Then I was over the threshold with him on the other side.
We stood there face-to-face, the doorframe a sentry between us, the air thickening with intention and possibilities that couldn’t be.
“Lock the door behind me,” he said finally.
“Why? Do you think someone will try to break in?” I teased.
His tawny gaze darkened, his expression deathly serious. “Yes. I think I might.”
My pulse stuttered at his admission, and for a moment, I was tempted to break our stalemate and step across the threshold toward him. If only he wasn’t with Selethis… I sucked in a breath and dropped him a nod. “Okay. I’ll lock it.”
“Good girl.” He closed the door, but not before I saw the gleam of disappointment in his eyes.
I stood with my hand on the key, torn between obeying and yanking open the door and throwing myself at him. What was wrong with me?
“Lock it, Anamaya.” His voice was low and gruff through the wood. “Now.”
There was a slight growl to his tone this time, prompting me to quickly turn the key. I pressed my ear to the door, listening. He was still there. Standing on the other side. I could hear him breathing. Heavy. Labored.
Heart racing, I pressed my palm to the cold oak. I could still open it. Let him in. I reached for the key with trembling fingers just as the sound of his retreat filtered through the wood. I dropped my hand, the decision made for me.
Danger over.
I climbed into his bed, slipping between silken sheets that smelled of him, and pressed my nose to his pillow. Warmth bloomed low in my belly as his scent filled me.
Maybe the dangerwasn’tover.
I stretched out, running my hands over the soft fabric that he’d slept on. Naked maybe? Yeah, he seemed like a sleep naked guy. So he’d been naked, touching himself, his body slick with perspiration, legs tangled in the sheets, hand wrapped around his cock—pumping slowly at first, then faster as his arousal grew. He’d moan softly, then groan deeper as he got closer to climax and… What if it wasn’thishand around his cock, but mine? What if I was straddling him and working him and… Oh…I could rise and press him to my entrance before slowly lowering myself onto him, taking him deep inside me. Fuck. Yes. Yes! I’d move with him. Oh Trinity. Deeper and harder, his hands on my body gripping and kneading. He’d growl and flip us so that he was on top, pushing me into the mattress, driving into me, eyes blazing like topaz jewels. Fuck.
My body shuddered, pussy clenching around air as I came. I slapped my hand over my mouth to stifle my cry, riding the wave of pleasure that came from within, thighs parted, hips rising to meet an invisible lover as I imagined him thrusting over and over, pushing my orgasm to the limit until I was spent and shaking.
I fell limp, limbs quivering, pussy soaked and stuck to my panties. Oh…wow…yes, I was definitely going to keep Vitra in my special-time memory banks.
But the high ebbed soon enough, leaving me with a hot face of shame and the gnawing bite of guilt. I shook it off. I was allowed a mental distraction. After all the shit that I’d been through and all the shit I was sure was waiting for me, I bloody deserved it.
Vitra was off-limits in real life, but I’d do what I liked to him in my head.
I wrapped myself in his aromatic sheets and rolled onto my side. My feet no longer throbbed, which was a good sign. I just hoped the injuries wouldn’t slow me down tomorrow night.
The grading was the first step to getting into the hunt, and the hunt was my way into the Carvers and the vault.
Failure was not an option.
I was drifting into sleep when it hit me—Vitra hadn’t asked me any more about the forgotten student, almost as if… As if he’d forgotten. Again.
The spell haunting Nightsbridge was more powerful than I’d anticipated. Meddling with it could prove dangerous. Maybe even derail my plans to find the book of truth.
Could I take such a risk?
That was a question for tomorrow.
CHAPTER 34
They came out of nowhere. Landing from the sky like stray bullets. There was no time to think, to act. When they arrived, we knew it was over.
ANONYMOUS FROM UNKNOWN NEWSPAPER (VAULT ARCHIVES)
The southern border had two wards, one that separated it from the Academy grounds, and another three miles from the first. The grading would take place between the two, an area dotted with woodland and valleys, with a mountain range to the west.
