Page 32 of Blood & Betrayals

“Crazy hot. I know. It’s too bad his brother has claimed you.”

I blink. “Absolutely not what I was going to say. And Connor hasn’t claimed me.”

“Please. If he were a shifter, he’d have peed all over you the second he sniffed you out.”

I roll my eyes, amusement playing on my lips. “Should we wait for them so we can all go to the party together?”

Alice thinks for a moment. “Nah, they might be reigning in Rafe for a while. We’ll meet them there.”

I nod, though I keep glancing toward the tunnel where Connor disappeared as we leave.

Alice and I follow the masses to the wolf shifter pack dorm, where the party is already in full swing. Everyone is high on the Knight’s win, and the dorm is packed with students. We pushour way through the crowd to the makeshift bar. Alice pours herself a drink, but remembering the great sandwich debacle, I grab a bottle of water. Unable to hear each other over the music and yelling, I tug Alice toward the wall where we have a view of the door. We spend the next thirty minutes fending off advances from over-excited shifters, Alice taking every opportunity to hiss and spew insults at them.

My heart jumps when I see a tall, blond guy walk through the door. Zach spots us the second he steps into the house and makes a beeline for us. “Well, well, well, look who it is.”

I shoot him a scathing look. “Which one are you again?”

Zach pulls me against his side and ruffles my hair. I bat him away, and he chuckles. “You know, Con is going to be piiiiiiiiiissed when he gets here.”

Alice rolls her eyes. “I’m going to go get another drink before I stab you again, asshole.”

I look at Zach, crossing my arms across my chest. “And why should I care about that?”

He just snickers and glances over my shoulder, his smirk widening. “I guess we’ll see.”

I’m about to turn to follow his line of sight when two large hands squeeze my shoulders. I tense at the contact, but the scent of clouds surrounds me, leaving my concern no room to grow. My captor spins me to face him, and I look up into Connor’s beautiful eyes. The anger and disappointment I’d seen him display on the field has melted away. He looks perfectly at ease again, but the tension I can feel radiating from him tells me it is not gone, at least not completely.

I rest my hands against his chest, allowing myself a moment to take in every dip and curve of his face. “Congratulations on your win, captain.”

Connor cups my cheek, tilting my head back a bit more and gently holding it there. “Thanks, but I really don’t care aboutthat right now.” He glances at my lips. “Have you had anything to drink?”

I shake my head. “Nothing but water.”

“Good.” Connor bends and cups his massive hands behind my thighs. He lifts me and presses me back against the wall. I wrap myself around him, and he seals his lips over mine. Eagerly, I deepen the kiss, and when his tongue brushes against mine, I can’t stop the low moan of need.

There is a loud yell and someone slams into Connor. He braces himself so as not to crush me, but I pull back, remembering that we’re in a packed room and that there are probably hundreds of eyes on us. “What are you doing, Morningstar?” I whisper against his lips.

Connor ignores the question and pushes away from the wall. He kisses me again and shoulders his way into the writhing mass of students. His arms tighten around me, but the crowd parts easily for us. Feeling safe in his arms, I sink into the kiss, barely aware of him ascending the stairs. He knocks on the first door we come to. A deep groan comes from within, so he moves to the next, which appears to be empty. Connor doesn’t break the kiss, not for a moment. Not as he opens the door, not as he closes it and flips the lock, not as he walks across the room, and not as he lays me down on the bed.

His large body pins mine to the mattress, and he moans against my lips. “You are insanely sexy. You know that, right?”

I slide my tongue along his bottom lip. “We’re missing the party…”

Connor groans, panting into my mouth as his fingers trail down my body, searching blindly for the edge of my jersey. “Fuck the party.”

He finds the hem and slowly pulls it up my body. I lift my hips to help him. I have no idea if what we’re about to do is a good idea or not. All I know is that my body is desperate tobe touched and pleasured, and I want it to be him who does it. This type of intimacy is familiar to me and easier than all the complicated emotional stuff. This is all I know and all I want to know.

“Seeing you wearing someone else’s jersey… Oh, you made me so…” He doesn’t name the emotion, and at the moment, I’m not sure he even knows what he was feeling.

Connor pulls the jersey up, and I arch, helping him get it over my head. He tosses it aside, and I collapse back onto the bed with a moan as he dips his head to brush his lips against my skin. My eyes roll in pleasure as he licks along my bra line. His eyes are nearly black when he looks up at me, and the desire in his expression completely undoes me. “You did it to get a response, and you got it.”

I slide my tongue along my lower lip, my voice breathy and low. “And it was so much fun…”

Connor narrows his eyes at me. “Every game. You wear my jersey.” He slides up my body and kisses me again, pulling back to nip gently at my lower lip. “No one else’s.”

A shiver runs down my spine. It must be how Connor’s breath teases over my skin. It can’t be his words. I know I can’t trust the words shared during intimacy or the feelings they invoke. They don’t hold the same value. They’re clouded and confused by hormones.

I push the thoughts from my mind and claim his mouth, deepening the kiss and arching against him. Connor hooks his thumbs into the lace of my panties and slides them down my legs, throwing them to the side. He kisses down my body, every touch of his lips like a mini electric shock, shooting straight to my core. My chest heaves, and I force my eyes to remain open, watching him move lower. He settles between my thighs, and I lift my knees, opening to him.

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