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I’d never wanted anything so badly in my life.
Calling her beautiful was like calling the sun lukewarm. She’d blazed like the hottest part of a flame in that dress. And fuck me, I’d felt the heat.
Whatever the hell was going on with me had shifted into something unrecognizable. Something dark and violent, and at the center of it was a troublesome girl, with her ridiculous berry lips that I wanted to bite, who’d somehow corrupted me. A crafty little shit who’d bulldozed right through my defenses.
she was the only thing in the last ten years that’d managed to distract me from my research.
“You are a curiosity in yourself, Miss Vespertine.”
“May I ask a question?” “That is a phrase that will echo in death,”
JAJAJA
“And so the moth befriended the flame.”
“I suppose I still can. But it’d be a shame to cage a specimen so …” “Intriguing?” “Annoying. Truly, you’d make the worst captive in the history of kidnappings. A pack of howler monkeys would cause less headache.”
A true and genuine smile, and holy shit, it was the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. Straight, white teeth, and a dimple in his cheek. I wished I could’ve captured it,
“My apologies for putting my hand on you.” “No need to apologize. I’m happy my arm was here.”
“Depends on the moth I’m studying.” Eyes on me,
He had to be at least thirty-something, and while I wished that would have been a deterrent, unfortunately, it only stoked the flames.
I liked that he was older. More mature. I’d always been attracted to older men.
She and I are the same, I fear…
The visual of being dominated and ravished by an older man had somehow entrenched itself into my fantasies.
Well yes!
until Professor Bramwell had gripped me earlier in the night. I hated to admit that I’d enjoyed his bruising grasp a bit too much.
“Or perhaps it’s the sea who fears the depths of you, Miss Vespertine.”
“You don’t strike me as a man who’s easily blackmailed.” “And you don’t strike me as a young woman who longs to sequester herself in an antiquated lab with cadavers and parasites, either. Yet, here we are.”
“To answer your question about why I didn’t leave you in the gardens that night, I find you to be an intriguing annoyance.”
“Under different circumstances …”
“I might’ve pursued you.”
“And I might’ve let you.”
“Goodnight, Professor.” “Good night, Miss Vespertine.”
“Lilia, tell me what’s wrong.”
“It matters.” “Why?”
“She said that to you?”
“Because you’re better than them. Stronger. And unfortunately, you’ll have to fight harder for what you want. But you have an understanding of things beyond their comprehension. You’re exceptional, Lilia. And by God, if you waste that intellect on the ignorant words of an envious shrew like Loretta Gilchrist, it will be the most egregious offense you’ve ever committed.”
Now you can buy coffee whenever you like. –B
“Oh, fuck, Lilia. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“I feel you.”
“I feel everything.” He let out a choke of a laugh. “I fucking feel everything!” He whisked me into his arms and spun me around.
“Forgive me. You’re the first thing I’ve felt in a long time.”
“You feel good.” My nerves caught in my throat as I said, “You do, too.”
Before I could gauge his next move, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.
Some kisses were said to feel like fireworks. His felt like a slow-drip anesthetic, silently siphoning my senses, until all I could smell, taste, and feel was him.
Poetic
As naive as it might’ve made me, I felt something with Bramwell that no other man in my life, including Conner, had ever made me feel–safe.
“Yeah? What have you manifested?” I quirked a brow. “Working in your lab.” He groaned again, in disapproval. “Blackmail is hardly manifestation.”
“Perhaps I manifested that kiss.”
“I like when you say my name.”
My world must’ve been as foreign to him as his was to me.
I liked his defensive reaction. I’d never relied on a man to protect me. Ever. But something primal played on the back of my thoughts that went hand in hand with the visual of him choking me, and I found myself oddly turned on by it.
“I was so relieved to see you.”
“No. I won’t say a word about it. So long as you promise not to leave Dracadia.” I gave a playful smile. “And abandon the opportunity to annoy the hell out of you? Never.”
“Good.”
Jesus, the man looked hot even when he slept.
“Do you have any idea how fucking hard it is to lie next to you? It’s killing me.”
“I’ve been numb for as long as I can remember. You’re the first thing I’ve felt in years, Lilia. All I want to do is touch you.” “Then, touch me.”
“This thing with you. It’s fucking me up.”
“You’re a sickness inside of me that begs never to be cured. Infecting me with this unshakable craving for things I shouldn’t want.”
God, I’m on my knees
“Then, let me go.” “No,” he said in an uncompromising tone, his fingers digging ...
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I both hated and craved the addicting way he’d hooked himself into my veins and fed me with this unbridled and reckless desire. It went against everything I was. Everything I believed. And yet, it was everything.
