“Your bed?” His voice is like a crack of lightning.
I pry my eyes open to meet his gaze. The snow makes everything so much brighter, highlighting the furrowed line of his brow, the firm set of his mouth. “No. Not that it should matter to you.”
Is he jealous? That’s…oddly comforting.
He looses a breath, his shoulders dipping. “It doesn’t matter to me as long as you’re both consenting, and trust me, you’re in no condition to consent.”
“You have no clue what I’m capable of consenting—” Undeniable, unquenchable need nearly takes me out at the knees.
Xaden’s arm wraps around my waist, steadying me. “Why the hell aren’t you shielding?”
“Not all of us have been given lessons! He just started channeling before all…this, and in case you forgot, you’re only allowed to attend Professor Carr’s class if you can wield.”
“Always thought that was a ridiculous rule.” He sighs. “All right. Crash course. Only because I’ve been where you are and woken up with more than a few regrets.”
“You’re actually going to help me?”
“I’ve been helping you for months.” His hand flexes at my waist, and I swear I can feel the warmth of his touch through my cloak and leathers.
“No, you sent Liam to help. He’s been helping me for months.” My forehead puckers. “Weeks. Almost months. Whatever.”
He has the nerve to look offended. “I’m the one who burst through your door and killed everyone who attacked you, and then I removed the other threat to your life with a very public, very polarizing display of vengeance. Liam didn’t do that. I did.”
“The crowd wasn’t polarized. They were all for it. I was there.”
“You were torn. In fact, you begged Tairn not to kill her, damn well knowing she’d just come after you again.”
That point was still debatable.
“Fine. But let’s not pretend that you didn’t do most of that for yourself. It would be inconvenient for you if I died.” I shrug, blatantly poking at him to help ignore the rising tide of lust thundering through me.
He stares at me with disbelief. “You know what? We’re not fighting tonight. Not if you want to learn how to shield.”
“Fine. We’re not fighting. Teach me.” I tilt my chin. Gods, I barely reach his collarbone.
“Ask me nicely.” He leans closer.
“Have you always been this tall?” I blurt the first thing that comes to mind.
“No. I was a child at some point.”
I roll my eyes.
“Ask me nicely, Violence,” he whispers. “Or I’m gone.”
I can feel Tairn at the edge of my mind, his emotions ebbing and flowing, and know the next wave is going to hit hard. How freaking long can those two possibly take? “How often is it like this with them?”
“Often enough that you’re going to need proper shields. You won’t ever be able to block them out completely, and sometimes they forget to block us, like tonight. That’s why the churam helps, but at least it’s like walking by a brothel instead of actively participating in one.”
Well…shit. “Right then. All right. Will you teach me to shield?”
A smile curves his mouth, and my gaze drops to his lips. “Say please.”
“Are you always this difficult?”
“Only when I know I have something you need. What can I say, I like making you squirm. It’s like a sweet little slice of payback for what you’ve put me through these last couple of months.” He brushes the snow off my hair.
“What I’ve put you through?” Unbelievable.
“You’ve scared me nearly to death once or twice, so I think saying please is a fair request.”
Like he’s ever played fair a day in his life. I take a deep breath and swat at a snowflake that lands on my nose. “As you prefer. Xaden?” I smile sweetly up at him and inch a little closer. “Would you pretty, pretty please teach me how to shield before I accidentally climb you like a tree and we both wake up with regrets?”
“Oh, I’m firmly in control of my faculties.” He smiles again, and I feel it like a caress.
Dangerous. This is so damned dangerous. Heat flushes my skin, so hot that I debate tossing my cloak to the ground just to get a little relief. Notably, Xaden isn’t wearing one.
“And since you asked so nicely.” He adjusts his stance and brings both his hands up to my cheeks, cradling my face before sliding them back to hold my head. “Close your eyes.”
“It requires touching me?” My eyes flutter shut at the sensation of his skin against mine.
“Not at all. Just one of the perks of not thinking too clearly. You have incredibly touchable skin.”
The compliment makes me suck in a breath. So much for controlling his faculties.
“You need to envision somewhere. Anywhere. I prefer the top of my favorite hillside near what’s left of Aretia. Wherever it is, it needs to feel like home.”
The only place I can think of is the Archives.
