She adjusted the bag on her shoulder and turned toward her door. I didn’t want her to go. Not yet. Not with the smell of jasmine and sugar still clinging to her, not with the warmth ofher laughter still echoing in my chest. I helped her put her things into her room and backed into the hallway reluctantly.
She paused with her hand on the doorknob. “Goodnight, Rune.”
“Goodnight, Maple.”
“Wait,” I practically shouted, and she turned back to me with surprise and curiosity. “I know I said I wanted to take it slow, but I just can’t do that anymore. At least not tonight.”
Before I could talk myself out of it, I took the bag out of her hands and tossed it into her room with everything else and pressed her against the wall.
“Is this okay?” I whispered as I pushed my fingers into her hair and lowered my mouth to hers.
She nodded as her eyes began to close, and it was all the permission I needed. I kissed her as if I were a starving man. She tasted like powdered sugar and sunlight.
Her hands found my shoulders and then my jaw, like she needed to memorize every part of me. I ran the tip of my tongue against the seam of her lips, and she parted for me with a moan that went straight down my spine.
I pressed closer, one hand braced beside her head while the other slid to her waist, fingers flexing instinctively like I needed to claim every inch of her.
The kiss became more desperate, more heated with every swipe of our tongues. She tasted and felt like heaven, and I didn’t want this moment to end. I lifted her off the floor, one hand curling around her thigh as she wrapped herself around me. I kicked the door shut behind us, the soft click barely audible over the rush of blood in my ears. I pushed the shopping bags out of the way with my foot and somehow made it to the bed without dropping her or falling.
I released her to the edge of her bed, and a soft sound left her lips. I stood there for half a second, just staring at her—lipsswollen, chest rising and falling fast, her hair fanned out around her face in the most delicious way.
I leaned over her slowly, bracing myself with one hand as the other slid along her calf, coaxing her legs apart. She pulled me down to her and ran her hands up the inside of my shirt. Her nails teased my skin gently.
Our mouths met again, but this time it was full of desperation. It was a war of wills. Her hips rose to meet mine, and I groaned into the kiss, grinding down just enough to feel how ready she was for me.
My breathing was rapid as her hands ran all over my body. I didn’t know how much longer I could take this slow torture.
A banging on the door had us ripping apart. “Rune?” Louis shouted on the other side. At least it wasn’t Babette. I’d had about enough of her.
I blew out a breath as I untangled myself from Maple. I tried to straighten my shirt and readjust myself before I pulled the door open.
Louis stood on the other side of the door, his hair wild around his head as if he’d just woken up. I was ready to light into him until I saw the panic in his eyes.
“What is it?”
Louis grimaced. “I know I told you that you had needs and all of that jazz…”
“Get on with it, Louis.” I snapped. He would ramble all night if I let him before he got to the actual point.
He shook his head as if he didn’t know how to explain it. “There was an attack in the Quarter.”
My heart stopped, and I was moving. I didn’t care about anything else. My people were at risk. “Walk and talk.”
I took a few steps backwards as I remembered there was unfinished business in the middle of Maple’s bed. I let out a breath. That was a close one. I couldn’t believe I’d been soreckless. I hadn’t wanted a scandal, but here I was, making a scandal. Maple stared at me with wide eyes as she sat on the corner of her bed.
“Do not open this door unless Adelle or my mother are on the other side, okay?”
She nodded once, and I closed the door behind me and caught up with Louis at the end of the hall. “Okay, I’m ready. What happened?”
“Wolves, I’m guessing. Some of the witnesses said there was a dense fog before people began screaming.”
“Death toll?” I didn’t want to know, but I needed to.
He shook his head. “Whoever they took, they didn’t leave behind bodies.”
My nostrils flared as I considered this. “We need a head count on the coven, and everyone needs to check on their loved ones. We need to know who’s missing.”
“You’ve got it. What else do you need from me?”
