“Just me.”
My lips find hers.
Usually, I’d tear past her defences. This time, I don’t. I let her have her little rebellion. I let her fight.
Fight me.
Fight us.
If fighting will give her the illusion that she has a chance at winning, then by all means, let her fight.
She seals her lips shut, but her body leans closer into me. Then, slowly, too slowly, her mouth parts open. It’s only the slightest bit, but it’s more than enough.
She gave up that inch on her own.
But she should know by now that an inch isn’t enough. I take the whole damn pitch.
My tongue finds hers and I devour her until there’s nothing left of her. Until she’s entirely sagging against me.
Astrid’s fate is sealed.
27
Astrid
Is this the dance of the predator or the prey?
* * *
Weeks pass and my life doesn’t feel like mine anymore.
Not that it did since the summer.
Levi wouldn’t leave me alone no matter how much I refuse him. If anything, the harder I push him away, the more he’s prone to kidnapping me into a dark corner and kissing me until there’s no breath in my lungs.
The harder I resist the kiss, the longer he makes it.
It’s a game to him.
A push and pull.
Levi is a conquerer. He spends his time plotting his battles and studying his opponent’s every move so when he strikes, it’s direct and straight to the point.
He’s not interested in half-victories. When Levi wins, he eradicates his conquest.
He barely lets me hide this twisted thing we have from the rest of the school.
And by letting me, I mean I kind of threatened him that I’ll paint the windshield of his car and stuff.
It’s not real, okay? This whole thing with Levi will blow over sometime soon, and I don’t want to be labelled as his majesty’s latest conquest.
Nope. I’m totally not going to be that girl.
Well, I might have been paying the price for forcing Levi’s hand. On behalf of keeping contact at school to a minimum, he came up with his own conditions.
Double emphasis on the plural.
He’s there in the mornings for the stupid morning runs — that started to somehow grow in on me. And I have to kiss him good morning — a kiss that he always deepens and leaves me breathless in the aftermath.