So what exactly wasmyproblem?
Why couldn’t I just blow all of this off, too?
His mouth found mine, somewhere in the midst of those panicked, crashed-together thoughts, the realization of just how stupid I’d been, how utterly delusional. I was on the verge of panicking about it, so maybe it was better he distracted me before I could go all the way there.
He angled our mouths together and groaned lightly when they first met.
It wasn’t like our first kiss.
It was shockingly, disturbingly tender, not the angry, half-savage kiss he’d given me in front of the fountain. He pulled back after he’d done it, and I thought that would be the end of it, but he kissed the sides of my lips and mouth, shocking me again when he leaned his whole body into mine, groaning again as he took his time, kissing my throat, using his tongue and lightly-grazing me with his teeth before returning to my lips.
I’d expected matter-of-fact, indifferent, even rough, and maybe I could have dealt with those better, but something about this was exponentially worse.
He sat up when I kissed him back, squeezing his arms around my waist and back, that time under the cloak. He pulled me against his chest, his fingers stroking my spine through the thin blouse I wore as he went back to kissing my throat.
When he returned to my mouth the next time, he leaned up to deepen the kiss, and I could feel him breathing harder under my hands.
I forced my mind silent.
I forced myself to close my eyes, to stop thinking.
I wrapped an arm around his neck, leaning into him in return, and he kissed me harder, his tongue hot in my mouth. His fingers traced my cheek and jaw, my throat, down to the base of my neck. He kissed my mouth again, making me gasp, and when I rocked up against him, his other hand slid down to my arse and tightened.
He shocked me by speaking aloud, if quiet.
“Put your hand on me again,” he said, his voice rough.
I didn’t let myself think about that, either.
I reached between us, and that time, I massaged him more slowly, matching his pace, the more sensual way he was kissing me. I reached lower than before, too, sliding my palm up over him deliberately when his breath caught. I kept going, stroking him even when he stopped and closed his eyes, breathing harder against my neck. His magic grew hot on my skin.
His fingers clenched in my shirt as I felt him building.
“Fuck.” His voice deepened. His fingers gripped my thighs hard enough to bruise. “Fuck.”
He stopped me some minutes later, capturing my wrist.
He let out a low groan into my mouth when he kissed me again, arching up against my hand. His own hand found its way between my legs, under the short skirt, his fingers pressing against the silk knickers I’d worn. He groaned aloud when he felt how wet they were.
Gods, Shadow.
I felt panic ripple through me when he pressed the thoughts into me.
He kissed my throat, buried his face against my skin.
Don’t move,he murmured in my mind.Gods, try not to overreact.
His mouth found mine, right before he pulled me deeper into his lap again, tighter against his hand. His kiss grew ravenous as his fingers moved the silky fabric aside, and as he yanked me forward again, that time to spread my legs. He paused only to meet my gaze, right before he slid two of his fingers all the way inside me and curled them up.
My mind blanked out entirely.
I stopped breathing as he stroked me, up and back, deliberate, precise, flooding heat through his hand. That heat worsened when I felt his magic burning hotter at the ends of his fingers. I felt him experimenting with it, getting more turned on when he felt me react to his magic as well as what he was doing with his hand. He let more of that fire bleed from his chest, and I struggled to do as he’d said, to not react, but I couldn’t look at him at all now.
His thumb slid over my clit and I whimpered for real.
His hand captured the back of my head. I felt him hiding me, using his body and the chair, but both of us were breathing too hard, and I arched against him, forcing him deeper inside me. I let out a breathy, near-whimper of a sound when his teeth closed on my neck. He angled his fingers deeper still, and I gripped his hair in my fingers, nuzzling his face with mine.
Something about that made his magic spark out harder, shocking me.
