Page 92 of Kingmakers, Year Four

Her tongue glides across mine, fine and velvety. As she kisses me, I feel Sabrina’s small, strong hands gripping my hips.

Sabrina turns me. I take her face in my hands, kissing her fuller, softer lips, inhaling her tantalizing perfume, which I’ve always enjoyed smelling in our room.

Ilsa’s hands are on my breasts again, this time her palms gliding all the way over my nipples. She kisses the side of my neck, bitingand sucking gently while Sabrina slides her tongue inside my mouth.

Girls’ mouths are all the most sensual and delicate parts of a kiss amplified: puffy, pillowy lips, honeyed tongues, and warm breath.

My head is spinning.

I might feel self-conscious if I thought more people could see us, but the press of students is so tight that only the people directly around us are getting an eyeful.

None better than Ares. His stare burns every inch of my skin as he watches me live out a fantasy I’ve often imagined, without ever really thinking it would happen.

Sabrina kisses me deeply, her hands on either side of my face, her breasts pressing against mine, her thigh sliding between my legs. She lets out a little moan that makes Ilsa’s head jerk up, her nostrils flaring.

Isla grabs Sabrina by the hair and pulls her away from me, kissing her ferociously, reminding Sabrina which of us came as her date.

I let Ilsa take her, slipping away back to Ares who seizes me and kisses me much harder than either of the girls.

Kissing Ares after two women makes him seem all the more masculine. I’m acutely aware of his stubble rasping at the edges of my lips, and the intense force in his fingers as he grips me. His frameseems twice as tall, his shoulders immensely broad. His cologne is edged with testosterone.

I’ve never felt smaller in someone’s arms.

Ares’ arms are like cables around me, tense and hard. For the very first time, I feel physically intimidated by someone other than my father.

It gives me a thrill.

It makes me want to stay on Ares’ good side. To impress him. To please him . . .

The heat is intense, my legs weak beneath me.

I’m sweating and flushed, looking up into Ares’ face, kissing him again with our mouths burning against each other.

“Let’s go somewhere,” Ares says.

I don’t ask him where. I don’t really care—I just know I need to be alone with him, right now, with much less clothing between us.

We’re pushing through the crowd of students, not looking where we’re going. Just as we reach the exit, someone slams into me, drenching me with the icy blast of an entire cup of punch poured down the front of my dress.

Estas steps back, delicately holding the upturned cup between his thumb and index finger.

“Oops,” he says.

I’m not sure if he did it on purpose or not. He hates my guts, but also, I really wasn’t watching where I was going.

Before I can say a word, before I can even shake the ice out of my cleavage, Ares charges Estas, slamming his shoulder into Estas’ chest and knocking him backward through the doors of the Grand Hall.

Ares and Estas go tumbling backward down the steps, already grappling and punching each other as hard as they can. I run through the doors after them, stumbling down the steps in my heels, followed closely by the rest of the Odessa Mafia and at least a dozen other students who saw the fight begin and absolutely want to watch the conclusion.

This is no boxing match—more like a murder in progress.

Ares is on top of Estas, punching him again and again with both hands. His fists drive into Estas’ face with a sound like a mallet tenderizing raw meat. Blood spatters in all directions, hitting the skirt of my dress and the trousers of several bystanders.

Ares looks insane. His teeth are bared in a snarl, his eyes blazing. He pulls his bloodied fist back for another blow, though Estas is already a pulverized mess, eyes swelling shut, head lolling.

David Datsuk half-tackles and half-drags Ares off of Estas. Ares flings David aside and shoulders Arkady Chaplin out ofthe way too, still trying to run at Estas until Hedeon Gray seizes Ares by both arms and drags him backward.

“Fucking knock it off!” Hedeon bellows in Ares’ ear. “The Chancellor’s right inside!”

---