His hand on my head clenches into a fist, tugging on my hair. The muscles in his jaw tense, and I can actually hear his teeth grinding. He doesn’t say anything in response to my plea.
“It’s o-okay…” I murmur, something in my heart breaking at his rejection. “I c-can w-w-wait.”
He stares at me for a long minute, his hold on my hair getting tighter and tighter, making my scalp tingle and sting. Slick drenches my thighs. The air crackles around us like an electric storm, and yet everything is perfectly still. I’m not sure either of us are breathing. His nostrils flare, eyes as dark as night.
“Fuck it.” He grabs me under the arms and lifts me onto his desk in one smooth motion, standing as he does and seizing my lips with his. He grips my thighs hard enough to bruise. His kiss isn’t gentle or slow. He consumes me, the poised professor nowhere to be seen. It’s like something snapped inside him, and I want to push him to lose control completely.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he mutters against my lips, breathing hard.
“Don’t stop,” I beg.
“Never.”
And then he’s kissing every thought out of my mind except one. It’s not enough. I need more.
23
Ilook back at my mate one more time before the door closes. She gives me a reassuring wave, but her emotions in the bond are tinged with the same confusion as mine. I’m not sure how I ended up leaving with a complete stranger.
“So, Caspian, how’d you meet Madi girl?” Phoenix keeps his arm around my shoulder as he guides me down the path that leads to the quad.
“Um… at the beach.”
He laughs. “I should have known.”
I’m not sure how to take that comment, so I choose to ignore it and turn the conversation around on him. “How did you meet Dr. Anderson?”
“Hunter and I have been best friends since elementary school.” He answers easily, but there’s something in his tone that makes me feel like there’s much more to it than that.
“Are you a teacher as well?” I ask.
Another laugh, this one more open, spills out of hislips. He has nice lips, soft. I pinch mine together and feel the abrasiveness of dry skin.
“No,” Phoenix says. “I’m actually a marine biologist. I spend a lot of my time at the beach too.” The hand slung over my shoulder toys with my long hair as we walk. “It’s a shame I didn’t meet you first. I would have scooped you right up. Madi’s a lucky girl.” He stops moving and turns to angle toward me. “I understand why you bonded so quickly. You’re both… remarkable.”
I beam at the compliment to my mate. His gaze drops to my lips, then slowly lower. My mouth feels as dry as sand, though my palms are sweaty. I’m not sure how to handle the attention or what Madi would think. It’s clear she likes her professor, and he’s made no secret of his attraction to her—even if she doesn’t believe it. I don’t think she’d mind adding Dr. Anderson to our relationship. But this man is a complete stranger. I shouldn’t be responding to him this way.
I clear my throat and duck out of his hold, continuing down the path. “What does a marine biologist do?”
Although my understanding of the language is improving dramatically, there are still some gaps. I believe biology is the study of living things, but marine is a new word for me.
Phoenix puts his hands in his pockets and strolls next to me. “I study ocean life.”
My steps falter. “Like fish?” I ask carefully. Is this the sort of man Madison was worried about? The kind that would want to study and experiment on me?
“Among other things,” Phoenix answers. “What’s your favorite color?”
The sudden change in topic makes my head spin, but italso jolts me out of the worried direction of my thoughts. I’m probably reading more into this than I should be.
“Blue,” I answer, voice scratching. I really do need something to drink.
“What shade of blue?” Phoenix asks. “Sky blue? Ocean after a storm blue? Sapphire?”
“Does it matter?” The sun feels hotter than it did earlier. My skin feels clammy, sweat beading on my brow. My head spins, and I stumble but quickly course correct and right myself. Maybe something’s up with Madi? But there’s nothing alarming from her side of the bond.
“Of course it matters.” Phoenix looks at me, then stops suddenly again, this time coming all the way in front of me and blocking the path. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” I answer, but I’m not sure it’s true.
