Feb

I ♥ Monday: V-Day Kissing Edition

I ♥ writing kissing scenes best of all. I’ve noticed that some people have been posting kissing scenes from upcoming books or WIPs and thought I’d jump on board.

This is a scene from Court of Thorns, my Sleeping Beauty retelling. The lady in question is Kira, the bastard half-fey best friend of Princess Tala. The gentleman in question is Takumi, prince of the far-flung ninth kingdom, the last in a long line of princes come to woo Tala. Ostensibly. However, he has just maneuvered Kira into the courtyard. I’m very fond of the banter that precedes the kissing, but I don’t want to post too much. Let me know what you think!

The sharp autumn wind cuts through the courtyard and sends clouds scudding over the moon. I shiver and wrap my arms around myself.

“Here,” the Prince says, shrugging out of his long frock coat. He settles it around my shoulders. Beneath it, he’s wearing a grey shirt, open at the throat. There’s a jade stone on a dark cord around his neck. He peers at me. “My gods, your eyes reflect the dark just like a cat’s.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry,” he says. “You’re self-conscious of it, aren’t you? It’s very striking is all.”

I flush. “If you didn’t want to talk to me about Tala, why did you drag me out here?”

“I brought you out here because I wanted to kiss you,” Takumi says, stepping closer to me, “and I thought it would be inappropriate to do it in front of your entire court.”

His eyes are like storm-clouds in the shadows. He reaches out and runs the pad of his thumb over my collarbone. “You’re very beautiful, Lady Kira. Has no one ever told you that?”

I shake my head, mute, but I don’t pull away from his touch.

Prince Takumi bends his head level with mine, his breath hot against my ear. His hand still rests on my collarbone, light as a butterfly. “Then the men of your court are fools.”

I turn my head and my lips meet his in a kiss that feels as if it could go on and on.

It’s better than I’d imagined.

His lips are soft and warm and intoxicating. They brush against mine, infinitely slow, as though we have nothing to do tonight but stand in this courtyard and kiss. One of his hands cups the back of my head, stroking my hair, and the other curls possessively around my waist. There’s nothing forceful or demanding in it. After a few moments, I press closer against him, one hand crumpling the back of his shirt in my greedy fist. He responds with a low hum in the back of his throat, and catches my bottom lip gently with his teeth. The hand in my hair tugs and my head tilts back and his mouth moves down across my jaw to the hollow of my throat.

I wonder if Tala has ever been kissed like this.

Tala.

I jerk back. “I can’t. We—can’t,” I gasp. “Tala. You’re her last chance. You have to make her love you!”