“Princess.” Tate’s words were soft, quiet. “About last night.”
Keeping my eyes down on the book, I shrugged. “What about it? We were drinking. It doesn’t mean anything.”
His finger traced along my jawline, turning my face toward him. “It meant something to me.”
I swallowed and licked my lips. Tate’s gaze darted from my eyes to my lips and back, making me inhale sharply.
“If you hadn’t been drinking,” Tate continued, his thumb tracing along my lower lip, “the night might have ended the same way, but you wouldn’t have gone to bed alone.”
Lust settled low between my thighs. My heart thudded in my chest. Tate inhaled, and a low growl rose in the back of his throat.
It wasn’t as if I’d never been with a man before. Sure, it’d only been the one time, and half the time I pretended it didn’t happen. Julian certainly liked to act like it hadn’t.
But Tate… Tate was different. He was sweet and clearly a gentleman. He could’ve taken advantage of me last night and didn’t. Sure, he was a bit of a flirt, but not in a creepy way. And who was I kidding? I knew, even if I hadn’t been drinking, I would have let Tate kiss me.
Only two things pushed back against this happening. First, the fact that he was my roommate, which meant if this went bad, things could get very awkward.
Then there was my mission. I was supposed to be looking for those who might hurt my family, not thinking about making out with werewolves.
My lashes fluttered close as I exhaled. Then I stood, my decision made. With a glance over my shoulder at Tate, I walked into the rows of books.
Letting my fingers trail along the shelves, I didn’t have to wait long for Tate to catch up to me. He caught my wrist in his hand. My back hit the wall of books. Then his mouth was on mine.
Tate cupped the back of my neck, holding my head exactly the way he wanted, his tongue licking at my lips. Arching into him, my mouth opened in a moan. Our tongues tangled around each other, Tate drawing mine into his mouth, sucking on it until my knees weakened. My hand clutched in his shirt, holding onto him as I gave myself over to his kiss.
Hand around my waist, Tate lifted me until my legs wrapped around him, putting my core right against the heat of his body. My hands found the braids of his hair, and I tugged on them, making him growl.
The reminder of what he said before about his piercing had me sucking his lip ring between my lips.
Tate jerked back. His low growl vibrated between my legs, and I whimpered. “We should stop. Someone could see…”
“Okay,” I breathed against his lips before dragging his mouth back down to mine.
We kissed again for a few moments, my hip rolling. The longer we kissed, the more I wanted, and while I wasn’t exactly a virgin, doing that, here with Tate, where anyone could see us? It was enough to pull me out of my aroused state.
“You’re right,” I panted, abruptly dropping my legs, a hand on his chest. “We should…”
“Yeah,” Tate swallowed, taking a step back. “I should… you know… go get ready for class.”
“Exactly.” I nodded, watching him back away from me, his lips curling up as he went.
His fingers swept over his lips as he grinned.
When he was out of my view, I sank back against the shelves, touching my own lips.
I couldn’t believe I did that. Why did I do that? What about my mission? A shot of guilt hit my stomach out of nowhere to dim my post-kiss vibe a bit.
Well, it wasn’t like I was giving it up because I kissed a boy, and my mom did say she wanted me to explore other experiences. Though… I smiled to myself as I made my way back to my table… I didn’t think she meant this.
Chapter twelve
Julian
Iheldmybreathas her body brushed against mine in her hurry to leave the cafeteria, as if breathing her very scent would somehow break the wall I’d built up to let me do my job.
There had been a party last night in the vampire crypt. The other teachers warned me about it. And, while part of me knew Jack had to attend to gather clues for our mission, I still fought against myself all night not to hunt her down and make sure she wasn’t getting into any trouble.
Except I wasn’t her father. I wasn’t her anything. I had no right to tell her to stay away from parties — to keep other’s hands off her. And while I had tried my best not to watch her every move, not to eavesdrop on her conversations, it was difficult when my entire being was tuned into her.
