Page 106 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

Spinning me to face him, Sterling trails his fingers down the side of my face. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“It’s not like I had much choice.” I shiver as his thumb brushes the skin just under my lower lip. “If I’m late, there’s this grumpy instructor who’ll have my ass.”

“Grumpy?” A laugh rumbles in his chest. “I’d have said attractive, skilled, sexy, charming, intelligent?—”

“Did you just learn what an adjective is?” My lips curve up despite my best effort to hide my smile. “Add cocky to your list too.”

“I’m offended.” He lowers his head and whispers in my ear, his warm breath skating across my skin. “Like I said, that mouth is going to get you into so much trouble.”

I give in to a streak of boldness. “I’d like to get into even more trouble.”

He pulls back and searches my face, a predatory gleam in his eyes. “Keep talking like that, and your lesson won’t involve riding an alicorn.”

Tiny shivers dance down my spine as indecent images pour into my mind. I feign outrage, pressing a hand to my chest. “You’re so inappropriate.”

“You don’t seem all that bothered by my…inappropriateness.”

“Want to know something?” I pitch up on my toes, and when he inclines his head, it’s my turn to whisper in his ear. “I’m not.” I press a kiss against the faint scar on his jawline.

With a groan, he lowers his forehead to mine. “I swear you’re going to be the death of me.”

“Who pulled who into the stall? It’s starting to become a habit.”

“You’re a habit I don’t mind forming.”

For several heartbeats, we stare at each other, neither saying a word. Then I don’t know who moves first as his mouth covers mine.

The kiss is soft and sweet and relaxed, like we’ve got all the time in the world. He draws languid circles on my lower back that match the pace of his mouth. Winding my arms around his neck, I tunnel my fingers through his silky hair.

He skims his tongue across my bottom lip and groans. “Mmm. Just as sweet as I remember.”

Sweetdoesn’t even begin to describe the act of kissing him. My body’s alive with sensations. One minute, I’m on top of a mountain. The next, I’m falling—spiraling—and if I’m not careful, I’m going to crash and burn.

With his left hand, he cups my neck. He presses his lips against the corner of my mouth, then my jaw, then the sensitive spot below my ear. Grabbing my wrist, he pulls me into the storage room next to the stall before flicking his wrist so that frost forms over the doorknob.

“There. Now you can’t complain about the stall.”

I giggle. “Yes, because a storage room is such a big upgrade.”

“It’s locked.” He loops an arm around my waist, tugging me flush against him. “Don’t have to worry about interruptions.”

When I consider the potential reasons for needing a lock, my breath hitches. “The room you sometimes use to sleep in in the stable was too messy?”

“Too far away.”

I’m about to say it’s only in the back of the same building, but then his lips brush mine. “Right. Smart man.”

“Thank you.” The laughter rumbling in Sterling’s chest vibrates through me. “You going to compliment me all day or show me how much you missed me?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

I shrug. The movement causes the tips of my breasts to brush against his chest. “How nice you are.”

“We both know just how nice I can be.” His darkened gaze boils my blood. “But I know how much you like it when I misbehave.”

He’s not wrong.

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