“Is that what you always say?”
“Okay, no. But now that you’re in my life, I’m gonna start.” He kisses me again, his cock hard, his mouth doing things to erase my last working brain cell, and soon he’s dashing out into the bedroom for the condoms, dripping water everywhere as he races back into the shower, and we’re right back where we left off.
We’ve just finished ensuringbothof us start the day off properly when my door chimes, followed by a hard rap.
“What time is it?” I ask Baz.
“No idea. Maybe ten?”
“Shit, that must be Kirin!” I step out of the shower and grab a towel from the hook, hastily wrapping it around my body. “I was supposed to meet him at the library at nine!”
Baz shrugs. “He’ll get over it.”
“Baz.”
“If you’re trying to make me jealous, Little Bird, it’s totally working.”
As if to confirm, his energy washes over me—jealousy in the lead, followed closely by disappointment and a tinge of fear.
“Jealous. Really. I’m standing here naked withyou, while the man I wassupposedto meet is locked outside.”
“You’re not naked anymore, though, that’s the thing.” He reaches for my towel, but I dart away, smacking his grabby hands.
“Naughty mage. I have to get to work. And it’s Tuesday. Don’t you have a class to go fail? A professor to annoy?”
“Advanced Gem and Mineral Composition. I couldteachthat class. I’m only in it for the easy grade.”
He’s smirking at me, but the jealousy and hurt still linger. I look up into his eyes, and just like last night, the rawness there is impossible to unsee.
“Baz.” I close my eyes, blowing out a breath. “You don’t need to be jealous. But the situation with Kirin is… complicated.”
I don’t want to keep secrets about that. Secrets are what got me into so much trouble to begin with.
“You have feelings for him,” he says, doing his best to keep the irritation out of his voice. “I get it. I see it any time the two of you are together.”
“Idohave feelings for him,” I say. “I mean… I did. I don’t know. It got kind of fucked up between us a couple of weeks back, and now…”
“Now what?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Those kinds of feelings… they don’t just go away.”
“No,” I admit. “But you know something?” I step partway into the shower again and take his face between my hands, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. When I pull back, his eyes are closed, his mouth curved in a smile, and some of the hurt recedes.
“Those kinds of feelings don’t have limits, either,” I say. “Not for me.”
The door chimes again. I leave Baz with a final kiss, then wrap my hair in a towel, dash into my bedroom, and grab my robe.
“Be right there!” I make it to the door and haul it open just as I get the robe tied shut. “I’m so sorry, Kirin. I totally should’ve—”
I totally should’ve checked the security monitor, that’s what. Because the man standing in my doorway isn’t Kirin Weber.
It’s William Eastman from APOA, his face turning red with awkward embarrassment as he takes in the sight of me, the top of my robe gaping open, the sound of the shower hissing in the background, my swollen lips and stubble-burned chin a pretty solid indicator of how I’ve spent my morning.
“Agent Eastman? What’s wrong?”
“My apologies for the intrusion, Miss Milan,” he says in his clipped British accent. His judgy, by-the-book cop energy hits me so hard and fast, I’m just about ready to drop to my knees and beg for forgiveness for all the carnal sins I’ve committed in the last several hours.
