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CASSIAN
The entire walk down the mountain and back to the car, Griffin griped and groaned about the hike down. “The least the High Council could’ve done was transport us back to the car,” he said for the 10th time.
Finally, the car was visible, and relief flooded through me that I wouldn’t have to hear Griffin’s complaints anymore. It was nearly dark, and we’d need to stay the night in a hotel. Honestly, I was willing to pay the extra money to have separate rooms—and I would have—if I’d be sleeping in the bed.
But no. I’d have to find a spot for the change and have Emily set up a barrier. Until then, I’d be lying back and resting for a bit.
We stopped at the closest motel, some run-down place in the middle of nowhere. Its “rustic charm” was 50-year-old paneling on the wall, and their “amenities” were a colored TV and a shower in the room.
Lovely place.
I got two double rooms—one for the guys, one for the girls—even though half of us wouldn’t be using it. After bringing in our bag, which had one spare outfit for each of us, and was loads lighter after giving Amon his potions, Ember flopped onto a bed, falling asleep within minutes.
Silas laid down on the other bed, claiming he was just resting his eyes for a minute. But after a few minutes of silence, he was snoring—asleep almost as fast as Ember.
“I’m going to head to the other room and take a shower,” I said, leaving Emily and Griffin to entertain themselves. After the long, exhausting day—hell, week—I’ve had, the warm water was calling my name.
I stripped out of my clothes, stepping into the steamy bathtub, the water running over my face. Please, don’t let these backwoods hotel owners be weirdos. I glanced around for the red dot of a camera and was relieved to find nothing, so I closed my eyes and relaxed.
After at least 20 minutes, I got out and dried off, wrapping the towel around my waist to change in the room. Everyone was in the other room, so I might as well wait to get dressed. There was nothing that made me cringe more than that rubbery feeling of my skin when I tried to get dressed after a shower.
I closed the door to the bathroom behind me, carrying my clothes to the bed. But when I turned the corner from the bathroom, Emily was waiting on the bed for me.
Her eyes traveled along my body, pausing where the towel met my abdomen. Her gaze heated, lust flickered through her eyes, and she laid back on the bed, inviting me over.
I walked over to the bed but didn’t sit down. Instead, I held up my clothes, showing her I needed to get dressed. But she sat up and pulled the clothes from my hands, throwing them to the floor. Pulling me down beside her, I nearly lost my towel and had to grab it to hold it in place quickly.
Beside her on the bed, we sat propped up by our elbows, just watching each other in silence for a moment, neither one of us rushing into anything more.
“You know, I was really impressed with the way you stood up for Griffin earlier. Especially after how you lectured us not to piss off the High Council.”
I shrugged, going for nonchalance, even though I was happy to receive her praise. “Griffin’s one of us, even if he doesn’t realize it yet.” I scooted closer to her, brushing back her hair and tucking it behind her ear. “But I don’t want to talk about him right now. Not after the way you looked at me just now.”
Her mouth parted slightly, a soft gasp escaping her lips from my forward comment. My hand grabbed her face gently, my thumb caressing her cheek, and I leaned down to kiss her. It didn’t take long for our kiss to intensify or for her hands to slide down my chest and to the top of the towel.
But she only hovered her hand there, teasing me with the temptation of pulling it off and letting her take this as far as she wanted it to go. The kissing halted, but our lips remained pressed together, the question of “what if” lingering in the air.
Knowing this wasn’t the time or place, her hand receded, fingers grazing over my abdomen and up my chest. My muscles flexed in response to her touch, and I wrapped my arms around her body, pulling it into mine until we were touching, her leg tangled with mine.
A fire erupted within me, setting my heart ablaze in the rawest and addictive way. Nothing could douse the flame that burned for Emily, and in that moment, it danced and flickered to life, waiting to consume us both.
The sensation was more substantial than a sexual desire. Don’t get me wrong, the room buzzed and pulsed with sexual electricity, but the fire I felt within my body—within my soul—didn’t come from me. It was magic coming from Emily, connecting with my supernatural side.
Mates were connected on many levels. Wolves can feel the emotions and energy of their mate. It made sense that I could feel her magic through the mate’s bond. Though, because there’d never been a witch mated to a wolf, I was only speculating. My own assumption, based solely on the magical feeling that encapsulated my heart and mind.
It was so potent, so real, I couldn’t not believe it was magic.
I wanted to connect with her on every level. Tonight, I wouldn’t go that far, but that didn’t stop me from reveling in the moment, above the clothes. I pushed my hips against hers, and she wrapped her leg around my waist, the angle allowing me to feel her more intensely. And with only a towel and a thin pair of leggings as our barriers, I was feeling the physical reaction hardcore.
But I didn’t want to pull away—not yet. So I pressed against her harder, my fingers running through her hair and tugging gently. She arched her back, craning her neck to let my lips suck her neck, claiming her as my own. My wolf demanded it, and hers was too happy to oblige.
We continued like that for who knew how long. Time had ceased to exist when I was with her. It wasn’t until Griffin came into the room that we even remembered where we were.
“Really?” he asked, unamused. “You guys are doing this now?”
I glanced down at my towel, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. It wasn’t so much that Griffin had seen me in a towel, making out with Emily. No, it was because I’d gotten caught up in the moment during all this chaos, and he caught me like that.
But god, the look on Emily’s face when I stepped out of the shower—who wouldn’t be able to resist kissing those lips?
