Page 139 of Illusory

He released his grip on me and took a small step back, smiling smugly like he’d just unlocked a top tier achievement. “Be still my beating heart.”

Heat scorched my cheeks at his words and then my gaze wandered to Trace. He was still leaning back against the door, his eyes contemplative and a pronounced muscle flexing in his jaw.

Pushing off the wall, he approached me carefully as if I were a wild animal that might bolt at any sudden movement, but I could see the relief in his expression. This proved my wings weren’t negatively tied to him—to either of them—and I knew he was taking that as a win.

His gaze roved over me, ravenously cataloguing everything his eyes could see and maybe even the things they couldn’t, like my racing heart and the pulsing heat still sizzling under the surface of my skin.

“How do you feel?” he asked lowly, his gaze catching on my breasts as he wet his lips. Shadows danced through his eyes, telling on him again.

“I feel good,” I said, and surprisingly, it wasn’t a lie. Despite standing there in my bra and underwear with devil-marked black wings protruding out of my back, I felt pretty fucking fantastic.

Trace’s eyes lingered on me a moment longer before he stepped closer, his movements careful but deliberate. “That’s good. You look good.Reallygood,” he murmured the last part, his husky voice sending a shiver down my spine. His hand rose almost mechanically, as though driven by something beyond himself, then paused, his eyes searchingmine for permission.

He wanted to touch me—to touch my wings.

Gingerly, I nodded and then held my breath as he reached over my shoulders and stroked the silky feathers with the pads of his fingers. A jolt of white-hot electricity shot through me at his touch, stronger and more intense than anything I had ever felt before. And that was saying a lot.

I gasped, half startled, half enraptured, and he quickly pulled his hand back. Our eyes locked for a moment, his gaze searching mine as the sound of my racing heart filled my ears. And then his mouth was on mine.

His lips claimed mine in a kiss that was both possessive and vicious, his tongue invading my mouth with feral strokes that made my thighs squeeze together. His hands clutched my body to his, fingers moving with purpose and command as they traced up the curve of my spine, pressing and touching and marking me.

The air around us thickened with an electric charge, a wild energy that seemed to draw us closer together. My wings, as if clearing the way for him, pulled back and then disappeared from view altogether as he walked us backward and pressed me up against the wall, his body pinning me with a delicious pressure that made my legs feel weak and heavy at the same time.

The pooling heat was quickly replaced with a needy ache that made my fingernails dig into his skin. I wanted to feel him on me—to feel him inside of me—and I was willing to do just about anything to get it. As if hearing my plight, his hands dropped down to my ass, kneading and squeezing before hoisting me up into his arms, my legs instantly tightening around his hips as he pressed into my center.

I only got to revel in the new position for a split second before his body was ripped away from mine, causing my feetto drop back down to the ground as I let out a frustrated groan.

“What the fuck are you doing?” roared Trace as he tried to shove Dominic off himself. “Get off me!”

“Calm yourself,” commanded Dominic as he jerked Trace around to face me. “Look,” he ordered, holding Trace by the back of his neck and forcing him to look at me.

He was still trying to shuck him off when he finally met my eyes and froze. “What the—”

“My sentiments exactly,” murmured Dominic.

The two of them stood there, shellshocked and gawking at me, and I already knew that wasnevera good thing.

“What? What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice strangled from the knot of fear that had made its way up to the back of my throat. “Is something weird happening with the wings?” I asked tensely, not feeling them anymore but unsure whether they were simply seeing something I wasn’t.

“No. It’s nothing like that,” assured Trace, his expression unchanging as he remained frozen in place.

“Then what?” I shrieked, my anxiety climbing with every unanswered second that ticked by. “What is it?”

“Your eyes, love,” said Dominic, and I instantly felt the tension ease from my shoulders, already knowing what his next words were going to be. “They’re glowing.”

45. HOLDING GROUND

The air seemed to still around us, every sound muted under the weight of their frozen stares. I lifted my hands to my face as if I could somehow feel the glow that was emanating from my eyes, but of course, I couldn’t. Only the cool remnants of my anxiety slipping from my skin and the heavy beat of my heart thumping in my chest.

Trace’s lips parted slightly, his eyes tapering as if he were trying to uncover some hidden message within the glow of my eyes. “Is this…is that supposed to happen?” His voice was low, laced with a perfect blend of concern and fascination.

Dominic released Trace and slowly started toward me, his gaze never leaving mine. “This isn’t the first time this has happened, is it?”

Trace’s eyes shot to Dominic.

“No,” I answered truthfully.

Unlike Trace, I wasn’t surprised that Dominic had already figured that out. I could never keep anything from him. Somehow, he always knew—every truth, every subtle gesture, every hidden part of me, no matter how hard I tried to bury it.

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