Page 60 of Wings of Ashes
Bael shook his head, reminding himself that while he attended the academy, he was not there. Not home.Not back in Hell yet.But he would be back there, once his mission at the academy was complete.
He had never planned forher.
Bael leaned over the small amount of space between their desks in history class. His body always pleasantlyhummedwhen he invaded her personal space.Mmm, she smells like roasted marshmallows again today.
“So…do you know who potion-ed you?” Bael asked Nix. A swallow bobbed her throat, and she did not answer or glance his way. His eyes narrowed on her. “You do know,” he realized.
She did not have a very good poker face.
Nix ignored him and pretended to listen to Professor Gargoyle drone on and on about some dry topic. At least, Bael assumed she pretended to listen to the professor.
Who actuallywantedto hear about history? That shit was in the past. Now, if there was a class on the future, Bael might be willing to listen to an hour-long lecture. Well, maybe half an hour. Definitely fifteen minutes.
Bael tapped a finger on her desk. “I want a name. Now.” Who the fuck thought they could potion her?
Nix sighed, and Bael wanted to press his mouth to hers and swallow the sound.Want to fucking suck her lips until her soul flies outand I get to keep it. I want tohaveher. All mine.He blinked in surprise at his own possessive thoughts.
She muttered softly, “You’re taking this security detail thing too seriously.”
The next second, Bael’s switchblade flashed in the classroom lighting. The knife gleamed in his long, nimble fingers.
“What does the potion do to you?”
If some guy had used a love potion on her to make her think he was her mate, Bael would kill him. Happily.
“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’ll keep drinking reversal potions until I’m…fixed.”
Bael spun his blade in his hand. “All you have to do is give me a name…”
“Careful.” Nix eyed Bael with as much caution as she eyed the blade. “Someone might think you actually care about me.”
“It is odd, isn’t it? This protectiveness I feel over you.” He patted his chest as if feeling around for proof of a heart.“Caring about someone isn’t something I do. I don’t care about anything.”
Nix rolled her eyes and finally glanced at Bael, making delicious eye contact. Her blue eyes were different today. Not quite the startling cerulean they were the day before; instead, there were specks of bronze shining in them today. A deep, russet gold-copper color.
She remarked, “You must care about something.”
He learned not to care about anything a long time ago.Care, and there is a weakness. To care about something meant there was a perfect opportunity for the most painful, personalized torture. Indifference meant less suffering.
Bael exhaled, tapped his chin, and feigned deep thought. “Does the color of your panties count?”
“Absolutely not.”
Bael stabbed his blade in the wooden top of his desk and cracked his knuckles. His hands wanted to be on her. Palm on her back. Arm around her shoulder. Fingers in her hair. Tongue on her clit. Probably not all at the same time because Bael was only so flexible.
He leaned further over the wood of his desk to speak onto her cheekbone. “This feeling you stir in me is very unsettling.” Unsettling. Dangerous. Thrilling.
She licked her lips. “And why is that?”
Bael leaned back but fastened his hands over the metal bars of the bottom of her chair.
He slowly dragged her desk closer to his, not wanting space between them. The sound of her chair scraping the floor with the movement snagged Professor Gargoyle’s attention, and he scowled at where Bael winked at him.
Close to her ear, Bael said, “I am not a good guy, Swan Lake.”
“Oh?”
“I am not a hero, ready to save a swan princess damsel in distress.”
