Every time I glanced at Ren, I saw that he was watching me.
When we finally reached the end of the tunnel and saw the stone steps that led to the surface, Ren stopped.
“Kelsey, I have one final request of you before we head up.”
“And what would that be? Want to talk about tiger senses or monkey bites in strange places maybe?”
“No. I want you to kiss me.”
I sputtered, “What? Kiss you? What for? Don’t you think you got to kiss me enough on this trip?”
“Humor me, Kells. This is the end of the line for me. We’re leaving the place where I get to be a man all the time, and I have only my tiger’s life to look forward to. So, yes, I want you to kiss me one more time.”
I hesitated. “Well, if this works, you can go around kissing all the girls you want to. So why bother with me right now?”
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Because! I don’t want to run around kissing all the other girls! I want to kiss you!”
“Fine! If it will shut you up!” I leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. “There!”
“No. Not good enough. On the lips, my prema.”
I leaned over and pecked him on the lips. “There. Can we go now?”
I marched up the first two steps, and he slipped his hand under my elbow and spun me around, twisting me so that I fell forward into his arms. He caught me tightly around the waist. His smirk suddenly turned into a sober expression.
“A kiss. A real one. One that I’ll remember.”
I was about to say something brilliantly sarcastic, probably about him not having permission, when he captured my mouth with his. I was determined to remain stiff and unaffected, but he was extremely patient. He nibbled on the corners of my mouth and pressed soft, slow kisses against my unyielding lips. It was so hard not to respond to him.
I made a valiant struggle, but sometimes the body betrays the mind. He slowly, methodically swept aside my resistance. And, feeling he was winning, he pressed ahead and began seducing me even more skillfully. He held me tightly against his body and ran a hand up to my neck where he began to massage it gently, teasing my flesh with his fingertips.
I felt the little love plant inside me stretch, swell, and unfurl its leaves, like he was pouring Love Potion # 9 over the thing. I gave up at that point and decided what the heck. I could always use a rototiller on it. And I rationalized that when he breaks my heart, at least I will have been thoroughly kissed.
If nothing else, I’ll have a really good memory to look back on in my multi-cat spinsterhood. Or multi-dog. I think I will have had my fill of cats. I groaned softly. Yep. Dogs for sure.

Autore: Colleen Houck