On His Knees by Tabatha Kiss
Chapter 23
Jenna
Seth brushes his lips against my cheek, taking his time before planting a soft kiss beneath my left eyelid.
Kissing my ouchie.
Wait… kissing my ouchie?
What the fuck?
My breath hitches in surprise, but I don’t move. I stare at him through tattered lashes, waiting for the ball to drop. Surely Seth Newbury didn’t just kiss my cheek in kindness. Any moment now, he’s going to throw on that smirk and laugh at me like he always has and always will, and this moment will become yet another brick in the wall between us.
But then…
Seth kisses my other cheek and I’m six years old again.
I’m a crumbled mess on the driveway of Heidi’s childhood home, bleeding and crying with no end in sight until a pretty boy with golden eyes takes pity on me.
Another stray tear falls down my cheek. Seth brushes it away, his warm expression showing no hint of malice at all. No toxic tongue. No vicious sting. He lingers in front of me, his strong hands holding my weak head up. His lips shimmer with a thin layer of my tears. He licks them clean and hesitates, his breath held tightly as his deep eyes study my face.
Say something.
Anything.
Literally anything.
Tell him to go away.
Leave me alone.
Don’t touch me.
But something in his eyes says that won’t be enough. I have to push him away, but…
Something in me says that I won’t be able to.
In the aching silence, Seth kisses my forehead. As his lips leave my skin, they take just a little more of my pain with them. My cheeks heat against his soft palms, and a chill carries up my spine. It’s uncomfortable and harsh, but not entirely unwelcome. His presence, always the dark cloud in my life, now tickles my skin with relief. I’m not sure why. I’m not sure I even want to know why.
I just want his lips to touch me and make more of my pain go away.
I want… wait.
What?
I pull back, shaking his hands off my face. “What are you doing?” I ask again.
“I, uh…” Seth eases back, confused. “I’m not sure.”
“You’re kissing my ouchie?”
He nods. “It seemed sweet at the time.”
“Sweet?”
“Too much?” he asks.
“A little, yeah.”
“Right…”
He doesn’t move; still so close to me. His golden eyes wander to my lips, and I can’t help but gaze at his. Thin and pink. Slightly parted and so magnetic…
My head tilts on its own as he tilts in the other direction.
Oh.
Oh, no.
“Oh!” I twitch back, stopping myself. “God!”
Seth pulls away. “Yeah, no.”
“You should go.”
“I really should.”
He pushes off the floor as I rise out of my chair. I fiddle with my textbook and pens, dropping them twice before scooping them up.
Seth hops back, giving me a wide berth. “So, I think I’ll just…”
“Go to bed,” I say as I shuffle toward the hallway.
“Right behind you.”
I stop. “No!”
He waves his hands. “No, not like that!”
“I’mgoing to my bed,” I say.
“And I’ll go to mine.”
“Yes.”
“Boundaries.”
“Boundaries, yes.”
We step forward, then stop. I move forward, but so does he. We stop again.
Seth leans back. “Ladies first.”
“Thank you.”
I bolt down the hall to my room, slamming into the door as I try to close it before I even make it through the frame. My entire body shudders, bending and twisting to shake off the last of his touch still lingering on me.
The hell was that?
Well, that was—
No.
Stop.
Don’t think about it.
Don’t you fuckingdare.