Page 112 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
“Is that the scientific word for my penis?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head. “Of course, it is.”
Quinn gulped, bit the inside of her lip, and picked up her notebook as if she were about to write some vital research in it. Quinn wanted so bad to fuck him. Especially since her heart and breaths hadn’t calmed down from what he’d just done to her. But if she touched his cock, she knew they would fuck, probably on this exam table. But she wanted to mean something to him, and that would never happen. Emrys Avalon was an ancient, highly skilled vampire who probably slept with hundreds . . . if not thousands, of women. What was Quinn compared to them?
Nothing.
She was an inexperienced girl with a scalpel and dreams of being that kind of desirable.
But she never would be.
At least, not for him.
Quinn traced a finger along the side of her notebook. Quinn wouldn’t fuck him today because, more than any of her other reasons, she wanted to prove that she could resist him—that being marked hadn’t changed her. “I think . . .” Her voice was still too breathless and filled with need, so she paused to reel it all back in. “I am okay. I’ve read enough books. I know how that particular appendage works.”
“Do you?” His eyes sparked as he raised a sculpted eyebrow.
“Yes, of course I do.” She slapped her notebook shut. “I think we’re done here.” She averted her eyes and changed the subject again. “You don’t have your shirt on.” Her voice was mechanical and pragmatic.
“Well, I could remedy that for you.”
“You should.” Her heart quaked.
Emrys moved like lightning and was dressed in moments. Shaking out her shoulders, she sighed and let her body relax like aballoon slowly releasing air. Emrys disappeared in a blink before returning 2.5 seconds later. She counted, to be exact.
“There now, you won’t be able to ravish me.” He winked. “But I do remember you agreeing that anywhere you touched, I could also touch, and I don’t think we’re done with your lessons in passion yet for the day.”
“I am fairly certain you just did way more than touch me.”
“My shadows don’t count,” he said, exposing a dimple. “Besides, I plan to touch you with my mouth this time.”
Quinn’s breath hitched, and shivers snaked through her core. It took everything in her to say the next words, “Actually, no.” A devious smile climbed Quinn’s cheeks. If he could play with her, she could also play with him. “Let’s take a raincheck on that.”
“Ginger . . .” He raised an irritated eyebrow. “Are you telling me you’re a liar?”
“Of course not.” She wiggled her nose. “The first rule of bargains, dearest vampire, always specifies a timeframe.”
“I highly doubt that is the first rule of bargains.”
“You didn’t specify when you would get to touch me, and so, I say, it is not today.”
“As you wish, Ginger.” He disappeared with his vampire speed and reappeared behind her shoulder, his lips at her ear. “But trust me, you will come to regret this.” A shudder stroked up her spine. “One day, you will beg me to touch you again.”
Thirty-Seven
Emrys stole her breath and her sanity, which was precisely why she needed to postpone the“I touch you everywhere you touched me” session. Quinn needed to stop stalling and face her fears and her memories.
Sheneededto revisit the Mirror of Midnight.
The memories were the key to the case. Quinn recognized the vampire in the alley.
She knew it in her core.
Besides, she had promised to return, and the first time she visited the mirror, it wasn’t all that bad. Her hand slid to the bald spot at the back of her neck. It wasn’t too bad. It was only noticeable when she had her hair up in a bun, and even then, it was passable as done on purpose for fashion.
Emrys and Quinn walked back to her room to find Giselle sprawled on the floor, murmuring to herself, and completely ignoring everything else. She was surrounded by hundreds of tiny pieces from vacuums, cameras, and clocks. Jevon sat aimlessly, trying to help, but was more in the way than anything.
