When we’d finally reached the partially private alcove in front of my studio, largely shrouded by overgrown bushes of pink and purple bougainvilleas, the captain had lost his patience.
I found myself shoved up against my front door, wrists bound by Shadows above my head as Kieran’s hands ran all over my body, groping at my waist, my tits, and between my thighs with vicious hunger.
“Kieran, we arestill in public,” I groaned, his knee yet again shoved between my legs, a powerful thigh pressed hard enough against my center that any attempts to wriggle out of his grasp sent shooting sparks of pleasure through my body.
“I don’t give adamn right now, Asher,” he growled, dipping his head forward and running his crooked nose against the column of my neck, breathing deep. “I will fuck you against this door right here and now and let the whole neighborhood hear you scream my name. Don’t think that I wouldn’t.”
“I am fairly certain that indecent exposure is against the law,Captain,” I replied breathlessly.
Something in his gaze seemed to darken at the word. Or maybe it was just the fact that the pupil in his unmarred eye had blown out, leaving only the slightest slivers of ice.
“Is it now?” he crooned, pulling his lips away as I tried leaning forward to capture them with a kiss.
A desperate sort of whimper escaped my mouth at the denial, and then his mouth was on mine again—eager, hungry. Fucking Fates, I was far too addicted to this. Utterly trapped by every slow and calculated stroke of his velvet tongue, tangling with mine and tasting of cloves, cinnamon, citrus, and tea.
We needed to get inside, because I needed him to get inside me. As Kieran’s Shadows released my wrists, his sole focus on kissing me into oblivion, I slipped a hand behind my back, hoping to open the door and let us tumble inside—but the handle wouldn’t budge.
Ah, shit.
I had nearly forgotten.
My apartment had been protected, warded by Amaretta, and then later refreshed by an old friend of hers—Graham Kepler. The alchemist had taken care to explain to me how they worked, pricking my thumb with a sanitized needle in order to attune the wards to my blood.
“Don’t you fret, this isn’t considered blood magick,” the old man had chirped encouragingly. “And Ms. Sinclair had already sent over a sample—this will just ensure her wards hold strong for years to come. Quite impressive, really, that Amaretta. I’ve never seen anything quite like this.”
Amma had explained that it was challenging to craft wards within an already heavily warded city-state, but it had to be done.
“The wards prevent entry for anyone but you, Arken. And myself, naturally, though we both know my traveling days are behind me. Not even the city guard will be able to break thatspellwork—I have specifically ensured they cannot enter. You can allow your friends in with a temporary incantation if you must, but to give anyone free access will require…”
“Fuck this,” I murmured against Kieran’s mouth, fisting my fingers into raven-black hair and nipping hard at his lower lip. He growled in approval, hips grinding against mine, pressing me up against the door even harder now. In the split second we broke apart to breathe, I slid a fingertip across his swollen lips, capturing just the smallest droplet of his blood.
“Aeanthos,” I whispered between breaths, twisting my wrist behind my back and performing the somatic gesture in tandem. My fingers buzzed and tingled with powerful arcane energy as I made it so that Kieran could enter freely from now on. I didn’t want to have to cast a temporary allowance spell every time I wanted to take this man back to my bed—it was simply impractical. I knew Amma had gone out of her way to specifically bespell this space against the Elder Guard, and I knew why, but…Kieran was different. He was an exception. My one and only exception.
I trusted this man with my life, if not my secrets.
As I felt the wards begin to coalesce and rebind themselves, attuning to the sanguine offering, I breathed the words to seal them.
Fin, praestrictum, klausarcanus.
“Well then,” Kieran murmured, finally pulling himself back and shoving his wandering hands back into his pockets, smirking with self-satisfaction. “Somebody’s feeling…impatient.”
Ah, Hel. Of course he recognized the incantation. I blushed, realizing that now webothknew I had just handed him the arcane equivalent of a house key. He looked a little too pleased, his wolfish grin only widening as I glared back at him and the weight of his presumptuous silence.
“Oh, shut up and fuck me already, Vistarii,” I hissed.
“I told you, Arken. I’ll fuck you right here and now.”
“Now I think you’re just trying to get me locked up in a jail cell for your own amusement again,” I scoffed. “This is clearly an abuse of power—you’re not the one who would get arrested.”
“I’d be the one doing the arresting, yes,” he agreed. “And there are a great many things I’d like to do to you for my own amusement, Little Conduit. Though I will admit, most of them do involve some semblance of privacy. So are you going to let us inside? Or are we going to explore your supposedlackof interest in exhibitionism this afternoon?”
He took a step forward as he spoke, the tips of his fingers teasing their way between my thighs, taking advantage of the length—or lack thereof—of my sundress, coasting across my panties with the slightest of brushes. It was just enough to make me shiver as my clit pulsed, begging for his steadfast attention.
“I hate you,” I breathed.
Kieran only chuckled and cocked a brow before slipping past me, opening the door so we might finally make our way inside.
“Oh yeah? Prove it.”