31. Brody

THIRTY-ONE

Imutter the enchantment under my breath, transporting us like I did on Friday night, only this time, I opt for somewhere a lot less…dangerous. My dick wants me to take her back to my room at the mages' building, but I don't need to piss her off any more than I already have.

Despite my desires, I'm acutely aware that she'll be raging mad at me when we stop moving since I didn't get her consent, but I can apologize for that when she needs to hear it.

I take a deep breath as we come to a stop, my magic falling around us as the familiar forest comes into view. I press her back against the nearest tree, which offers the most privacy from the walkway nearby, watching as her eyes practically roll in their sockets as she tries to focus.

Her face has paled from the movement, but she still remains the same crazy girl underneath. I don't think I've ever been this obsessed with someone who has so much fire in everything they do. If I'm honest with myself, that's more than half of her appeal.

She's a fae—without the typical ears, sure—but one would assume she'd be timid and meek, yet she's nothing like that at all. Circling back to her ears, I can only imagine the pain she must have endured, yet here she stands, unwavering in spite of whatever is thrown at her.

I get a whole five seconds before her eyes settle on mine, narrowing as anger swirls in her orbs.

"What the fuck was that?" she snarls, pushing against my chest, but I don't budge as my dick stiffens. She really is something else.

Keeping my gaze locked on hers, I smile softly. "I'm sorry."

"You're…what?" Her eyebrows pinch in confusion as she continues to glare at me. The press of her palms remains against my chest, intoxicating me with her damn presence.

It's not often I apologize, so she better appreciate this.

"I'm sorry. I know you don't like it, and I was totally selfish."

She blinks up at me, even more confused than she had been a moment ago, and it feels like an achievement. Grinning wider, I only make her glare deepen.

"What the fuck is this, Brody? Why am I here?" She peers around me, confirming we're alone like I know we are. No one comes out here so soon after classes. In an hour or so, maybe, but for now, it's just the two of us.

I probably should have considered where we are since my every thought has been consumed by a damn earth fae, but hopefully, the misstep can be overlooked.

Wetting my lips, I place both of my hands on the tree by her head. I can't help but notice the way her eyes track the movement of my tongue before she gulps.

Fuck. Please.

"I can't get you out of my head," I rasp, admitting the truth, and she scoffs.

"Try harder." Her snark just serves to make my cock harder for her.

"How is it this easy for you to deny?" I ask, genuinely curious as my heart races in my chest and my pulse rings in my ears.

"What are you talking about?"

She's full of shit.

Full. Of. Shit.

I might not have heightened senses like the others, but it's written all over her, just as it's written into every piece of me.

Inching closer, I expect her to put more force into her palms, keeping me at bay, but she does nothing. "I didn't get a good night kiss, never mind a chance to get you out of my system on Friday, Dagger."

Her jaw falls slack as she gapes at me before she shakes her head subtly. "Move on, fuck someone else," she grumbles, and I only wish it was that easy.

"I tried."

"What?" She rears her head back like the fact is a kick in the teeth. If I were a guessing man, I would believe that's jealousy in her eyes, but I know more than anything she would deny it until she's blue in the face.

"I tried. Getting over someone is easier when you get under someone else. I tried it. Tried doesn't feel like a strong enough word, but here I am, still obsessed with you."

She searches my eyes. For what? I don't fucking know, so I let the silence consume us until she scoffs. "Do you want me to give you a pity handjob or something?" she asks, cocking a brow at me as she tries to laugh this away.

"Fuck no," I grunt, my muscles tensing with a need like I've never felt before. How can someone have such an effect on somebody else while trying to remain unfazed like this?

"What do you want then, Brody?" she repeats, only this time her voice is laced with anger. "I don't like you." Not true, I can see it in her eyes. "I'm certain I might hate you for the shit you pulled." Fuck that. "Accident or not, and?—"

Fuck all of that.

I cut off her next words with my lips against hers, fusing us together as heat swirls between us. Her lips are soft, full, and hot as sin.

I need more.

Stroking one hand down her cheek, I cup her chin, deepening the kiss when she still doesn't push me away. Tipping her head back a little, I get to delve between her lips and claim even more of her for a split second before she starts fighting back.

Not for me to get off.

No.

For control.

Fuck.

Her hands ball into fists, tugging at my t-shirt beneath my cloak, bringing me closer to her as I shift my hand to her throat, pinning her in position. The groan that vibrates against my palm brings my dick to full mast as I press against her. She's flush against my body, not an inch of room between us from head to toe.

I bring my other hand to her waist beneath her cloak, a little disappointed to not find any daggers along her ribcage like on Friday, but at least she can't use one against me this time.

My blood is a raging inferno from her touch, ready to tear through my body and envelop us both in a heat like no other.

Fighting for control, our lips and tongues dance together as our hands roam. Her hands tug at my t-shirt, and a satisfied moan parts her lips a moment later when her palms touch my bare skin.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

As much as I don't want to ruin the moment, I don't want her to regret this later, feeling like I forced this. "Hate fucking is far superior to any sympathy shit you were talking about. Tell me you're in," I breathe against her lips, not giving her much room to escape me, but I'm asking at least.

She ignores me at first, continuing to kiss my lips, which I gladly reciprocate, but when her fingers dance along the waistband of my pants, I know I need to hear those words from her.

"Tell me, Dagger. Give me the words."

"No," she rasps, shaking her head as her eyes pry open and settle on mine.

"Why?"

"Because…"

Nothing follows but silence. She can't even finish the damn sentence. Her gaze travels back to my lips, her fingertips dancing over my skin as she tries to find a reason not to.

"Say yes, Dagger."

"Then I'll be out of your system?" Her eyes meet mine, sending me into a spiral because right now, I don't think I ever want this feeling to end. I can't lie and agree to that.

"Say yes, Dagger," I repeat, refusing to confirm or deny.

"Just this once, Brody," she states, breathless, and I raise an eyebrow at her, refusing to agree to anything at all. Taking my hand, she guides me to her core, her combat pants separating me from her pussy, but the heat against my touch is undeniable. "Yes."

We collide together at her admission, control flicking between us as we take and take. Our cloaks fall first, our lips still fused together as I chant against her mouth. I sense the shift around us. If she does, she doesn't utter a word about it, but the magic ensures we're protected from any stray observers.

It's just the two of us, the grass beneath our feet, and the bark at her back.

Grabbing her waist, she understands what I want, letting me lift her into the air as she wraps her legs around my hips. Fuck. I'm closer, but not close enough.

I fall to my knees with a thud, laying the sinful beauty before me. Hands roaming, I slip under her fitted black top, hissing at the feel of goosebumps along her skin as I search out her tits. Taut nipples pebble beneath my touch and I bite back a groan, kissing her harder as I try to get my fill of her.

"Hate fucking doesn't involve getting me ready, Brody. Just take," she snaps against my mouth as she shuffles to her elbows, peering at me with challenge in her eyes.

If I don't take, then she will, and as tempting as the latter sounds, I'm going to get exactly what I want from her.

I reach for the button of her combat pants, yanking without care as the button pops. She gasps but doesn't utter a word. If she wants this rough and fast, then that's what she gets, but on my terms.

Grabbing the waistband of her pants, I pull them to midthigh before I hook my arms under her legs, hoisting her in the air again as I stand. Her hands wrap around my neck as she squeals, and a moment later, she's back pressed against the tree with her legs splayed, dangling over my arms.

At this height, her eyes are level with mine and my dick is mere inches from her core. Using the tree to hold her in place, I blindly dig a condom from my pocket and unbuckle my pants just enough to free my length before sheathing my cock.

Her movements are restricted by her pants, which are still mostly on, and I like having her at my mercy like that. Pulling the material of her panties to the side, I line my cock up with her entrance, but before I push inside and find Heaven, I meet her gaze once again.

Pupils blown, jaw slack, and pulse vibrating at her neck, she looks so fucking hot I could come without ever getting inside her.

As if sensing her final opportunity to back out, she rolls her eyes before dropping in my hold, pressing my dick at her entrance, and I hiss at the immediate heat that consumes me.

Hot fuck.

I slam all the way inside her, my lips crashing against hers again as my body thrums with ecstasy. She's so fucking tight, so fucking hot. It's too much.

Too fucking much.

I can't think.

"Please move, you have to move," she pleads against my mouth, and I lean back enough to look down at where we're truly connected. Slowly, so damn slowly, I retreat until only the tip remains before slamming back inside her hard and fast.

Her head falls back on a groan, her nails piercing the flesh at my neck as I repeat the motion again and again.

All I can hear are her breaths, all I can see is the euphoria in her eyes, all I can feel is her hot pussy claiming me, and all I can taste are the sweet remnants of her lips against mine.

Adjusting my hold on her, pressing her into the tree even more until I'm certain there will be marks along her back once we're done, I shift angles slightly.

"Holy fuck. There. Right there," she chants, her voice light and almost whimsical, moments before she cries out with pleasure. Her core clenches around my dick, taking everything from me as she climaxes.

The sight of her, the sound of her, the feel of her as she comes apart is too much. Never in my wildest fucking dreams has anything ever been so…this.

I can't hold back. I don't want to.

My forehead falls to her shoulder and my fingers dig into her thighs as I find my release. My movements turn jagged, desperate, and intoxicated as we ride out wave after wave of pleasure.

Slowly, once I can even consider moving, I drop to my knees again, lowering her to the grass before I pull out. My eyelids fall closed as I try to catch my breath.

"Holy fuck." My words are a rasp, my throat burning from fuck knows what as I force my eyes back open so I can look at her. I instantly frown when I find her standing before me, tugging her pants back into place before she starts fixing her shirt and bra. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving."

"Not yet, you're not," I grunt, my mind a damn vortex of thoughts that I can't piece together.

"I am," she states, reaching for her cloak. She drapes it over her shoulders like I'm not still a trembling mess on the ground right now.

"We need to talk about this, Addi."

"We don't need to talk about anything, Brody." She gives me a pointed look, like that's the end of it, but it's so far from it that she has no idea.

"Addi." It's a plea, a fucking plea from my lips, and she offers me what I can only describe as a sympathetic smile in response.

Crouching before me, she leans forward, pressing a featherlight kiss to the corner of my mouth.

"Thanks, but you were a means to an end."

"What the fuck does that mean?" I bite, my cock still semi-hard and exposed with the condom in place. I'm a mess. A fucking mess. It's all her fault, and there's nothing I can do about it.

"It means you fucked me out of your system, and I ensured Cassian fucks all the way off," she explains with a smile, standing again.

"How do you figure?" I ask, intrigued with where her head is at since mine is a fucking mess.

She shrugs. "I fucked his friend. He'll leave me alone now."

I laugh. The sound gives me the strength to stand and remove the condom from my dick before I tuck myself away. She stands, frowning at me as my laugh softens into a chuckle.

"What's funny?" She can't help but ask, and the uncertainty in her eyes only confirms that she's not ready for the answer.

"You'll see," I reply with a wink before eliminating the distance between us. I lift my hand to her cheek, and when she doesn't immediately bat me away, I grin triumphantly before running my tongue along her bottom lip. The shiver that consumes her is bliss, and I'm not the one feeling it. "And by the way…definitely not out of my system."