KASMINE.
"Kester..." His name trembled out of my mouth, barely a whisper, as my wide eyes locked on him. My heart raced like it was trying to escape, drumming frantically in my ears. My fingers curled tightly around the edge of the vanity table behind me, anchoring myself as my knees threatened to give way.
"I was just... I was just about to get dressed for work," I stammered, forcing the words out. I gathered up the courage, but my nerves betrayed me. Despite that, I still tried to steel myself. I wouldn't let him have the upper hand every time.
The room felt too small, too suffocating, as I struggled to steady my breathing.
He cocked his head slightly, his deep green eyes drinking me in. A smirk tugged at his lips, cold and knowing, as if my feeble attempt at defiance was amusing to him.
"I see." His deep, smoky voice slid over me like silk, wrapping around my fraying nerves,
His six-foot-five frame was looking as intimidating as ever. He gently closed the door behind him, "It took you long enough," he murmured, slipping off his suit jacket with unhurried ease.
He threw the jacket on my bed so casually that a chill skittered down my spine.
My gaze darted from his jacket to his hands, now working on the buttons of his crisp white shirt. My voice cracked as I forced it out. "What... what are you doing?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he stepped closer, the shirt parting to reveal the hard, sculpted planes of his chest.
"Get the fuck out of my room!" I yelled, pointing toward the door.
My body trembled, but I couldn't tell if it was from fear or anger.
His smirk widened, "You dared me, remember?" His voice dropped an octave, rough and taunting. "And I always keep my promises, MINE."
The way he always emphasized it when he called me MINE was disturbing. The way it rolls out of his tongue each time...
Before I could move, before I could even think, my back hit the wall as his tall frame closed the distance between us.
His hand came up, rough fingertips grazing the edge of my chin, tilting my face up to meet his gaze.
The touch was electric, sending a jolt through me that I hated. My body betrayed me again, leaning ever so slightly into him before I caught myself.
"Don't," I whispered, my voice cracking.
His thumb brushed over my bottom lip, lingering for a moment too long. "Don't what?" His smirk deepened, his gaze fixed on my lips like they held the answers to every question he'd never ask aloud.
I licked my lips, placing a hand on his bare chest and attempting to push him off, but he only chuckled at my attempt. My body felt blazing hot at our proximity, and my heart beat so fast that I was certain he had heard it.
"You're trembling," he murmured, gesturing at my hand which was still on his chest, his lips so close to mine that I could feel the heat of his breath. "What's going through that pretty little head of yours, Kasmine?"
"Nothing," I lied, the word barely audible. "Just... leave. Please." Tears stung the corners of my eyes.
His chuckle was low as he whispered, "Liar."
I flinched, but he didn't pull back. If anything, he leaned closer, his lips ghosting over mine.
The anticipation was unbearable, and I cursed myself for it.
I swallowed a lump, my eyes dropping to his lips before moving back to hold his intense gaze, making my heart race even more.
"You want this," he whispered, "You want me as much as I want you."
"No," I croaked, but even to my own ears, it sounded unconvincing.
His hand slid down to my waist, his grip firm and possessive. "Then why are you leaning into me? Why haven't you pushed me away?"
I hated him for being right. Hated myself more for the heat pooling low in my stomach, for the way my heart raced, for the way my cheeks burned, and for the way I anticipated something so forbidden.
He dipped his head lower, his lips grazing the corner of my mouth ever so slowly that a whimper left my mouth. But he stopped, pulling back just enough to meet my eyes, his smirk turning into a full, dark grin.
"Self-denial doesn't suit you, Mine," he said, his voice sounding like a velvet taunt.
"This is wrong, Kes... Please, stop it," I whispered as a stray tear slid down my cheek.
A part of me was tempted. Kes was a god of sin. He was built and made for sin. I wouldn't deny stealing glances at him sometimes, but I usually regained composure by reminding myself that he was my brother.
He was made a tempter.
At some point, I envied June for being that lucky lady to be with a man like my brother.
But all that doesn't justify the taboo this whole thing was. It doesn't make it right.
Kester's grin darkened as his hand pressed firmly against my waist while the other held my chin so softly, tilting my head up.
His lips hovered close, his warm breath brushing against my skin, and then, without hesitation, he claimed my mouth.
His tongue swept over my lower lip, coaxing a soft gasp from me as he deepened the kiss, taking control as though it was his right. The way he kissed was possessive, like he was staking a claim that had already been his in his mind. I melted into him, my treacherous body betraying the logic that screamed this was wrong—so terribly wrong.
"Stop doing this to me, Kes..." I whispered into his mouth. I didn't hold the torrent of tears that began to fall from my eyes. I couldn't. This was wrong.
"Fuck... Mine..." He groaned as his kiss became more demanding, each stroke of his tongue sending a pulse of fire through my veins. "I've wanted this for so long, and I don't care if it's wrong."
My stomach twisted, a tangled mess of guilt and want, and I cursed my body for betraying me.
I hated how easily my body responded to him, how the heat pooling in my stomach spread like wildfire, threatening to consume me.
My fingers moved before my mind could catch up, fisting the crisp fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer as though I needed more. The worst part? I did. His scent surrounded me, heady and intoxicating, clouding my judgment and making it impossible to think straight.
But no amount of heat could drown the voice screaming in my head.
This is wrong.
Stop him.
Push him away.
Still, my body refused to listen. My lips moved against his in a rhythm I didn't know I'd learned.
For a moment, I allowed it. I let him kiss me, let myself feel the magic of what a real kiss felt like.
Fuck. Kester wasn't just a god of sin. He was sin itself.
His hand slid to the small of my back, fingers splaying wide as he pressed me flush against him. The roughness of his touch sent a shiver through me, and I hated how much I wanted to give in, to let him take whatever he wanted.
This was all new. I had never tasted anything like this before, all thanks to Kester and his over-protectiveness. I had only been kissed on two or three occasions, very briefly... Perhaps that explains why Kester has me in a choke hole.
I was weak to his advances. I admit that. I needed help if I ever wanted to get out of this. But who would help? I had no one.
I felt my juices leaking down my thigh, and I clenched so tightly to keep it from dripping out too far. Fuck... He was tempting me in ways I could hardly resist.
If he was sin, then I was a shameless sinner for letting this happen.
The warmth radiating from his body smelt so masculine that it made me realize how much I hadn't been in an intimate space with a man.
A sharp gasp escaped me when his teeth grazed my lower lip, and I felt him smile against my mouth triumphantly. That smile—arrogant, knowing—was like ice water poured over my blazing nerves. And as he pressed me closer, I felt something big and hard poking my stomach.
I narrowed my brows when I realized what it was.
No.
Like a cruel jolt of electricity, I snapped back to reality.
My palms flattened against his chest, shoving with all the strength I could muster. "Kester, stop!" My voice was muffled against his lips, but I managed to turn my head, breaking the kiss.
He didn't stop there. "Do you feel that? That's what you do to me." He said in a husky voice, trailing kisses down my neck, with his tongue nibbling on the crook of my neck. I swallowed hard, tears prickling at the corners of my eyes.
"You can't do that! Stop it!" I tried to push him off, "Fuck it! You're not my mate! You can't mark me! This is wrong!" I cried, gathering what little strength I had to push him off, but his grip tightened on my small frame as his other hand found the knot on my towel. "Kester, please!" I sobbed, holding firmly onto my towel.
His grip tightened, his eyes burning with a blinding shade of red - his wolf. "You belong to us, Kasmine," he growled, his voice rough and edged with a dangerous kind of need.
He was Alpha. His wolf terrified me. They both had authority no one could stand against.
"Please," I whispered, terrified. "Alpha..." My voice broke, and the moment I called him Alpha, it seemed to calm something down in him. The glow in his eyes disappeared, leaving just Kester and me, who still held onto me.
Just like a curse... Or, perhaps, a blessing, I heard something.
Footsteps.
A voice.
"Kasmine? Kester?" My mother's familiar voice floated up the stairs.
My entire body went rigid. The blood drained from my face as panic set in.
Kester's lips stilled against mine, and he pulled back just enough to study my wide, terrified eyes.
"Mum? What's she doing here?" She never told me she was coming. Oh, Selene!
"Oh. I must have forgotten to tell you," He said so casually, "She called earlier."
He knew she was coming? Why wasn't he pulling away, then?
"Let me go! She's coming!" I panicked when I heard her closer to Kester's room.
He didn't move, his gaze locked on mine, a wicked grin playing at the corners of his mouth. "Why should I give up the first best opportunity of making you mine, Kasmine?" He asked, leaning even closer to me and making sure to pin me securely to the wall.
"What... what the fuck do you mean, Kester?" I asked as the realization began to sink in.
No. He couldn't mean what he just said.
He wanted us to get caught.