Page 77 of ColdIron
He threaded his fingers through mine. I gazed at him, smiling like a fool.
He was a shameless flirt. But he was probably the only person who could make me this relaxed. He pulled me closer. If I let him, he’d have dragged me into his lap. I’d have liked that, and that was the problem. In the haze of my mind, I dredged up enough will to resist. My fingers curled around his but added pressure. A squeeze that saidthis far, and no further.
I wouldn’t be the kind of company he was used to. The cadets in my barracks said Caspian had slept with half the population in the fortress.
No way would I let him into my pants for a few drinks. And my relaxation wasn’t just the booze or Caspian’s charm. Bryn was having the time of her life. The shifters had accepted me without question. For the first time since arriving at the fortress, I wasn’t surrounded by hostility.
“You have the most beautiful smile, Max,” Caspian said. Light from the Stormglass lanterns danced in his eyes.
“You’re exaggerating.” I grinned. “Just so you know, flattery doesn’t work on me. No one gets into my pants.”
Shit. What had I just said? But it didn’t seem to matter, because I was now gazing at him through my thick lashes and batting my eyes.
“Max, Max.” He let out a low, sensual laugh that made my toes curl and need clench between my thighs. “I wasn’t buttering you up. Surely you can sense my sincerity.”
“Do you always flirt this much, princeling?” I purred.
“What can I say?” he purred right back, leaning in. “I like you too much, Max. Tell me to stop, and I will.”
I giggled. Learned that from my six-and-a-half-year-old sister. Yet inwardly, I groaned and winced.
Somebody please stop me!I’d welcome a slap across the cheek. Or even a kick to the kidney.
“Don’t stop, please, Prince.”
How had that sultry beg come out of my big fucking mouth?
“I flirt this much only with you.” His smile deepened.
Shit, he was a full ten. I agreed with the score the cadets had given him. Overheard it during lunch in the mess hall.
“You have to know that, Max. You aren’t like anyone else.”
“Yeah?” I heard myself say, as if I wanted more. Fuck. I needed to leave before I sank to a new low.
“Of course.” His eyes laughed. “Do you know your laughter is better than drugs?”
His free hand slid into my lush hair. His fingers carded through the strands, massaging my scalp. The caress sent a shiver cascading down my spine.
“I like your hair long like this,” he said. “Shit, it’s so soft. Softer than the finest silk.”
I regarded the glowing white strand wrapped around his fingers. “Maybe I should cut it.”
“No, no, no,” he protested. “Promise me you won’t cut your hair.”
I didn’t understand how the topic had shifted to my hair. But the shifters around us had gone quiet. My friend included. Everyone watched us.
Caspian lifted our linked hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles. The sensation shot through me like a bolt, straight to my core. And with it came an uninvited image: Nikolai between my thighs, flooding my head.
Would Caspian do the same for me? How would it feel if his mouth replaced the vampire’s? Was his tongue as skilled? As wicked? The earth-shattering climax Nikolai had given me replayed behind my eyes in rich, vivid detail.
Shit. Need to cease and desist.
But it was already too late. I could smell my own arousal curling through the liquor and smoke. And if I could smell it, every shifter in a twenty-foot radius had it mapped and catalogued.
Caspian’s eyes glowed. Heat burned through the green. He inhaled my scent slow and deep, as if he couldn’t get enough. The pure male satisfaction on his face was so indecent that my blood heated more.
I needed to get the fuck out of here while I still could. But at that moment, I had no will to peel my ass off this soft seat, away from this warm, powerful, delicious man who smelled like pine, sugar, and danger. Another round of shots, and I might lick him.
