Page 58 of Rule the Night

“It’s my turn.” I pointed it out softly and realized I actually wanted to know the answer to my question.

He chuckled softly. “My little brother’s in prison. Got caught up in drugs at a young age, put my grandparents, who raised us, through hell, ended up running a meth lab. Not the same kind of loss, but…”

“Loss is loss,” I said.

He nodded. “Loss is loss.”

“I’m sorry.” Touching his knee was a reflex. At least that was what I’d tell myself later, when I replayed the moment a million times in the privacy of my room.

He looked down at my hand in surprise, then took it in his. I was surprised by how warm it felt. Somehow I’d convinced myself that there was something not entirely human about the Butchers.

He pulled me closer until I was standing between his knees.

I should have stopped it then, but I didn’t. What could I say? I was mesmerized by his calloused palms, transfixed by the press of his big thighs on either side of my hips.

He reached up to touch my face, then ran his thumb over my lower lip. The tension was thick between us, like we were walking a tightrope with no safety net.

When he spoke, his voice was rough. “This is a bad idea.”

“Very.”

There was a second’s hesitation, just time enough for me to hear June’s voice in my head.

Don’t be dumb, M.

I didn’t know whether she was telling me not to kiss him or telling me to go for it.

But it didn’t really matter, because a moment later Poe’s mouth was on mine, his tongue lighting me up in places I hadn’t known existed.

34

POE

Later,I’d think about how pissed Bram was going to be, but right then there was nothing but Maeve’s sweet mouth opening for mine. I’d spent the last two nights fantasizing about all the filthy things I wanted to do to her, but now it felt like none of them could hold a candle to the tangle of her tongue, the velvety softness of her cheeks as I tipped her head to take our kiss deeper.

I hadn’t planned it, but that didn’t mean I was surprised. I’d wanted her from the first moment I’d seen her in the tunnels.

Her hands slid up my thighs to my waist and I pulled her tightly against me, groaning as her full tits smashed against my body. In another situation, I might have wondered if she felt obligated, if she thought this was part of the bargain she’d struck when she came to the Hunt.

But there was no mistaking the feverish sweep of her tongue against mine, the clutch of her fingers on my waist, the way she pressed against my body like she couldn’t get close enough.

My dick strained against the confines of my jeans, a situation that wasn’t helped by the friction of her body between my thighs.

She was breathless when I broke the kiss to trail my lips down her neck, and I closed my mouth over one of her tits, feeling the hard nub of her nipple even through the fabric of her T-shirt and bra.

Her fingers slid into the hair at the back of my head as I sucked, debating the merits of lifting her T-shirt, pulling down her bra, and tasting her sweet tits for real. I was desperate to feel her naked body against mine, to do away with the clothing that separated us, but I didn’t want to expose her to a random passerby.

I unsnapped her jeans and slipped my hand inside instead, felt the soft brush of her pubic hair on the way to her wet slit.

She moaned when I pushed my fingers inside her. My fingers were enveloped in her heat, and my dick pulsed with hunger.

I spoke against her tit. “You’re so wet, little bird.”

She moved her hips with my fingers, working with my rhythm to get the friction she wanted on her clit, and I used my thumb to make circles around the little bud as I lifted my head to capture her mouth again.

Her lips were a brand, searing and burning, and I was more than happy to be set on fire as long as she was the one holding the match.

She gasped into my mouth as she came closer to coming, her hips moving faster as I worked her clit, plunging my fingers in and out of her wet cunt over and over again, my own horniness forgotten with the desire to make her come.