Page 81 of House of Ydril

When I speak, my voice is a raspy whimper. “Fuck. You.”

The next thing I know, he grabs me by the waist and all of a sudden, I can feel the hardness of his muscles and his cock pressed against my entire body. It’s an almost uncomfortable shock of pleasure and I can’t help but let him kiss me, a moan escaping my lips even before he slides his tongue between them. He slams me into the wall, his mouth devouring, his hands stroking, kneading and squeezing almost all at once.

But it’s not enough. My fingers running through his hair, I take his lower lip between my teeth and I bite, hard. That makes him let out a lustful grunt and he pulls away, locking eyes with me as he gets his hand under my pants.

Without breaking eye contact, he finds the spot and slides his fingers right into me. I let out a helpless moan and I see his lips part, his eyes still piercing holes in mine.

I grab onto the muscles of his shoulders as he fingers me, the waves of pleasure making me dip my head back, close my eyes and dig my nails into his skin. His breathing ragged, I know he’s watching me, silently and intensely, but instead of making me feel self-conscious, it only increases my desire for him.

And I want to tell him to fuck me right here and now, but then I remember her.

Nuala.

That’s all it takes for it all to come crumbling around me. I realize I’m in some dingy bar with Faust, letting him finger me the night before the Second Round.

I have to muster all my determination to get his hand out of my pants and push him away. “No,” I squeeze out, my breathing slowly becoming less erratic.

He frowns and then leans in. “Something wrong?” he whispers in my ear.

I pull away to look him straight in the eye. “Yeah. It’s not like we won’t see each other ever again,” I make myself say, “so I really don’t want to become one of your fuck-girls.”

He just looks at me for a second and then lets out a rough laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not…” I draw in a breath, mad at myself for getting myself in this situation in the first place. “Look, you have to admit, our relationship is already weird. No need to add to it.”

He squints at me, getting in my face as he demands, “No, there’s something else. You need to tell me what it is.”

And he’s right, but I’m not ready to even think about all that, so I don’t say anything. I just shake my head.

“Fine,” he snaps, “then the day after tomorrow, I’m picking you up at seven and you’re going on a date with me.”

I laugh. “I might be dead by then.”

He lets out a sigh. “Then I’ll ask you again tomorrow.”

“I’ll just say no.”

“Then say it tomorrow.”

“Fine, can we leave now?”

It’s at that exact moment that I hear a ruckus from inside the bar and see Sarya, Harry and Zelda barge out. I take a step away from Faust and frown at them.

“Um,” Sarya says, sounding breathless, “I think we should really get moving.”

“Yeah,” Harry agrees. “We think we made this pack of shifters really mad.”

Faust lets out a sigh and motions for them to follow him back to the Pull. Once we’re on the other side, he says bye to everyone and calls me over, looking all serious. And he tells me that his spies have caught Leo getting stuff that could be used for a blood ritual.

And just like that, I’m back to being scared shitless and only being able to think about the Second Round.

Chapter thirty-five

Thenextmorning,feelingbewildered and numb at the same time, I meet Faust and the other Chosen in the entrance hall. And there are so many other students gathered there, chatting away as they wait to see us off, but my eyes are searching for one in particular.

And Idospot her. Nuala is standing in the crowd, waving and smiling at me. A part of me thought she’d be too mad at me to come say bye, so I breathe a sigh of relief and throw her the widest, warmest smile I can muster.

Because the Second Round is about to happen, and my palms are sweating and my heart is throbbing in my chest.