its touch gentle and unhurried.

There was no hesitation in him.

And somewhere along the way...

There was no hesitation left in me either.