“No, beautiful,” he growls, his voice low and dangerous and so fucking sexy he could probably make me come from his words alone. “I’m doing this because I want you desperate, soaked, and fuckingbeggingfor it when I come home tonight. Oh, and West?”
I’m so shocked to hear this filthy, intoxicatingly commanding side of my sweet professor, I can barely mutter a response. “Y-yeah?”
“Don’t eventhinkabout removing it,” he says. “I’ve got eyes in places you can’t even imagine.”
The screen goes dead, but everything inside me is a live wire.
I close my eyes and wait for him to send another vibration through me, but nothing happens. I wriggle on the bed. Tap the watch face. But Rook is clearly up to no good.
Still. My whole body is now tingling in anticipation of what’s to come.
Jude and Auggie are in meetings tonight, but I have no idea where Draegan is. I haven’t seen him since the night Rook gave me the letters, which is probably for the best.
I know he’s doing what he can to keep me safe. But I have no idea where we stand otherwise.
So, hoping to avoid a run-in, I make quick work of getting dressed and head to the kitchen to pack up a few snacks for the library, which is where I’m planning to spend the hours until Rook returns.
I’m just dishing up the last of Auggie’s caramel apple streusel into a takeout container when the silver bullet inside me goes from zero to a hundred in less than a heartbeat, radiating warm waves of shear pleasure throughout my body, setting my nerves on fire.
My clit throbs with need, my pussy clenching around the toy, my knees buckling as I grip the edge of the counter and suck in a breath and chase the release that’s so, so close…
Right there, Rook. Don’t stop. Don’t—
“Miss Avery? What’s wrong?”
Draegan.
Fuck.
He’s at my side in a flash, gripping my elbows and helping me stand upright again.
Without warning, the vibrator stops.
Damn it!
“Are you hurt? Did something happen? Did you faint?” Draegan’s incessant questions only serve to throw more ice water on my dreams for an epic, long-distance orgasm.
“Hi! I’m fine!” My voice is entirely too high and tight, but I force a smile, carefully extracting myself from his grasp and turning to the fridge, wishing I could crawl inside. I grab a bottle of fresh-pressed apple juice and chug it until my heart rate finally returns to normal.
When I look at Draegan again, he’s still watching me like a damn hawk.
“You’re flushed,” he says.
“Just a… hot flash. Womanly things. You don’t want to know.”
He arches a dubious brow, but I press on.
“Anyway, how are you? Everything good?”
“I’m… I just…” He runs a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair and sighs. “I wanted to let you know that Kevin Klaiburn is no longer a threat. I meant to tell you sooner, but it seems we’ve been passing ships these past few nights.”
I nod, not sure what to say to that.
We may be passing ships, but he’s never far from my thoughts. From my heart.
Oh, Draegan. Why won’t you let me in?
“We’re still searching for Reedsy and the Forsythes,” he continues. “That’s our top priority. Before his demise, Klaiburn indicated they were in hiding, Reedsy having fled the country. All indications are that Klaiburn was telling the truth. We’ve got a woman in customs keeping an eye out, ready to alert us the minute he sets foot back on American soil.”
