CAGED (#3, of Crows and Thorns)

Chapter 74

My gaze darted to Nelle's mouth when she flicked her pink tongue over her lower lip and made it glisten. A desperate groan clawed from my throat. I was ravenous for those perfect, lush lips.

"A kiss," I murmured, my voice edged hoarsely with demand. And a part of me distantly felt the twang rippling down the dark magic that tied us together.

Without hesitation, Nelle sank closer to brush her mouth against mine. Her warm breath fluttered against my cheeks as she parted her lips and kissed me. Her kiss was softly sensual like a summer sun sinking beneath the horizon on a balmy day, the sultry hues of fire alighting the sky. The burrow was filled with my desirous moans as yearning skittered across my skin and strummed an impulsive chord in the deep recesses of my soul.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, warned that part of me which remained apart and aware.

I knew instinctively she was doing this to please me.

I had to stop her.

I had to stop myself.

Whatever this was, whatever influence she was under, she wasn't clear of mind to tell me what she wanted. She needed to be the Nelle I knew, strong-willed, surly, and clever enough to try manipulating me to undo the rope around her throat, not this submissive girl poised to give me whatever I wanted.

Nelle didn't protest when I broke the kiss and levered up on my elbows, forcing her back. I carefully eased out from underneath, tucking my legs to the side of her. She looked curious, but not offended.

A muffled sound of padding across carpet came from outside the burrow, before a snuffling nose nudged at the rugs hanging over the bed, making them rustle. Sage gave an anxious whine. Nelle didn't blink, didn't acknowledge her friend.

Sage whined once more for Nelle's attention, while pawing beneath the draping rugs, his claws hooking on the silky sheets and blankets bunched around us.

It wasn't until I moved my head to look in Sage's direction, that Nelle did too, eerily tracking my movement.

I inched toward the edge of Nelle's nest and she stalked me like an animal. Wispy fur and soft cashmere brushed against my body as I shouldered my way through the rugs hanging like a curtain around the tall-framed bed. I rolled out from underneath, rising to my feet, and greeted vibrant sunshine.

Nelle followed, pushing upward to stand beside my bed, which was a fucking mess with the rumpled rugs and furs hanging over its edge. She'd stripped it right back to the mattress, dragging the silk sheets and thinner blankets into her wyrm burrow.

Nelle stared back at me with my eyes in her delicate face. Both of us were naked, and a sheen of perspiration coated her feminine curves, shimmering along her temples and the high cut of her cheekbones.

It was an unreasonably hot day and the tower was a fucking baking oven. While Sage trotted eagerly to Nelle's side, I headed straight to the air conditioning and turned it on. Streams of crisp air rushed over my heated body, cooling the beads of sweat. I tipped my head back and sucked up the fresh air flowing down from the vaulted ceiling, untainted by us.