Chapter 33 Izzy
IZZY
Myel and I huddled in the shadows of the cliffs near campus.
“You’re sure we can trust him?” Myel whispered, not for the first time since the incident with Vyns earlier that evening.
Nope.
But I truly hoped we could.
“Yes.”
I was afraid if I didn’t give a definitive answer Myel would hunt the other man down and I honestly didn’t know how that would turn out. Shifter versus angel? Vyns had seen real battle, but Myel was tough as they came and there was a fire in his eyes I’d never seen before.
“This isn’t good,” Myel breathed. “No one should know about us. Even if we can trust him… he’s Saldrea’s guard and one of Saldrea’s little sisterhood is a sylph who can read minds.”
Oh.
Shit.
“I…” He let out a long breath. I had the feeling something weighed on him. I couldn’t see him in this darkness, but that had been a heavy sigh.
“What?” I asked, softly.
“Things are… coming to a head. We… may need to act soon. I know you don’t know what that means, but… just… be ready for anything. Okay?”
Cryptic much?
“Yeah… sure, okay?”
He kissed me, lips insistent, as if his life depended on this desperate contact.
“I should go. But I’ll be back later,” he whispered. Both of us generally felt better, able to get through the day if we slept together at night. “I love you, Izzy, stay safe.”
“You too,” I urged him, now more than a little worried what he might do, given his enigmatic remarks.
“Always.” Then he was gone.
I was alone.
My turn to sigh heavily.
I made my way back along the beach to the steps at The Tumble. For some reason the long climb up seemed to take forever, arduous. I felt… heavy.
I plodded along the path at the top of the cliff, back to my residence, then up more stairs.
It was a testament to my distracted state that I didn’t notice the door to my room was slightly ajar until I reached for the handle.
Curious…
I pushed the door open.
My room… was… gone.
Gutted.
Burned and blackened and… gone!
“What the ever-loving fuck!” I shouted, though it came out more as a disheartened groan.
“It was Saldrea and her goons.” The voice startled me.
I flinched, spinning so fast my hand cracked on the doorframe.
Ouch!
Fuck!
Rook peeked out from his room. “She got her dragon to incinerate everything. Sorry.”
Sorry?
Why was he saying sorry? He hadn’t done anything.
Also… everything I had in this world — not like it was much — was gone. My brand-new computer, clothes, bed, everything! And all he had to say was… sorry? The word was far too little for what I felt, but also somehow too much when coming from Rook.
I couldn’t even respond, so utterly overwhelmed by this complete destruction.
My visions swam, growing dark, the world fading.
Rook caught me as I collapsed.
“Whoa… I’ve got you,” he whispered. “Why don’t you rest in my room for a bit.”
I didn’t want to rest in his room, I wanted to rest in my room, but I didn’t have a room anymore!
Rook carried me into his room and laid me on his bed. All I could think was: how many other women have been on this mattress? He was an incubus, after all. Yet I had no energy to protest. I couldn’t even sit up, I just lay there, dazed.
Rook left me and moved around, doing something, slipping into the bathroom then returning with…
A hot cup of… was that tea?
“Here, drink. It’s an old remedy my mother taught me, for… energy.”
His mother… a succubus. So, probably not so much energy but libido I guessed.
He helped me sit, shifting so my back rested against the wall, since I still couldn’t hold myself up.
I took the cup, cradling it in both hands as I sipped.
“Oh!”
The flavor was a bit odd, but the effect was intense and immediate. Warmth filled my body. I felt… rejuvenated… alive! The dimly lit room came into crisp focus as all my senses went on high alert. “What is this?”
Rook chuckled. “Don’t ask.”
“Demon balls?” I joked.
He shrugged and smirked… which made me think I wasn’t far off.
Oh…
Yeah… I shouldn’t have asked. Luckily that one sip seemed to have been all I needed to perk up.
I set the cup aside and breathed out heavily. I had some energy now… but the shock from my room being utterly gutted still weighed on me.
“I have nothing,” I whispered.
“You have friends,” Rook replied, pulling his desk chair over and sitting near the bed. “You may not include me as one of them, but I am. You can stay here… if you want… for as long as you need.”
Stay here…?
In Rook’s room?
With… Rook?
In his bed?
With… Rook?
The tea must have done something to me — or maybe it was the memory of our one stunning night together — but getting some sexual soothing from this man didn’t sound like a bad idea right now.
Did that mean I’d forgiven him for betraying me to this world’s authorities? Fuck it, I needed all the friends I could get. Sins forgiven.
“I could use a… friend,” I whispered.
In and instant he was on the bed with me, holding me, pulling me into his warmth, a soft kiss on the top of my head.
Did friends kiss each other’s heads?
I didn’t care. This felt good.
“What do you need?” Rook whispered.
Those four simple words meant so much, it almost made me cry.
If it hadn’t been for that tea invigorating me, warming me in all the wrong ways — or right ways?
— I might have sobbed. Most guys would go into problem solving mode and just try to fix it, even if “it” couldn’t be fixed and just needed to be felt.
Others wouldn’t ask, afraid it might make them seem weak.
They’d assume they knew what I needed. Asking… meant so much to me.
Even if I didn’t know what I needed.
“Hold me,” I whimpered.
“Done,” he said softly.
I chuckled.
What I needed… was my room back. But thinking that way wouldn’t get me anywhere.
What I wanted was to find Saldrea and punch her in the face for being an entitled ass.
But I had a feeling that wouldn’t go how I wanted, not with that big dragon nearby protecting her, and even if I did get a hit in on her, I’d probably end up in jail because she was royalty.
Which meant…
Rook was right. What I needed right now was friends, people to comfort me, people to talk to and figure out what to do next. People… to help me forget how crappy my life was.
I squirmed in Rook’s arm till he let me move, then shifted till my face was next to his.
God, he was sexy. Those fiery eyes, that perfectly tousled long red hair, the chiseled features of his face.
One kiss from him and all my cares would fade away.
And his lips looked so damned kissable.
I moved in; he knew what I wanted and moved with me. Our lips met and with that tea bringing all my senses to life, my body lit up with desire, as some deep part of me sighed with relief. The tension and anxiety thrumming through me evaporated, replaced with a steamy heat billowing in my chest.
Ohhhh yeah.
Rook gave me everything I needed in that one kiss. His arms stroked my back and side, relaxing and warm. His mouth moulded to mine, so deep and intense, somehow drawing out the ache in my soul. Pain and anxiety seemed to evaporate out of me with every soft moan and shuddering breath.
Kissing an incubus was clearly the solution to all of life’s problems.
And when one of his hands slid down my arm and brushed the side of my breast, it set my body on fire.
The last time we’d been together, Rook had rocked my world without even using his cock. A tiny part of me wondered what he could do with that organ. Just how sinful was sex with an incubus?
Tonight, I’d find out.