My head cants to one side. I’m goading her before I can stop myself: “Come over here, and let’s find out exactly how much of my shit you’ll put up with, Sadrielle.”
With that, the pursuit is back on.
She lunges at me, laughing and chasing me around the card catalogs. I skip sideways, dancing to avoid her but keeping her insight as she lurches left, then right, then feints left only to dive into me.
When she catches me, she kisses my cheek, hot with exertion and excitement. The brush of her cool lips sends a jolt of electricity between my legs. I go still, the air strangling in my lungs.
“Tell me, Tiss,” she breathes, wrapping me tight in her arms and pulling me close. “What do I have to do to get your attention? Hmm?”
“You’ve had it,” I whisper back, paralyzed by the bold gaze flashing beneath her thick lashes. Under my ribs, something fierce and dissolute shifts and growls.Gods, I need her, I realize. “How do we know there’s nobody else in here?”
She dips her head, teasing her lips over my sensitive neck. “Funny, you don’t strike me as the timid sort. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
The stimulation drains all strength from my legs. Knees buckling, I groan, then catch myself and tug out of her arms with a wild giggle.
Stumbling a little, my muscles the consistency of jelly, I bolt between more shelves and burst into a shockingly wide open space on the other side.
I’m not thinking when I grab hold of one of the study tables, pulling myself to a stop; it’s simply a reflex.
A reflex Sadrie isn’t expecting. With a yelp, she hits my back. “Ow, Tiss! What are you—?” But then she sees them too. “Oh, my gods.”
A series of floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows line the far wall, every panel depicting a different type of tree. Each is labeled in black lettering on an unwound scroll laid over exposed roots: willow, hawthorn, hazel, elder. In the middle: yew.
The magnificent sight is wholly arresting.
Layered glass leaves shimmer like emeralds against azure panels of sky. Three-dimensional dragonflies, finches, and butterflies take repose on their trunks and boughs. The delicate creatures have also been painstakingly crafted from stained glass.
Tables and chairs are grouped in front of them, making a cozy study area. Rows of tall shelves and cubbies hem in the area on all sides.
Dust motes drift lazily, glittering in the jewel-colored light. For a few moments it feels as though we’ve stumbled upon a secret library lost to time itself.
“See,” whispers Sadrie. “We’re the only ones here.” I gasp as she nuzzles into my neck, her hand caressing my waist.
My muscles jerk, and I’m running again, pulling her with me this time. We dash between tall shelves, and I spin, grabbing her close as soon as my back hits the wall.
Sadrie’s mouth seizes mine, all wet heat and wild enthusiasm. Her hands are in my hair and roaming my body, her desire as vicious as it is luscious.
A shred of reason squeezes through the excitement:We shouldn’t be doing this. We’ve taken vows!
Then she’s bunching my dress in hungry fists, wrenching up my hem, and all hesitation, all logic falls away. The mixture of cool air and her searing fingers caressing the skin above my stockings is maddening.
I whimper against her lips, feeling an answering hunger, a fathomless appetite break open inside of me.More… I need more…
She pulls back. Eyes bright, she’s so pretty and vibrant with the thrill of chasing me—the triumph of having caught me. “I want to break those ridiculous vows with you,” she whispers, her gaze tracing the shape of my lips. “I want to watch you grapplewith yourself to keep from screaming my name, right here and now. Lie to me, Tiss. Tell me you don’t want the same thing.”
She might as well be reading my thoughts. Raw need rends me to pieces, making my breath ragged. A devious grin spreads across her face.
It lingers for two heartbeats before she steps back, yanking me with her.
I’m roughly thrust toward the bookshelves. My hands shoot out, bracing on two of the uprights as she sweeps my hair aside.
Her breath falls across my shoulder, forcing a quiver to my center. It’s so bold and deviant andforbidden,what we’re about to do. I hold my breath, a ball of heat pulling my belly tight.
She presses her body slowly against my back. “I think we should study,” she murmurs, her hands stroking down my sides. “Put our time here to good use.”
“Study. Good use. Right,” I sigh as she kisses my neck. Her curves crushing against me are pure sin; the drag of her teeth on my skin is ruinous.Gods help me, I hope she does ruin me.“Do you think there are books in Aritertan?” I rasp out.
“I wasn’t talking about the books, songbird.” She reaches around me, lifting the hem of my dress with one hand and tracing up my inner thigh.
