“You’re bossy today.” Backing away, I paused in the doorway. “Or is that the baby pulling your strings?”
Her tiny fists curled. “Zion, I swear to the gods, I will?—”
I bolted out of the infirmary before she could finish the sentence. Eislyn was the size of my pinky nail, but shenever missed an opportunity to rain damage on anyone who’d wronged her. That one time was enough for me to remember it for the rest of my days.
Rounding a corner in the hallway, I popped the lollipop into my mouth. Cherry exploded on my tongue, as sweet and tingly as?—
Gedeon.
The circular lamps dotting the ceiling illuminated him as he emerged from his study. Warm light caressed the ripples of his upper body as he cracked his neck, the black t-shirt failing to conceal his muscular form.
I couldn’t help but recall how his straight waist would shift under my palms whenever he cornered me. How his ruthlessness jellified my legs. How I dreamed of his ass flexing under my touch…
Pulling the candy away, I slurped in the drool flooding my mouth.
But the loud sucking noise drew his attention. Gedeon advanced on me, prowling like he was about to jump me.
My feet welded themselves to the floor. The closer he came, the more prominent the dark circles marring his under eyes became, and?—
He snatched the sweet from me. The bubble of red vanished into his mouth, and a heartbreaking crunch betrayed how his molars crushed the lollipop.
Mere specks of crimson remained on the toothpick-sized stick, the pitiful remnants drawing out my pout. “I only had one…”
An unyielding grip trapped my nape, and a set of thick lips smashed into mine. My palms landed on his pectorals, his muscles tense as he backed me into a wall. A sting exploded across my shoulder blades from the collision with the hard surface, but Gedeon’s groan consumed my grunt.
As his tongue transferred the pieces of the lollipop onto mine, I ran my hands up his back, savoring both the sugar with a hint of sourness and him holding my head, angling my neck to feed the electricity coursing in my veins.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he breathed into me.
Luxuriating in the razor-sharp fragments of candy slicing our lips, I grasped his hips. “Then don’t stop. Take it all.” To encourage him, I trailed higher, up his sides, my thumbs brushing his lower ribs?—
He hissed, his features contorting.
I cursed myself for forgetting the apple-sized bruise darkening his flesh, the consequence of him dealing with the two soldiers who’d ambushed us at Conall’s compound.
Conall.
The kid who, together with Gedeon, had always pulled Damia and me out of trouble when we were teenagers. Who’d slapped the back of my head too many times to count. Who’d brought me to the infirmary after I’d burned myself on Gedeon’s order. Who’d proposed the idea of installing a drain in our basement. Who’d almost pissed his pants when he’d discovered me sporting a hard-on in our training rings, minutes after Gedeon had fallen on top of me. And who then had wished me luck.
Gedeon stroked my cheekbone. “You’re thinking about last night.”
I frowned. “Aren’t you?”
He gave a soft sigh. “I haven’t stopped.”
A clearing of a throat tugged our heads toward the intruder—a petite woman who could wield a scalpel with such precision you did anything and everything to avoid landing on her bad side.
Not backing an increment from me, Gedeon bit out, “What?”
The loose sleeves of Eislyn’s sweater fell to her elbows as she tightened her high ponytail. “I have everything ready for you.”
54
ZION
My favorite knife slid through Ezra’s ear so smoothly it made me wonder if enjoying grilled meats too much could make the cartilage more…doughy. Because Ezra’s was exceptionally buttery. Perfect for my games.
His howl tickled the base of my spine as I admired the scarlet swirls on my blade. The blood seemed to be alive: the ever-changing pattern of drops rushed across the steel to drip off the edge.
