17. Mallory
MALLORY
Rising onto my toes, I reached for him, pulling Maddox’s mouth to mine. The kiss wasn’t gentle. It was heat and want that had been building since I first laid eyes on him. Desperate and demanding. Even the vastness of Maddox’s arms wasn’t enough. I needed to be closer to him.
As if I’d telepathically communicated my wants, he gripped my hips and spun me around, pinning me to the wall as the hard length of him pressed into me. The stones dug into my back, but I welcomed the pain because it was overridden by so many other intense feelings.
The contrast of cold and heat made me gasp into his mouth, his body blazing against my front, the ancient chill of stone biting through the thin fabric of my dress at my back. Fire and ice. He swallowed the sound, his lips claiming mine harder, deeper.
My hands slid from his shoulders to his chest, feeling the play of muscle beneath cotton as I trailed my fingertips lower, grazing the hem of his hoodie.
He let out a growl that vibrated my lips when my fingers slipped under to touch his very damn defined abs.
God, he knew how to kiss. Not that I had much experience, but it was impossible to think that anything could feel as good as Maddox’s mouth moving over mine. His tongue touched my lips, seeking entrance I freely granted. Our tongues touched, mixing my taste with his, and the kiss became frantic.
His mouth moved hungrily over mine, making my knees weak, and I was grateful for the wall at my back and his body pinning me there.
I might have slipped to the floor otherwise.
One of his hands stayed firm at my waist, holding me in place, while the other traveled up to cup my jaw, tilting my face to the angle he wanted.
His thumb stroked along my cheekbone, the gesture almost tender despite the urgency in his kiss.
I made a sound between a whimper and a sigh, and he shuddered against me in response.
“This is madness,” he muttered. “You’re madness.”
My fingers found the rim of his mask, and I hesitated long enough to realize I didn’t want the barrier between us anymore.
I lifted his away, his eyes meeting mine as the mask came off, unguarded now, pupils such a dark green.
Too intense. Looking at me like I was the only thing in the world worth seeing.
“Some people skirt their entire life on the edge. I know when to jump.”
He never broke eye contact as he reached up and slid my mask off as well, his fingers brushing my temple, tangling briefly in my hair. The lace caught for a moment before coming free, and he let it fall somewhere behind me.
No disguises.
No pretense.
No excuses.
Just us, stripped down to something raw and honest and terrifying.
I had no idea what I was doing with Maddox Corvo, but I didn’t care, not when it felt this good, this right.
His mouth moved to my ear, taking the lobe between his teeth as he rolled his tongue around my studded earring. “Clearly you’re smart, Hales, which makes me wonder what the hell you’re doing with me.”
Turning my head a fraction so our lips were slightly aligned, I whispered, “Losing my mind.”
He trailed kisses along my jaw, down the column of my throat, and I tilted my head back against the stone, giving him access, my breathing coming in short, desperate gasps.
His lips found my pulse point, and he paused there, his tongue darting out to taste, and he smiled as my fingers twisted tighter in his hoodie.
His other hand traveled up my leg, fingers trailing heat through the thin fabric of my dress, bunching it higher as he moved in delicious torture.
When he gripped the soft skin of my thigh, his palm was hot and possessive against my flesh.
His fingers dug in just hard enough to leave marks I’d feel tomorrow, and I gasped against his mouth as he claimed my lips again.
He hooked my leg up over his hip, pressing closer, and the new angle made stars burst behind my eyelids as he pinned me harder to the wall.
He kissed me again, and this time, it was different. Slower. Like he was trying to memorize the shape of my mouth, the taste of me, the way I responded to him. When his tongue swept along my bottom lip, I opened for him without hesitation.
Through the lust-filled haze, a sound tickled at my mind, faint and distant, murmuring…my name? But that couldn’t be. Maybe it was the building settling into its bones.
Mallory.
I froze, every muscle going rigid.
What the hell?
The kiss broke as I pulled back abruptly, my heart suddenly hammering too loud in my ears, drowning out everything else. “Wait.”
Maddox’s hands stayed at my sides, one still gripping my thigh, the other splayed across my ribs just below my breast. He tensed, glancing into my face, those green eyes brimming with desire for me. “What’s wrong?”
Nothing, I begged my tongue to say, wishing I’d kept kissing him, but I swallowed hard, straining to hear past the rush of blood in my ears, past my own ragged breathing, for my name.
What if it were Paisley looking for me? Since we lost communication the second I walked inside the church, it would make sense for her to be concerned.
Perhaps she had come to make sure I was safe.
“I thought I heard someone,” I said, unsettled, my brain muddled by Maddox’s kisses.
He went still, his gaze flicking toward the stairs, scanning the shadows pooling in the corners, then back to me. “Are you sure?”
I rubbed my hands over my arms, a sudden chill dancing over my skin. “I don’t know,” I admitted, hating how uncertain I sounded, my body still humming from his touch. “Maybe it was nothing. But it sounded like—”
“You think the person who is leaving you those notes is here?” His hand slid from my thigh, the loss of contact immediate and cold as he straightened, putting distance between us. He shrugged out of his hoodie. “Put this on.”
I chewed on my swollen bottom lip, nearly reaching out to bring him back, but he was already moving toward the stairs.
“I don’t know,” I replied, slipping on his sweatshirt, his scent engulfing me, the hem draping past my skirt.
I dipped down to grab my mask and followed him up the narrow cellar stairs, my pulse throbbing in my throat.
My thoughts were a tangled mess of dust, hormones, and the echo of what we had done, what we might have done if I hadn’t heard—
Something.
Maybe nothing.
I adjusted my dress as I climbed, tugging it down with my free hand, trying to look like I hadn’t just been pressed against a wall with Maddox Corvo’s hand up my dress.
He pushed the door open at the top, letting the full force of the party back in. Music thudding. Wild laughter. Bodies packed together in a blur of masks. The air was thick with sweat and alcohol. Maddox stepped out first, his shoulders squaring as he scanned the room.
I hovered just behind his shoulder, close enough to feel the residual heat radiating off his body, trying to see past him, but it was useless. With the masks covering half of everyone’s faces, everyone looked like everyone else to me. It was impossible to tell if someone didn’t belong.
Or if someone was watching me too intently.
My skin prickled with awareness, and I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around myself, holding on to the soft material of Maddox’s sweatshirt. “Do you think he’s here?”
Maddox’s jaw locked, his lips morphing into a scowl. “He’d be a fucking idiot to show his face in a room full of Ravens.”
That word snagged my attention like a hook. I lifted a brow, studying his profile. “Ravens?”
He glanced at me, a gleam flickering in his expression. “I’m sure you’ve heard. Especially with how close you’ve gotten with Paisley.”
Right. He wasn’t wrong. I had heard. Even if Paisley hadn’t told me about his crew, it was all anyone seemed to talk about.
The room suddenly felt too small despite its vaulted ceiling and expansive stone floor. The music pressed against my skull, and the beginnings of a headache formed at my temples. I needed a minute, some damn fresh air. “Where’s the bathroom?” I asked, raising my voice so Maddox could hear me.
He hesitated, his attention leaving the crowd to focus fully on me, finally nodding toward a dim hallway off to the side, barely visible through the press of bodies. “Down there. Second door on the left.”
I slipped away before he could say anything else, and things got awkward.
I wove through the crowd, bodies bumping against me, hands brushing my arms and shoulders.
Accidental or intentional, I couldn’t tell.
My fingers came up automatically, brushing the chain at my throat without thinking about it.
Shit. The necklace.
The tiny recording device rested against my collarbone, hidden beneath the delicate pendant. I’d completely forgotten about it.
My stomach pitched as I realized it had caught everything in the cellar. Everything! The game. Mason’s voice. The laughter and whistles. And what happened between Maddox and me.
Every kiss. Every gasp. Every sound I’d made when his hands—
Oh God.
It was still capturing everything.
I ducked into the bathroom and locked the door behind me with trembling fingers, the deadbolt sliding home. Leaning against the door, I took a steadying breath, trying not to breathe too deeply as it was a pretty disgusting bathroom, but I also needed air to fill my lungs.
Get it together, Mallory.
I pushed off the door and went to the grimy sink, which I was sure hadn’t seen a sponge and cleaner in about a decade or more.
Gripping the porcelain rim, I stared at the cracked mirror, feeling my heart pound rapidly.
I couldn’t get a hold of myself, my breathing quickened, and a painful tightness dug into my chest. Oh God, I’m having a panic attack. I wanted to curl up in the corner.