her go?
“Win,” she placed a soft kiss upon the scar near his eye, “give me more. I need more.”
The desperation in her touch, so similar to his own, had him hauling her closer. They fell back against the shelves. Her hands were at his jaw, holding him still as she went at him with hot, luscious little bites that had him groaning. He fisted the coiled mass of her glorious hair and kissed her back, all lust and need, no finesse.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he said against her lips. “Missed this.” She tasted of Poppy, dark spice and cool water. It was a taste that haunted his dreams. So utterly familiar and so long denied that he drank her in like a man stumbling out of a desert. His body seared with need, and his hold upon her turned greedy. He wound his fingers further into her silky hair and opened her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue into her warm recesses. It was nearly anger, this feeling that coursed through him and made his movements too rough, too clumsy. His hands fisted her skirts as he stepped between her thighs. Desperate, he grabbed onto the bookshelf for leverage, ready to haul her up and take her there.
“Poppy…”
A book slammed to the floor beside them and they both jumped. Jesus, but Winston had forgotten where he was. For a moment, they both panted, then Poppy’s arms slid from his neck. He leaned in, wanting to snatch up that maddening mouth of hers once more, but she held him fast and he blinked, trying to pull himself out of the haze of lust. He laughed but it came out as a choking sound. “Right. Not here.”
Her smile was wry yet wobbly. “Not unless we really want to scandalize old Grevis.”
Win took her hand in his and held fast. “Come along then. I think I’ve figured out the last piece to the puzzle.”
She was half-smiling, half irate. “And you didn’t say so!”
Laughing a bit despite it all, he nipped her bottom lip. “A certain glorious redhead distracted me.”
Chapter Thirty-three
I am assuming you have a weapons room,” Win asked Poppy as they left the library.
“Of course.” She found herself grinning widely. “A ridiculously large one.”
His chest rumbled against her side as he chuckled. “Bloodthirsty girl.”
The weapons room was in another sector, so they returned to the Fleet River craft. Win took over punting once again.
“Tell me we are going demon hunting,” she said as they glided down the dank tunnel.
Shadows slid over his features and along his trim length. “I fear we are, sweeting.”
“You need not sound so dour.” She leaned back a bit in the seat so that she could look up at him properly. “I, for one, am itching to lay into that bastard.” Her jaw ached where she clenched it. “After what he did to Talent.”
“Mmm.”
Aware that he wasn’t truly listening to her, Poppy raised her voice. “Darling, you are aware that your ‘mmm’s’ can drive a person to distraction.”
He grinned. “And here I thought it was part of my charm.” He plunged the pole into the murky waters and stared off into the distance, where the tunnel disappeared into a wall of black. “I was reading about demons, how there are different types.”
“Yes.” Impatience colored her tone. He ignored it.
“Let us go back to the beginning.” He guided the craft around a bend. “The first demon I saw aboard the ship was in the process of procuring blood from the ship’s officer.”
“Yes.” Poppy knew better than to hurry Win once he was on an exposition, but she wanted to.
The corner of his mouth quirked as if he knew her thinking as well. “And then it used Mary’s blood to assume her appearance and get close to Talent. Not to mention that Mrs. Noble was drained of her blood as well. And yet Isley does not need blood to assume a new appearance.”
“All correct. So he had help. We know this.” Unease tickled along her spine. Win had a theory, one he was reluctant to share. She could tell by his even gaze and the way he made her think the process out.
“Isley’s eyes are white or crimson when he reveals them,” Win went on. “The eyes of the demon I beheaded turned yellow. And Archer’s eyes, when he was changed, went silver. I remember thinking how remarkably different his eyes were back then.” He smiled a little. “Only I hadn’t any idea the extent of it.”
“What is your point,