NIRELLE

I had come in to cook to take my mind off going back to the kiss I had shared with Lucien, but he had waltzed into this place to kiss me once again. How was I to survive? It would be replaying for days on end in my head. He tugs on my lower lip as though it were something that was giving him some kind of strength. His hand drops from my wrist and circles my waist. My brain is screaming at me; we should not be doing this here, in the kitchen, where anyone can walk in and see.

I pull away ...