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Heat radiated from him, and my body’s response to his proximity only made me angrier. I didn’t want to want him right now. I just wanted to be pissed at him.
Turning, I headed up the stairs to the front door and flung it open, trying to hit him in the face with it. Unfortunately, he caught it, barely breaking stride as he followed me into the academy building.
“I put my life on the line to help save you from that asshole Wesley, and you’re the one who’s pissed,” he argued. “I could’ve gotten killed. And you’re mad because I tried to help you.”
I shook my head as I stalked down the hallway. “Wesley is an idiot, and there’s no way he would’ve killed me. He’s better than I thought, I’ll give you that, but I had him. I was handling it. I did not need you to come rolling out of the jungle, leaping through the air like you were fucking Rambo. I don’t need a man to protect me. When will the three of you get that through your head? We are a team, not three guys trying to save the helpless little girl.”
I was getting closer and closer to my room, hoping to make it there and lock myself inside. But when I was about two paces from my door, Merrick grabbed my arm again and whipped me around.
Shoving at his chest, I broke his hold on me, ignoring the feel of his muscled pecs beneath my hands.
“You better not pull any shit like that when we’re in the godly realm, or you could get all of us killed,” I hissed.
Merrick scoffed and shook his head. “Oh, we’re a team, are we? You might want to send yourself that fucking memo, Ari. Because you don’t act like we have a team. You act like you’re a lone wolf who got forced into a pack against your will.”
His words stung. Partly because they felt true, and partly because I knew they weren’t true. These three men meant more to me than anyone had in my life, and I trusted them—something that still felt strange to me.
But I needed Merrick to understand that he wasn’t allowed to be my savior. My rescuer. He needed to have faith in me to handle myself.
Just as I reached the door to my room, I turned around and grabbed Merrick
, using my magic to brace him. With one swift move, I lifted him up and slammed him down on the floor on his back. I followed his body down to the floor, straddling him and pinning his arms to sides. I let my face stop just inches from his, angry breaths heaving in my chest.
“I’m going to tell you this one last time,” I said quietly. “I don’t need you, Trace, Lachlan, or anyone else protecting me. I’m no weak little girl.”
For a moment, he lay still beneath me, staring at me with his too-damn-handsome face and his striking amber eyes. Our faces were so close that I felt the whisper of his breath on my face as he murmured, “I don’t think you’re weak, Ari. And I don’t think you’re a girl. You’re the strongest fucking woman I’ve ever met. But in case you haven’t noticed, we care about you. We’re going to protect you if we can. And you just need to learn to deal with that.”
His words seemed to invade my soul, shocking me like an electric current. My grip on him loosened slightly—and the second it did, he flipped his arms, breaking the hold I had on him. He shoved me off roughly, using his magic to settle me on my feet as he stood quickly. Instinctively, I put my hands up as he took several steps toward me. Waiting for him to strike. If he wanted a fight, I was ready for it.
Instead, he grabbed me by both arms and yanked me toward him, pressing his lips hard against mine. At first, I fought against it, moving right and left with my shoulders, but the familiar scent and taste of Merrick’s lips was too much to resist.
The tension between us began to boil higher and higher, and I finally broke my arms free, grabbing his face with my hands. I sank deeper into the kiss and pushed him up against the wall next to my door. We kissed desperately, and his hands pulled at my shirt, yanking it up so his fingertips could run across my skin. As I kissed him, I grabbed the key out of my back pocket and began to grope for the keyhole in the door. After stabbing the key into the wood several times, I finally managed to find the lock, and the door sprang open.
We tumbled backward into my room, a flurry of lips and hands and teeth.
Residual anger toward each other seemed to spur both of us on, not to mention the adrenaline still coursing through us from the preliminary competition. My body felt like a frayed wire, sparking with electric energy and needing just the smallest push to explode.
When Merrick shoved his hand down the front of my pants, his fingers landing directly on my clit, that was all the push I needed.
I bucked in his arms, crying out into his mouth as pleasure rocketed through me.
He didn’t take any mercy on me, pinching my clit between two fingers and making a new wave of sensation slam into me. It was ecstasy tinged with a bite of pain, and it rolled my first orgasm into a second, pleasure spiraling in on itself until I was panting for breath.
When the world finally came back into focus, all I could concentrate on was the bright amber of Merrick’s eyes as he watched me. There was a look of satisfaction on his face that made annoyance and arousal rise inside me in equal measure.
He was so fucking cocky.
But then again, he had every damn right to be.
Still, I couldn’t let him think he was in charge here, so even though my heart was still racing and my body quivering from the two mind-blowing orgasms, I gave him a taunting smirk as my hand found the bulge straining the front of his pants. I squeezed his thick length, running my palm up and down the steely heat, and a little of the cockiness faded from his face as his jaw clenched, his neck muscles tensing as he fought for control.
That’s right, buddy. Two can play this game.
Moving lightning-fast, I swept his legs, bringing him down to the floor. He grunted in surprise, and I held back a laugh as I followed him down, pinning his body with mine before slowly sliding down the length of him. I let my breasts rub against his chest, and even through the layers of our clothes, I knew he could feel my peaked nipples, feel how hard they were for him.
When I reached the waistband of his pants, I glanced up, holding eye contact with him as I very deliberately flicked open the button.
Pulled down the zipper.
