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“Why not?” I tipped my head back, grasped her lower lip between mine, and sucked on it. She tangled her fingers in my hair and parted my lips with her tongue, deepening the kiss. Before long we were both breathing hard again.
She pulled back, letting her forehead rest against mine while she caught her breath. The puffs of air condensed in small clouds that merged with mine.
She started giggling. “It’s freezing out here.”
“Am I not keeping you warm enough?” My hands skimmed up her hips and under her sweater.
“Yes,” she breathed.
“Yes, I’m keeping you warm enough?” I held her close and teased her mouth with mine.
“Yes,” she said again.
I tugged at the hem of her sweater, inching it up.
“No,” she said. “Not here.”
“All right, then.” I lifted her, placing her on her feet for a moment before scooping her into my arms.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, looking up at me.
“Inside,” I said.
She squirmed in my arms, trying to get down. “You can’t just carry me in the front door.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
I carried her around the back of the house to the mudroom entrance. Then I lowered her to the ground, keeping one arm wrapped around her waist. The door was locked, but I fixed that problem with a little bit of magic. So, when I reached for the knob, it turned freely, and we slipped inside.
“This is your master plan? Sneaking in through the mudroom?” she whispered. I shrugged out of my jacket and lifted hers from her shoulders.
“Shh.” I grabbed her hand and led her through the kitchen, pausing to listen at the door leading to the back stairs. Then I lifted her onto my back, pushed through the door, and started climbing.
“You’re crazy,” she whispered into my ear.
“You make me crazy.” It was the truth. I was bargaining with fate. One night. Tomorrow I’d use my magic to find and destroy the artifact. Then I’d go after Edric or die trying. But tonight, this was all I wanted.
“They’re going to notice when I don’t come home,” she whispered.
“They’ll never notice.” They wouldn’t, even if I had to use my magic to make sure they didn’t. I passed the landing leading to the family wing and kept going, all the way up to my room in the attic.
I set her down inside the door and turned to close it behind us.
“It’s… different than I remember,” she said, wandering into the middle of the room and turning in a slow circle.
“Yeah. I moved things around a little.” I leaned against the door and watched her explore my space. She walked over to a statue I’d set on top of a low bookshelf near my bed. It had been in a dark, forgotten corner of the attic, near where I’d found the gargoyles.
She ran her hand over the statue’s wings and tilted her head to the side. I crept across the room until I was standing behind her.
“Is it supposed to be a faerie?” she asked.
I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her against me. “Supposed to be.”
“Why did you put it here and not downstairs with the others?”
I kissed her neck. “It makes me smile.” I moved my lips to the tender spot behind her earlobe, and she leaned against me.
“Where’s the other gargoyle?” she asked. Clearly, I needed to work on my seduction skills.
