Chapter 14 The Kiss

• The fever still gripped me, my mind lost somewhere between reality and dream, the edges of the world blurred and distorted.
• Everything felt muffled, like I was underwater, but there was a warmth, a softness, that cut through the haze. It wasn’t the usual burning fire that came with Paxton’s touch—it was something else, something gentler.
• My skin was slick with sweat, my clothes clinging to my body like a second skin. But then, they were gone. I felt them being peeled away, slowly, carefully. The sensation was soft, not the rough, hurried tug I was used to. There was tenderness in the way my shirt slid off, in the way the air hit my fevered skin, cool and soothing.