If you’ve been following along or if you’ve read Ignited, you know that Jura’s first kiss may have been a bit of a disaster. (You can read about her terrible first kiss here.) It’s not her fault though. I mean, she wan’t attracted to the guy, he was twice her age, and she might have only kissed him because she was trying to gather information for the network of deadly spies known as the Shadow Dancers who were extorting her for her connections to the Thirteen. Did you get all that?
(Spoilers for Submerged ahead!)
So kissing maybe hasn’t been a top priority for our heroine which is probably why she is surprised when she and Tylak (finally) share their first kiss! Scroll past the image below to read the excerpt from Submerged. I pulled the scene from the ending of chapter thirty which is written from Tylak’s point-of-view so I started there for context but the kiss continues with the beginning of Jura’s chapter 🙂
Illustration by Denis Carrier
She looked so beautiful just then. Her eyes were shining, golden in the dim lighting of the study. Raven hair framed smooth tanned skin, and she just felt so perfect in his arms he couldn’t help himself. He leaned down and brought his lips to hers.
She had not expected this. His lips were soft. Not mushy the way Beshar’s had been. They were firm, gentle. She felt his hands slide up behind her neck and get caught in her hair. She had the distant thought that he would somehow muss her braid, but she pushed the thought away and pulled him closer.
A thousand butterflies tickled her skin. She felt brave and strong and beautiful. The kiss was so light, slow and sweet. It was perfect.
Too quickly he pulled away, his gray eyes wide.
“Jura—I’m sorry. That shouldn’t have happened. It won’t happen again.” He practically shoved her out of his arms. She tumbled backward and turned her face away before he noticed her blush.
It won’t happen again. His words echoed in her head. Had she been terrible at it? Did he hate the experience? What did that mean? She’d wanted it to happen, had hoped it would. Hadn’t he seen that? Or had she gotten things terribly wrong? Maybe he didn’t see her that way at all? Could kisses be accidents? She had certainly never accidentally kissed anyone before. Beshar didn’t count.
She brought a finger up to her lips. They were still sensitive to the touch.
Peppik coughed into his arm. The moment should have been awkward, but she had never been so grateful for his presence.
“Well then, we should leave.” She straightened her braid and resisted the urge to once again touch her lips. Tylak stared at her with an odd expression on his face. She turned her attention back to Peppik. “Lead the way. As Tylak said, the hour grows late.”
So Jura’s next kiss was a definite improvement but still not perfect! Isn’t that how life is though? It’s rare to find that perfect first kiss with someone. In fact, who can define what even makes a kiss perfect? While Jura and Tylak have the chemistry, the timing may have been slightly off, at least Tylak certainly seemed to think so!
What do you think makes a kiss “perfect”? Is that even possible? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!