Excerpt
from Kaleidoscope Hearts by Claire Contreras.
“Look at
me, Elle,” he says, using the deliciously low demanding voice that once made my
toes curl and my eyes roll back, and I have no choice but to tilt my head to
give him my attention. “Forget those lame guys you’re dating.
Let me
take you out.”
My heart,
if possible, spikes further in my chest, overriding all warning of the
impending chaos that’s sure to come. I try turning my attention to the poster
hanging beside me, but the kissing couple makes me look back at him and the
deep green eyes that are burning into mine. My stomach does a flip-flop, the
way it always does when he looks at me that way and I try to take my hands back
because these feelings are too scary for me to deal with right now, but he
holds them tighter, bringing them up to his mouth and kissing the tip of my
ring finger. Why did he pick that finger to kiss? I pull harder and he finally
lets my hand drop.
“I
can’t,” I say, my voice coming out hoarse.
A myriad
of emotions flash in his eyes before they settle on determination and I’m
forced to take a step back, away from his scent, away from his warmth, and into
the cold closet behind me.
“Why
not?”
I sigh,
finally looking away, back down to his naked feet. “I just can’t.” He knows why
not. He shouldn’t ask me that question. “What’s Vic doing, anyway?”
His body
moves into mine so quickly that I don’t have time to react to his large hands
clutching my arms or his face dropping until we’re nose to nose. I just stare,
wide eyed, waiting for his lips to fall over mine, but they don’t. He just
looks at me, breathes on me, lets me breathe on him, and he groans. And that
fucking groan travels from his body into mine and crawls into the core of me,
draping over every fiber inside of me.
“What do
you want, Oliver?” I whisper against his lips. “What do you want from me? You
want to kiss me? You want to fuck me? You want to come into my life like the
hurricane that you are and tear down everything I’ve rebuilt and disappear just
as quickly?”
His lips
brush slightly against mine, just a breath of a touch as he stands there,
crowding me like he’s about to devour me. But he won’t. He never goes in for
the kill. He just lures me, casts me, reels me in and pulls away. His hands
drop and his face leaves mine with the same quickness and I feel a pang deep
inside me that I wish wasn’t there.
“I’m
sorry,” he says quietly, shaking his head in a movement that makes his hair
sway back and forth. His eyes are soft on mine now and I can almost hear his
thoughts: I should have never kissed her.
I should have never—
My brows
rise in surprise at the apology, though. There are so many things I can say to
him, but the sudden defeated look in his eyes keeps my mouth shut. Finally, I
exhale and push off the wall, standing in front of him, with enough distance
between us that we can’t reach out and touch each other.
“It’s
okay just… don’t do it again. The kiss the other day was a mistake…” I stop
talking and walk past him, putting my bra away and sorting through my underwear
drawer like it has some sort of hidden treasure or something. This time when I
feel him come up behind me, I drop my head and exhale. He really needs to stop
sneaking up behind me.
“Oli—“ I
start and gasp when I feel his lips on the back of my neck, soft and warm. My
heart thunders and my hands begin to shake inside the drawer so I close my eyes
and focus on breathing. He drops another kiss right beside that spot. I never
knew the back of my neck was so sensitive. The feeling sends a ripple of
sensation down my arms and through my body.
“It
wasn’t a mistake,” he says in a husky whisper that makes my flesh break out in
goose bumps. “You’ve never been a mistake. You want me to tell your brother
that I want to take you out? Is that what it would take?”
Release
Date: January 22nd
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He was my
older brother's best friend.
He was
never supposed to be mine.
I thought
we would get it out of our system and move on.
One of us
did.
One of us
left.
Now he’s
back, looking at me like he wants to devour me. And all those feelings I’d
turned into anger are brewing into something else, something that terrifies me.
He broke
my heart last time.
This time
he'll obliterate it.
This
is a standalone
About the Author:
Claire
Contreras graduated with her BA in Psychology from Florida International
University. She lives in Miami, Florida with her husband, two little boys, and
three dogs.
Her favorite
past times are: daydreaming, writing, and reading.
She has been
described as a random, sarcastic, crazy girl with no filter.
Life is
short, and it’s more bitter than sweet, so she tries to smile as often as her
face allows. She enjoys stories with happy endings, because life is full of way
too many unhappy ones.
THANK
YOU!
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