Page 12 of A Drop of Venom

Slowly, she mapped my entire head as well, running her fingers through my hair before exploring my neck and shoulders and arms. I wanted her to keep going, to caress the scales on my chest, but a pretty blush stained her cheeks once she’d examined my clawed fingers. She returned her hands to the sides of my face instead.

Hazel gazed into my eyes. “May I kiss you?” she whispered.

I swallowed hard, suddenly nervous that I might be found wanting in this regard. My people did not kiss, preferring instead to entwine their tails. Some even found the practice barbaric and stomach-turning, though I wasn’t one of them. I had in fact often observed humans kissing and noted it seemed an enjoyable way to pass the time.

In this moment, I’d be hard-pressed to name one thing I wanted more than to touch my lips to those of my shelshi.

“Yes, please,” I said.

She guided my face to hers and brushed her lips across mine. It was so gentle, so delicate, so transient and yet full of meaning. Like a whispered Hello, my love in the corner of a crowded ballroom.

Her second kiss was a bit more insistent, and I liked it even more than the first. Her lips were even softer than I’d imagined, and they tasted very much like her scent—only better, more concentrated.

I realized my hands were on her waist, steadying her. Or perhaps I was steadying myself. Either way, she didn’t seem to mind my touch.

“It’s like a first dance,” she murmured against my lips. “We learn each other, learn to move together. Learn what each of us likes.”

“I like everything about you,” I assured her. “So I will be very easy to please during this dance.”

She laughed. Goddesses above, it was such a wonderful sound. “Now, you kiss me,” she instructed, stroking my face.

I pictured my shelshi as the bud of a flower forced to find cover from bad weather and careless feet. She hadn’t had a chance to raise her face to the sun and bloom. I would like very much to be her shelter, and her sun.

I drew her closer, bent my head, and kissed my lovely mate.

From the shadows, I had seen men steal kisses, and even take them from females who didn’t seem very pleased about it. I didn’t want to be one of those males.

So with this kiss, I didn’t take; I gave. I did my best to pour out my hearts, my admiration, my wonder, my gratitude, and my devotion.

With a little whimper, she pressed herself to my chest and responded by returning my kiss and sliding her hands around my neck. My arms encircled her as well, the movement new to me but seemingly as natural as breathing. She was warm and perfect and soft in my arms—as soft and delicate as I was hard and powerful.

Yet she was powerful too, and not just because of her magic. Her will was made of iron. I hated that it had been forged by what sounded like a lifetime of mistreatment, but I would be proud and goddess-blessed to call her my mate, if she accepted me.

I hadn’t been drunk in many years, but I recalled it feeling something like this. Like floating, adrift in this moment, without a sense of what had come before or what came later.

Her tongue caressed my mouth. Startled, I parted my lips and her little tongue slipped inside, touching mine and showing me entirely new universes of taste and sensation. I played with her tongue, wrapping mine around it and trapping it until she gave a little huffing laugh.

She jerked in my arms in the same moment I tasted her blood. Oh, goddesses, my fangs⁠—

She drew back from me. I braced myself for anger or disgust, but she was licking her lip where a bead of blood was welling up and looking thoughtful

“I’m sorry, my shelshi,” I groaned, my hearts heavy as lead. “I was careless.”

“It’s all right.” She cupped my face with her hand. “It hurt a little at first, but now it doesn’t hurt at all. And it feels…warm. You said your venom won’t hurt me.”

“It won’t, but⁠—”

She touched her finger to my lips, silencing me, and licked away the blood that had beaded up again. “I’ve worked hard all my life,” she said, her voice suddenly stern. I liked her tone and the fire in her gaze very much. “I will not be put on a pedestal, or treated as if I’m made of crystal, or caged, or wrapped in soft wool for my own protection, Terolon. I belong to me.” She tapped my sternum. “Am I understood?”

I inclined my head. “Clearly understood.”

“Good.” She smiled, curved her hand around the back of my neck, and tugged me close once more. “Now, you may kiss it better.”

Goddesses, what a female.

Kisses were indeed a very fine way to pass the time.

CHAPTER SIX