I pulled my hands free from where he had trapped them between my back and the desk, but he slid his hand from my sweater and recaptured my wrists, securing them behind me again and tugging on them with enough force to make my shoulders snap back. He dropped to his knees, still restraining my hands with one of his as he set his palm against my cotton shorts, rolling the fabric up until it couldn’t go any further, and then he dug his teeth into the softness of my inner thigh. The breath left me in a rush, and I saw the wings of valcrick splutter back into the room as he made a frustrated sound and surged to his feet.
“Should I go?” He demanded the words instead of asking them, his voice rough and unsteady.
I shook my head and he released his hold on my hands to spin me around. I found myself facing the wall, and then he was pressing between my shoulder blades, forcing me to fall forward. I had to shoot my arms out against the desk to stop myself from hitting it. When I tried to stand again, the pressure of Silas’s hand prevented me. When he was sure that I was going to stay, he pulled his hand back and I hovered there uncertainly, my arms beginning to tremble.
The heavy strike of his hand against my butt had me jolting upright, but he was there to catch me, pulling me to his chest and winding a hand around the front of my neck, his fingers biting in just softly enough to send me some kind of message.
“No, you shouldn’t go,” I spat out, as my shock started to die away and the sting of his blow began to settle in my body, followed by a strange rush of heat.
He breathed out a dry laugh, but it ended on a groan. “Dammit, angel, I can feel your emotions… you’re going to start something you can’t finish.”
I tried to spin around, suddenly sensing that the normal Silas had broken through, but he wouldn’t let me. His fingers bit more firmly into the skin of my neck as his free hand splayed across my stomach. I attempted to reign in the emotions that I was leaking through to him, but frowned when I discovered that I hadn’t actually opened my emotions to him in the first place.
“What do you mean? You can feel what I’m feeling right now?”
“Not through the bond,” he countered, the hand across my stomach moving down to slip below the hem of my sweater and settle back into place against my skin. “Your body is vibrating, your skin is so hot it’s almost burning me and you’re breathing in these sexy little gasps… it’s driving me insane.”
“I’m sorry your punishment isn’t punishing enough,” I replied a little huffily.
He laughed again, the sound carrying a genuine note of humour, and this time I was sure that it was the normal Silas I was talking to. His hand slipped higher up my stomach until he could trace the lines of my ribcage, and I melted back into him, realising a little too late why he had been keeping our bodies from touching. He released his breath on a growl the second our bodies made contact, but it was too late to pull away, so I pretended that I didn’t notice his reaction. He pulled his hand out of my sweater and notched both of his hands on my hips, pressing himself into me with a small groan.
“I’m the only one getting punished,” he grumbled. “I could never really hurt you. I tried. I couldn’t. I wanted to make you bleed, but you tasted too good to ruin. I wanted to make your skin sing out with pain, but it’s too soft… I just can’t. I think I might hate you.”
He pulled away and finally allowed me to turn and face him.
“No you don’t,” I countered.
“No,” he confirmed, his black eyes brimming with a strange kind of regret. “I don’t.”
“You should leave before Weston finds out that you’re here.”
“I should.”
Neither of us moved, and the tension finally drained out my body, the last vestige of adrenaline leaving me in a rush that put an instant wobble in my legs. I walked to the bed and climbed into the middle, sighing as the silken comforter welcomed me in a plush hug.
“You’ll stay the night, won’t you?” I muttered against the pillow.
He settled beside me, plucking me away from the comforter and bundling me into his side. “I will,” he murmured, his eyes on the ceiling above us. “I know I said I wouldn’t thank you, but…”
“You’re welcome,” I murmured, catching at the material of his shirt.
Maybe if I held him tightly enough he wouldn’t disappear again.
Cabe burst into my room just as I was lacing up my sneakers. He flopped onto my bed and looked like he was contemplating going back to sleep for a moment, before he turned and gave me a searching look.
“Well?” he asked. “Did Silas hunt you down?”
“You knew he would?” I countered, shocked. I finished with my shoes and stood up from the bed, planting my hands against my hips as I turned on him.
“Why do you think we left you alone last night?”
“Thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Why do you guys all leave me alone to deal with his angry alter ego?”
“You’re better looking.”
“Seriously, Cabe.”
“Fine. You’re the only one of us he won’t beat into a pulp.”
“Wouldn’t be so sure of that,” I grumbled, yanking my bag over my shoulder and striding for the door.
“Hey!” Cabe caught up to me, snapping the door shut before I’d even managed to open it properly. “Did he hurt you?”