Kiss the Stars (Falling Stars #1)(9)

She blinked up at me with these intense, sable eyes. I didn’t know if it was the destitute belief shining in them or her fucking tight, sexy body that had gotten me hard the second I’d seen her fumble through the door.

Girl coming in here floating through these crazy-ass paintings that filled the room like some kind of gorgeous, fading vapor, wearing this whimsical white dress that had the power to leave me weak in the knees.

Wonder in her being and something sweetly seductive oozing from her soul.

I’d instantly wanted her.

To take her.

And I was really fuckin’ good at taking what wasn’t mine.

She’d let me. I knew that she would. Could feel her almost trembling with the kind of sorrow that could only be assuaged by letting go.

By completely getting lost.

But there was something about her that was stopping me.

She stared up at me, unsure, maybe disappointed.

“Is that what you want?” she demanded in that wispy voice. “To hurt me? I guess maybe I did stumble into the wrong room.” Her sweet brow curled in disgust, and her words whispered like regret through the dense air.

The chains that would forever bind me only cinched down tighter.

A warning.

Didn’t matter.

My arm was looping around her waist, tucking her close. Clearly, I wanted the pain.

Hers or mine, I didn’t know.

The bare skin of her back exposed by the drape in her dress scorched my arm.

It sent a shock of lust running rampant through my veins.

“Problem is all the things I’m wanting to do to you,” I murmured down at her. Straight up. Because I was betting this girl deserved the truth. “Pretty fuckin’ sure it would scar us both.”

Greed flash-fired.

A thunderbolt that struck in the middle of us.

Hot enough to torch this fucking ridiculous house. Leave it nothin’ but ash.

“And there’s no fucking good that could come of it.”

“Because you don’t want it or because you don’t deserve it?”

“Because I will ruin you.” The words were hard. Angry in their truth.

Sable eyes narrowed like she didn’t have the first clue what to make of me. “Why would you say that?”

“Because I’m already ruined, baby.”

We were swaying, swept up in this unstoppable dance that I never saw coming.

I hadn’t felt anything similar in three years.

Guilt clotted the flow of air to my too-tight lungs.

That realization right there should have been enough to send me hauling ass out those doors.

“I should walk away, shouldn’t I?” she whispered.

I gave her a tight nod.

She touched my chest.

Motherfucking flames.

“So what is this feeling that’s begging me to stay?”

“No doubt, it’s the exact same thing that is going to make me push you away.”

Otherwise I was going to have her pinned against the wall and ripping that dress the rest of the way from her body.

Using her up.

Feeding from all the soft sweetness I could smell radiating from her flesh.

Revulsion clenched my stomach.

No.

I’d never wanted to become who I had.

Had never wanted to be revered and respected in a way only brought about by brutality.

Had never wanted to be feared.

Had never wanted to be the bad guy.

Maybe the reality was that I’d never known how to be anything else.

Fated. Vile from the get go.

Depravity written in my DNA.

This elusive feeling pounded around us. A song that started low.

A melody ushering in what was to come.

Dark and mesmerizing and sexy as fuck.

“What if I don’t want you to push me away? What if we were meant to be right here? Even if it is only for tonight?” She blinked hard, her teeth raking her plump bottom lip, making it glisten and my mouth water. “Do you feel it? Whatever this is?”

Rough laughter broke free, and I couldn’t even answer that question. Because if I did, I knew there would be no stopping the direction this would go.

“You don’t have the first clue what you’re asking for, gorgeous,” I told her instead.

Didn’t even know why it mattered. Why I cared. Clearly, this party was all about excess. Over-indulging. And taking of this girl would be nothing but gluttony.

“You’re right. I don’t. But what if I want to know you? Maybe I stumbled in here and found exactly what I’ve been looking for.” Vulnerability flashed across her striking face. Nothing weak about it.

I was getting the feeling that maybe for the first time in a long time, she was feeling brave. Pushing herself to take a step that she should know better than taking.

“And maybe you’re looking in all the wrong places,” I tossed back, voice grit, and still I was tucking her closer. Her unforgettable face pinched in confusion, girl so damned pretty she was hard to look at.

Stoic and soft.

Determined and pliable.

In contemplation, she pursed her lips, that mouth painted in this lust-inducing red, a stark contrast to the pure-white of her dress.

Her head slowly shook.

I saw it for what it was.

Regret.

Disappointment.