City of Cruelty and Copper (Temperance Era) by Rhiannon Paille Read Free Book Online Page A

to change the subject. I didn’t know what to say so I continued twirling the flashlight around and one of the rubies glinted throwing a glare as bright as the sun into Isaac’s eyes. He held his hands up to his face and let out a loud guffaw. “Will you turn that thing off?”
    “Sorry.” I clicked it off and put it back in my belt. I waited until my eyes adjusted. I could make out Isaac’s shape, the height, the outline of his chest, the line of his hips. It was like we were locked in a stalemate.
    He sighed again. “I think you’re afraid.”
    “Of the dark?” I asked slowly, arching an eyebrow. I knew he wasn’t talking about the dark but I didn’t want to talk about my relationship status.
    Isaac stopped staring at me like he wanted to do something and turned a fraction of an inch away. “Cray is such a jerk. And he’s a safe choice, you can like him all you want and you don’t have to worry about getting hurt because you know he’s never going to feel the same way about you.”
    I went for the flashlight again, like it was comfort food and then stopped. “I told you that crush was stupid. What about you? You date all these guys on the East side and none of them last. You seem to like getting your heart trampled on.”
    Isaac chuckled but it wasn’t funny. “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
    I rolled my eyes, now he was quoting Tennyson. That was such an East side thing to do. I crossed my arms. “Fine, I don’t like Cray okay? He’s just some psycho that wants to bag my thirteen hundred year old aunt.”
    Isaac turned and took a step towards me. “I didn’t bring you here to talk about Cray.”
    I threw my hands up in the air. I was actually feeling angrier than I should have been. My heart thumped wildly in my chest, my body vibrated with agitation. My hands trembled but I kept them planted firmly at my sides, absentmindedly rubbing my fingers against the black fabric of my one piece.
    “Then why are we here?” I sounded terse, like I wanted to punch the wall only it was covered in rubies and I’d come away with a bloody and broken hand. Somewhere between me being really angry and thinking about punching things, Isaac had kissed me. His hands were on my face, his body was against mine, and his tongue was parting my lips making me suck in air through my nose while he explored my mouth. Tingles spread from my chest and down my legs. I gripped his waist at his hips and forced us together. His hands slid down my shoulders and looped around my back, holding me to him. I could feel the fast-beating pulse of his heart against mine.
    And then I needed air. My hands went slack on his hips, my lips stopped kissing him back. I slumped away towards the rubies and felt the sharp things poking into my back. I tilted my head up in an attempt to kiss him again but all I felt was something hard hitting my temple. “Ow.” I rubbed the place where I had hit my head.
    “Are you okay?”
    I remembered in that moment that Isaac was my friend and that he had kissed me, really kissed me. It was like nothing I had expected and everything I had ever wanted in a kiss all at the same time. There was nothing hesitant or awkward about it. My mouth hung open, dumbfounded as I moved my lips trying to figure out how to talk again. “My head is spinning a little.”
    “Yeah mine too,” Isaac said. He sounded out of breath.
    My stomach did flip-flops as I reached out and touched the stone that I had collided with. I pushed myself carefully away from the wall and looked back at it. I almost wanted to yell at it for ruining such a great moment. “No I mean I hit my head and I feel a bit woozy.”
    “Are you okay?” His tone was different than it had been before all the kissing began. He sounded genuinely concerned, like he would carry me all the way home if I were really hurt. I rubbed the sore spot on my head and smiled. He really liked me, and I really liked him.
    “I think