Page 93 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Leela looked as pissed off as he had ever really seen her. Besides the time he forgot the anniversary of their kiss and she barely spoke to him all day. What was a young boy in love meant to do?

Rajesh dipped his chin, soaking her in as if he was already hers. In ways, she was. Although he feared knowing if she had been with anyone else. If her lips and—Flames forbid—her body had touched someone else.

“What?” Leela asked.

“Nothing.” Rajesh cleared his throat.

“You’re thinking. You have that silly thinking face on.”

“What is that meant to mean?”

“Exactly what I said. Want to hear it in Nihikian?”

Rajesh chuckled. “I don’t want you to strain your brain. You’ve been doing enough of that already.”

Leela’s fists shook at her side. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”

Rajesh studied her, tilting his chin in thought. He wondered if kissing her was the wisest decision right now. Perhaps, he should draw out this moment and seduce her the right way.

It was another reason why the Viperess was inside her—the fear of the unknown.

Leela continued to stand there, as if waiting for him to make the first move. A small part of him was too stubborn to step forward. Another part was too scared the Viperess would attack as soon as their lips connected. What if this was the moment the Viperess had been waiting for? To wait until he was vulnerable and strike true?

Steady now.

I am.

Your heart says otherwise.

Rajesh had barely registered his heart lodging itself in his mouth and his tongue going dry. He cleared his throat once more and stepped forward. Each step was an aching want, each step a moment of uncertainty.

But she stood there, all hot and sweaty, and suddenly she was all he wanted.

When he was close enough to touch her, he stopped. Her breath hitched on her lips, her chest rising. A lingering flowery perfume wafted off her, despite the sweat. She’d always smelled of the wheat fields back home, her hair tangled with the thin yellow strips. He’d spent an hour one night pulling wheat sticks from her hair.

Rajesh held her gaze, her warm honey eyes soaking him in like a bee to the bud. He gripped her chin, his thumb stroking her cheek, and she swallowed. Too many thoughts swirled in his mind.

What are you waiting for?

I… this isn’t right.

Do you have cold feet?

The opposite. I shouldn’t be kissing her after everything. Our first kiss should be better.

It’s a kiss.

For once, Rajesh agreed.

Rajesh leaned in, but stopped as Leela’s eyes spun, and within a blink, the Viperess was there. He stepped back as the Viperess lunged for his neck. But Rajesh wasn’t quick enough. She grabbed Rajesh’s throat and flung him across the room.

Air shot around Rajesh, his shirt billowing and his entire body weightless. He crashed against the ground, shoulder cracking somewhere deep, and pain shooting up his spine. He cried out in agony as he grabbed his shoulder, biting his tongue to suppress the warmth now shooting down his arm.

When the world stopped spinning, Rajesh watched as Leela smiled, her eyes still aglow. His tongue rolled into the back of his throat as he waited for her to attack. But she merely stood there, underneath the sunshine, watching him with a small smirk.

“You’ll have to try better than that, lover,” the Viperess projected through Leela.

Without so much as another glance, she turned on her heel and walked away.