over his perfectly carved abs. My hands roamed his back until they landed on his sculpted butt and took in two big handfuls. I giggled mischievously as he muttered obscenities in my head.
I reached the waistband of his shorts, and my tongue danced along the edge. A deep moan reverberated in my mind and sent a wave of goose bumps over my flesh. I pressed closer, and heat unfurled in my core as his hardness rubbed against me.
Holy dragon babies! I needed to stop before this got out of control. I hissed out a breath and took a step back. Every coiled nerve-ending in my body cursed me out, but I forced myself away.
“I guess I should try to figure out how to unfreeze you, huh?”
Yes. Definitely. Even in my head, his voice was a raspy pant.
“Right. Okay, let me think back to what I did.” I’d only wanted to stop him from leaving. I didn’t remember any spell or anything. I simply thought it, and it happened. My magic was definitely tied to my emotions, I had to figure out how to get a better handle on them. I threw my hands out and shouted, “Unfreeze!”
Talon’s vacant expression remained the same.
Fudge. “Hold on, let me try again.” This time I closed my eyes and envisioned the bare-chested Talon with his arms around my waist, matching each stroke of my tongue, his hands exploring my body. A swirl of heat ignited, and I turned my thoughts inward. “Unfreeze,” I whispered.
A warm hand settled on my hip, big fingers stroking my skin. My eyes snapped open and met a pair of smoldering silver ones. “It’s about time your magic showed up.”
“I guess it just needed the right motivation.” I smirked as he tugged me closer.
“Oh, I’ll give it motivation.” Talon’s lips claimed mine, and my blood hummed. He wrapped my legs around his torso and toted me back inside the training room. He slammed the door shut with his foot as he continued his assault on my lips.
When my back hit the floor mat, my lids fluttered closed. Talon hovered over me, worshipping every part of me with his tongue. Time stood still as we explored each other inch by inch. Minutes flew by, maybe even hours.
The building fire blossomed between us with each soft touch, each gentle nip. I arched up against him as his hips bored down, grinding. A moan escaped my clenched lips as he rocked harder against me.
“Oh gods, Azara,” he groaned. “We can’t keep going, or I won’t be able to stop.”
Our earlier conversation about consummating our relationship jumped to the forefront of my mind. “Wait, we can’t.” I placed my hands on his chest and met his fiery gaze. “Wouldn’t we trigger the mate bond or whatever?”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “It’s highly possible.”
I squirmed out from under him, and Talon rolled onto his side. “We can’t then.” I gnawed on my lower lip as cold water doused the brewing flames. “Unless you want to be mated to a demon.” A nervous laugh spilled out.
“Right. And no one wants that.” He gave me an uneasy half-smile.
Why did it seem like we always ended up at the same place?
Chapter Twelve
I flipped through the old, yellowing pages of the spellcraft book GG sent over, and the dark words blurred across my vision. I’d been studying like crazy since the ancient tome arrived yesterday and to my surprise, it was working.
I’d started with the basics: summoning objects, opening and closing doors, levitating small items, easy stuff like that and in only twenty-four hours I’d mastered an assortment of cool parlor tricks.
I bumped Hayden’s elbow as I flipped another page. He looked up from his nineteen eighties copy of Hustler and grinned. “You almost done?”
“Yup.”
“Good because Happy Hour is almost over, and I gotta get you back to our cell before your keeper threatens my life again.”
I couldn’t help the silly smile from splitting my lips. Talon had sent Hayden in his place to watch over me while I studied because I couldn’t focus when he was around. Now that we’d given into temptation, the blood bond demanded more. And since neither of us were too keen on the idea of becoming mates, we’d decided a little separation was necessary.
Hayden waved his hand an inch from my face. “Hello? Where’d you go there, pumpkin?”
I wiped the grin from my mouth and lowered my gaze to the book. “Just thinking about spells and stuff.”
He smirked. “Yeah, right…” A knowing