Page 4

Chapter 4

I Kissed a Girl, and I Liked It

I t wasn’t clear to me how it happened, but one second we were following my mark—who’d walked to the back of the club—weaving through a throng of happy club-goers, hands joined, the thunderous music a punishing beat on our ears; then we were in a long corridor, my back painted against the wall, Jo’s arms caging me in, her knee pushing between my thighs, and her powerful obsidian eyes penetrating my very soul with their pointed gaze.

A breath escaped my lips. Which was better than the moan I’d nearly let loose instead. The friction between my thighs was an instant problem because of my heightened senses. Her thigh brushed over a place that was never satisfied, and my pulse thrummed to life, plenty acquainted with the feeling of desire.

I blinked, not sure what to think before Jo spoke, her intention-rich voice dropped to a sensuous whisper, “Have you ever kissed a woman, V?”

Excusie?

To say I hadn’t expected the question would be an understatement. But my body’s reactions were what concerned me the most. The electric sensation that throbbed between my legs and the heat that captured my body at the mere thought of kissing her was a warning that I was about to make an absolute ass out of myself.

I was going to beg for it. I was going to fall right into the trap she’d set out for me. Here, on a mission with a woman I’d barely known for a month. Someone who could easily cut my head off and go about her day like it was just another thing she’d checked off her to-do list.

I’m a little worried about the people I seem to be attracted to these days…

I opened my mouth, but the answer never came. I’d been silenced by the ferocity of her gaze and the seduction of her question. My brain knew it. My heart knew it. But my body didn’t get the damn memo. It reacted the exact opposite of someone who’d trained their entire life to thwart advances of this kind.

Holy shit.

Jo’s eyes glided from mine down to my lips, then back up again. It was the only warning I got before her head bent down and her mouth covered mine. One of her soft hands cradled and lifted my chin to give her better access to my lips.

I stiffened, heart hammering, but she dragged me closer. Her tongue forced its way into my mouth, and a moan dislodged from my throat—the one I’d only just managed to smother. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Her lips tilted before her tongue twisted and flicked over mine, coaxing it into action.

I thought Phil and Sloan were demons when it came to kissing, but neither of those dudes had a damn thing on Jo. She knew her way around a woman’s mouth. I was liquified goo with the strength of her kiss, barely breathing, a total mess in a gorgeous woman’s arms.

I wasn’t sure how I expected a kiss between a man and a woman to differ, but this whole moment was beyond comprehension for my inexperienced brain. I’d be lucky to string a single coherent thought together after this.

The deadly Fae tasted like strawberries and cream, but something lingered in the kiss that warned of danger; that suggested if I was its captive for too long, I might be overcome in some way. That I’d lose myself and never be the same. It made it difficult to focus when the taste of her was both sweet and dangerous.

Her lips were sinfully soft, and the sensation of her body against mine was addictive. Like our bodies were perfectly matched for each other, every curve of mine fit with every curve of hers. It forced my hands into action, mimicking hers by taking a path down her front, consciously avoiding anywhere too forward.

Something inside me responded to the mysterious Fae in a way it never had with Phillip or Sloan. A spark ignited when we touched. The world both moved and stood frighteningly still. The longer our lips merged, the more I needed her; the more I yearned for it all, desperate to do whatever it took to get everything she’d willingly give.

Her fingers danced down my front, scorching my skin wherever she touched, and the pleasure of it battered my lower half. My head knocked back and chest hitched, falling under the spell of her confident caress.

I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t pretend I didn’t want it.

There’d been so much tension between us. My desires came bubbling to the surface the second our lips fused, and now I’d be hard-pressed to smother any of my urges after this. Not after knowing what it was like to touch her.

To kiss her.

The knee between my thighs shifted, and heat took hold of my lower abdomen. My stomach constricted. I fought the pleasure. It was mortifying how hard I had to fight it. Thankfully, before I did something I couldn’t take back, everything ended.

Jo’s eyes slid to the left where our target had once been, and then she pulled away. “Come on,” she entreated, grabbing my hand again. “He’s not suspicious of us anymore.”

“Who?” Her laughing eyes flicked over to me, and it finally clicked. “So, all that was just to put him off our scent?” I asked, following her down the hallway until it peeled off to the left.

Weight landed in my stomach when she nodded, smirking. “Yes, but…maybe that’s not all it was.”

What does that even mean?

Her eyes cut over to me, the sway of her body distracting my gaze for a few seconds. “Maybe I wanted to kiss you.”

I started to ask her why, but she pressed a finger to her lips cutely and then pointed at a door just ahead of us. “It’s go time.”

As was my shitty existence these days, I didn’t have time to digest yet another confusing situation. Instead, I prepared myself mentally for whatever fuckery awaited me on the other side of that access door.

Jo was a little too excited about the kick she landed on the all-metal door. It busted open and barely stayed upright, hanging precariously by its second hinge. Long strings of her purple magic snaked around her arms and waist, growing more agitated by the second.

The dude didn’t stand a chance. Her magic-laced whip struck out. A loud crack hit my ears before our target was taken to the ground by his ankle. Classic. A symbol formed under the surprised Blood Mage, and he was bound by it the second it appeared.

When I found out that Jo preferred a whip over the daggers she always seemed to have in hand, I was surprised to say the least. I’d only seen her use daggers in a fight. Every time Cash mouthed off, that was what she punished him with. So, when she used her whip during a spar, I learned very quickly that while she was lethal with daggers, she was an absolute sadist holding a whip.

If I hadn’t been the superior being I was, I’d have lash marks for days. Although, I once considered letting her whip strike me so I knew how it felt. Grams’s training had worn off on me. I’d become so curious that I was willing to suffer just to know how best to deal with the pain of her whip’s hit. But even letting the gorgeous Fae whip me on purpose was a step too far into masochistic waters, and I wasn’t ready to admit how often I got those urges.

Evading the broken swing of the door, I strolled into the room and checked for anyone nearby. Lucky for us, this unfortunate bastard was the only one in sight.

The Blood Mage— we’ll call him Blonde-jerk because I’ve forgotten his name after a kiss that turned my head to mush —struggled against the magic binding him. He cursed under his breath when every attempt he made to escape was blocked by a blast of purple, reactively strengthening the magic’s hold on him.

“What the fuck are you?” Blonde-jerk spat, neck strained and body incapacitated by a binding spell only Eros could match.

Jo knelt down next to the immobilized blonde, his brown-red eyes flying from her to me as I made my way over to his other side. “Oh, I think you know. It was only a matter of time before your boss got himself into hot water. Or should I call him…Four.”

Even without training in the elusive art of reading expressions, this dude was practically screaming he knew perfectly well what we were talking about. Despite being immobilized, every part of him confirmed our suspicions.

Fredrick was Four. He was part of the Seven, and once we got to him, he’d be our link to the rest. I tried not to get too excited knowing we’d gotten the first one in our grasp. The other six would come after interrogating this asshat’s leader, and then we could cripple Lux’s operation before he got back on his feet.

Of course, it was never that simple. My life had been one fucked up off-road adventure after another. But I was hopeful now that we’d gotten our first lead.

From what I was told about Blood Mages, they got their power solely from the innocent blood they spilled, so I wouldn’t hesitate to kill these bastards.

And when I removed one of my daggers ready to do just that, Jo shook her head with one side of her mouth quirked up. “Ah-ah. No weapons. Only magic.”

I swallowed around the uncomfortable lump forming in my throat. It’d be the first time I consciously used my magic in public and, nodding, I sheathed my dagger.

Blonde-jerk’s eyes shot from left to right, clearly confused by her comment. I wasn’t, though. It was the entire reason the killer Fae was here with me. It was why instead of killing him, Jo bound him to the floor. If not for the perfect opportunity this offered for me, this horrible bastard would be sliced up and deader than dead by now.

This was training.

I exhaled a shaky breath, afraid of the tremendous power dwelling within. But then I centered myself on the feeling in my core. Her hand touched mine, and my eyes jerked open. She nodded once in encouragement. It calmed my pulse, which had already reacted to the fear that always lived inside of me when I called on my chaotic, all-consuming power.

Ever since I nearly killed everyone with my hellfire, I was having a lot of trouble trusting what I could do. Jo could protect herself, but I didn’t want to be the reason she had to. It scared me to think that I might never get a handle on it, or I might be the reason someone was seriously injured in the future, and that fear stayed with me every time I used it.

“Don’t overthink it. Feel it. Let it guide you,” she whispered, her hand squeezing around mine.

I moistened my lips, eyes falling shut again. “Okay.”

“You’ve got this, V.”

Her words were the reassurance I didn’t know I needed.

“What the fuck is happening? You know they already know you’re here, right? Even without me, you don’t stand a fucking chance,” Blonde-jerk barked out, attempting to rattle us. It wouldn’t.

Knowing my crew, I wasn’t the only one who’d gotten my mark. No doubt, Jo would make quick work of the other two she was responsible for killing once we finished off this asshole.

The chick was seriously powerful, and after what I’d seen, these bastards couldn’t hold a candle to her. She’d end them quicker than any of the others could. Honestly, I was grateful she was on our side. She’d be one terrifying enemy to have. Worse than Eros from what I knew about the femme fatale.

This jerk wasn’t anyone important. We didn’t need him. All he was to me was a living, breathing dummy to practice my power on.

The sensation in my stomach erupted a second later, a violent hum drowning out every other sound. Jo and I separated as Blonde-jerk caught fire. In seconds, our enemy was burned to dust. A breath later, the flames vanished, leaving the shape of the unlucky bastard as a black stain on the cement floor.

Jo’s eyes caught mine, and her dazzling smile made me smile, too. “You did it, V!” was all she said before we were inches apart, her hands cradling my face. “How do you feel? Tired?” She checked me over as if she could see everything there on my body.

“Surprisingly…no,” I responded, not the least bit tired. “But I didn’t use that much.”

“That’s the point,” she said, laughing. “You controlled it, used it for what you needed it for, and then ended it when you were finished. The time-stall will be the biggest challenge because of how much you’ll have to control while in it, so we’ll do that one next. You should also be able to control your ability to manipulate a target and deactivate their abilities, though, in theory.”

“In theory?”

The gorgeous Fae who still had a hold on my face shrugged. Her amber-ignited eyes fell to my mouth for the briefest moment before they connected with mine again. “We have two more we can practice on, so don’t worry. I’m sure you have a lot on your mind right now.”

Was she taunting me? Holy hell.

“I—”

Her thumb swept across my lower lip, silencing me. I tried not to show it, but I was already suffering with one little caress. “You’re not the only one.”

Say what?

Another bulldozer and I was struggling to get answers. Sort of tough when your mouth didn’t work and your brain lost its function—just started screaming “Oh my god!” oddly in Kate’s voice every time I tried to form a thought. Not that Jo ever gave me a chance to form one.

Her fingers were already laced with mine, and she towed me away from the room where we’d ended a Blood Mage’s life.