Page 100 of Corrupt Shadows

“It’s okay to feel, Lorcan.” She blinks, and a tear splashes onto her cheek, but she brushes it away quickly. She’s still staring at me.

My mind and body are at war. My body tells me to shove her against the bookstacks and fuck that look off her face—use her body to drive my torment away—while my mind begs me to absorb every second of this moment.

My witch grips the back of my hair and pulls me down to kiss me lightly on the lips. Fuck. I take a step back, widening the distance between us.

“Are you okay?”

I breathe deeply through my nose, but I don’t answer her. How do I explain that I am so far beyond the simple word okay.

Evie moves toward me with determined strides, then trails her nail down my chest. “When do I get to play with your demonic body again?” she asks sweetly, batting her eyelashes at me.

My jaw slackens and my eyes dart toward her grinning face.

Evie presses her fingers under my chin, and my jaw snaps shut. “Close your mouth, baby. You don’t want to give me any ideas on using it here in this library.”

That fucking witch, using my own line against me. I growl but can’t stop my lips from pulling up at the corners. The bars of the last song fade out, and another begins its melody, haunting and romantic. I don’t know if she’ll make the connection to the lyrics, but it’s time I share more of myself with her.

She squeaks when I pull her body flush against mine. My fingers walk up the valley between her breasts barely contained within the sexy-as-fuck, plunging neckline of her top. I squeeze her throat, but not enough to cut off her airway.

“What song is this? It’s glorious.”

“‘Blossom in the Dark’ by Dianna Goldberg,” I reply.

She nods, her eyes still tracing my bare face.

I sing the opening lines of the song, my voice rumbling between us as I lead her in a sensual dance around the library. She hasn’t taken her eyes off of me since I removed my mask, and I’m not sure if I like it or not.

As the song reaches the chorus, her shadows circle my throat and squeeze it once playfully. Fuck. My cock hardens against her belly. It’s difficult to remember each of the lyrics with her hands and shadows tracing my skin. I spin her away from me while keeping her hand clasped in mine. Evie giggles, and my heart pounds in my chest. Fuck. I love this sound.

Evie coils back into me, and I skate my palms down her sides. My hands slip into her back pockets, then she stiffens. My fingers touch parchment, and I pull the pages. She backs away several steps, and I let her.

My fists clench as I take in the complex but familiar spell on them. The writing must have revealed itself to her. She has the spell. She wasn’t supposed to discover it until she’d practiced her magic more. But now I have everything I need to free myself.

Evie gazes up at me, panic widening her gaze. She was going to escape without me.

I want to tell her that I wouldn’t have done it. Something in me changed since knowing her. I wouldn’t have locked her in here. In fact, the idea of keeping her in here with me has never been more alluring.

I never thought the witch would make entrapment feel so free, but as I look at her and hold the spell pages, I know which one I choose.

I hold my breath and step toward my witch. My brother’s voice booms into the room. “Romancing another Fallenmoore witch, brother?”

Rage floods my veins. Pain lacerates my mind as memories shake the bars I locked them behind. Evie turns to face my brother fully.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” she hisses.

Ezra’s booming laughs echo around us, and my madness prepares to finish him.

“Your demon,” he says cheerfully, “had a relationship with your great auntie, Evangeline.”

He prowls toward her, but I step in between them. Ezra continues speaking to her while his eyes bore holes into my skull.

“I can see that the information isn’t soaking into your lust-addled brain.” Ezra tucks his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “Lorcan,” he says with exaggerated slowness, “was in love with her.”

Evie’s eyes shoot toward mine, shock and disgust evident behind their blackened depths.

FORTY-FOUR

Evie