Page 63 of Wicked Heirs

“What’s that?” I asked, as she reached me and I slid my hands to her hips, holding her to me.

As soon as we touched skin-to-skin, it was trying just to leave it at that, as heat rolled through me.

It was true what they said about sparks flying between those attracted to one another—deeply fucking attracted. And in our case those sparks were all the more intense and could quite easily be literal also.

I swallowed down that need that threatened to get the best of me, and focused on what she was saying, hating the pain and worry there all over her gorgeous face as she uttered words that had clearly haunted her for too long, “For some beings to succumb to darkness? No matter how much they try, how much they don’t want it?”

“No,” I answered firmly.

She cocked an eyebrow. “Just like that?”

“It’s about strength of will, little angel,” I said, sliding my hand into her hair, eliciting a soft moan from her as I stroked the strands softly.

The urge to fist it and use it as leverage to jerk her ever closer and slam my mouth to hers was nearly overwhelming.

As Dark Fae, especially prince, I was known for possessing a powerful allure, but hers was another level to me.

Alena Rose called to me in an inexplicable way.

In the most all-consuming way.

A way that made me feel powerful and vulnerable at the same time.

It was unnerving to say the least.

But staying away as had been my strategy after what had been happening recently, just wasn’t possible. I’d entered her dream to make sure she was all right after what had transpired between her and Talon, and then to tell her the vendetta was ending, that she wouldn’t be bothered anymore.

To say that hadn’t exactly panned out was a hell of an understatement.

But in the best way.

I’d made her mine last night.

I’d claimed her body, mind, and trust.

Well, the latter would take a little more work, given the fucked-up and volatile way things had been between us since she’d started here at Electi Academy.

“You possess a great deal of mental fortitude, Alena. You were thrown into an unwanted and foreign situation and not only didn’t you balk, but you stood tall. You were fierce and forthright.” I pressed my free hand over her heart, trying to ignore the feel of her pulse speeding up at my touch. “Thiseven managed to affect a stone-cold, previously impenetrable bastard like me. As I state often when it comes to you, that’s no small thing.”

She beamed up at me and pushed her hot little body into mine, her bikini bottoms brushing against the hard-on in my purple boardshorts.Damn.“You do state it often, huh?” she said in a teasing tone, rubbing my arms and fingering my biceps. “If I didn’t know better I’d swear the infamous Dark Fae Prince is majorly impressed with me.”

“Majorlyimpressed? Well, that might be overstating it.”

We both chuckled and I leaned down to kiss her—and to do a whole lot more than that—when commotion coming through the trees pulled us both up short.

No sooner had I registered it—far too late for me, because of my distracted state—than Talon burst from the trees.

He thrust his hands forward, his phoenix fire unleashing and aiming right for Alena.

I moved to react only to be beaten to it by a shield of blue fire suddenly shooting up between him and her.

His fire slammed into it and I heard a grunt a moment before Xavier rematerialized from a cloaked state, grimacing and holding both hands up to hold back the extraordinarily powerful flames of a phoenix. An irate phoenix at that.

“Enough!” I yelled over to Talon.

“Yeah, you think so?” he bit back fiercely. “After I woke up looking for you, needing you, I find you out here in this shit-tastic show withher?Our fucking enemy! The girl responsible for killing my parents?”

“She’s not our enemy. We talked about that last night and we were going to solidify it later today.”

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