“I said...I want…” The afforded slack allows me to grab fistfuls of his hair, and I yank him toward me. “You.”

I kiss him.

“Go, Daeja, before he sees you.”

Darian flinches in shock. But it’s only a second before he shoves back into me and kisses me—hard.It’s taut and tight. Nothing of the gentleness, the sincerity, and the warmth of Cole. Just as we battled in the sparring center, our tangle is just as tense. We move our mouths over each other, grappling for the upper-hand. Neither of us stopping or ceasing. He presses his hard body into me, pinning me into submission against the wall. Moving away from his mouth, I kiss and suck his sinfully smooth skin on his angled jaw and throat. The tension under him waxes and wanes until he thrusts into me with a ferocity and burning need. Shoving me harder into the wall. As if he needs me closer.

It’s working.

I run my hands under his shirt and caress his sides, my fingertips tracing each crevice and mound of muscled abs and pecks.

I hate him,I tell myself.I just have to make this convincing enough so he doesn’t catch on.

A brief whisper of a thought flickers in the back of my mind...then what are you doing?

I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.

Gods, I can already hear his voice inside my head.I know.But something shifts in me. The hate fueling each flicker of my fingers against his muscles, each caress of my lips on his hot skin transforms into something else even more dangerous.

But where do I stop? And how can I stop? What if…what if I can’t stop?

The pressure from his dagger against my chest disappears. Something clatters to the ground. His grip on my throat shifts down to seize my hips, and he lifts me off the ground. I wrap my legs around his waist instinctively, and he shifts himself right between my legs. He crushes his groin into me with a gods almighty sinful pressure.

Oh, gods. It’s working too well.Even working onme.

He shouldn’t feel this good. His touch shouldn’t be as magnetic as it is. Every stupid graze of his lips on me has me gasping for air, every brush of his fingers makes my heart skip a beat.

Breaking from the kiss, he sucks on my earlobe and drags his tongue across the soft spot behind my ear—that sweet, sensitive spot never failing to betray me. I surprise myself with a moan, and his cheeks tighten into a victorious grin. My core rushes with molten desire, melting the last of my inhibitions. I find myself devastatingly hungry forhim.

I feel myself falling. Sinking deep into a thick haze of lust, as vividly as if I were slipping off the side of a cliff. I reach out, desperate to anchor myself into anything that’ll keep me from plummeting. But each grip vanishes with his hot breath whispered into my ear and the tease of his soft lips against my skin. He lures out and taunts each of my dangerous cravings I didn’t even know existed.

His mouth travels down my neck toward the swell of my breasts. My legs squeeze tighter around his waist, my shouldersrolling back. He trails his hot tongue deliciously slow across my skin, leaving me shivering and wanting.

Before I can think better of it, the words slip off my lips. “I want you...take me to your room.”

His teeth nip the top of my breasts. “I don’t need to hide. I’ll take you right here, right now. Everyone can watch me fuck you against this wall.”

My fingers curl into his thick brown hair, my voice coming out in a strained whisper, “Please, Darian.”

Without another second of hesitation, he carries me into his room, honoring my request. He sucks and nips at the crook between my neck and shoulder as we burst through his door. After he kicks the door closed behind him, he sets me on my feet. I tear the satchel off my shoulder and toss it to the ground, eyes glued to him as he lifts his shirt off. But rather than glancing away, I trail every tempting, sexual edge of his body.

He ghosts over to me as I lift my shirt, his deft fingers unhooking and unclasping every layer on my body. I fling my shirt off, the cool air peaking my nipples. He drops to his knees in front of me, a trail of his hot kisses snaking down my navel as he works to shimmy my trousers down. My pants collect into a puddle at my ankles, leaving me naked, and his gaze sweeps up to my face. His green eyes are hungry through the set of his deviously angled brows.

He drags his sinful tongue against my inner thigh, edging closer and closer to my center. My head falls back, and he stops before his tongue can touch me. I sway, and his strong hands grip my hips to steady me.

His breath warms the space between my legs. “Tell me what you want.”

I shake my head, squeezing my eyes shut. I don’t want to say it. I can’t give the deepest, hungriest desires in me, words. Grippinghis hair in my hands, I pull his face closer between my legs instead. I tremble in anticipation of having his mouth on me.

He snorts at my impatience. But then heavily inhales my scent before burying his face between my legs. There is no hesitation, no limitation to how easily he sucks and licks me. Swirling his tongue around my throbbing clit, he devours every inch of my wet, hot skin. His fingers dig into my hips as I jerk with breathy moans.

“Mmmm.”He groans at how wet he’s made me, pulling back to peer up at me from between my legs. “Gods, you taste as good as I thought you might.”

He watches me, that sly smirk on his lips as he feasts on every bit of my pleasure. I can’t help but think of how ridiculously seductive he is. Whispering things to me between my legs even I can’t understand. He drives his tongue into my hot, wet entrance as he uses the tip of his nose to rub circles against my clit.

Fuck. I’m in way over my head.

I whimper, my legs trembling beneath me as he races me to a climax. My eyes flash open, each breath ragged in my chest. “Please. I can’t take it. Just fuck me already.”