Page 60 of Revel
Shadows dance over her cheeks. Sliding my fingers under her chin, I angle her face up and lean down just enough that our noses brush.
I could kiss her.
I should, but I don’t.
I can’t wrap my mind around what’s happening, let alone fucking rumors. She’s trembling against me, lips parted and waiting. All I have to do is close the distance. We’re so close we’re breathing the same air. Despite the crowd around us, there’s something incredibly intimate about it, vulnerable even.
And then I brush my lips to hers and kiss her again.
This time with purpose.
“I can’t stop myself,” I mumble against her lips. “I tried to stay away from you.”
UNTOUCHABLE
TAYLAN
We play at a sold-out show at the Staples Center in front of twenty thousand fans, but it’safterthe show, when we’re backstage in my dressing room that I can’t forget. I wondered what his reaction would be to me tonight. I swore on two things. I wouldn’t drink, and I wouldn’t take anything from anyone.
Surrounded by soft lighting and enough costume changes for a drag queen show, Revel’s touch lingers on my hips for a moment, calloused roughness scraping against soft. I don’t know what this is, or what we’re doing, but I desperately want everything I’m feeling from the racing heart to the fluttering in my stomach and that newly found jump every time he touches me.
Needing more from him, I tug at the collar of his leather jacket and pull him closer so I can kiss the divot between his collarbones. Revel hums quietly and his head drops back. “Fuck,” he whispers under his breath, capturing my mouth with his own.
I did that. I made him hum. An instinctive smile tugs at my lips, my breathing heavy. When my hands wander lower, there’s a sound of vague disappointment, but the high of the night has him too far gone to make any proper complaints. My guess is, me being untouchable to everyone including him, is wavering slightly.
My fingers trail down his stomach, beneath his T-shirt, and tug at his belt. “How about you come back to my hotel room with me tonight?”
Revel’s head shoots up, his eyes squeezing shut. “No.”
“Why not?”
He pulls back. “Because.”
Because?What the heck is wrong with this guy? He’s all over me and then pumps the brakes so fast I don’t know what the hell is going on.
“You’ll kiss me, touch me,” I whisper, trying again, kissing his jaw and the corner of his lips. “But that’s as far as it goes?”
He takes a step back, and I can see the war raging inside him. “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
“I think I do.” I cling to him, pathetically. “I want you.”
Leaning in, he places his finger on my lips. His erection digs into my stomach, giving me false hope. “Not yet. Not now.”
“Why not?”
He squeezes his eyes shut, every inch of his body rigid. “I want to keep you the way you are, princess,” he rasps. “Innocent and untouched.”
I draw back, my eyes widening. I told him I wasn’t a virgin, and though I think he believed me, in some ways, I was. I hadn’t been touched by someone like him. Revel Slade is a revelation and slowly becoming everything I don’t need, but can’t live without. He made it clear no one was to touch me—including himself. And in a strange way, I’m looking forward to the day he becomes a promise breaker.
Taking a seat in my chair, Revel remains standing. I catch sight of my face in the mirror—pink cheeks and neck, all indications I want more from him. For some reason, I tell him again, “I’m not a virgin.”
“You might as well be.” He swallows, backing up against the vanity next to an artful display of food laid out, watching my reaction as he says, “You’ve never been touched by me.”
I don’t say anything, at first, my eyes drifting to the empty mug of honey tea I’d been sipping on. “What do you want from me then?”
“Everything you can’t give me.” Revel breathes in deeply, his chest expanding as he adjusts himself. For a moment, silence fills the room and our eyes connect again. He stares at me, and I can’t breathe. “Once you get to know me, I’m undeniablyunlovable,” he murmurs, quickly avoiding my eyes as I look up at his face.
He thinks he’s unlovable? More like obsessable. That’s totally a word, right? The kind of addictive personality that makes you want to stalk them and obsess over their every detail.
