The Beastkeeper's Redemption

Five

Five

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Somewhere, in the delayed processing of the reasoning of her actions, she knew she had meant to distract him, that a kiss from an odd spinster would have him so confounded that he wouldn't bother her with suspicions further, even if she had not committed any crime worthy of suspect- in this part of the country, anyway.

But the moment their lips collided, her mind went quiet, and her body dissolved. A spark ignited from where her lips touched his, the ignition like trail of gunpowder running in fine lines over her skin to finally congregate in the pit of stomach. Her breath hitched with the sensation, his fingers tightening against her shoulders, and Izzy parted from him all of a sudden, as if shocked physically from the contact, a gasp frozen on her lips.

Kaede looked just as startled as her, his mouth slackened as he stared down at her.

And then his brows pulled together tight, one long-fingered hand trailing down her arm and spanning across her lower back, the other cupping the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him for more.

She met his descent again, rising onto the balls of her feet with an eagerness that astounded her. When his mouth slanted over hers, the world ceased to exist entirely. Heat coursed along her spine, exemplified by the places his fingers were touching, and his lips captured hers with a sweet, wild ardency that made her turn into clay, moulding against his body.

She knew, without a doubt, how utterly absurd it was to be kissing him, to continue to kiss him, when she knew nothing of him, when she had spoken less than ten consecutive words to the male before.

But the way her body was reacting spoke of an eagerness to know more, to know more of him intimately despite this, and her knees almost buckled when his tongue traced the curve of her bottom lip, coaxing her to fall open to his caress, and she was helpless to obey. He dipped into her mouth tentatively at first, his soft moan reaching her ears when he found her tongue, and then he retracted briefly before plunging into her with more demand.

His hand at her neck held her firm, tilting her further back to meet the endless dance of his lips, and then his fingers swept down, grasping her lower waist, and lifting her against him so that her toes left the floor entirely.

Dear God, that was the most arousing thing that anybody had ever done to her, a startled sound of delight escaping her lips, muffled by the insistent press of his mouth against her. She knew she wasn't the most petite woman to have ever existed either, having been blessed with an abundance of curves and a healthy appetite for anything that contributed to them.

But Kaede had lifted her up as if she weighed nothing at all.

All the while making her senselessly respond to each stroke of his tongue against hers, each nip of his teeth as he caught her lip, teasing, her breath catching and then releasing as sensation flooded her core.

When he paused suddenly, his tongue retracting from hers, his lips stilling where they crushed against hers, Izzy made a wanton grunt of protest.

But then he parted from her entirely, the space between their lips giving her sense of mind to open her eyes and study the perplexed frown pulling his brow tight.

"Do you have," he murmured, his voice low and roughened with arousal, "something concerning I should be aware of that makes up part of your anatomy?"

Izzy blinked, the fog of her unanticipated desire dissipating as suddenly as it had emerged. Her fingers clenched tightly against his chest, her breasts pressed against him while her feet dangled yet off the ground. "What are you talking about?" she rasped, wiggling until he slid her back onto her feet.