A Fiery First Kiss

The first kiss between characters changes everything. Once done it can’t be undone no matter the reasons for the kiss.

For Matai, the hero in How To Breathe Fire, it is easier to try and scare Camea than tell her the truth. Luckily for him Camea doesn’t scare easy and she knows Matai isn’t everything he appears to be …

His gaze skimmed the statues pushing out of the walls. “Why don’t you believe I am the god?”

Camea ran her tongue over the backs of her teeth. She didn’t want to insult him again, and yet he seemed to be looking for honesty. She tilted her head. “A god isn’t petty. A god wouldn’t demand the deaths of so many women… Are you a demon? Did you trick the King of Adar into giving you women so you could amuse yourself?”

The witches had warned of the temptations of demons, honourless thieves who would take a woman if she strayed too far from safety. She’d thought them myths to keep women from wanting more than a husband to obey.

The man of fire crossed the floor and gripped her arms, his touch scorching, imprinting on her flesh. The flames in his eyes burned white hot. “Do not assume to know what I am. What I do or why. You know nothing of demons or gods.”

Camea met his burning stare. “Then tell me.”

His mouth closed over hers, combusting the air in her lungs. Every part of her body glowed with the heat. She hadn’t expected her first kiss to be like plunging her hand into boiling water.
He pulled back as if he were wounded and burned by her touch. His hands fell to his sides. “You may not like what you hear.”

“That doesn’t change the truth.”

Excerpt

Shona Husk