The Kiss That Lied
1090 Words
The Kiss That Lied
"If you kiss me right now, Laziel, I promise to forget all the lies we've told."
His hand was stuck on the back of my neck. The heat between us was like static in the air before a storm. This wasn't what we were intended to do. Not here. Not right now. Not when everything was going apart.
But I wanted him to.
I had to have him.
"Maybe I should kiss you then," he whispered in a deep, dark, and menacing voice. "So we both forget."
His lips hit mine hard.
That kiss wasn't fake.
No phony friendship, no limits between closest friends, and no safe distance.
Just a naked, careless yearning.
I sank into him, tugging his suit jacket close and holding onto his shirt like it might keep me safe. The flavor of whiskey. Out of despair. Of all the things we shouldn't do.
I bit his lip.
He grumbled.
"Sienna, don't start something you can't finish."
"You started it."
The kiss got deeper.
He put his hands under my thighs and lifted me onto the cold marble counter of the bar in the penthouse.
I gasped into his mouth, but I didn't stop him.
I never told him to stop.
"I need to forget," I said softly against his throat. "Just for a little while."
He stopped moving.
It only took that one second to shatter the enchantment.
He drew back, out of breath. His eyes were like emeralds, yet his hands slipped away from me.
"Don't say things you don't mean."
"I meant it." All the words.
He looked aside. "No, you didn't. You're afraid. When you're afraid, you run to the nearest fire.
"I think you're using me?"
"No." I assume you're attempting to light yourself on fire so that everyone will see the smoke.
Be quiet.
I despised him for being correct.
Finally, I added, "Veritas was hacked." "Someone saw us."
His head turned quickly toward me.
"What?"
"Video of the club. Of us. Some snippets are already online. Hidden, yet close. They know it's you."
He walked back and forth with his hands closed. "Helena. It's her. No one else can get to that.
I nodded. "She texted me this morning. A connection. No words. A video of me just being tied up.
His jaw moved. He picked up his phone and called. "River. Lock everything up. Look for Helena Cross. I don't care how.
I slipped off the counter. My knees trembled, but I made myself stand up straight.
"We can't keep up the act, Laz. Dorian is coming for both of us. And Helena is assisting him.
He hung up the phone. "I won't let him touch you."
"He has already."
Laziel walked up to me slowly. "What the hell does that mean?"
"He knows about the appointments for treatment. The cassettes. The truth."
"What truth?"
I swallowed hard. "What I let Helena write down. What I liked. What I desired.
Laziel's voice got lower and lower. "You think that makes you weak?"
I blinked. "Doesn't it?"
He held my face in his hands. "No. It makes you real.
I wanted to trust him.
I wanted to lose myself in that thought.
But faith doesn't make evidence go away.
"Dorian said he could make it all go away," I said in a low voice. "If I see him. By myself.
"You won't."
"I didn't say I would." I said he offered.
His fists smacked the bar counter hard. The sound broke like gunshots.
"You want to keep me safe? Then help me kill him.
Laziel moved closer. "How far are you willing to go?"
"Far enough to hurt him."
His eyes got darker. "Then we're going to accomplish this together. No more acting. No more phony grins for the press.
"What about the lie we've been living?"
"Then we set the lie on fire."
I couldn't breathe. "And us?"
"Let's see what's left after the fire."
Three Hours Later
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I questioned as we drove up to the AshTech private hangar.
Laziel switched off the key. "Berlin is the only place they won't look for us." That ball at Veritas is our stage.
"What if he gets there before us?"
"Then we lit the fire first."
We got inside the jet.
River was already on board, packing stuff and looking about at every nook.
He said, "Marcella called," without looking at us. "She has a friend in Dorian's circle."
"Who?" Laziel questioned.
River looked him in the eye. "Evie."
My stomach sank. "That's not possible." She wouldn't.
The river frowned. "She doesn't mean to do it." The guy she's seeing? One of Dorian's employees.
My heart broke.
"We're taking her home," I said. "Now."
River shook his head. "She doesn't live in New York anymore." This morning, they flew her to Paris.
"Jesus," Laz said quietly. "We need eyes all over."
"I'm already working on it."
Berlin
A storm greeted us as we got to the city.
The rain battered the roof of the motel like bullets.
Laziel pushed me against the glass wall of the penthouse apartment, and his breath was hot on my throat.
"Stop telling me to stop."
I couldn't.
The remembrance of our kiss made my body flame. With hunger we are never satisfied.
I ripped open his shirt, and the buttons fell off.
He held my wrists tight.
"This isn't just lust, Sienna." "Say it."
"It's not."
He kissed me like I was the best thing that ever happened to him and the worst thing that ever happened to him.
I kissed him like he was the only thing that could save me.
We hit the bed hard.
Quick. Harsh. Truthful.
"I want all of you," he said softly.
"Then take it."
Clothes were gone. Time was gone. It was just us.
There were cracks in my walls.
He kissed every scar I tried to cover up.
And I wasn't ashamed when I yelled his name.
Because this time I wasn't broken.
I was complete.
With him.
Until the phone rang.
Three times.
He didn't pay attention to it.
But he answered the fourth time.
"River?" His voice was tense.
He paid attention.
Then his face became stone.
He stared at me.
"Helena isn't hiding."
"What?"
"She's already here. At Veritas.
I sat up, my heart thumping. "By yourself?"
He shook his head.
"She brought someone along."
"Who?"
Laziel's voice was quite quiet.
"Evie."
And exactly like that
The planet went up in flames
- Writer
