Chapter 45: Our Second First Date

Somehow Dante and I make it off my doorstep and into the house. He manages to press me up against the wall without breaking the kiss. I'm not sure if seconds or minutes or even hours have passed. I only know that kissing him is life. It's an explosion of passion that threatens to consume me.

When he finally pulls back, I'm dazed and fuzzy-minded with pleasure. I lean my head back against the wall, eyes still closed, as he brushes one last soft kiss against the corner of my mouth. There's a brief pause, and then suddenly he lets out a laugh.

God, that laugh. That rare, beautiful sound makes me go soft all over. I open my eyes to see what's causing that marvelous, heart-swelling, intoxicating reaction, but when I do, my eyes go straight to his lips - and the enormous smear of Blood Orchid Red across them. His entire mouth is smudged with it. And the skin surrounding his mouth. And his chin. And even parts of his cheeks, though I don't remember my lips ever going there.