“No, never, but...” he hesitated.
“What?” I prodded him, catching his face between my hands to keep his focus on me. This thing between us might be new, but touching him, existing in his space, grounded me in a way I had never dared to hope for before.
“I’m afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No. Not that. More that learning this stuff will draw more attention to you.” He let out a sigh. “It already has. The military, this shadow thing, the cult of summoners.”
“I think that means I need to pick up the pace in learning.”
“And my focus needs to be on building the team for support,” Angel agreed. “Just...” He traced my face with his fingertips. “Promise me you won’t let the magic take over.” His voice cracked, raw with worry. “I need you here. With me. I’d given up on finding a mate.”
I gave him a tight laugh. “Then you got stuck with me.”
He groaned.
I caught his wrist, pressing his palm to my lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”
His breath hitched. Then, with a growl, he yanked me against him and crashed his mouth onto mine. It wasn’t gentle. It was desperation and teeth and the unspokenminethat had been simmering since the moment we met. I melted into it, fingers twisting in his shirt like I could fuse us together through sheer willpower.
“This is why we need the two bedrooms,” I gasped for breath a half minute later, his body pressed to mine. “I want to keep Ivan safe,” I slid my cheek against his to whisper in his ear, “and I want you to fuck me over the bathroom sink.”
He caught my mouth with his again, teeth tugging on my lip to open me to his seeking tongue as he ground his hard cock into my hip. “Promises, promises.”
“Yes,” I groaned, wishing we were alone already.
I stroked his face with my thumbs, dreaming I could drag him into the bathroom and restart this day on a better note. “Doors are good,” I added. “No one can hear you make me beg.”
The tension bled out of his shoulders. “Jude.”
“Just you and me, a bed, and lube. We have the rest of the weekend.”
A growl vibrated through his chest. My mate was needy, and since I’d never had a guy as obviously into me as he was, I was living for it.
“Don’t tease.”
“Naw,” I said, kissing the tip of his nose. “I’m not teasing. Maybe we should pack up the game console to keep the kid entertained while I show you how not teasing I am?”
“Since it’s one of Xavier’s units, it likely already has one, but we can ask.” He cupped my ass, fingers digging in as if he were desperate to have me naked under him, and technically I was too. “Next week is going to be brutal. I’m going to want to touch you, but we’ll be stuck with everyone else in our business.”
“Don’t remind me,” I grumbled, wanting to stay in his arms as long as possible.
A loud thump from under the bed shattered the moment.
We broke apart, both of us turning toward the bed, half expecting a shadow monster to leap from beneath it. “The fuck?”
A Maine Coon kitten leapt up onto the bed, emerging with all the grace and indignation of the tiny lion he was. He stretchedand sauntered our way. Maybe hehadbeen hiding under the bed like Ivan thought.
Nox, the not-cat fae dragon, patted a giant leather tome now sitting beside us on the bed with his paw and gave a triumphantmrrow.
“Uh...” I said.
“Advanced Warding for the Magically Disinclined?” Angel read. “That is not a thing. How is that a whole-ass book?”
Nox chirped and wove himself to rub against each of us.
“I know that book wasn’t in anything Remi gave me,” I said. “Is Nox pulling books of magic out of nowhere?”
