Chapter 67
Chapter 67
Astrid’s POV
The world narrowed to a single point of contact: Kaeleen’s mouth on mine.
At first, it was gentle, a stark contrast to every other kiss I had known for the past five years. Leon’s kisses had been acts of ownership, hard and demanding, a brand to mark his territory. Kaeleen’s was a question, soft and hesitant. My mind went blank, every coherent thought dissolving into pure sensation. The warmth of his lips, the clean scent of his skin, the low, possessive growl that vibrated through his chest and straight into my soul.
When his tongue traced my lips, I opened for him on instinct. And when the kiss deepened, something inside me, a part I thought had died long ago, flickered to life. It was warm and dizzying. For a breathtaking second, I kissed him back. My hands, which had been frozen at my sides, lifted to rest on the hard wall of his chest. His heart was hammering against my palms, a frantic rhythm that matched my own. This felt... right. It felt like coming home to a place I’d never been before.
Then my body went cold.
His hand was on my neck, his thumb stroking my skin, his other arm securing me against him. It was a gesture of affection, of passion. But my body didn’t know the difference. All it knew was the feeling of being held, of being claimed.
A memory, sharp and ugly, sliced through the haze clouding my brain.
Leon, backing me against a wall, his hand in the same place on my neck, his grip bruising. His kisses were never gentle, they were declarations of his power.