Page 27 of Ruined Wolfsbane

“Sure. I’m spending the night, though. I don’t have a home, anyway. At least not anymore,” Briar tells me quietly. The pain swimming in her icy eyes guts me. Unable to resist, I crush her against my chest. One of my hands tunnels in her silky raven hair, holding her to me. “This is nice,” she mumbles, voice muffled.

“Yeah?” I ask as I rub soothing circles on her back with my other hand.

“Yeah. We should do it more often,” she informs me seriously. A laugh bursts out of me at that. If only she knew how much I wanted to do this, and a hell of a lot more, every day. She’d freak out.

“I’m gonna pick you up now, baby girl.” When she doesn’t protest, I grab her by her thighs. As I hoist her up, her legs automatically wrap around my waist. Briar throws her arms around my neck and nuzzles her head into the crook of my shoulder. I can’t hold back a groan when I feel her hot lips press against my throat, tongue peeking out to taste me.

This girl is going to be the death of me.

I only have so much self-control.

“You taste good,” Briar tells me, her warm breath fanning across my neck.

I hum in response, having nothing even remotely appropriate to say.

Deciding I need to get her upstairs immediately, I take the stairs two at a time. Hanging a right at the second floor, I turn toward the wing of guest rooms. I head to the door at the furthest end of the hall.

Pulling open the white door, I step inside the tastefully decorated, if a bit bland, room. My eyes sweep over the gray walls, wood floors, and geometric bedspread as I make sure no one’s in here. Other than us, the only things occupying the room are the queen bed and matching white nightstands. Closing the door, I walk over to the bed and sit on the edge of the plush mattress. I don’t let Briar go. I’m not ready to stop holding her just yet.

I’ve been holding myself back from touching her for months. It’s easier to keep myself in check in class. But when we’re alone in my office? It’s nearly impossible. For two hours every week, she’s right there. We’re alone, but I can’t do a damn thing because she has no idea what she is or who we are to her.

Sighing at the clusterfuck of our situation, I bury my face in Briar’s thick hair. I inhale her lavender and sunshine scent. Holding her like this, I feel more at peace than I ever have.

After a few minutes of us sitting like this, Briar starts squirming on my lap. The semi I always have around her turns into a full-blown hard-on as she rubs her ass back and forth on me.

Fucking hell. I don’t have enough self-control for this.

Gritting my teeth, I grab her hips to stop her movements. What I really want to do is grind her down harder against me, but she’s drunk. Now is not the time. “Do you need something, Briar?” I ask in as level a tone as I can manage.

“I need to pee,” she whispers, sounding sleepier than she did downstairs.

I stand up, still holding her, and stalk over to the attached bath. It takes every ounce of my willpower to set her down when all I want to do is keep her in my arms. “Here’s the bathroom.”

She darts inside and slams the door. I lean against the wall next to the bathroom and scrub a hand over my face. After a few minutes, Briar opens the bathroom door. She walks out, blinking tired eyes at me.

“Wanna lie down, baby girl?” I move to stand in front of her as I talk. She has to tilt her head back to keep eye contact with me.

“Mm, yeah.” She glances at the bed before focusing back on me. Surprising the hell out of me, she pulls her tank top over her head before letting it drop to the ground.

When her delicate hands move to the button of her jeans, I make a strangled sound. “What are you doing?” I ask in a gruff voice.

“Getting undressed for bed.” She pushes her jeans down her legs before toeing off her boots. Hopping from foot to foot, Briar gets her pants off. She’s standing in front of me in nothing but her bra and panties.

Like the bastard I am, I don’t look away. Instead, I appreciate how the navy lace of her bra and panties stands out starkly against her pale skin. Briar’s tits are a perfect handful, not too big or too small. Her narrow waist dips in before flaring out at her hips.

My gaze keeps straying to where the column of her neck meets her shoulder. It would look perfect with two crescent indents of my teeth, marking her for everyone to see. As soon as I think that, my beast starts going wild. He wants us to mark what’s ours. I can hold him back for now, but I don’t know how much longer that will last with her being practically naked before me.

Reaching behind me, I pull my shirt over my head. My T-shirt should be more comfortable to sleep in than her strappy top. “Arms up,” I order Briar. When she complies, I slide my tee over her arms and head. She lowers her arms and pulls her hair out of the neckline. Briar reaches behind her to unhook her bra, letting it slide to the ground.

My shirt hits her at midthigh, looking like a dress on her. I can’t help the flare of satisfaction I feel in my gut at dressing her in my clothes and covering her in my scent.

She stands there staring up at me, eyes wide and guileless. I realize she’s waiting for me to tell her what to do. Her obedience does not help my raging hard-on. In fact, it makes me even harder, which I didn’t think was possible.

“Get in bed.” Briar does as I say, quickly climbing under the covers.

I should keep my pants on and lie on top of the bedspread, but we’ve already established I’m an opportunistic bastard. I step out of my shoes, shuck my jeans, and climb in beside Briar. Lying on my back, I wrap one of my arms around her. She lays her head on my chest, curls around me, and promptly falls asleep.

Briar’s only been sleeping for a few minutes when Ronan comes barging through the door. He quickly takes in Briar wearing my shirt and lying on my bare chest and comes to the wrong conclusion.

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