The Princess and the Warlock

Chapitre Vingt-Six

I'd always envisioned my first kiss to be on my wedding day.

I'd be dressed in a silky white gown with a train that was eighteen feet long, as many feet as there were years to my life, as custom in the kingdom. Though Prince Grimond has been my betrothed for eight years, I never imagined his lips to be the ones I kissed. The idea of kissing his sent a shudder of disgust through me, so I always imagined someone else's. A handsome man, with eyes as kind as the sky's clouds or a face as youthful as my own. No wrinkles would line his face unless they were a sort of laugh-line, around his mouth and eyes. A man who values smiles, whose grace was unyielding.

But, realistically, I knew it wouldn't be a romantic endeavor of any sort. It'd be quick, chaste, a simple peck to call the deed done. It would be an action that bound me to a lifetime of dread, bound me to a person whose heart didn't hold any affection for my own. It would be a death-sentence.

This kiss wasn't like that at all.

The second I'd pressed my mouth against Kaius' it was like I was shocked by an electric current, a jolt of lightning to my mouth that spread warmth through my whole body. It ended in my toes, curling them to preserve the heat. And I gasped against his lips, surprised at my own gall.

Our mouths were together for what felt like forever before he moved.

I then realized I'd never imagined a kiss to be like this.

Fire and desperation. Kaius planted one hand on the riverbank and the other one on my hip, pulling me closer with equal amounts of patience and desire, an oxymoron of emotion. Fervent and gentle, an oxymoron of touch. His hand tightened on my side, dragging me even nearer, and I moved willingly. I wanted more of his body heat, more of him pressed against me, more of this feeling.

My own hands immediately went to touch his cheeks, feeling the smoothness of his jawline underneath my fingertips. I held him there, held his mouth to mine, as if he were going to break away.

That wasn't an issue. Not from how he kissed me like this. Like he needed to kiss me. Forbidden before and now a floodgate thrown wide, we were both clamoring for more of each other.

And then the dance of desire ended as Kaius pulled his mouth from mine with a gasp of his own, a ragged breath that came from being deprived of oxygen for too long. I could relate. I felt my own chest heaving up and down as the fire in my body burned. My lips throbbed, still feeling the ghost of pressure.

Kaius was looking at me like I'd just granted him the moon and the stars for nothing in exchange, a present that he hadn't been expecting but was thrilled about regardless. His lips were parted, rosy and swollen. And then they pulled apart further, exposing a smile so grand and boyish that I did a double-take, a smile of my own claiming my mouth. "You kissed me," he said in a thick voice, pupils expanded as his eyes traced my face.

Something about his expression, so full of happiness, made me feel shy. I still held onto his face, but my fingertips lessened their pressure, sifting over his skin. They were shaking. "Did you not want me to?" I asked, though by judging from his reaction, I hazard a guess that that wasn't the case. Not by a long shot.

"You don't know how badly I've wanted to. Again," he spoke quickly, his smile still pulling at his cheeks. His hand at my waist moved up to brush my hair back, curving around my neck with a touch that felt a lot deeper than it was, my skin sensitive to his touch. "Can—can we do that again?"

I didn't answer—instead, I leaned forward again, this time greeted by the softness of his mouth, meeting me halfway.

I couldn't stop smiling, like a fool and an idiot.