Page 11 of Heartflame

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. The werewolf, I still didn’t know his name, kept trying to get me to dance closer to him, his large hands occasionally brushing my waist. Under normal circumstances, I might have been flattered by the attention. He was attractive in that oblivious, confident way that came naturally to werewolves. But my attention kept drifting back toward the kitchen, toward the corner where I could just barely make out Aeron’s silhouette through the crowd and those golden eyes of his glancing my way.

Fuck. This was exactly what he’d wanted. For me to come to this party and think about him all night.

“I’m gonna grab some air,” I told Lysander, already moving away from the dance floor before he could protest.

I made my way toward the back of the frat house, pushing through a sliding glass door that led out onto a small patio. The cool night air hit my flushed skin like a splash of cold water, and I took a deep breath, trying to center myself. Campus was quiet tonight, the sounds of the party muffled by the walls behind me. I could hear the distant hoot of an owl somewhere in the trees beyond the wards.

I leaned against the railing and stared out into the darkness, replaying the conversation over and over in my head. The way he’d looked at me. The confidence in his voice when he’d said those things. The absolute certainty that I wanted him.

The worst part was that he wasn’t entirely wrong.

I hated myself for it. I hated that some primal, stupid part of my brain had lit up at his words, at the proximity of him, at the way his horns had caught the light. I hated that my body had responded to his crude sexual proposition like I was some kind of lovesick fool. I was supposed to be here to make him look like an idiot, and instead I’d let him get into my head so thoroughly that I’d basically handed him the ammunition to humiliate me.

The sliding glass door opened behind me, and I didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was. I could feel him the same way I’d felt him in the kitchen. His presence was too large to ignore.

“Needed some space?” Aeron’s voice was different out here, without the music and the crowd. Softer somehow, though no less infuriating. He was taunting me.

“Go away,” I said flatly, not bothering to look at him.

“Seems like every time we talk, you tell me to leave you alone,” he said, and I could hear the amusement in his tone. “And yet, we keep finding each other. Seems like fate to me.”

“I’m not interested in whatever game you’re trying to play with me,” I said, finally turning to face him. In the moonlight, his scales looked almost silver instead of red. “I don’t want anything to do with you.”

“Is that so?” He moved to stand beside me at the railing, his massive frame somehow not making me feel as trapped as I thought it would. “Because from where I was standing, it looked like you wanted quite a bit to do with me.” His gaze dipped toward my crotch where my cock was still straining against my jeans, then back to my eyes. “I think you like me.”

“You have an incredible capacity for self-delusion,” I said coldly. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

“You’re the first.” He turned to face me, his hip resting against the railing. “So prove me wrong. Prove to me you don’t want me.”

I opened my mouth to do exactly that, to tell him he was full of shit and that I didn’t want anything to do with him, but at that exact moment he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. My eyes went wide as he made contact, his tongue grazing my lips almost immediately, looking for a way in. I hesitated for maybe a second or two, the warmth in my body tripling in an instant.

Then, with a gasp, I stepped back, raised my hand, and slapped the ever living shit out of him.

“Don’t… you… ever,” I growled, my chest heaving. “Touch me again.”

But he didn’t flinch or step back. In fact, he just smiled, his lips pulling up to reveal rows of sharp white teeth. “I won’t have to,” he said smugly as he leaned closer. “Because you’re going to beg me for it, Red. Before the semester’s out, you’ll be on your knees for me of your own free will. And when that day comes, I’m going to give you exactly what you’ve been craving.”

And with that, he turned on his heel and headed back toward the frat house. I turned away from him too, looking out over campus as my breath came in ragged gasps. I heard the sliding door open and close behind me, the music loud for only a second or two. I didn’t have to look back to know that he was gone.

My mind raced as I stared down toward the conservatory. He was wrong. I didn’t want anything to do with him. And fuck him for kissing me without my permission. I had half a mind to march straight to the admin building and file a report against him. That would get his grandfather’s attention and probably ruin his reputation on campus too. The dickhead deserved it.

However, the silent part I didn’t want to acknowledge was the pleasure humming through my system, the ghost of his kiss still warm on my lips, and the ache of my cock straining against my jeans.

Chapter 6

Aeron

Iwasn’t sure whose room I was in. And honest, I didn’t really care. The important part is that there was a comfortable bed, lots of pillows, and at least three people hanging on my every word.

“So what’s it like having a grandfather in the Elder Council?” the witch girl on my left arm asked, her blue eyes locking with mine as she let her top slip a bit lower, revealing more cleavage. “Do you get to help him with things? Or give him suggestions on laws?”

I laughed, shaking my head. This was always the question people asked first. They wanted to know how much power I already had.

“I don’t help him write laws,” I replied, settling back against the headboard. “But he lets me look through cases sometimes so I can tell him what I think.” I smiled a little wider. “I think I’ve influenced his decisions a few times with my thoughts.”

“Oh wow…” the lithe werewolf man on my right arm breathed, his muzzle tickling my shoulder as he pressed his lips to my deltoid. “So you’re like… kind of in charge then.”

“I’m being trained to take his place,” I nodded, giving his thigh a squeeze. “So yeah, I guess I am kind of in charge.”