Page 7

A low groan rose in his throat. “I fucking love how you taste.” And just like that, she was wet all over again.

“I need you,” she breathed, reaching down between their bodies to palm his hard cock through his pants.

The stroking of her hand caused him to draw a hiss in through his teeth. He swore, trembling from the contact—just as she too was trembling. The way he bit his lip, his head tipping back against the seat, was quite possibly the single hottest thing she’d ever seen.

The tension between them was so thick she could feel it, like the energy that builds in the air before a lightning strike.

When he spoke, his voice was dark and rich as caramel. “Would you like to get fucked, Miss Loren?”

Her swallow was audible. “Yes, please.”

The smile he gave her was one of a true devil. “Such a polite little thing. I love it.” He spanked her ass. “Take off the thong.”

He began to undo his belt. Just as she was reaching up under her skirt to do as she was told, something over his shoulder caught her eye.

That haze of lust dissipated, and her blood went cold.

She blinked, squinting through the condensation fogging up the windows. Silvery sheets of rain still fell from a low, full-bellied sky, making it nearly impossible to see. But…

“Holy crap,” she breathed. There was a squad car parked behind them, nearly bumper to bumper. How long had it been there? “There’s a peace officer behind us.”

Steadying her with a hand on her waist, Darien turned to look out the back window. After a moment, he said, “Who cares?” He turned back around and tugged on the string of her thong. “Get those panties off. They can’t see us.”

“I care!” Loren hissed. “What if they come up to the car?”

“Then I’ll deal with it.” He finished undoing his pants and grabbed her by the chin. “Eyes on me.”

Screw it. She wanted him too badly to care anymore.

But then the driver’s-side door of the squad car swung open. Loren felt the blood drain from her face as a warlock peace officer, the silver rings around his pupils reflecting like mirrors, stepped out into the rain.

2

Darien Cassel was pissed.

What lousy timing for this pinhead to show up. The guy, clearly having nothing better to do, had probably run his plate and decided to give him a hard time for parking so close to AA. Prestigious academies like this one took extra care in keeping their students safe, and while this might seem like a good thing, considering Loren was one of those students, an abundance of bullies roamed the property, their actions flying under the headmaster’s radar, thanks to their academic successes and overprivileged parents.

Bullies who got off on targeting humans. Beautiful blonde humans who kept to themselves and had put up with the mistreatment for way too fucking long.

If it were up to Darien, and if it weren’t for Loren begging him not to, he would’ve already put an end to that garbage by holding those assholes’ heads under the surface of the academy pool, just long enough to make them remember how lucky they were to be alive—and just long enough for them to realize whose woman they’d made the mistake of fucking with.

Darien forced himself to focus on the problem at hand. He was used to dealing with guys like this warlock prick sauntering up to the car. He would get rid of him as fast as he could so he could get back to taking care of his girl in more ways than one.

He took another drag on the cigar Max had left in his car, letting the potent, velvet smoke fill his mouth and lungs. And then he blew it back out and dispersed the cloud with a wave of his hand while Loren finished fastening the buttons on her shirt. He would have to thank Max for always leaving these things lying around. They didn’t taste too bad. Dark and intense, with earthy undertones that relaxed his mind and muscles instantly.

Mmm…not bad at all.

Hah. Max wouldn’t like the sound of that. Maybe he shouldn’t tell him, or he might make a point of hiding them from now on. Of all his belongings, there were two things Max wasn’t willing to share: weapons and cigars.

The officer stopped at the driver’s-side door, shifted his weight to one leg, and shoved his gloved thumbs through his beltloops.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Darien flicked the button on the door. The tinted glass lowered with a muffled groan, and cool air scented with flowers swept into the car, rustling his hair and the pages of the notebook Loren held open on her lap. Without the window and the spells to block outside noise, the drumming of the rain swelled to a steady roar. Cigar smoke billowed out of the car in an opaque cloud, hopefully disguising the scent of what they had been doing a moment ago…what the officer had so thoughtlessly interrupted.

Loren coughed once with her mouth closed.

“Afternoon, folks.” The officer’s eyes flicked to Loren for a fraction of a second before returning to Darien, his attention lingering on the small tattoo—no bigger than a coin—of the horned letter S just below his ear. Judging from the look on the officer’s face, he didn’t expect to find a human girl in a Darkslayer’s car. His jaw worked as he chewed the wad of gum in his mouth. “You Darien Cassel?”

Darien rested his hand on the steering wheel, cigar burning between his index and middle fingers. “Depends on why you’re asking.”