My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 214: Breathless [+18]

Violet

The space between us had shrunk to almost nothing.

The air suddenly felt heavy... and sweet with a faint scent from him I had never exactly smelt before. It had to be from the water...

’You’re lying.’

My skin tingled where he touched me, and there was a warmth spreading through my chest that amplified the faint dizziness I felt.

His gaze dropped to my lips.

My heart stuttered.

’I’m seeing things.’

"We should..." I started, but the words dissolved on my tongue.

His hand slid up my spine, slowly, deliberately, his fingertips tracing each path through what I was wearing. The touch sent shivers cascading down my body, and raising goosebumps all over my skin.

He leaned closer, and I could feel the warmth of his breath against my lips.

I should step back, put distance between us, remember all the reasons this was complicated and messy and dangerous.

But when I opened my mouth, no words came out.

His forehead touched mine.

This close, his eyes were oddly very pretty, and gentle too. His lashes were also long and darker at the roots, and there was a small scar near his jaw, barely visible. His lips were slightly parted, and I watched a muscle in his throat move as he swallowed.

We stood there, breathing the same air, our bodies pressed together, balanced on the edge of an irreversible decision.

His nose brushed against mine.

"Violet," he whispered.

"Ro—"

The kiss was soft, gentle, questioning... His mouth moved against mine slowly, giving me every opportunity to pull away.

I didn’t.

My body betrayed me and I just leaned into him, melting against the solid wall of his chest. My hand slid up his chest to curl around the back of his neck, fingers threading into soft, slightly damp hair. He made a low, broken sound against my mouth and his arm tightened around my waist, pulling me impossibly closer until I could feel the hard length of him pressed against my stomach.

The kiss deepened.

His lips parted mine, and I tasted him, felt the warmth of his tongue sliding against mine. Heat flooded through me, pooling low in my stomach and spreading outward until my entire body felt like it was burning.

His mouth moved against mine with a hunger that matched something awakening inside me, something that had been sleeping for too long.

My back met the cave wall.

I didn’t remember moving, but suddenly the cool stone was pressing against my spine and Rowan was pressing against me, his body a wall of heat that pinned me in place.

His hand cupped my jaw, tilting my head to deepen the kiss. His other hand gripped my hip, fingers digging in just enough to make me gasp.

He broke the kiss, pulling back only a tiny bit, and when his lips barely left mine, he went completely still.

A shuddering breath from him grazed my face and his unsteadiness undid me more than the kiss itself had.

He wasn’t composed. He was barely holding himself together.

My heart was slamming so hard I could feel it in my throat, and the bond wasn’t helping matters. It rattled every cell in my body and made my head a quivering mess. It swept through my body in pulses, as if bouncing from me to him and back.

My hands were shaking. I became aware of it slowly, the fine tremor moving through my fingers where they were still curled against his neck, and I pulled them away.

I lowered my head, gently pushing myself off Rowan, but there was nowhere to go.

"Re—release me..." I whispered, scared to look at him.

To my surprise, he slowly let go of me, taking a painful step back.

"Violet..."

I moved to the side.

The cool air rushed between us. I turned away immediately, reaching for my bag on instinct. I crouched down and my fingers closed around the straps. I was gripping it like a lifeline. I didn’t know what I was looking for. I wasn’t looking for anything. I just needed my hands to be doing something, anything, that wasn’t touching him.

I heard him exhale behind me, slower this time... shaky.

I smoothed my shirt. Adjusted the strap on my bag. Stared at the glowing water.

I didn’t know when he had come up behind me but all of a sudden, his hand found my wrist.

It was a gentle close of his fingers, the same way he had held me in the market. And I felt my carefully assembled composure cracked straight down the middle.

He pulled me back up and turned me to face him.

His eyes searched mine for just a moment, something open and unguarded in them that I wasn’t prepared for, and then he kissed me again.

I kissed him back.

I still couldn’t help it. My hands found the front of his shirt and I held on, fingers fisting in fabric as his tongue stroked mine. He made that low sound again. It was deeper this time, almost pained, and the cave... the blue light that washed him in a hazy beautiful glow... all of it fell away entirely.

His mouth left mine to trail down my jaw with hot, open-mouthed kisses along the line of my neck. I arched into him, a soft moan escaping my lips before I could stop it. He groaned against my throat, the vibration humming straight to my core.

I pulled his mouth back to mine.

The kiss turned desperate. Messy. All teeth and tongue and the frantic need for more. His hands were everywhere, sliding up my sides, gripping my waist, tangling in my hair. My nipples ached painfully against the fabric as heat pulsed between my legs.

When he finally lifted his head, we were both breathing hard.

Neither of us could say anything.

I stared at his chest, at my own hands fisted in the fabric of his shirt, and slowly made myself let go.

My lips felt swollen. My entire body was trembling.

’What have I done?’