Page 74 of Death Warden
“I’m not even full hellhound so I doubt that applies to me, and even if it did, the conduit situation blows it all out of the water. Dax explained it. Once my revelation comes, no one else will matter.”
Silence fell for long seconds.
“Fuck this,” Jessie said. “We came to party and party we shall. I say we get a few shots in and then hit that dance floor with some hellhound fervor.”
“I swear if you twerk, I’m leaving,” Toni said.
Jessie slapped her own butt. “You wish you had this ass, bitch.”
We headed back into the club and my shoulders felt lighter. The others knew about Chrissy, so it was no longer my problem.
I trailed behind them, down the corridor that opened into the club proper. They headed for the bar, and I made to follow, but a hand snagged my elbow.
I was pulled into the shadows, another hand cutting off my yelp.
* * *
“Hello, kitten.”Curo’s honey tone brushed the shell of my ear and I relaxed against him.
He dropped his hands from my mouth, and I elbowed him in the ribs. He released me with a throaty chuckle.
“Did you think I was the big bad?”
I stepped up to him, pinning him by placing my hands on the wall either side of him. “I’m the big bad, Curo.”
His tongue peeked out to touch his top lip, pale eyes darkening. “Oh, really?” He leaned in and sniffed my breath. “Cherries and beer. Nice. How much have you had?”
“Enough to feel frisky, not enough to do anything stupid.” I canted my head. “Like make out with you in a shadowy corner of a club. Thatwasyour intention, right?”
He arched a brow. “Actually, no. But now you mention it…” He grabbed me and flipped us so that I was the one pressed to the wall and he had me pinned. “Maybe weshouldmake out.”
“Fuck off, Curo.” I pressed a fist to his hard pectoral and pushed, but not enough for it to be serious.
He chuckled again. “One kiss won’t make a difference, Adi.”
Why was it suddenly harder to breathe? “We already kissed, and we agreed not to do it—”
He plucked at my top lip with his mouth.
I gasped. “Curo, please…”
He slid his thigh between my legs so I was straddling it. “Why do you sound like you’re begging for me to fuck you?”
Because a dirty, naughty part of me wanted just that. But it was more than that. It was him. Curo, the lich. The male. The guy who infuriated me and annoyed me but who’d make sure I was dry, warm, and safe. I closed my eyes to block the thoughts.
He pinched my jaw. “Look at me.”
I opened my eyes and he sucked in a breath. “You want me. You really fucking wantme. Not my cock, not what I can make you feel, but me.”
“Why is that such a shock?” My voice came out in a breathless whisper.
His throat bobbed. “Fucking hell, Adi, why now…why…” He made a strangled sound of torment and then he kissed me.
The bass beat of the club, the cocktail of smells and odors, the hubbub of voices, it all melted away, leaving me in a bubble of cool, fresh scent and plundering lips that alternated between soft and hard, that nipped and sucked and demanded that I give myself to him. My chest swelled with emotion, my eyes burned with it, and my hands found their way to his shoulders without any conscious intent, gripping him hard when they got there, desperately struggling to decide whether to pull him closer or push him away.
I was saved from making the decision by a vibration at my upper thigh. Curo released me from the kiss with a curse but trapped me in an eye lock as he tugged his phone from his pocket and pressed it to his ear.
His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned. “I’m on my way.”
