Wings and Shadowthief by May Sage
The Descent into Hell is Easy
The funny thing about jumping was that it could feel a lot like falling. One small leap, a few words he couldn’t—wouldn’t—take back, and here he was. Trailing his fingers over the smooth, dark skin of Gwen’s arm.
Falling.
She tasted like fire, responding to his kiss like she needed this just as much as him.
It didn’t take a genius to know today wasn’t a good idea. He wasn’t in charge of this body most of the time, and the idiot ruling their lives wouldn’t remember this. But damn if he could stop himself.
Hunter kicked the heavy wooden door open and walked backward into the dorm.
He leaned into her, her soft curves pressing against his chest, her scent driving him mad, and allowed himself to deepen the kiss for one moment.
There. He’d had a taste. One delicious, life-altering, spellbinding taste. It had to be enough for now. Painstakingly, he took a step back, right fingers cupping her chin. He ran his thumb along her luscious purple lips, reluctant to let go. “That mouth of yours tries what’s left of my sanity, doll.”
“Enough talking.” She closed the distance between them, threw her arms around his waist, and drew him against her.
Gwen got on her tiptoes to reach his mouth.
Shit. He hadn’t expected the assertiveness. Gwen had always been comfortable in the background, lost in her own thoughts, only participating in the discussion when someone asked her to. She didn’t seem shy, exactly, but she wasn’t one to monopolize the attention, like Chloe Eirikrson or Catherine Stormhale. He’d seen her as softer, submissive. Her taking charge, claiming what she wanted, was a fucking turn-on. He couldn’t resist.
Hunter groaned into the kiss, just as her warm palms slid under his pants, nails digging into his skin. She was clawing at him. The insane witch was fucking branding him.
“Careful.” The warning was a growl, filled with too much heat. She didn’t know what she was playing with.
“Fuck being careful. My room’s this way.”
A stronger man might have resisted. Told her they could take it slow. Fucking confessed to the fact that his mind was a fractured mess. But she inclined her head, her tongue licking along his jawline, exposing her throat.
A stronger man would have been an idiot. They could talk later.
He lifted her up, and, unprompted, she wrapped her long legs around him, her heat aligned with his hardness over their various layers of clothing.
Too many layers.
He strolled in the direction she’d indicated, then followed her scent through the empty common room, up a flight of stairs.
The dorm might have seemed practically deserted to a regular observer, but Hunter’s acute sense of hearing told another story. They weren’t the only ones who’d rushed home to lock themselves behind closed doors after the battle. He supposed adrenaline must have been high, lowering inhibitions as effectively as any tequila.
The thought bothered him. He didn’t want to think that he was here with her simply because they’d survived yet another attack on Oldcrest. He didn’t want her to think it either.
Talk. They’d need to talk, and soon.
Just not now.
“This room?” he guessed, nodding at a brown door marked with a 176.
She bit her lower lip. “My roommate might be here.”
He’d forgotten undergrads shared rooms in this part of the dorm. He lived in the right wing, along with the rest of the dangerous freaks of Oldcrest.
This was his way out. He could let her go, tell her they’d resume this later. Make her understand why. “The room’s empty.”
Producing a keychain from her back pocket, Gwen writhed to hop off him. If her intention had been to make his dick harder than steel, she was succeeding.
Hunter let her off her feet, slanting across her back to nibble at her earlobe as she strained to fit the key into its hole.
“You’re not helping,” she admonished with a snort that made him want to tease her more.
Hunter cupped her waist and pressed up harder against her back. “That prim and proper teacher’s tone is working for me, doll.”
“Doll?”
He shrugged. “You’re gorgeous, always perfectly put together, and I want to play with you.”
His assessment earned him a chuckle.
The key finally inside, she turned the knob and let them in her space.
The room was large, separated at the center by a five-fold shoji screen. One side of the room was plain and sparse, neatly organized. The bedding was beige and neatly made under a blue throw. A hotel room appeared more personal. The other side was a mess of dark and bright colors, with countless bibelots and piles of clothes on the floor.
Hunter found himself frowning. His sense of smell was strong enough to know his pretty doll was the neat freak out of the two women sleeping here. He didn’t like it. There wasn’t so much as a crease out of place. It showed she wasn’t comfortable here.
He opened his mouth to ask why, just as she rose to her tiptoes again and closed her soft, plump lips over his.
Fuck talking. He leaned into her warmth, letting himself forget all about battles, blood, and consequences. Letting himself forget about Jack. All that mattered in that moment was her.