Page 21 of Welcome to Fae Cafe
“What do you want from me?” she asked, not daring to move her lips too much this close.
“Just this, Human.”
Earthy and floral fragrances swept in as he placed his sneering mouth against hers. The kiss was soft, almost delicate. Warmth sailed down Kate’s chest and into her abdomen like hot tea.
“Get a room,” someone behind them mumbled.
Not-Officer-Riley kept his lips pressed firmly against hers for another second of unbearable temperature. His long lashes brushed her cheek. His flowery scent enveloped her senses.
Kate’s eyes were wide when he pulled away, taking the smells of petals and sweet pollen with him.
He looked calm. Pleased with himself. Proud, even.
She slapped him.
The person behind them who grunted before stifled a laugh, and a few of the remaining students whispered. Some of them stood and shuffled out of the classroom, and new students made their way in for the next lecture. The room filled with chatter again as the next class found their seats.
The guy stared in silence. He looked more stunned than he had in the café.
“Don’t touch me,” Kate said.
At the front, Professor Stanner put his hands on his hips. “What’s all the fuss about?” he asked their section.
Neither the guy nor Kate answered.
Kate’s chair squeaked when she stood. The guy didn’t stop her this time as she grabbed her bookbag and bounded down the aisle, out of the classroom, across the hall, and into the stairwell. Her mind raced. Her heart raced faster.
She looked over her shoulder as she descended the stairs. She almost made it to the bottom before two strong hands appeared over the rail. Kate shrieked as she was lifted off her feet and pulled into the shadow of the stairs. Her back came against a cold wall.
The guy’s ash-brown hair was dishevelled, his turquoise eyes glittered in the dimness, and he emitted a terrible and bone-shuddering presence.
“Kiss me again, Human,” he demanded. “Immediately.”
“Let me go,” she whispered, but her words were too quiet to be a real threat.
The guy looked back and forth between her eyes, a pinch of frustration pulling at his face. But his mouth recovered its mean smile a second later. “Queensbane, you must have known I’d come for you,” he said instead. “No one kills a fairy and lives.”
Kate tried to tug his hands off. It only made him smile wider.
Laughter filled the stairwell above, and the guy’s smile fell. His hands tightened slightly on Kate’s sides as a group of students scampered down. The second the students appeared around the landing, his hands slid off Kate.
He waited, his dark-lashed gaze roaming over the mountain tattoo on the side of her neck, then travelling up to the swelling gash on her forehead. There his attention stayed as the students clamoured by.
“I’m surprised you let him hit you,” he murmured with bland curiosity.
It took Kate a moment to realize what he was talking about. Her hand flew to her tender forehead. “How did you know…” He sneered again, and she paled. “Stay away from me,” she whispered.
The humour in his face melted away, replaced by a chilling glare. “Absolutely not.”
When the last student reached the floor, Kate sprang out from between the guy and the wall and fell into step behind the group. She kept in pace with them until she reached the doors, wringing her trembling fingers together.
A low, menacing chuckle filled the stairwell behind her. She was almost too far away to hear what he said next:
“Yes, run from me little human. I’ll only play games with you. But my assassins will find you soon enough, and they don’t have the patience for games like I do.”
His words rang in her ears the whole way through the main hall. All she wanted to do was throw her shoes at him and shout, “Creep!” but she didn’t stop moving. She didn’t even look back over her shoulder.
She took a right turn when the path split and sped through the adjacent hall to the opposite side of the building, scanning the nameplates on the office doors as she moved. When she didn’t see the door she wanted, she headed for the stairs and went back up to the second level.
