“The watch?” I blurt out. “Yes I am! I love it! I’m talking to you on it right now!”
He glares at me. I’ve never seen him so… so bold. So commanding.
“Put it in, Wild West.”
It feels like a scolding, and my cheeks heat. “Wait… You mean now? By myself?”
An eyebrow arches over his glasses. His only response.
A thrill races up my spine, and I lie back in bed, suddenly eager to follow my naughty professor’s every command.
I’m about to put it in when he says suddenly, “Showme.”
Goddess,I’ve never done anything like this before.
But I want to. Oh, how I want to be his good little student.
Angling the watch so he can see exactly what I’m doing, I spread my thighs and slide the vibrator in. Immediately, it comes back to life, vibrating until I feel it settle snuggly inside me, then stopping all too soon.
“Rook!” I gasp, bringing the watch up to my face. “We’re stopping? No! Why are we stopping?”
His smile is dark and devious, his honey eyes glowing. “Because, my wild girl. I won’t be home for hours. I need to ration out your pleasure slowly and methodically.”
“But… what?” I bolt upright. “I have to leave it in?”
“It’s a wearable device, West. Designed to remain inside you and remind you, at my urging…” It buzzes again, and I gasp as tiny waves of pure ecstasy radiate through my core. But then, all too soon, it stops.
Again.
Argh…
“…that I’m thinking of you,” Rook continues.
“How? How are you controlling this thing?”
“Easy.” His devious grin turns smug. “I paired it with your smartwatch and hacked it with my phone. Now, be a good girl and leave everything in place, and you’ll bethoroughlyrewarded later.”
The promise in his words obliterates my frustration.
Rewarded later…
Goddess, we’ve been skirting that line for so long, our all-night sessions in the library bringing us closer than ever—shared theories about Zorakkov’s end game, about Eloise, about the original Cerridwen witches and the esoteric text of the Codex. Cuddling on the sofa before the fireplace, tucked protectively under his wing as I practice connecting with my magic. Forehead kisses and foot rubs for me, wing and back massages for him.
The kind of sweet, devoted closeness that can otherwise take years to build, but was always so easy with us.
But the other kind of closeness? The searing hot kisses, the tangle of limbs, the touches that leave you gasping and breathless and trembling?
That line remains uncrossed.
Until now.
I’m already imagining the taste of his kiss, the feel of his big hands spreading my thighs, the heat of his mouth as he—
“West,” he warns, hitting me with another all-too-brief buzz. “Behaveyourself. At least until I get home.”
“You… You’re trying to distract me from my mom’s letters,” I say. “Since you won’t be here tonight to keep me from spiraling, you’re—”
The vibrations kick up into high gear, cutting off my words and threatening to destroy me from the inside out in thebestpossible way.
