“So please,” he says, popping open the first one. “Call my bluff. Make a damn liar out of me. Obliterate the last vestiges of my control.” Hard knuckles brush over my nipple, then he turns his hand, cupping my breast through the fabric and teasing the aching flesh with his thumb. “Because tonight?”
I lean back against the door and close my eyes, my knees weakening, my body melting, desire weaving a spell through every last nerve ending…
“Tonight, I’m going to breakevery…” Fingers tighten around my collar, and he hauls me close, his energy cresting in a wave of rage and frustration and pure, uncut lust.
“Last…” He tears open the flannel, the remaining buttons scattering across the hardwood floor.
“Vow.” He yanks the shirt from my arms, tossing it to the floor, revealing my bare flesh to the cool air. Wild, feral, he devours me with his eyes as I stand before him in nothing but a pair of purple underwear, nipples hard and tight, long hair tickling my shoulders.
“Goddess,” he breathes, reaching between my thighs, his fingers tracing the shape of that lacy triangle.
Close enough I can feel the heat radiating from his skin.
Far enough to make meache.
“Is this what you want?” he demands in that bone-chilling voice, his eyes blazing a warning I feel deep in my core. His presses a hot kiss to my neck as his fingers slide inside the waistband, brushing my flesh with teasing strokes, moving lower and lower but still just out of reach.
My stomach is trembling, my breath ragged, my nerves burning for more, but I bite my lip to keep from crying out. From letting him know how quickly he’s unraveling me.
“Is this why you came to me tonight,” he says, teeth grazing my earlobe, “hot and wet, half-naked, knowing it would drive me out of my mind?”
“I didn’t… I thought…” I swallow hard, words tangling in my throat as he finally reaches my clit. I arch my hips, hungry for more. Desperate for it.Dyingfor it.
“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” he teases. “And here I thought it was thenotsaying things that kept fucking us all up. Isn’t that what you said?”
I nod, damn near losing my mind.
“What is it, then? Now’s your chance to tell me all those things you’ve been holding back. All those hot, reckless things you want me to do to you.”
A tremor rolls down my spine, my heart banging wildly, stars swimming before my eyes. I can’t hold out another moment. “Are you… are you going to touch me?”
“Touch you? Like this?” He moves past my clit, fingers tracing my outer lips, then dipping inside, slow and deep. I gasp and reach for his shoulders, fingernails digging into his flesh as he pulls out, then slides back in, unleashing a rush of pure pleasure between my thighs.
But just before I lose myself completely, he pulls back out, dragging his fingers up to my neck, wrapping his hand around my throat and pinning me against the door. With his free hand, he fumbles with his pants—the clank of the metal belt buckle, a quick zip, the heat of his cock pressing urgently against my abdomen.
“No, my beautiful Star. I’m not going to touch you.” His mouth ghosts over my lips again, teeth glinting in the moonlight with a smile that portends my doom. “Tonight, I’m going toownyou.”
Nine
BAZ
The stars are spinning. Or maybeI’mspinning. Either way, I’m flat on my back in the Iron and Bone common room, and something is seriously out of whack right now. Especially since I’m seeing stars and I’m not even outside.
Wait—am I?
More importantly, do I actually give a shit?
Survey says… Fuck it.
I lift the bottle to my face and squint at the label. I don’t even know what’s in this shit—some homemade brew one of the first-years left, abandoning their Dungeons-and-Dragons game the moment I came tearing through here. All I know is I introduced myself to it two hours ago with that first blissful sip, and now we’re old friends.
“And what a good friend you are.” I kiss the bottle, then lift my head just enough to take another swig. It burns all the way to my fucking bones, but that burn is a hell of a lot better than the other one. The one that claws at my chest and tears at my soul, making me forget I ever gave a shit about anything.
About anyone.
“Fuck you,” I say. To the monsters from the past. To my broken, murderous brother. To the druid in the blood-stained robe. To anyone who thinks they can fuck with me now. I found the fucking cure, assholes.
I take another swig.
