As the rain picked up, Alec pulled me into his arms, making me lift onto my toes.
The rain started hitting my ankles, but I ignored it, waiting until Alec was ready to let go. I was the one who’d nearly been killed, but it was me who needed to reassure him that everything was OK. Alec was strong in so many ways—formidable even—but he would always have a weakness for those he loved. And he’d told me in no uncertain terms that he loved me.
When he finally loosened his grip, I kissed him but didn’t linger long. The rain was going to ruin the carpet, and the cold wind was giving me goosebumps. I turned and pulled the window shut, enjoying the soothing, steady rhythm of the rain hitting the glass.
“Are you sure I can’t convince you to go get checked out?”
The stubborn jerk just wasn’t dropping it. I rolled my eyes. “If I’m not feeling well in the morning, you can take me. I promise. Now can we drop it?”
He frowned, not liking my compromise, not liking any compromise ever. His eyes raked over my body but not in that lascivious way I loved; he was still looking for injuries.
I was done arguing. Better to give him something else to focus on.
I stepped into his personal space once more, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him into a kiss. Not the gentle reassuring kiss I’d given him moments ago, but that all-consuming, desperate kind we’d perfected—only I wasn’t entirely sure who was desperate in this scenario. Was it him? Desperate to make sure I was safe, to feel me in his arms. Or was it me? Desperate to feel alive after coming so close to death.
Reflexively, his hands gripped my hips, almost bruising, then grabbed my ass. He rolled his own hips, rubbing his erection against my front.
Then all at once, his hands and his mouth were gone.
I stumbled as he stepped back, but I leaned into the fall, kept going, refused to let him speak or leave or stop. With a sudden, aggressive move that made his eyes widen, I shoved him in the chest. His back collided with the mirror on the wall next to my bathroom, cracking the glass. He grunted in surprise, but I was already crushing my breasts against his front, clutching two fistfuls of his shirt, and hitching a leg over his hip. He grabbed my thigh with one calloused hand, his other arm banding around my back and pulling me impossibly closer, and then he was kissing me again.
We writhed against each other—teeth scraping, hands roaming—ignoring the destruction, the cracks.
I pulled back slightly and reached for his zipper. His movements stilled and his hands dropped away from my body.
Defeated, I dropped my leg and stepped back, keeping my gaze on his boots. My bare feet looked so small next to them.
He cleared his throat. “The broken glass. I just—”
“Don’t,” I cut him off and crossed my arms.
He sighed and pushed past me, walking to the door. As his hand reached for the knob, I turned to my dresser and began digging through my underwear drawer. I couldn’t stand to watch him walk away again.
After an extended moment of stillness, he huffed, and I heard him moving around behind me.
I paused, my hands running through my damp hair. Alec had never been in my room. He hung out with us in Josh’s room more than he used to, and I’d crawled into bed with him a few times—mostly after he got back from some days-long mission and the Light was straining me toward him. Once he’d crawled into bed behind me when I was sleeping with Tyler.
I turned to find him sitting on my bed. He didn’t look at me—just started to unlace his boots.
“Are you here to sleep or . . . ?” I wasn’t entirely sure how I wanted to end that sentence, but what I’d said at the party still held true. It didn’t matter that I’d been attacked, that he was freaked out about it. I wasn’t going to allow him into my bed if he wasn’t ready to be with me fully.
Just thinking about it had my pulse quickening, and I was suddenly very aware of the fact that I wasn’t wearing any underwear. I’d been heading to the dresser to get some when he barged in.
He stared me down for a beat. “Or,” he declared, a challenge in his