When he pressed his lips to Thiphaine’s, his hair fell forward, and he moved his hand from her cheek to brush it behind his ear. Clelia recalled the deliberate movement of his jaw, the way the muscles dimpled in his cheek, and the hand under Thiphaine’s blouse. All the while, Joss maintained his composure as Thiphaine came undone under his caress. The beautiful girl made low moaning sounds. Her knees buckled, but Joss, without breaking the kiss, grabbed her waist and pulled her so tightly against him her back arched. Keeping her up with his arm, he made her weak with his touch and tongue.
Watching them stabbed into her chest. Hurt speared her heart. The ache was greater than the heat of shame in her pores and on her cheeks, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the forbidden sight. It was Iwig, a boy from her class, who broke the spell when he discovered her behind the tree. He was a tall, blond boy with a strong build who she disliked for his habit of hunting abandoned cats with his pellet gun.
“What do we have here?” His eyes darted to the distance where Joss and Thiphaine were embracing. “A peeping tom.” He took a step toward her.
When she tried to back away, he grabbed her braid, inviting a yelp.
“Not so fast, witch.” He hauled her closer by her arm, making her stumble against him. “You like to watch, don’t you?” He grinned. “How about a taste of the real thing?”
She opened her mouth to tell him to go to hell, but he’d already brought down his head and kissed her so hard his teeth split her lip. Swinging back her arm, she slapped him with all the force she could muster. The blow was strong enough to fling his face sideways.
They both froze. When he looked back at her, his eyes simmered with fury. He glared for a second, baring his teeth, before lifting his fist. Unable to free herself from his grip, she steeled herself for the blow, but another pair of hands grabbed Iwig by the shoulders and flung him to the ground.
Her gaze collided with Joss’s violent expression. Her lips parted, words refusing to form, as she stared at him with shock and relief tangling in her stomach, leaving her feeling slightly sick. Before she could find her voice, Joss had lifted Iwig by the lapels of his jacket. Iwig’s legs dangled and his arms flayed like fish flapping on soil. Letting go of one side of the jacket, Joss hooked a fist under Iwig’s chin. The impact sent Iwig flying through the air. He hit the ground with a thump. With his arms wide and fingers flexing, Joss stepped over a cowering Iwig.
“If you ever lift your hand to a girl again, I’ll hang you from a tree under a pack of wild boars and let them eat you from your feet to your useless dick,” Joss said. “Understand?”
He’d spoken very softly, but the woods had gone quiet. No birds chirped. Not even the leaves rustled. Thiphaine stood aside, hugging herself.
Iwig tried to scurry away on his elbows, but Joss stepped on his jacket.
“I asked you a question,” Joss said.
Iwig started crying. “Yes.”
When Joss lifted his boot, Iwig scrambled to his feet. He didn’t look at Clelia before running down the path toward the school.
Only then did Joss turn to her. After a moment of studying her, he gripped her chin and tilted her head. Trailing his thumb over her lower lip, he said, “You’re bleeding.”
Then he did something that shocked her wildly. With his gray eyes locked onto hers, he brought his thumb to his lips, slipped his finger into his mouth, and licked it clean.
She couldn’t move. She didn’t dare as much as blink.
He saw her. It felt like he saw through her. She couldn’t speak with the power of the knowledge weighing her down. He was a god, a rebel, a cruelty, a stolen sight, and he saw her.
He’d tasted her.
He’d swallowed her DNA.
He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from her lip before pressing the ball of fabric into her hand. “He won’t bother you again, but you better go home.”
He was so tall she had to crane her neck to look up at him. He shifted, and then the shadows obscured his face and the sun at his back blinded her, breaking the spell.
Her flight instinct kicked in. She remembered wondering if he’d forgotten about Thiphaine who still stood to one side with wide eyes as she hurried down the path.
“Wait,” he called after her. “It’s Clelia, right?” he asked when she’d stopped to look at him.
“Yes.” Everyone knew who everyone was in town, but he hadn’t acknowledged her until that day.
“You’re fourteen.”
Of course he knew. There was only one school. He had to know in which class she was.
His voice became soft and dark again like when he’d spoken to Iwig. “You’re too young to wander alone in the woods.”
His intense stare was unnerving. That was when the insight hit her. Catching Joss’s attention was dangerous. A girl couldn’t survive it, not with her heart. Her body wouldn’t stand a chance. She realized it instinctively, even if she was much too young to know.
The way he scrutinized her with a smirk tugging on his full lips and knowledge burning in his eyes told her he knew. He knew what she was doing here. Shame crept through her veins. Scarlet heat rose to her cheeks. She wished the path would open up and swallow her.
His gaze
