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The feathers were so soft yet his hands were so firm. Something about the juxtaposition had me downright feral. I pressed my ass harder against him, not even paying attention to the beat of the music.

I was aware of every single sensation. Soft feathers and his firm grip. The smell of flowers and alcohol in the air. The fairy lights making the foliage look like a dream. But for the first time I wasn’t dreaming. And I wanted to remember every second of Mr. Halifax caving.

I’d fallen hard and fast for him. And now I finally knew he’d fallen back. I never wanted tonight to end.

No one was paying us any attention. None of the other students knew one of their teachers was in this costume. They probably thought it was a fellow student.

I wondered if Mr. Halifax was thinking about that night in the club too. I tilted my head back against his feathery chest. “Whenever I dance like this, I always imagine it being your hands on my waist.”

“My hands are yours to do whatever you want with.”

I swallowed hard. I wasn’t sure if that comment was more romantic or sinful. “Whatever I want?”

“I’ll give you anything you ask. You know I can’t resist you.”

We’d stopped swaying to the music. He was just holding me tightly against his torso. He’d said his hands were mine to do anything I wanted with. So I grabbed one of his feathered hands and placed it on my thigh.

“You are a very bad girl,” he whispered.

I smiled. I knew he liked bad girls! I’d gone back and forth with this question a million times. It was a good thing I’d sat in the back row this year. And gotten a B- on that test. He didn’t like girls that followed the rules. Which was good, because I was about to be very bad.

I slid his hand even higher, the soft feathers tickling my skin. I ducked my fingers farther beneath his eagle mask. It’d always wanted to feel his hair. It was softer than I imagined. And it felt unruly, the same way it was when he had a five o’clock shadow. Like something was torturing him. I’d been stuck in his head. But we didn’t need to torture each other anymore.

His free hand slid lower, squeezing my ass.

For so long, all we could do was stare at each other from across the room. Both slowly dying. And now that we were touching, it was like neither of us could stop.

We just wanted more.

And I’d been dreaming of more.

I let go of his hand. He moved it from the inside of my thigh to the front. And then he trailed his hand slowly up over my hip and torso. The feathers made me arch my back against him.

He groaned as his hand wrapped around my breast.

We needed to get off the dance floor before this turned X-rated in front of my whole class.

“Do you want to get out of here?” I asked.

“I wanted to carry you out of here as soon as I saw you.”

I smiled and grabbed his hand. I pulled him off the dance floor toward the hallway.

He stopped me. “I thought you wanted to get out of here?”

“Do you trust me?” I asked.

He slowly nodded. “But I’d still like to get out of here.” He nodded behind him at all the students.

I didn’t know where he wanted to take me. But it would take too long. I needed him right here, right now. “I can’t wait that long to have you.” I pulled him down the hall, opened the door to our secret lair, and pushed him inside.

“What the heck am I looking at?” he asked when he saw the mostly naked picture of RJ on the wall.

I really needed to take that down. “Inside joke.” But...awkward. Mr. Halifax had been dying to see me naked, not my little brother. I locked the door with a satisfying click.

Mr. Halifax turned around, forgetting all about the strange art choice. “You are so beautiful.” He lifted his hands to remove his eagle head.

“Wait.” I grabbed his feathery wrists. “Keep it on.”