Page 37 of Wings of Ashes
Bael scoffed, his lips nearly brushing her cheek due to how damn close he leaned over her. “You’re a brittle, little swan shifter. A thick textbook could break your wrist.”
“So soft and tender. So delicate. My little birdie,” her captor used to coo to her as he happily watched her bleed.
“I am not brittle,” she growled back at him. “Or weak.”
Bael quirked a dark eyebrow and gazed at her with amusement. “You look like you want to bite me.”
“Ido.” Bite, choke, throttle. All of the above.
“So much fire for a swan.” Bael marveled and tipped his chin down. He dragged his plush, soft lips over her cheek, right beside her mouth. “Make it make sense.”
She shoved at him, and he stepped back, allowing her space, because the gods knew she wasn’t strong enough toactuallypush him away if he did not want her to do so. That pissed her off.
Strength training.I’ll start doing push-ups each night or something, she decided.
She scuttled in the direction of her history class, but Bael followed her, easily matching her rushed pace.
“Look,” Bael said as he walked beside her. “That potion seems to suggest you’re not enchanting me.”
Nix overdramatically gasped. “It’s almost like I’ve been telling the truth the entire time.”
Bael rolled his hypnotic red eyes. This time, the ever-present anger was gone, leaving only amusement when he looked at her. “So, if this isn’t an enchantment…it means that for some reason my dick likes you.”
Nix stumbled over her own feet and coughed. “Wow.”
“What?” He sped up and turned, so he could walk backwards in front of her and watch her face. “Would you rather I lie and say I’m interested in your personality?”
“Didn’t you say last night that you wished it was just physical attraction, but that you were fascinated by me?”
He smirked, but this time his eyes feltwarmon her. An unfamiliar pleasant warmth. “You must have dreamed that.”
“Hmph.” Nix stopped in front of her classroom. “Well, bye now.”
Bael snickered as he peered inside the doorway. “Interesting.”
She did not ask what he found interesting. Instead, she walked right inside, grateful to see Professor Thierry was not yet back from speaking with Professor Bowen. The class bell was sure to ring soon.
Nix waved to Mara and sank down into the seat beside her.
A wall of heat sat on Nix’s other side.
Nix turned to Bael, who leisurely leaned back and stretched his legs out under the desk beside Nix. She told him, “You’re not in this class.”
Bael’s lips lifted at the edges, and Nix’s heart jumped. She cursed her body for such a strong reaction to the smallest hint of a smile from him.
He replied smoothly, “Actually, I am.”
Nix sputtered. He was in this class with her, too? “You weren’t here yesterday.”
“I was predisposed in the forest.”
Right. Searching for her. A confusing detail that wrongfully suggested the sex demon could care about anyone other than himself.
Nix sank lower in her seat as she muttered sarcastically, “Great.”
“Hey, look at me,” Bael requested softly in a voice of pure temptation.
The second Nix’s eyes connected with his, the classroom blurred around her.
