Page 25 of Stray
“That our future Empress is a housecat,” he answered with a lopsided grin.
Ella’s blush grew worse and she looked away. “You don’t have to rub it in.”
“I’m not,” he said, standing in front of her before she could process his movement. A breath died out in her throat as his fingers swept up along the curve of her neck, tilting her chin toward him. “I meant what I said before. You’re as adorable in that form as you are in this one.”
She stared at him, struggling to sort out whether he was being sincere or if his sarcasm was just pitch perfect.
“What’s the matter?” he teased, slipping an arm around her waist to pull her body up against his. “Cat got your tongue?”
Ella swallowed hard, struggling to form a fitting retort when his lips claimed hers and she found his words far more literal in meaning than she’d assumed.
The most troubling part was the immediacy with which her lips parted to receive his tongue, lashing forcefully against hers. A moan escaped her throat only to be swallowed down by his intensifying kiss and before she knew it, her back was pressed up against the nearest tree.
Her hands found his shoulders and while she thought she was finally giving in to reason to push him away, she realized her greedy fingers had a mind of their own, biting into his bare flesh and returning the kiss with equal fervor.
“Damn,” he breathed, his forehead pressed down on hers as he finally broke the kiss. If he had done it a moment later, Ella was sure she would have passed out from a lack of oxygen, but she’d lacked the strength to end it all the same. “I’ve wanted to do what for a long time.”
“What?” she asked, her voice strained with confusion.
“Kiss you,” he answered, as if he didn’t know perfectly well what she meant. When he stroked a wavy lock of white behind her ear, plucking a stray twig that had gotten lodged in the strands, she shivered once again. His touch was even more maddening in this form.
“Why?” It sounded pathetic once she’d choked the word out, but it was the only one that would come.
Bishop tilted his head, studying her features with greater care. “I can’t imagine I’m the first tom who’s tried.”
Her silence seemed to trigger the revelation she was too ashamed to say out loud. “Oh, shit,” he breathed, running a hand through his dark, glossy hair. “That was your first kiss? I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she said, her ears still ringing from the chase. “It was nice.”
His smile returned, faint and alluring. “In that case, I’m not sorry,” he said, digging his fingers back into her hair to cup the side of her face. “But I should probably get you back to the dorms before curfew. They’re real sticklers about that kind of thing.”
“Guess I haven’t gotten to that part in the handbook yet,” she murmured, following him back toward the trail. She stopped to take the detour leading back to the tree where she’d left her clothes and found him waiting patiently along the path.
“I should probably give you your shirt back,” she said, realizing he wasn’t going to turn around on his own.
He actually looked a bit flustered as he muttered an apology and turned away. Ella kept watch as she took off his borrowed shirt and changed back into her clothes, but he didn’t attempt to steal a peek. Maybe he really was a gentleman, after all.
“Thanks,” she said, resuming the walk back.
Bishop raised an eyebrow. “Not really something you need to thank me for. In fact, if any guy doesn’t do the same, let me know so I can kick his ass.”
She pursed her lips, at a loss for how to respond to the offer. “I’m not sure most toms share your sense of chivalry.”
“Well, they should,” he scoffed. “Especially when it comes to the Empress.”
“I’m not the Empress yet,” she protested. She was still convinced that Tessa would show up any day to announce it had all been a terrible mistake. In a way, she would be relieved. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel like she was living a lie.
“You will be. That’s how it works.”
How she envied his certainty. “Your mother has been so gracious,” she said, deciding to change the subject.
“She’s already fond of you,” Bishop said, glancing down at her. “Shehasbeen wondering why you turned down her offer.”
“It’s not that I didn’t want to,” Ella insisted. “It’s just that the Hills have done so much for me. Especially Emily. I couldn’t go against her wishes.”
His expression soured as soon as the family’s name came out of her mouth. “The Hills treat you like a damn chambermaid,” he said gruffly. “You don’t owe them anything.”
“That’s not true,” she protested. “If Mrs. Hill hadn’t found me, I probably would have ended up dead on the side of the road.”
