58
Always Look on
the Bite Side
“What do you get when you kiss a dragon?” I ask as soon as Jaxon answers his door. I reach up and idly twist the pendant he gave me in my hand. I’ve been wearing it nearly every day since I got back, but this is the first time it’s not buried under a ton of clothes.
He looks at me with sleepy eyes and says, “Nausea?”
“Close. Burned lips.” I hand him the tumbler full of blood I picked up for him at the cafeteria. “Here. Drink up.”
He takes it, a small grin playing around his lips. “Thank you.” Then he leans forward and takes my mouth in a short but powerful kiss. “I think I’ll skip the burned lips and kiss a gargoyle instead.”
“Good plan.” I put my own hot-chocolate-filled tumbler on the table next to his door, then wrap my arms around his neck as I pull him down for a longer, more satisfying kiss of my own.
Jaxon makes a sound deep in his throat as he moves closer. He kisses the corners of my mouth, then drags his tongue along the line of my lower lip before wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close. “What about Hudson?” he whispers, his breath hot against my ear.
“He’s still asleep. It’s why I decided to meet you up here instead of in the foyer.”
“I like the way you think,” Jaxon tells me, even as he turns us so that I’m sandwiched between him and the wall. Then he runs his lips along the edge of my jaw and down my neck until he gets to the hollow of my throat.
“And I like the way you do that,” I answer, tangling my fingers in the cool silk of his hair as I arch against him.
“Good.” He skims lower, nuzzling the collar of my shirt down a little so he can kiss along my collarbone. “Because I plan on doing it for a long time to come. Mate.”
“Jesus. Corny much?” Hudson butts in out of nowhere. He looks as sleepy-eyed as Jaxon, and half his hair is sticking straight up. But—per usual—his sarcasm is absolutely on point. “I mean, seriously. Surely my brother can come up with a better line than that. Or is he just planning on stamping his name on your ass and calling it a day?”
I pull away from Jaxon with a groan before turning to face Hudson, who’s now leaning against the doorframe. “You know what? Bite me.”
“I’d love to,” he fires back, his midnight-blue eyes burning hotly into mine as he leans in close and shows a fang. “Any particular place you have in mind?”
Out of the blue, a not-altogether-bad shiver makes its way down my spine, which in turn freaks me out so much that I jerk back so quickly—from both of them—that I nearly fall flat on my ass.
“Hey, you okay?” Jaxon asks, reaching a hand out to steady me.
“Yeah, of course. I just…”
“I think I know.” He lifts a brow. “Hudson’s awake?”
“Something like that, yeah.” I bend forward, rest the top of my head against his chest. And whisper, “I’m sorry.”
“Never apologize,” he answers. “At least not for that.” Then he steps back into his room, gesturing for me to take a seat on the couch while he heads toward his bedroom. “Give me a couple of minutes to brush my teeth and get dressed. Then we can go.”
“No hurry. We’ve got time,” I call out as he closes his door. Mostly because I’d planned for us to have a few more minutes before we went down to hang with the others…and before Hudson woke up. Apparently, I should have skipped the cafeteria run. But Jaxon looked so run-down all day yesterday that I wanted to make sure he got something to eat.
“Drink.” Hudson flops down onto the chair facing the couch. He slouches into the seat and stretches his long legs out in front of him, arms tightly crossed. His jaw is clenched. And he sounds pissier than I’ve ever heard him—which is saying something.
It’s also fine with me, because I’m feeling pretty damn pissy myself. “What are you talking about?” I ask flatly, as I have no interest in being cordial right now.
“He drinks, not eats.”
“Whatever.” I glare at him. “And will you please stop eavesdropping on my thoughts!”
“It’s not eavesdropping when you’re projecting them through your whole head like a bloody carnival barker,” he shoots back. “No offense, but it’s pretty hard not to listen. It’s also nauseating as fuck.”
“You know what? You’re being a jackass and I don’t even know why. Or did you just use up your entire niceness quotient for the month yesterday?”