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“What do you want, Nix?” I ask her.
“I want you to kiss me.”
I look into her eyes.
Do I even remember how to do this?
I see her lips part, ever so slightly.
I lean forward, closing the space between us.
Right before our lips touch, a spark jumps between us, stinging my mouth. Then I kiss her, and the jolt is drowned in the shocking warmth and softness of her mouth. Every nerve comes alive. The sensation is so much stronger than I remember, overwhelming me.
I plunge both hands into her thick curls. They’re coarse and soft, warm as fur wrapped around my fingers. I slip my tongue into her mouth, tasting her for the first time, finding her breath as sweet and smoky as the scent of her skin.
It doesn’t matter if I remember kissing, because I’ve never kissed like this: without rhythm or plan, my heart speeding faster and faster like I’m sprinting downhill.
I rub my thumbs across her cheekbones, feeling the velvet texture of her skin. I push my tongue deeper into her mouth, breathing her in and swallowing her down.
She’s gripping the back of my neck, her blunt nails digging into my flesh, pulling me in just as tightly as I’m pulling her.
When we finally break apart, it’s only for breath, because we might pass out otherwise.
We’re silent and panting, with no idea how much time has passed.
Nix breaks the quiet, laughing softly.
“Alright,” she says. “Now I know you like me.”
“Yes,” I say. “I do.”
There’s no lie in that.
19
Nix
November passes in a whirl of classes and increased studying for end-of-term exams.
My fellow Freshmen are finally starting to warm up to me in the afterglow of theQuartum Bellumwin, and Sabrina Gallo’s unfailing support of me.
I don’t know what I did to deserve a friend like her. I think we recognized each other as kindred spirits on that first day of school: two women who aren’t afraid of anything, including getting into a little trouble together.
It’s Sabrina’s nature to be loyal to her friends—I see that same fierce fidelity in all her family who attend Kingmakers. Leo Gallo will decimate anyone who shows the least bit of snobbery to Ares. Anna Wilk is intensely protective of her little sister Cara, always saving her a seat at mealtimes and checking in with her daily on how her classes are going. And Caleb Griffin has fallen in with fellow Enforcers Tristan Turgenev, Rene Turgenev, and Kade Petrov, the four friends forming a clique that has apparently counteracted some of the rampant bullying in the Gatehouse.
Sabrina’s attitude toward her many suitors is a different story. She’s been relentlessly pursued by every male with a pulse since she stepped foot on campus. None of them have kept her attention for more than a week or two, leaving a trail of bitter exes and broken hearts in her wake.
She’s already burned her way through half the eligible bachelors at school, including a square-jawed boxer called Corbin Castro, the Norwegian Heir Erik Edman, a devastatingly witty Junior named Jesse Turner, and, for a single day, the beautiful but conceited Thomas York.
She caused a near double-homicide by dating roommates Cameron Wright and Joshua Pierce. Then put the final nail in the coffin of any chance of being friends with Alyssa Chan when she dumped Alyssa’s cousin Archie.
Kenzo Tanaka lasted the longest—Sabrina seemed intrigued by his rockabilly pompadour, artfully-distressed leather jackets, and encyclopedic knowledge of vintage Harleys. Unfortunately, Kenzo couldn’t maintain his bad-boy cool for more than a week, completely losing his head and pinning so many romantic haikusto our door that our garbage can was soon overflowing with unwanted poetry.
“Why do they all turn out to be so boring?” Sabrina moans, as she finds herself single yet again at the end of November.
“Maybe you need to get to know them better,” I tell her. “Ares isn’t at all like I thought he was when we first met.”
“Most guys are about as deep as an oil slick on pavement,” Sabrina scowls. “Ares is the exception.”
