Chapter 59: I’m Kissing You

"Brianna..." he rasped, his warm breath fanning against my pulse point. "I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight."

The sensation of his tongue tracing the bruise sent a faint, ticklish shiver down my arm. This kind of raw, protective devotion was completely foreign to an assassin who had grown up in the cold. It was strange... unsettling... but not entirely bad.

"Benjamin," I called softly once more.

He raised his head, his gaze locked onto mine.

"Not there," I murmured, my voice low and soft.

Slowly, I slipped my hand from his loose grip and brought my index finger up, pressing it directly against my swollen lips.

"Here." I breathed.

Benjamin swallowed hard, his throat bobbing at the sight.

He didn’t need to be told twice. Shifting my weight on his lap, he leaned in close, framing my jaw with one hand while his other arm held my waist tight against his chest.

Instead of just crashing his mouth onto mine, he leaned down and softly licked my lower lip, his tongue swiping gently over the bruised, sensitive skin.

I winced slightly—the small tear at the corner stung from how ruthlessly Zero had devoured me earlier.

Benjamin noticed instantly. His movements grew slower, more deliberate, as if he were meticulously tracing every millimeter of my lips to erase every last trace, scent, and taste of the other wolf before claiming me for himself.

Then, he plunged deep.

His mouth came down on mine in a full, suffocating assault, claiming my lips with an overwhelming, possessive heat that completely took my breath away. He deepened the kiss relentlessly, his tongue tangling with mine, forcing his scent and taste into every corner of my senses.

As he consumed me, the distinct, medicinal smoky residue of his specialized cigarette filtered onto my tongue. This was what I was after, and now, I got it.

My lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen. My head swelled, a dizzying fog wrapping around my brain, making my limbs feel heavy and floating all at once.

My fingers shot out, blindly gripping the front of his shirt tightly, burying my knuckles into the fabric just to keep myself from passing out.

Benjamin’s thumb gently smoothed over my cheekbone, holding my face tilted up to him as he maintained the suffocating seal of his lips.

"Try to breathe through your nose, Brianna," he whispered directly into my mouth, his breath hot, and heavy as his tongue swept deep once more. "I’m not trying to suffocate you."

"Then," I gasped out against his lips, my voice barely there, my head spinning as my fingers tightened weakly in his shirt, "if you’re not trying to suffocate me... what are you doing?"

Benjamin dropped his forehead gently against mine, his hot, smoky breath mingling with my own ragged intake of air, his purple eyes burning with a dark, unhinged intensity through the narrow space between us.

"I’m kissing you."

"Kissing me?" I breathed out, the words tasting like sweet ash on my lips. "Why?"

My thoughts scrambled to find solid footing through the hazy, dizzying fog settling over my brain.

From everything I knew of the social dynamics in this and my last—and the few stray romantic tropes I could recall running into during missions—kissing someone on the lips wasn’t just a casual exchange.

People who were in a relationship, or at least intimately involved, were the ones who did this. The ones who wanted to commit, wanted a one night stand, wanted a go at a brothel... I know that’s where the setting of kissing falls.

But if Benjamin was kissing me like this now... did that mean he was actually interested in me?

This whole time?

My mind flashed back to the stifling moment in the vault, the intense moment in the restaurant lobby, and now this—holding me on his lap in the back of his car, consuming my lips as if trying to rewrite my very skin.

This time, he was actually kissing me? Was he interested in becoming intimate with me?

No, that’s impossible, I tried to tell myself, my inner assassin struggling to handle the logic that was making my heart flutter. We barely even know each other. And besides actually falling into his arms back in the vault, I don’t think I gave him any reason to believe I was trying to be intimate with him.

So, what was actually going on?

"Focus, Brianna," he murmured softly into the narrow gap between our lips, his thumb tracing a slow, lingering line across my cheekbone.

His deep voice cut through my spiraling thoughts, grounding me back in the heavy, warm reality of his lap.

"You’re overthinking again," Benjamin whispered, his eyes locking onto mine, burning with a quiet, dangerous intensity. "Your head is somewhere else entirely. Stay here with me."

My body was betraying my instincts. Even as the dizzying feeling overwhelmed me, my heart was racing—a wild, frantic drumming against my ribs.

I could feel the raw, unfiltered intent behind every movement of his body, the heat of his body pinning me in place so thoroughly that there was no room left for distance.

Yet, beneath the physical storm, I was a straightforward person. I didn’t deal in vague signals or romantic games, and I needed answers.

The moment he finally gave me room to properly breathe—his mouth relinquishing mine only to trail hot, deliberate kisses down the line of my throat—I threw my head back with a sharp intake of air.

Benjamin’s lips moved down to the curve of my collarbone, his gaze darkening the instant he caught sight of the faint mark left behind by the other wolf.

His jaw tightened. Without a second of hesitation, he pressed his mouth over the mark, sucking forcefully, his tongue tracing my skin to burn his own scent over it until every last trace of the stranger was ruthlessly overwritten.

"Benjamin," I gasped out, my fingers digging into his shoulders to keep my voice steady against the shiver wracking my spine. "Are you... like this with other females?"

Benjamin paused. His lips froze against my collarbone. Slowly, he lifted his head, his dark, unhinged purple eyes locking onto mine.

"Why?" A faint, teasing smirk played at the corner of his mouth. "Jealous?"

"This isn’t a joke," I said, my gaze unblinking, refusing to let him derail me. "I... I’m curious."

Benjamin stared at me for a long second, his expression softening just a fraction, though his hand remained firmly planted on my waist, keeping me locked against him.

"Well," he murmured, his voice dropping into a low, sleepy rumble, "I don’t let people get this close to me. They’re too loud, and their wolves are completely undisciplined. So... what do you think?"

"I still don’t get it," I pressed, my straightforward nature pushing right through his evasive logic. "If you don’t normally do this... then why is it so natural for you to kiss me? You do it like you’re simply blinking your eyes."

I leaned slightly back, searching his features for any sign of deception.

"I can’t tell if you have some hidden motive behind it," I whispered, analyzing every micro-shift in his expression. "But if you do... I want to figure it out."