Page 198 of House Ignis

"Yeah." I leaned in, my grin turning wicked. "Wanna play with us?"

His expression sharpened, becoming something truly devilish. "Sure."

But then, through the bond, his voice came—hot, silken, and laced with a warning. "You're playing dangerous games, darling. You know how I get when I'm challenged."

I bit my lip, my pulse tripping.

Good. Let him burn.

Mavrik suddenly appeared, looming over the group with a tray full of amber shots.

"Shots! Yes!" Sera screamed, her pink eyes glowing in the Fae-lights as she snatched one up.

I didn't look away from Asher. Not for a second.

I picked up a shot, held it to my lips, and deliberately licked the salt from the rim—slow, sinful, and focused entirely on him.

Heat flickered in his gaze, his shadows tightening around his fists like he was a second away from losing his control.

"Let's play," I whispered.

And I threw the shot back.

•••

The game had gotten downright savage.

Mavrik had ended up as the target for a lap dance from Rhea, and gods, I hadn't known she could move like that—hips rolling, hair flying, her green eyes glinting like emeralds under the strobing lights.

Even the Umbra males, usually so composed, were stunned into a rare silence until the entire tent erupted in a wall of cheers.

Rhea spun the bottle next, and it landed on Maddy. Poor, sweet Maddy.

"To the floor!" Ember cackled, pointing a finger like a vengeful queen.

Maddy wrinkled her nose in disgust but got down anyway, dragging her tongue across the sticky surface of the floor.

We all shrieked and howled with laughter.

Ryven wrapped his arms around her when she hopped back onto his lap, looking mortified and smug all at once as he whispered something into her ear that turned her face ten shades of red.

By then, I was sprawled across Asher's chest, his arms wrapped around me like a cage I never wanted to leave.

He was kissing his way down my neck, each bite a little rougher, a little more demanding than the last. Gods, it was getting harder and harder to draw a full breath.

Maddy spun the bottle again. It landed on Ezra.

The grin that slid across Ezra's face was pure trouble.

He stood and stalked toward Ember with deliberate ease.

When the music shifted into a heavy, grinding beat, he danced. It was a blur of shadows and sweat, hips and hands.

He dropped into her personal space with a grind so filthy and focused that Ember actually let out a small, helpless whimper.

"Holy shit," Sera hissed beside me, her pink eyes wide and glowing.

The dare was to make her writhe, and Ezra nailed it with terrifying precision.