Page 35 of City of Love

“But how is that even poss—” Her words failed. His “fingers” had slipped underneath her panties, sliding between her lips in one quick stroke.

“Cat got your tongue?” he asked out loud, the sensation of his fingers grazing over her clit.

She nodded, unable to move any more than that. Afraid that he was going to make her come right there in the library. Afraid that he wasn’t.

He smiled at her thoughts.

“Dammit, get out of my head,” she protested.

He flicked the sensation back and forth over her sensitive spot, pressing a little more firmly with each pass. She wiggled to try and catch the fingers, push them to where she wanted them, but there was nothing solid there. They could move against her, but she couldn’t move against them. It was maddening. She was completely at his mercy.

The faintest of sounds escaped her throat and she bit down harder on her bottom lip, trying to silence a full-blown moan.

“Got anything to say to me yet?” he asked out loud.

She shook her head, unable to speak, her whole core throbbing.

“Hmm. Now I know what to do the next time you get sassy with me.”

Her entire body was clenched and taut, her breasts screaming to be touched, every inch of her pulsating and teetering on the edge. She just knew everyone in the study had to know what was going on. But she refused to give in first.

“They have no idea,” he silently reassured her. “No idea that I’m sitting here at this table playing your sex like the keys on a magnificent harpsichord, my fingers dancing over you, sliding over you, stroking you, and that you are rapidly building to a crescendo.”

Lexi closed her eyes. Watching him as he sat across the table calmly and silently plucking her strings was just too intense.

She had the sensation then of him sliding a finger back toward her pussy. Sliding it slowly, teasing her, testing her, about to dip inside, her walls already clenching for him, ready for him…

She couldn’t help it. She let out a fairly audible moan, slapping a hand over her mouth. His fingers stopped moving.

“Would you like me to continue?” He raised a brow. “I’ll be honest. I’d love to wait so I could see and hear you release with abandon the first time I make you come. But a gentleman never lets a woman suffer. So, you decide.” He dipped his chin, studying her. “Yes… or no?”

God, his words alone could put her over the edge. The first time I make you come. She took a deep breath, hands gripping the edge of her chair, but she shook her head. She didn’t think she could remain quiet enough even if she wanted to. “No.”

“Very well then.” With a satisfied grin, he crossed his arms on the table. “Shall we collect our books soon and head out?”

Beet red and silent, Lexi sat and caught her breath for a very long moment, wiggling uncomfortably on her seat, hands gripping the book in front of her, all the while unsure if this was a battle won or lost.

But she’d decided one thing for sure—the Library of the College of Psychic Arts had just become her very favorite place in the worlds.

CHAPTER 15

As they gathered their belongings, Gideon reminded Lexi to check her timer. She had less than an hour before needing to return home. He gathered all the books in his arms, and together they stepped out into the night.

“It’s so lovely tonight,” he said. “Would you prefer to walk back to the club or take a carriage?”

Her eyes lit with excitement as she surveyed the streets, but she settled her gaze on the pile of books in his arms. “It’s gorgeous out, but you’re lugging seven or eight hard-cover books. I’m sure you’d rather ride, wouldn’t you?”

“Nonsense,” he said as he nodded for her to continue down the sidewalk. “I don’t plan on lugging anything. And these books are half the fun.”

She gave him a questioning side eye. “Huh?”

Without answering, he shifted the books into a cradle of both his arms, tested their weight, and then tossed them all straight into the air. Lexi gasped, her hands flying up in reaction to catch them. But as they fanned out, they slowed their fall… and then held, hanging in the air like a sphere of books, some wide open with pages up, some hanging with pages down, others tilted at odd angles.

With his left palm facing the sky, as if he were a waiter holding an invisible tray, he directed the books to a place up and off to the side, out of their way, and held them aloft. With his right hand, he guided them into a swirling motion. A giant gyrating globe of tomes.

“Oh my God!” She clapped and jumped. “That’s fantastic, Gideon. But I’m slightly freaked out that all those beautiful old books are going to come crashing down.”

He flashed her a smile. “Not a chance. A few books? Light as a feather.”

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