Page 43 of Twilight of Embers
I wished I could. But no matter how much I told myself to forget about Easton, I couldn’t seem to do it. He would pop into my mind at the most inconvenient moments. That just made me that much more annoyed by him.
“Let’s give Hayden a tour of the downstairs before dinner,” Knox suggested.
Cáel nodded, sending his blond braids and dreads swinging. My fingers itched to touch them, to know what they felt like against my skin. And the longer he held me pressed against him, the stronger the buzz ran through my muscles.
Knox started into a huge living room. The center of the space held a dark stone fireplace that disappeared into the impossibly high ceiling. It had a large wood mantel that housed an equally large television. There was a massive sectional that looked as if it could swallow me whole.
“You guys don’t do small, do you?” I asked.
Cáel chuckled. “If you haven’t noticed, we’re on the larger side of things.”
My cheeks heated. I had noticed. Perhaps a little too much.
Knox led us through the living space, pointing out different things and heading for a wide hallway. “We all have offices down here. Places where we can work and study. This is mine.”
He flipped on a light, illuminating a gorgeous room. It, too, had its own fireplace, built-in bookshelves, a seating area, and a massive desk with a computer setup. The tall windows gave him a view of the backyard, including a massive pool.
“You have a pool? In the mountains?”
Knox grinned. “It’s heated.”
I just shook my head as he led us back into the hallway. “This is Maddox’s office.” He came up short. “Oh, hey, man. I didn’t know you were in here.”
Knox stepped to the side so that Maddox came into view behind his desk.
My mouth went dry as I took the man in. His dark, perfectly styled hair, his amber eyes. He was so stunning it almost hurt to look at him.
“Ms. Parrish,” he greeted.
I swallowed. Did he want me to call him Professor Kavanaugh here, too? “Hello,” I said, opting to leave names out altogether.
Knox sent him a warning look. “Don’t be a prick, Mad. We aren’t on campus.”
Maddox simply stared back at Knox. “She’s my student.”
“So is Easton, and I don’t hear you calling him Mr. Gallagher,” Knox shot back.
“That’s different, and you know it,” Maddox growled.
I shifted, slipping out of Cáel’s hold. “I’m sorry if my being here makes you uncomfortable. I can go—”
Cáel pulled me back to his side. “No.” He glared at Maddox.
“Mad just has a stick up his ass that I’m going to help him remove if he’s not careful,” Knox gritted out.
I shook my head. “I get if he’d prefer not to have students in his home.” I knew there were strict rules about teachers and staff having any sort of relationship with students.
“No one’s going anywhere.”
The voice that spoke was deeper than anyone else’s in the room. It had a gritty rasp that sent shivers cascading over my skin.
My body was turning before I could tell it not to. And as it did, I froze, my mouth parting on a silent O.
I’d never seen a human being as large as the man in the massive doorway. He practically had to duck his head to make it inside. His eyes were a piercing green, darker than the twins’. His dark hair was buzzed close to his head. He had a lethal beauty I couldn’t look away from.
But the freezing was instinct. Some part of my brain knew it because the man before me was a predator. And the way he was looking at me told me one thing.
I was the prey.
