Page 53 of Quicksilver

I moved before I registered what was even happening. Kingfisher had learned from the last time, though, and saw my fist coming; he grabbed my wrist and then the other when I tried to punch him with my left fist. Harsh, rough laughter boiled out of him, turning me to cinder and ash.

“Aren't you curious? Don't you want to know whatItaste like?”

“Let me fuckinggo!”

For a second time, he released me, freeing my hands. “If you try to punch me again, I'll tie your hands behind your fucking back,” he promised. He was still smirking, but he meant it. I could see it in his eyes. “You're still standing here,” he said in a taunting tone.

Fuck. Iwasstill standing between his legs. What the hell was wrong with me? I made to step back, but Kingfisher placed his hands on my hips. Lightly, the same way he'd placed his hands on the small of my back. “Go on. Pull back. I won't stop you,” he said. “Or you could kiss me.Youcould kissme. I'll just sit here. I won't move a muscle.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you're intrigued. Because you're bored. Because you're super fucking aroused right now, and you want to follow through on whatever little fantasies are playing out in your head.”

“Yeah. Right. I'm just...going to kiss you. And you're just going to sit there. You aren't going to move a muscle. You'renot even going to kiss me back?” Gods above, saying it out loud made it sound even more ridiculous.

Kingfisher just stared at me.“Find out.”

Was it temporary insanity? A complete loss of common sense? Whatever it was, it took me body and soul. I lunged for him, curving into him, crushing my chest against his, driving my fingers into his hair. One second, I was standing there, wanting very badly to put some space between us, and then the next, I was rising up onto my toes, still having to reach up for him even though he was sitting down, and I was pressing my mouth to his...

The forge disappeared.

Everything fell away.

Everything but him.

His mouth met mine, and a wall of sound erupted inside my head. It was my own voice, urging, begging, pleading with me to slow down, to think this through, but I didn't want to listen.

His lips felt incredible. They parted for me, and I could feel his smile against my mouth as his tongue met mine. He kissed me back. His hands stayed right where they were, where he'd promised he'd keep them, but his grip grew tighter, his fingers digging into my hips as he plunged his tongue into my mouth, tasting and probing with every sweep.

The scent of him washed over my senses, overcoming me, undoing me. Mint. Smoke. The winter morning air that I was becoming accustomed to the more time I spent in this strange place.

His breath hit me in short, sharp blasts, fanning across my face as he grew more insistent, his stubble rough against my cheeks. He held me so tight now that he was definitely leaving bruises. I wanted them. I wanted to remember this. In the years to come, when I looked back at this moment, I would be glad thatI'd taken the leap and jumped. This was the kiss to end all kisses. Demanding, urgent, and carnal.

I hated this male. Hated him with every fiber of my being. But curse me, I wanted him just as bad. Grabbing his hair, I wound it tight around my fingers, clenching my hand into a fist. Kingfisher's head rocked back, a low, rumbling groan issuing from his throat. I nipped and tugged at his bottom lip, sighing into his mouth, and the huge male went utterly still beneath me.

“Careful,” he panted. “I swore I'd be still while you kissed me. At no point did I promise to exercise restraint if you climbed up into my lap and started grinding yourself against my cock.”

I hadn't—I wasn't—

Fuck. Ihad. Iwas.Without even realizing, I'd straddled him. My legs were wrapped low around his waist. His cock was rock hard, trapped between our bodies. I could feel it there, rubbing up against me, applying the most delicious pressure whenever I shifted my weight.

Not.

Fucking.

Happening.

In two seconds flat, I was on the other side of the forge, dragging my hands throughmyhair instead of his. What the hell was Ithinking?

Fisher laughed quietly as he rose from the stool and collected his shirt from the bench. Shaking it out, he slid it onto his arms, but didn't lift it over his head. Not yet. He stood there, eyes drilling into me, a reckless, beautiful grin strewn across his face. “I didn't say Iminded. But for next time, that's where the line is. You want to cross it, I'll happily join you on the other side. Just don't say I didn't warn you.”

I fought to shove down the mortified heat that rose up the back of my neck. “There won't be a next time.”

Fisher grinned so hard that a small dimple appeared, forming a deep groove in his cheek. A godscurseddimple. How had I not noticed that before? He threw the shirt over his head at last, covering his inked chest. “If you say so, Little Osha.”

“Oh gods, can you just go already? I don't want to be around you if you're going to be so unbearable.”

“I have to walk you back to your rooms.”