Silver by Talia Vance Page B

that make my whole body run hot. I can feel myself blush as he brings his hand to my cheek, branding me with his touch.
    â€œBrianna Paxton.” He lets his fingers rest against my skin, stroking just beneath my chin. “You are even more beautiful than I remembered.”
    My blood rises against his thumb. “You know you’re crazy, right?”
    He laughs. “Possibly. I still can’t believe it. It’s amazing. You’re amazing.” His eyes scan me from head to toe, full of wonder and admiration. I soak it in, reveling in the rush of power that comes with the certainty that he sees me. Wants me. He leans closer, so close I inhale a heady combination of vanilla and mint. His voice is low, his breath warm against my neck. “I’ve never seen anything like you.”
    The fire crackles and sparks, blue flames flickering in sync with the flame that rises along my skin. Blake takes a handful of my hair in his fingers and brings it to his lips. “Incredible,” he whispers.
    I breathe the word in, savoring it as my own breath comes faster.
    Still clutching my hair, he pulls it back gently, tilting my head at an angle that invites him in. He brings his lips to mine. Just as our lips touch, a sharp ocean breeze swirls around us, blowing my hair and creating a small electric shock where our lips meet. I laugh, a little startled.
    Blake pulls back, his hand still holding my hair. “What was that?”
    â€œStatic electricity? The imbalance of positive and negative charges caused by friction? For a guy who plans to be a doctor, you don’t know much about science.”
    â€œYou have an answer for everything, don’t you?”
    â€œNot this,” I admit. I can’t explain what’s happening now. My theory is officially dead. And I don’t even care. I just want him to kiss me again.
    As if he hears the thought, he does.
    â€œZap,” I say, my lips moving against his.
    He laughs, sending warm vibrations against my mouth. His tongue licks softly against my lips. The hand that holds my hair pulls my head back further, allowing him to move deeper into the kiss, into me. The electricity in the air fills me completely. I would describe it as an out-of-body experience except that everything about it is so in body. My hands come up around his neck, pulling him closer. The wind swirls around us again, the cool air sending me further into his warmth.
    We sink back into the sand. His fingers travel down my side, blazing a trail to my hip. The warmth of his touch sears through my jeans. His thigh comes between my legs as the kiss intensifies. He moves on top of me, his weight bringing him blissfully closer.
    There’s a brilliant flash of silver as his body pushes me into the sandy earth, a fact that barely registers as I urge him closer. My hands move down his back, clawing at his shirt. He breaks the kiss long enough to pull the offending polo over his head, and our eyes meet in the silvery blue glow of the fire. I smile as he puts his hands on each side of my head and leans down to rain kisses along my neck. My fingers explore the hard contours of his back.
    And then his mouth finds mine again, and I’m pulled along on a tide of pure sensation. There’s another silver flash, so bright I can see it with my eyes closed. When I open my eyes, we’re surrounded by a dark mist, so thick I can no longer see the ocean. A thread of silver light dances in the fog, weaving in and out of the darkness, circling us.
    In the silvery light, I see his face above mine, his green eyes ablaze, a half smile on his lips meant only for me. “ Mine ,” he says softly.
    Then he kisses me again, and for a second everything is black, so dark that I wonder if my eyes are closed again. A small sliver of light grows in the center of the darkness, moving just over us. The silver ribbon grows brighter, meeting the dark until the beach is a swirling mass of shadow and