“You cheated,” he called.

  A sudden blast of freezing water splashed against my back, soaking my clothes and making me squeal. The waves hadn’t been that big, so I knew it was his doing. “Daron!” I squeaked. “That’s cold!"

  He was by my side in an instant. “There’s a bonfire nearby waiting to warm you up,” he promised, pulling me close without caring about my soggy uniform. Moments later I felt the water being pulled away with hydrokinesis, leaving me as dry as I had been when I’d left the car.

  “I don’t want to leave just yet...” I whispered, turning back to the strange, beautiful nothingness that was the horizon. It was so dark that I couldn’t see the point where the sea met the inky black sky, and it made me feel so small, just looking out into what seemed like infinity. “This is the first time I’ve been to the beach...”

  He stiffened. “You’ve never been to a beach before?”

  I shook my head. “My mother hates sand, pebbles and wind.” Anything that could affect her perfect image, however temporarily, was to be avoided at all costs as far as she was concerned. “The first time I ever saw the sea was…” At that strange fort as I’d been about to have my horns cut off. I touched a hand to my new horns in memory.

  I didn’t have to say it, Daron understood instantly. “I wish we’d got there sooner, we were so busy trying to find Bane…” He paused, smiling faintly. “We won’t have much more trouble with that in the future though…”

  “You haven’t given him a tracking bracelet, have you?”

  “I didn’t have to give him anything… he’s quite adept at taking things and he happens to always keep the shiny things he takes on him. All I had to do was ensure he saw me putting my shiny pocket-watch in my bag and it was gone an hour later… that was why I had to make sure your bracelet couldn’t be swiped easily.” His ears reddened slightly as he admitted the last bit and I smiled.

  “You really did think of everything,” I murmured, snuggling closer because, despite him drying me, I was starting to get cold.

  Daron noticed and raised a brow. “Shall we go to the nice warm bonfire now?” he offered, extending his arm like a gentleman.

  I nodded, taking it and looking for my imps, only to find them both happily occupied in the water, ignoring us. “Sometimes it seems like you and Bane have known each other longer than the rest of us…” I began, thoughtfully as he walked us across the sand towards the glimmer of light in the distance. “Did you meet before Vice?”

  He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Not exactly,”

  “Not exactly?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t like meeting new people so, before I arrived, I looked through the enrolment list and picked out likely candidates for friendship… I tested the final ten through anonymous online chats, and then decided on Bane.”

  “Was I ever on the list?”

  He shook his head. “I dismissed you as too pretty to bother with someone quiet like me… Logically I was looking for others with reason to be nervous about attending Vice. You had a perfect rate of family showings, were female and therefore likely to pick a large female social circle as females are known to do – I don’t mean that in a sexist way… on the contrary I admire your sex’s ability to socialise so easily with one another – and you weren’t very technological, so we shared few obvious interests. In contrast, Bane was half-unshown, hiding kleptomania and a secret rebel identity that was likely to make him feel like an outsider as much as my introversion was and male so…”

  I cocked my head to one side, considering his words. “I suppose, by your thinking, our mating isn’t particularly logical at all.”

  “Absolutely the most illogical thing that has ever happened in my life,” Daron agreed. “But, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  I couldn’t help the corners of my lips tugging upwards in a half smile. “Ditto,” I whispered, stroking my thumb against his knuckles.

  We reached the fire and the warmth of it swept over me like a wave. I sighed and took my blazer off, plonking down on the blanket spread out before it and staring over at the sea again. Daron didn’t sit with me, instead he moved over to a cooler box on the other side of the fire and started setting up a rack over the flames.

  “I promised to cook for you,” he reminded me, pulling out an assortment of meat and vegetables on skewers and placing them on the rack where they began sizzling. “I hope you like spicy.”

  “I’m sure it will taste great.”

  We lapsed into silence for a while, my ears tuning in to the sounds of the waves crashing in the dark, trying deliberately to associate the noise and the scent of the ocean with this peaceful moment rather than the horror of before. Daron didn’t interrupt as he focused on cooking and I realised that was one of the things I loved most about him. His quiet nature gave me time to think things through for myself, let me relax in my own mind without feeling alone.

  “I love this,” I admitted, brushing a strand of hair from my face as he plated up the food. “It’s so peaceful.”

  “My family loves the beach… it took me a while to appreciate its charms, especially since there’s rarely a good wifi signal, but now that I’m older I understand it.”

  “Where does your family live?” I asked, struck by how little I knew about them.

  “Exeter, in a small house outside the city. I almost applied to Blasphemy College because it was closer, but my parents insisted…”

  “Sounds nice,” I said, taking my first bite and almost moaning in delight. “My family lives in London… it’s always so busy there, being at Vice is weirdly quiet in comparison.”

  “Your ancestral estate is in Cumbria,” Daron told me with a small smile. “I looked it up when you told us you were going to become head of the family. It’s in the North Pennines, hidden in the forests away from prying eyes.” He paused taking another bite. “I have photos, if you want to see. According to your birth records, it’s the place you were born, but I have to say it doesn’t look like anyone’s been there since.”

  “My grandparents never used it.” I took another delicious mouthful. “What’s it like?”

  Daron pulled his tablet out of his pocket and tapped at it before propping it up on the blanket in front of me. “Here it is.”

  He flicked through pictures of an old, symmetrical, sandstone manor house with imposing Dutch gables on either side. Inside it looked dusty and in disrepair with wallpaper peeling from high-ceilinged rooms and dust cloths over the few pieces of furniture.

  “Kain hired my sisters to do a redesign on the interior,” Daron added. “I think he plans for us to live there when we finish college. It’s got fifteen bedrooms so there would be room for all of us to have our own space…”

  “He did, did he? And when was he planning on telling me this?”

  “I assume after he’d paid for it.” Daron smiled, switching off the tablet and packing it away. “He likes spoiling you, and from some, ahem, creative investigative programming, I can confirm that he has the money to do so.”

  “Creative investigative programming?” I snorted. “You could just say you hacked into his accounts.”

  “Hacking is such a crude term.”

  I sighed. “He does spoil me… you all do…”

  “Be a good mate and let us.”

  I giggled, imagining it. “Do you like that idea? All living together in some mansion in the middle of nowhere?”

  There was a long, thoughtful pause whilst Daron thought. “As long as the wifi signal is good.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Can you imagine Bane and Enzo living together? They’d drive one another crazy in the first day.”

  “We’d make it work for your sake.”

  I smiled at the idea of how utterly crazy but right the idea was. “It’s a long way off yet.”

  “For us, maybe. But Aeron is in his last year, he’ll need a place to stay once he can no longer call Vice home. I know Blaze has offered to share his apartment, but when Jin and Kain graduate next year there won’t be space for all four of them in there.”

  I sighed, the glum sound almost drowned out by the wind. “I keep forgetting he’s leaving this year… I don’t know what I’ll do without him…” And I meant that in more ways than one, Aeron was the one who always had a knack of knowing when I was low on power and then giving me a boost. “I’ll be all alone in the Carnal Tower since Nelly and Lulu are leaving too.” I studied my feet as I tried not to think of how strange Vice would feel without them.

  A gentle hand grasped my chin and pulled my face up to meet a fierce blue gaze. “Don’t be sad. I never meant to make you sad.”

  I couldn’t answer, instead I leaned forward and captured his mouth with my own.

  His mouth was still for a second, then his tongue melted me from the inside out. His hands rose up to stroke the sides of my arms gently, and I sighed against him. Then, almost as though he couldn’t help himself, one hand slid from my arm to the bottom of my rib cage, working his way up inch by torturous inch. My whole body moved to follow his hand, and I desperately wanted him to go further this time. Our mating bond sparked with need that we’d been teasing for so long and I desperately wanted to take things further than the hot make-out sessions of the past.

  When the heat of his palm scorched my breast through my bra I moaned, arching toward him without breaking the connection of our mouths. He squeezed with the lightest pressure, and every nerve ending lit up with electricity. His mouth moved from my lips to my jaw, kissing the lightest trail of teasing licks and nibbles down the line of my throat.

  “I want to see you,” he whispered, against my heated flesh. “Can I?”

  “Okay.” The word was a moan as his hand squeezed once more, harder this time.

  My nipples pebbled under the fabric and I sucked in a breath as his other hand came up and gently pushed me back, so I was lying on the blanket. Once I was down, he began on my shirt buttons with gentle, unhurried motions, kissing each inch of flesh as it was revealed.

  It was strange how new everything felt when I was doing it with him. I’d been stripped before, multiple times, but this was the first time Daron was the one doing it. He reached the last button and paused, his hands poised to remove the garment. He looked at me, asking permission.

  In answer I sat up and let the cotton fall from my shoulders, revelling in his indrawn breath.

  “Logically speaking…” I began, using his favourite phrase with a tiny grin as I trailed a finger down the buttons of his shirt. “Don’t you think it would be fairer if I got to see you too?”

  He didn’t even bother with the buttons on his shirt, just ripped it over his head, exposing the lean, beautiful planes of his chest for my delight. I leaned forward and peppered his exposed body with kisses, my lips lingering near the crystal on his chest that marked him as an Envy. When I lay back once again, I looked past the firelight reflecting in his glasses to his dilated pupils.

  “Take it off.” His voice had dropped to a husky whisper that would have been stolen by the wind if not for how close we were.

  I reached back and unhooked the clasp, throwing the bra over my head. I heard a crackle of flames and bit my lip as I realised the bra had landed in the fire.

  Daron cocked his head to one side. “I never took you for a bra burning kind of woman… Oh well, I prefer you without it anyway.”

  He dived for my breasts, catching one nipple in his mouth and swirling his tongue around it till I was whimpering. My hands clutched at his shoulders as he slowly and methodically continued his assault, teasing and experimenting, learning what I liked and then repeating it over and over again till I was crazy. Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly take any more, he switched to the other breast.

  I whimpered. “Daron.” His name slipped past my lips on a sigh.

  “I’ve been researching,” he began, when he finally surfaced with a quick kiss to my lips. My whole body was shaking with need, the edge of climax in my sight when he moved away, and the cool sea breeze replaced his warmth. “I believe we should experiment with the concept of oral sex.”

  My eyes all but rolled back in my head as I imagined that same single-minded focus arrowed in the direction of my throbbing pussy. “I agree.”

  His hands went to the waistband of my skirt, dragging it down my legs as he peppered my belly with tiny kisses. When he saw the tiny black thong I was wearing underneath, quiet, nerdy Daron growled.

  “Mine.”

  “Yours,” I agreed, “Now touch me!”

  He grinned at me and I felt the thong fall from my body. I gasped. “How did you do that?”

  He lifted his wrist to show thin, plain steel bands encircling each one. As I watched the metal flowed over his hand to form claws and then retreated back into a bracelet. “I have my uses.”

  Eyes wide, I watched as he drew back, shirking his own trousers leaving him clad only in a set of tight grey boxers that left nothing to my imagination. I murmured appreciatively as my palm stroked down and cupped him, making him hiss in pleasure. So, I stared at him, confused when he lay on the ground on his back, and pulled me so I was straddling him.

  “Higher,” he insisted, lifting me so my pussy was directly over his face. “You’re so perfect and totally mine.”

  His thumbs stroked the insides of my thighs as he studied my sex like he was filing the details away. When those thumbs moved higher and spread me, I braced myself. but all he did was breathe over my core, the light movement of air over such a sensitive place making me shiver. “Daron,” I moaned. “Taste me.”

  In a single move he pulled me down and delivered a long, slow, exploratory lick. “God, you taste so good,” he moaned, delving back in.

  My head fell back, my whole body kept in place by his two hands like fiery brands on my ass. I wanted to writhe, to beg, to scream, but his hands held me in place for his feasting and my breath was too shallow to make a noise over the crashing of the waves. Our mating bond vibrated under my skin, leaving electric pinpricks flowing across my skin as my fingers clawed his abs behind me. My climax was almost on me when he stopped. I cried out, desperate for the orgasm I was being denied, but Daron just shushed me as he moved his hand around my body.

  He pressed one, long finger to my clit and delivered a short, sharp electrical shock.

  My mouth opened on a silent scream as I exploded.

  I don’t know how long I was slumped over him, but when he moved to tuck me under his arm, I found the energy to duck away.

  “My turn,” I insisted, sliding down his body.

  “It would be illogical to argue,” he muttered, eyes burning into me from behind crooked glasses as I tugged down his boxers and palmed his dick, stroking just hard enough to tease.

  He was so sexy like this, hair mussed, glasses askew and body completely bare for me. I loved the hiss he made when I swooped in and licked up the underside of his shaft with tiny flicks of my tongue. When I finally took him in my mouth, his groan made me feel powerful and feminine all at once.

  “God, Lilith, please don’t stop,” he begged as I relaxed my throat and took him deeper.

  His hand ran through my hair, tugging gently and guiding me as I swirled my tongue to push him to the edge where I had been only a few minutes ago. I felt the first bead of his pre-cum sparking the power within me and I licked it from the head reverently before taking him down again. I couldn’t take him all the way – he was too long, but from the appreciative noises he was making, he didn’t care.

  When I added my hands to the mix, one gently teasing his balls whilst the other mimicked the motion of my mouth on the base of his shaft. But it wasn’t until I swallowed around the head that he finally lost control, spurting into my mouth. I gulped him down eagerly, feeling the power rush through me. I kept licking him until he was totally clean, then reluctantly allowed him to draw me up into his arms.

  The silence between us wasn’t that awkward, post-sex silence that every woman dreaded, but rather the result of a deep contentment where all we needed was the sound of each other’s heartbeats, the warmth of our bodies and the knowledge that this felt so right.

  Daron surprised me by being the one who broke the silence. He tipped my chin up till he was looking at me in the eye and kissed me sweetly on the lips. I reached up and adjusted his glasses for him and he caught my hand, pressing it against the centre of his chest.

  “…once I look at you for a moment, I can’t speak any longer, but my tongue breaks down, and then all at once a subtle fire races inside my skin, my eyes can’t see a thing and a whirring whistle thrums at my hearing, cold sweat covers me and a trembling takes ahold of me all over: I’m greener than the grass is and appear to myself to be little short of dying.”

  My heart stuttered. “That’s beautiful.”

  “Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for the words of Sappho. It just sprang to mind when I looked at you.”