I rose on my elbows and kissed him. I hadn’t planned to do it, and I didn’t think about it in that moment. But the rigid statue that he immediately became made me uncomfortably aware of my actions.

“I was about to say I’m sorry, but since I was just angry with you for saying it ...” I mumbled, averting my gaze, too aware of the awkwardness of the entire situation, and I wish I could hide in some deep hole.

“Do it again.” I looked at him in disbelief and was mesmerized by the intensity of his gaze. I had been sure he’d just rejected me, and yet ... “Kiss me, Mariane.”

His warm breath caressed my face with each word and I didn’t know how to refuse him, even if I wanted to. I pressed my lips against his in a soft and painfully innocent kiss that wasn’t more than a touch of lips against lips, but that still made me blush up to my ears.

I pulled back, still apprehensive, and saw him opening his eyes, as if he’d just woken from a dream, and waited expectantly for his reaction. His soft laughter was disturbing, and embarrassing, and I felt my temperature rise.

“You kiss like a child,” he told me critically, and I buried my face in the quilt, refusing to keep looking at him.

“You were the one who asked me to kiss you!” I grunted and he laughed again.

“Yes. And I must confess you didn’t disappoint me one bit. It was exactly what I’d expected from you,” he went on and I gave him an angry look.

“Well, I’m so sorry for my lack of experience! But at least I’m not afraid to touch you, unlike someone I know! And I’m sure you could feel my kiss, unlike the one you gave me yesterday,” I retorted and his smile became colder.

“True, I’m afraid to touch you, because your body is too frail. But that’s not why I won’t kiss you.” I waited for him to explain and Gabriel sighed. “If I really kiss you you’ll probably get addicted to me. And I will never be able to resist you if you throw yourself at me.”

It was my turn to laugh. Of course I still remembered what he’d said about that. But really! Didn’t he notice just how ridiculous it sounded when he said it like that?

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“Addicted to you?” I repeated, still laughing, and took a deep breath.

“I really like hearing you laugh like that near me,” he said with a delighted smile. “When I hear you laugh like that I’m certain that you’re not pretending, and that those tremors really don’t correspond to your feelings.”

“So silly,” I grumbled. How he could still be hanging on those kinds of insecurity, after all we’d said and done, baffled me. “Just kiss me, Nyx,” I asked, just like he’d done, but he didn’t comply, looking at me with a serious expression, ending up sighing.

“Mari, didn’t you hear a single word of what I just said?” he asked me with a patient tone and I nodded. “And?”

“If I do get addicted to you, you have my permission to do with me as you please,” I allowed, as if I were signing a term of responsibility, and he frowned.

“But it won’t be you! It will be the same as controlling your feelings!” he complained almost childishly and I couldn’t help smile, happily surprised.

“Oh, I see. I didn’t know that that was so important to you,” I confessed and he looked even angrier. “Okay then, you can tie me up and leave me here until I break out of my hangover, or whatever.”

“You never take anything seriously.”

“Yes I do. In fact, I’m taking this really seriously.”

“All for one kiss?”

“Your kiss,” I added and blushed again as his eyes seemed to glow.

Gabriel leaned over me and I shivered when his breath touched my skin.

“I promise I’ll tie you up,” he whispered, his lips caressing mine with each word, and he kissed me softly, just like he’d done before.

I tried not to lose myself on the electric feeling of his skin, and tangled my fingers in his hair, looking for a more real contact. I felt as he hesitated for an instant, almost as if my initiative had caught him off guard, but when I thought he was going to pull away again, his mouth took over mine with such intensity that it sent my heart into a frenzy.

His lips dragged mine, that didn’t know how to keep up with him, and his mouth invaded my mouth time and time again, as if it were a territory he’d decided to conquer. I was completely breathless at the slow but intense rhythm with which he repeatedly joined us together and I felt dizzy, almost about to faint.

When he lazily pulled back, almost as if he were reluctant to do it, I had to fight ferociously against the impulse of using the hand that still caressed his hair to just keep him there, or better yet, to just pull him back to me.

I looked up at him, still gasping for air, certain that he was watching me carefully, and unwillingly released him from my touch, smiling as I noticed that his pale lips had finally gained some color.

“It would seem I’m immune to you,” I bragged, and he pulled back a bit more, taking a deep breath.

“I’m not,” he declared, surprising me, but, before I could question him, the door of my room was suddenly opened, making me jump at the sound of a small bell.