Page 137 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

I roll my eyes and steal the stick from his hands, popping the marshmallow in my mouth before he can argue. “You are a brute.”

He wraps a hand around my hips and slides me towards him to kiss my sugary lips. “But I’m your brute.”

The warmth in his eyes is giving the fire some serious competition, and I’m immediately swept away. I don’t remember our friends sitting next to us or that there are other people in existence at all, really. There is just him. And me.

Us.

I lean towards him, my lower lip pinched between my teeth, the tips of our noses brushing.

I’m seconds away from kissing him when J.C. takes the stick out of my hand and breaks my trance.

When I turn around, he is waving us away, his face squished in disgust. “Thanks for joining us for dinner, but you heathens are dismissed now. We can’t stomach another second of your sexual tension. Please go. Relieve yourselves.”

“You make it sound like we’re going to the bathroom,” Caleb growls, even as he grabs my hand and pulls me towards our tent…

Which we pitched deliberately far away from all the others, on the outskirts of the site.

“That’s what we’re going to pretend you’re doing,” Viktor yells after us. “So take your time. No judgment.”

We laugh and stumble away, arms around each other.

The tent is the same one Caleb and I shared on the last camping trip, but now instead of two sleeping bags, the entire floor of the tent is made into one bed.

Caleb packed a full-sized mattress pad for cushioning and a set of white sheets complete with pillows and a matching comforter. Winter in South Texas isn’t frigid by any means, but we’ll be grateful for the blanket tonight.

There is also a small electric lantern hanging from a string in the corner of the tent, casting the entire space in a golden glow.

It’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen.

Much better than the meadow sex we attempted earlier.

“I didn’t see you set any of this up,” I breathe as Caleb zips the tent closed behind me.

“Because I didn’t want you to see,” he says, wrapping his arms around my midsection and resting his chin on my shoulder. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

The effort he went to takes my words away, so I spin in his arms, stretch up onto my tiptoes, and press my lips to his.

Caleb pulls me close, pressing his hands to my lower back and molding my lower body to his. I can feel his excitement through his pants, and I roll my hips against him, eliciting a groan.

“Turn off the lamp, you heathens!” a voice outside the tent shouts.

I start, springing away from Caleb, and he turns towards the voice as though he’ll be able to see through the tent material. Suddenly, I realize the lantern is positioned behind us, meaning our shadows are cast perfectly on the wall of the tent.

Like a sexy projection screen for our friends.

My entire body flames with embarrassment. Caleb grumbles some more about how tactless they all are as he flips the lantern off.

“I’m sorry about them,” he says, fumbling for me in the sudden darkness.

When he finds me, I’m shaking with laughter.

“Do you think this is funny?”

“I mean, kind of,” I admit.

“They’re ruining everything,” Caleb sighs.

I tug at Caleb’s waistband, pulling him close to me. “A few jokes aren’t going to stop me from tearing your clothes off if that’s what you’re worried about.”

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