Page 112 of Magical Academy for Delinquents
Then we downed our shots. It felt like fire racing down my throat. Awful! I started to cough. "Damn."
Gray laughed and grabbed me a water bottle so I could rinse away the pain. Then he set me on his lap.
I stared down at him. He'd looked up at me in awe earlier. But I hadn't been sure if that was part of the act for Mom and Claude. My legs grew warm from where his skin touched mine. My stomach tightened. Anticipation, that weird amalgamation of lipstick and matches, preparation and kindling flame, built inside me.
"Two minutes," he said. "Let's pretend for two minutes that this is a real date and not a job."
That match inside me fell onto my lady bits. They ignited with awhooshas Gray's hands went to my waist and started to trace over my hipbones.
"Okay," my voice came out soft and breathy.
Gray's eyes grew hooded. "I'm glad you chose me, nemesis."
I smiled and stared at him, soaking up his lusty expression. Who needed scotch when a guy looked at them like that? I wrapped my arms around his neck. "You've made a pretty wonderful villain yourself."
Gray opened his mouth to argue the villain bit, but I leaned forward then, letting my lips hover just above his. His eyes studied mine for a moment before he closed the distance. His lips were big, fuller than mine, and soft. The way he pressed them to me was tender, gentle. He kissed my lips, and then the corner of my mouth, before returning to my lips and slowly building our kiss touch by touch. His lips widened and his tongue darted out, teasing me for a second before he swooped down and took my lower lip between his teeth. My toes started to tingle, and I pushed my hands through his shorn hair, loving the rough texture against my fingertips.
Gray's lips left mine and traveled down my neck to my pulse. His hands pressed down the length of my spine, reeling me in, smashing my dress against his tux. Then he slid his hands up my sides and over the sides of my breasts.
"Dammit. I want you to rip this dress off," I panted as his tongue danced along my neck.
He pulled back and chuckled. "Maybe next time. I just wanted a taste." He flexed his fingers. "I can feel the power surge just from that." He spread his fingers and sent a little ribbon of wind across my skirt, making it dance while he checked his Rolex. "We'd better check in with Malcolm though."
I pouted, jutting out my lower lip. But then I climbed off Gray's lap and grabbed a burner phone. I dialed the only number that I'd saved to contacts, Malcolm's burner. "You ready?"
"Yup. Everyone's in place. Stage one will start after you and Gray have your big moment."
I flipped the phone shut and nodded to Gray. "He's good. Your getaway drivers ready?"
Gray winked.
I sighed and grabbed my compact. "I'd better fix my lipstick."
But Gray reached out and grabbed my hand. "Don't," he said.
"But then everyone will know we were--"
"Exactly," Gray replied as the car pulled to a stop. A valet pulled the car door open. Gray reached over and snapped my purse shut. Then he handed me out. After he'd climbed out himself, he took my arm.
"Let's go be scandalous," he grinned down at me.
"Bet I can make a bigger scene than you," I told him.
"Nemesis. You're on."
Then Grayson led me up the stairs to the Atrium, the giant glass building built purely through magical construction. Diamond panes of glass were stacked upon each other with no mortar or metal to hold them together. Magic kept them suspended and locked in place like delicate puzzle pieces. Overhead, the panes on the roof were not just diamond-shaped, they were prisms so that the entire place was filled with dancing rainbows. Tonight, those rainbows were cast by spotlights that a hired team of Force magicals had hovering outside the building.
Gray and I looked out over the crowded ballroom from the entryway. We had to descend several steps to get to the main floor, which held a ballroom that then had archways leading to other meeting rooms, a huge banquet hall, and several verandas so that people go outdoors and get some fresh air.
I shook my head. All this elegance and these magicals would be shedding their expensive clothes and champagne glasses so they could mill about in fur and sniff one another's asses. Because that made them superior.
I shook my head at the ridiculous way the world worked.
Evan’s voice sounded in our ears. The earpiece was part of a norm spy kit he and the guys had bought, because it made them feel more James Bond. “New schedule just given for the night. Apparently, to avoid any sort of animal in-fighting, each species has been assigned a specific time to shift. Bears aren’t ‘til 12:15 a.m. so that’s good. But wolves are up soon.”
Malcolm responded over the earpiece. “What time?”
“Forty minutes.”
