“That’s the same speech he gave me,” Damien grumbled, stuffing his hands in his black denim pockets.
“I, uh, practiced it.” He reached back and scratched the nape of his neck. “Just a few times. I tend to sometimes ramble and rambling isn’t the best characteristic, apparently. At least, that’s what I’ve been told. Anyway, practicing it helps me not ramble, which I’m definitely doing now.”
“You’re so flustered,” Trixie commented with a big smile, and Kian let out a nervous laugh.
“I think rambling is cute,” I murmured, wringing my hands together. “I tend to do it when I get excited about things. I’m Wren.”
“Really?” Kian’s bright green eyes flicked up to meet mine, and a rush of heat flooded my veins.
“Yes.” I smiled, stepping closer to him. “Although other people tend not to like it. I agree with that.”
“Who gives a damn what other people like?” Damien moved forward in a rush of shadows, causing me to yelp and Kian to fly backward and land on his butt with a thud.
My hand flew to my chest to cover my rapidly beating heart while Kian scrambled to his feet.
Trixie muttered some foreign language under her breath, and Damien jolted with a wince before scowling at her.
“What was that for, you damn witch?”
“For scaring them.” She gestured to us. “They’re clearly not used to your creepy demon powers!”
“Creepy?” His eyes darkened as he stared down at her, a low growl vibrating through the room as his shadows danced around the perimeter. I could’ve sworn the tattoos on his skin moved in sync. “I’m a fuckingdemon. I’m not creepy. I’m dangerous, and I could kill you just by looking at you.”
The temperature sky-rocketed, and sweat beaded at my temples.
Trixie just snorted, going toe-to-toe with a supernatural being of a higher rank than her like it wasn’t a big deal. “You can’t kill me because on campus, we’re equal. But if you want to challenge me, we can go to the Training Hall and do it properly.”
My dumbfounded stare flickered between the two as my heart raced.
“Um, Damien, Trixie,” Kian spoke, his words trembling. “I think Wren’s getting freaked out.”
Damien and Trixie snapped their heads toward me.
I took a few deep breaths through my nose and out of my mouth, the heat in the room affecting my core temperature in an embarrassing way that made me want to rip allmyclothes off, instead of Damien’s. “It’s justreallyhot in here.”
“Oh, shit, you’re an arctic shifter,” Trixie muttered under her breath, swirling around and going toward the thermostat to turn it down as Damien sucked in his shadows and the intensity of the heat left with them.
My legs gave out. Damien’s shadows swooped underneath me, cocooning me in an icy embrace before I hit the ground. The cold shadows were like silk against my skin, and they brought me to Damien in one swift movement.
It was like he changed the temperature of his shadows to accommodate me.
“Damien,” I breathed out his name, acutely aware of his arm that was underneath my knees, the other one behind my back, and the hand he had fanned out under my butt to support my weight.
A low purr came from his throat before he cleared it. He set me back down on my feet but kept his arm wrapped around my back. “Do you get overheated easily? I don’t mind cooling you off. I can do all kinds of things with my shadows I’m sure you’d like.”
My brain was in a fog as his shadows continued to glide over the exposed skin on my legs and arms, effectively cooling me down. “Like what?”
He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a knock on our suite door.
“I got it.” Kian darted away to answer it.
“I’d rather show you than tell you,” Damien whispered into my ear.
“Stop looking at her like you want to lock her away in a room for your own amusement.” Trixie shivered dramatically before adjusting the straps on her flowy green dress. “It’s creepy as hell.”
“Maybe Wren would like it if I did that.” Damien’s fingers dipped into my hip as he tugged me into his chest. “Ask herbeforeyou say it’s creepy.”
My hands came up to stop me from face planting against him, and I glanced up into his eyes. His irises were like mercury, and the heated gaze he directed at me made me wonder what it would be like to be completely at his disposal.
