Before she could finish, Jake reached out and caught her wrist.
Bella gasped, and before she knew it, his lips were on hers.
It wasn't a question. It wasn't hesitation. It was everything he'd held back, his pain, his longing, and his love, all spilling into a single, desperate kiss. One that seemed like his lifeline depended on it.
For a heartbeat, Bella was too stunned to react. But then she felt how his warmth pressed into her, and how his trembling hand cupped her face as if afraid she'd vanish if he let go.
The sheer desperation in his touch, the ragged sound of his breathing, and the way he whispered her name against her lips seemed to shatter something deep inside her.
Bella froze, then melted. All the walls she'd built, all the boundaries she'd drawn between them, splintered beneath the weight of everything she still felt for him. Her heart raced wildly, and before she could stop herself, she kissed him back with equal passion.
