But Ezra held it at bay, twisting it tighter and tighter. He added his thumb, rubbing it on my clit in gentle, firm circles. Could the neighbors hear me begging for mercy?
“I can feel your emotions,” he admitted, voice hoarse as he plucked and pushed me closer to the edge. “The bond gave me a roadmap of your body, and now I know exactly how to make you fall apart.”
I felt the pull on his magick, but nothing prepared me for the feel of his frozen thumb pressing directly on my clit. Time slowed. I was splintering. Shattering. A strangled noise escaped me as I fought to get enough oxygen in my lungs to scream. My skin prickled as my release slammed into me. Wave after wave of electricity seared every single nerve ending, from the tips of my toes to the ends of my hair.
“That’s it, baby. Let me hear you.” The scream finally left me, and Ezra made sure to guide me through it.
Aftershocks made my legs twitch as I slowly came down. My panties were carefully rearranged, and the blankets were swiftly pulled over us. The ice around my wrists disappeared, and my arms were gently brought back. Warm hands rubbed at the cool spots that remained on my skin.
“See how well you can follow directions when you try?”
I couldn’t open my eyes, couldn’t move my body when every muscle in it had turned to liquid, but I was going to get him back for that later.Muchlater. After I slept for a billion hours and regained function of my legs. A heavy arm draped across my waist, and the corner of my pillow dipped with the weight of another head.
“Go back to sleep, Rani,” Ezra whispered in my ear. “I’ll protect you from the nightmares.”
I drifted off to the scent of winter and the sound of our breaths merging into one slow exhale.
CHAPTER 19
Ezra
“Absolutely the fuck not.”
The heat of the morning was oppressive, but not as much as my need to bend Rani over my knee and smack her ass cherry red for that suggestion. My hand actually twitched. Damn, what would it take to make this bond calm the fuck down? My skin vibrated with the memory of her touch, the slippery feel of her on my fingers, and it still wasn’t enough. It was an effort to redirect the primal thoughts in my head that speared me with visions of fucking her all over this backyard.
Thankfully, or not, her newest plan to stall my heart and drop me dead was enough to distract from the very hard and very disappointed part of my body that I refused to acknowledge. She wanted to take a trip past the wards! Like our enemies weren’t camped outside them at all times just waiting to grab her impulsive ass.
“I wasn’t really asking,” she argued, swinging her fist at my head.
It was a terrible shot, ruined by her growing frustration, and yet another reason why it was a bad idea for her to go. She wasn’t ready. My entire hand covered hers as I caught and redirected the punch. Tingles ran down to my elbow from the contact, and I let go before the feeling spread south.
Her pinched expression told me all I needed to know about how pissed off my dismissal made her. But just in case I couldn’t already tell, her emotions were like a sledgehammer battering down my side of the bond.
My eyes narrowed. “Rein it in.”
Like pouring water on a grease fire, the command only made her double down. She attacked my mental guards with a well honed spear of agitation, while simultaneously aiming a low kick at my dick. I dodged both, then pounced, catching her wrists and tugging her to me.
Her palms met my chest, and I finally let a little of my barrier slip. Frustration. Amusement. Fearforher. Attraction. And a tiny bit of my deep-seated need to taste her. I made sure all of it shone through. She squeezed her eyes shut against the onslaught and dug her sharp nails into my shirt to keep from being swept away.
“You can demand all you want because I find it sexy as fuck,” I whispered, leaning in, then tightened my grip. “But we both know who’s really in charge, baby, and my answer is no.”
A solid wave slammed between us, breaking the flow of emotions until there was only one left, and I was far too used to feeling it from her. I responded with a thread of pride. That was the first time she’d been able to block me out on her own. Didn’t change my mind about her leaving the wards, though.
Her eyes flashed, their light gray darkening like the sky before a storm.
“I wish I had more than two middle fingers—”
“Kinky.”
“So I could shove them—”
“I like where this is going.”
“Into your eyeballs in a never-ending train of ‘fuck you.’”
Well, that was creative. Extra points for almost making it dirty.
Her knee struck… and missed. She still hadn’t landed that hit, but the poor girl wouldn’t stop trying. I kept her hands rooted to my chest and backed away, forcing her to follow. Every time she attempted to stomp on my foot or kick my shin, I jerked her forward. If she couldn’t get out of this simple hold, how could I trust her to be safe on campus?
