Page 69 of Shadow Caster
A shadow fell over me. “Justice?”
I looked up at Lloyd. “I don’t think I can move.”
He rolled his lips into his mouth to bite back a smile. His blue eyes warmed with mirth. “Ah, the first timer crash. The mist has a different composition to regular air, and it can drain you, even nightbloods.” He held out his hands. “Come on. Let me get you into bed.”
“You wish.” I took his hands though because fluffy pillows sounded sooo good right now.
He hauled me up, and I slumped against his chest. “Hold me.”
He laughed and then scooped me off my feet. I wrapped my arms around his neck, surrendering the hard-ass act for a moment and reveling in being looked after.
“Shit, she okay?” Aidan asked as we entered the dorms.
“She’s wiped.”
“First timer crash?” Aidan whispered.
“Yeah.”
I was lowered onto a soft mattress.
“You did good today, Justice,” Lloyd whispered in my ear before releasing me.
Clouds cradled me, and then I was floating away.
Twenty-Two
Hyde pinned me to the ground, his weight settling over me and stealing my breath. Our legs tangled, limbs brushing and pressing together—the tautness of muscle and the unyielding hardness of metal.
A smile curved his lips. “Not this time, Justice.”
He tightened his grip and angled his body so that it was impossible for me to flip him off me. Shit.
I struggled, my breath coming faster, part exertion, part excitement. Every inch of me was alive in that moment because he was touching me. He moved his leg, and his thigh rubbed against my crotch with delicious friction. Heat seared me, and a low, involuntary moan escaped my lips.
My ears burned with embarrassment at the same time as my mouth softened and swelled. Our gazes snagged, and he froze. I tried to pull it back, to hide the desire that floored me, but it was all over my face and rising off my body, which was pressed flush against his. There was no way he hadn’t seen it.
He was off me quicker than a cat leaping off hot coals. Cool air washed over me, rushed into my lungs, and I gulped to clear my head and get my crazy libido under control. I needed blood. I needed to sink my fangs into something. I needed to fuck.
I rolled onto my side, chest heaving, and watched him walk stiffly to his holster and scoop it off the ground. He kept his back to me as he buckled it on.
“Good session.” His voice was rough.
Okay, keep it light. Keep it neutral. “Maybe we can work on the parrying some more next time?” Shit, I sounded like I’d just run a marathon, all breathless.
I pulled myself up and brushed off my clothes.
“You’re ready.” He turned to face me. “Ready as you’ll ever be. Only three more days left till the trial, and you have barracks duty tonight.”
Where had the time gone? Two weeks had flown by in a blink.
He walked over to what I called our bench. It was the spot we hung out at after our sessions and before official training and barracks duty. Okay, so he wasn’t going to run off. Good. I liked these chats. Maybe a little too much.
He sat forward, his arms braced on his thighs. “How are you settling in with Lloyd and his troop?”
“Good.” I joined him. “I’ve learned a lot.”
“I think your father would be proud of you.”
