Page 72 of Wicked Heirs

She had my cock hard as granite in moments.

Her fingers glided lower, down to the waistband of my pants.

I groaned into her mouth, tightening my hold in her hair.

It called to that other side of me—thatthing.

And then I stilled.

Her hands left my belt and she broke the kiss and eased mine from her hair, holding them between us.

“You can’t hurt me, Xavier.”

“That isn’t—”

“And I’m not afraid of your vampire side.”

“I know. I remember you didn’t react negatively when you allowed me to feed from you. ButIam.”

Realization shone in her eyes. “You’re afraid of that part of you.”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

“But that’s not the only reason I hesitated.” I lifted our joined hands and kissed her knuckles, taking note of her stunning orchid ring. “You deserve better than a quick roll in the sack, than me taking it there at the first opportunity.”

She frowned, not getting it, and it broke my heart a little as it was obvious why.

All she’d experienced had been that sort of thing.

No wining and dining, just straight to the physical.

And that was on the empty side.

“Let me take you out,” I told her.

“Like, on a date?”

“Exactly like that.”

“Wow… okay,” she answered, so surprised by the offer, it was brutal that she wasn’t used to it in the slightest. “But we can’t really go out, we’re bound to campus, underthe dome, as you guys call it.”

“Let me worry about that.” I pushed out of the chair and walked to my desk, snatching up my phone. “Give me your number and I’ll sort the details, then let you know.”

“Perfect,” she said, beaming up at me, before reeling off her number.

After I’d plugged it in, I pocketed it, then sat back down. “Are you thirsty? Hungry? I can conjure you one of your go-to mochas if you want? Mini-marshmallows?”

“How do you know about the marshmallows and mochas?”

“Between classes, you grab a mocha every day, sometimes twice a day if you’re having a tough one. That time when I couldn’t get to you in time to warn you, and Orpheus used his magic to rip your feet out from under you, then open your bagall over the floor of the busy corridor, I saw a couple of bags of marshmallows there. I’ve also scented them on you more than once.”

“Ah, yes, the stumbling incident. Nothing compared to what happened when Orpheus took you to the cafeteria for a late midnight snack so Talon could come at me and overheat the sprinklers in the courtyard as I was walking by, scalding me all over in the process.”

“He didwhat?”

“At least it wasn’t a direct hit of phoenix fire. The fire mixed with the water wasn’t that painful, and I healed in moments.”

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