“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath. “We’re not doing this.”
I nod my head and grind my hips against him. “Not doing what?” I ask innocently.
“This isn’t what you really want. You wouldn’t do this if you were sober.”
I grind into him again, and he stifles a groan. I can feel him hardening against me.
“Like I said, we’re not doing anything.” I lean my head against his shoulder and slide my hands down his chest, over his hard stomach, reaching toward his belt. “Yet.”
His hand lashes out and wraps around my wrist, stopping me. I tug against it, but even with this newfound sense of strength, I’m no match for him.
“You’re right,” he says, twisting his other hand into my hair and forcing me to look up at him. The dominant move sends another wave of desire through me. “I don’t want to say no to you. But I am.”
He holds me there for a moment before I break out of his grasp. Anger and frustration momentarily override my lust as I snap, “Fine. Have it your way. I’ll find someone else.”
“Serena, wait—” he starts, but the moment I think of running, my feet have already carried me deep into the forest. I’m faster than before, dodging the trees with little effort, unaffected by the darkness. Adrenaline courses through me as I follow that familiar scent.
I find Jace bent by a small stream, bathed in moonlight. He crouches beside his dark horse, stroking its head as it drinks.
My heart clenches. And so does something else.
His head snaps up when he hears me approach. He slowly rises to his feet, watching each determined step I take. I can tell I’ve caught him off guard because he forgets to put on that mask. The one that keeps people at arms-length. The one of the stern and stoic captain. The one that hides who he really is beneath it all. The one that guards his heart.
“Serena,” he says. Before he can form another word, my arms are around his neck, hauling him to me.
The kiss bursts through me like a match meeting gasoline. Every part of me is on fire. My fists close around his hair, and I’m surprised when he doesn’t immediately push me off the way Zadyn did. But I can’t even think of that right now because I amconsumingJace. And he’s consuming me right back.
His lips part mine, and I open for him, rising onto my toes. His fingers braid through my thick hair, rooting me to him. I whimper against his mouth, and his arm wraps around my waist, pulling me closer. I am squished against his chest, unable to get down a breath, and I think there’s no better way to die than suffocated, starved for air and for space, by this dark angel under the moonlight.
I bite his lower lip and taste blood. He actually growls. I go into a frenzy, clawing at his shoulders, trying to climb him, to get closer and closer until there is no space between us, and I am buried beneath his skin.
“Slow down, little witch.” He chuckles, cupping my face. I swat his hands away. His golden eyes glow in the moonlight. “You feel strong.”
“I’m faster, too.” And to prove my point, my hand shoots up to grab him by the throat. Not hard enough to choke him, but hard enough for him to feel my newfound strength. Thesurprise in his stare quickly darkens into desire. I slowly bring him closer to me, at a teasing pace, testing. When his lips are a breath away from mine, I hear a twig snap.
“Are you fucking kidding me,” Zadyn’s voice calls from behind me.
“What do you want,” I toss back, uninterested.
“Were you just going to take advantage of her? Let her do whatever she wants?”
“No, that's your job,” Jace quips. Then Zadyn shoves him from my grasp, too fast to register. All I see is Jace stumble back into his horse.
“Easy. It was a joke.” He holds up his hands. “I had it under control.”
“She was about to eat you alive. And you were going to let her.”
“Hey! I knew what I was doing,” I snap.
“Oh, please, Serena, no, you didn’t. You would never throw yourself at me like that—and certainly not athim,” he growls at Jace, who straightens, dusting himself off. He glances between the two of us.
“If it bothers you so much, then maybe you should have given me what I wanted instead of acting like a jealous prick!” I spit at Zadyn. He gives a humorless laugh.
“I’mthe prick, yeah, for wanting to protect you when you’re clearly not yourself. For stopping you from making a mistake like this one.”
“Oh, please, we kissed, whoop dee doo.” I swirl my pointer finger around in the air lazily.
“She went to you first?” Jace asks Zadyn.
