Cruel Magic (Royals of Villain Academy #1)(59)

“Excellent,” I said. “A perfectly good reason.”

He relaxed with a chuckle. “Is that an invitation to give it another shot?”

My innards were still too tangled up for me to jump right in. “Can we just sit for a bit and see how it goes?”

“Sitting is pretty much all I usually do here, so I don’t see why not.”

At the far end of the clearing stood a tree that looked as if it’d once been two that had grown too close together and merged into one trunk. We sank down with our backs to it, Connar keeping his arm looped around my waist. I carefully let my shoulder rest against his.

Despite his swim, his body was plenty warm. The heat of it flowed into me everywhere we touched.

“So, you’re okay with what happened last time?” he said. “You left in a pretty big hurry.”

“Yeah, I—” I struggled to decide on the right words. “I guess I’m a little… jumpy, with everything being the way it’s been.”

Connar could obviously translate that vagueness just fine. His mouth twisted. He hesitated for a moment. “You know, I think there might be a way to end this before it gets any worse. A way that’ll leave both you and Malcolm happy. If you knew him better—and he knew you better— There’s definitely some common ground. I’m still figuring things out, but—”

An ache squeezed around my heart. I touched his chest to stop him. Was he really offering to negotiate with Malcolm on my behalf?

“I don’t care about making Malcolm happy,” I said. “I’d be happiest if he just left me alone. Maybe you shouldn’t worry about him so much either—he seems to look after himself pretty well.”

“That’s not— The way it is with the scions—”

“I know,” I said, softer than I’d have thought I’d be able to talk when the subject involved Malcolm in any way. “Four heads of the same dragon.”

An idea struck me with so much certainty that I sat up straighter. Connar watched me curiously as I leaned forward and spread my hands over the ground.

“Hold on,” I said. “I want to give you something.”

Energy whirled behind my collarbone. Closing my eyes, I reached it out into the earth beneath me, the acres of rocky terrain all around, and murmured, “Metal. Together.”

Shivers raced up my arms as the shreds of material wriggled up through soil and stone. I gathered it in the air between my hands like I had the shards of glass on my bed, like the ice I’d conjured in Professor Banefield’s office. The lump of metal grew until it felt the right size.

“Shape.” A fresh wave of energy surged through me as I molded the lump with my mind and instinctive motions of my fingers into the form I was picturing.

When I opened my eyes, I held a little dragon figurine of mottled gray metal, half the length of my palm. Its wings curved around it and its single head peered forward on its arched neck, its stance defiant but its expression gentle.

I held it out to Connar. He accepted it from me, his eyes wide with awe, and turned it over in his hand gingerly as if he were afraid he might break it.

“I hope you don’t forget that you’re you too,” I said quietly. “At least some of the time, that’s got to come first.”

He inhaled sharply. “If you knew me better, you might not say that.”

“I know that you’re more than your ‘friends’ give you credit for. I know you’re the only one who’s bothered to really listen to me—to acknowledge who I am and what I’ve been through—since I got here. Why do you think I came to you?”

He looked at me with so much emotion shining in his eyes that my breath caught. “If I can be that guy for you everywhere you need it—I’ll try. I’ll do what I can.”

“You’re here,” I said. “That’s a start. That matters.”

Connar glanced down at his dragon again. He tucked it into the pocket of his slacks. Then, in one smooth motion, he stroked his fingers over my hair and drew me into a kiss.

The press of his mouth against mine brought just as much of a thrill as it had the other night. I gripped his neck, wanting closer, wanting more.

With a careful nudge, he eased me around and onto his lap without breaking the kiss. My ass settled onto his thighs, and the heat between our bodies turned searing. A tremor both nervous and needy tingled between my legs.

He kissed me harder, and I slid my hands up under his shirt to explore the muscular planes I’d only briefly gotten to know last time. He groaned against my mouth. My lips parted with his, and he took the opportunity to capture my mouth more fully, his tongue sweeping hot over mine, his teeth grazing my lower lip. A shaky groan of my own slipped from my throat.

He tugged my blouse free from my slacks and trailed his fingers up over my ribs to the band of my bra. As I ran my thumb over one of his taut nipples, he traced the line of the band to the clasp at my back. His mouth left mine to nip my jaw and devour my neck. His fingers pulled, and my bra released.

My skin caught fire all along the path he charted with his lips. As he nibbled the crook of my shoulder, his hands slipped under my loosened bra to cup my bare breasts. My nipples pebbled against the shifting fabric as he stroked the undersides of those curves. The faint friction, the longing for more, and the flick of his tongue over my neck left me gasping.