Shadowglass (20 page)

“And?” He prompted me with another dazzling kiss.

I sighed into him, and words slipped out between kissing. “And most of the time you’re all steel and glass and unbreakable-like, but sometimes you show me this gentle streak. If you don’t mind me saying, being such a tough guy and all. You split open for me, and you’re all warm and tender inside that metal shell. And it just makes me want to eat you up like a . . . like a passionfruit.”

He stared at me, his lips shining silver, and I blanched.
Now I’ve done it
.

But he just dipped his mouth to mine again, and this time he twisted his claws in my hair and held me there, his coppery groan slipping into my mouth. He slid on top of me, his thigh easing between mine where I ached. Our tongues melted together, his warm iron flavor flowing inside me, and when he broke off, we were both gasping. His breath burned my lips, and he traced a lingering hot claw over the pulse in my throat. “This is insane. You’d better not be lying.”

Pleasure squirmed inside me at the intensity of his kiss, but in a chilling flash I saw ash-streaked blond hair, golden limbs, hard black eyes that burned azure.
Tell me if you like it,
Kane said.
Maybe she lied.

I kicked the images firmly aside. Kane had no place here. I grabbed Indigo’s hand and pressed it to my breast, above my somersaulting heart. His palm grazed my nipple through my flimsy top, and the shock of needy sensation made me groan all over again. I wanted his tongue there, his teeth, the slide of his naked flesh. “Feel that. It doesn’t lie.”

“Sometimes it can.” He spoke softly, pained, even as he caressed my hard nipple so sweetly, it hurt.

Sorrow whittled chunks from my desire. I wondered distantly who’d lied to him, what happened to make him say that, but it didn’t matter. Dismay simmered beneath my pleasure. He didn’t trust me. He thought I was making it up. “You’re outta your mind, you know that?”

“Yeah, I think I am. For you.” He scraped my hair back with his forearm, cradling my head close to his, his warm body pressing lightly on mine. I inhaled iron, coppery sweat, a tinge of rust—god, I couldn’t get enough of his smell. Daring, I slipped my hand over his hip, feeling the sharp bone, a flash of naked skin above his jeans, the tight curve of his ass.

He pressed against me with a pleasured murmur, and ducked to whisper in my ear. “You’re amazing. Please don’t forget this. No matter what happens. I like you, Ice—you’re fresh and clean and perfect, you set me free and I’ve been locked up so long, I don’t know what to do about you. I want to preserve you forever in glass. I want you in my bed. I want . . . other things. And I’m afraid, Ice. I’m afraid that I’ll . . . that someone will steal you away. That you’ll vanish if I close my eyes. I don’t want that.”

The longest speech I’ve ever heard from him, and he made no sense. He scared me with all this thinking. I didn’t want to think about this. I just wanted the easy oblivion of his mouth on mine. I licked my bottom lip, quivering with need. “Jelly on a blanket. I’m not going anywhere. Can’t we just—?”

“Shh.” He crushed a kiss on my lips, heady and hot and just long enough to leave me gasping. He glanced up at the distant looming skyscrapers, breeze ruffling his inky hair. He fluttered eager wings, and his eyes twinkled with silvery mischief. “Come on. Let’s do something nice. Walk with me. You like views?”

Tension rippled my blood. If we moved, this moment might vanish. I ran my thumb over his shining silver lips, letting him catch it with his tongue. “I like the view right here just fine.”

But he dazzled me with that sultry silver smile, and delight bubbled in my veins, washing away my fear. If he was crazy, then so was I, and I wanted to drown in it with him. I’d regret this, sure as I’m yellow and funny-looking. But for the first time in my sorry little life, I truly didn’t care.

I grinned back, anticipation burning me up inside. “Okay. Where we going?”

W
ait and see.” Indigo pulls her up, her pretty hand so small and warm in his, and it’s all he can do not to wrap her in his metal embrace, crush her lithe body to his and fly far away. The shift of her fingers on his palm is hypnotic. She’s so light, like she’s made of sunshine, and for an instant, her smile paralyzes him.

For once, he told the truth. It didn’t hurt like he imagined it would. And she didn’t run away. She’s still here, not only shifting shyly in front of him but hot and vital in his blood, too, her taste lingering in his mouth, the precious feel of her still sparkling on his lips and fingers.

Insane, to have waited so long.

It’s amazing just to walk with her, unafraid, watching her skip and laugh and splash happily through puddles as they thread their way through gritty black streets toward the city. Shadows loom tall, split like razors with neon-bright iron light poles. Humidity thickens, distant thunder growing closer. Indigo’s metalsense flickers, tormenting him, and that black ache whispers cruelly in his skull, but he doesn’t care. He can’t take his eyes off her.

Memorize her. Drink her in. Consume her, before she vanishes like breath on a mirror.

Ahead of him, Ice twirls like a tipsy ballerina, wings fluttering crookedly, her fruity hair trailing shimmering droplets behind her. Her crystal laughter shines in the air like starlight. The lacy frills of her skirt tease her slim golden thighs, mesmerizing. She’s chattering, telling him something, her enthusiasm bubbling like a waterfall, and he longs to listen, to let her voice wash the dirt from his skin.

But Ebony-ache blurs his vision, and the sneering black velvet whisper deafens him.
—You’re weak, Indigo. Cold and crunched up inside like tinfoil. You heard what she said. It’s me she really covets. The part you despise. Don’t dare think you can do this without me.—

I can
, he wants to scream.
I can, and I will.
But pain crunches his teeth, slashing bright blood into his mouth. His muscles spasm, and he staggers in a metalbright blur, his wings scrabbling at the air to keep him upright. She’s ahead, dancing crookedly in a puddle, and she doesn’t see. He rakes stinging claws through his hair, fighting the horrid impulse to claw his own eyeballs out.

Determination stings his bones. Ebony can’t have her, not now. Taking her to this view, high above the city to his favorite solitary place, is insane. He should leave her, push her away like he’s always done, keep her safe in case Ebony returns.

But his smitten heart wails at the thought. He wants to show her. Can’t leave her now, just when he’s getting it right. He swallows on iron bile, fighting a rush of warm quicksilver mischief.
Not now, Ebony. Not ever.

Ice halts and turns, her precious amber eyes bright with concern. “You okay?”

“Uh-huh.” Rich black giggles slide in Indigo’s blood, but he forces them silent, and when she wiggles her delicate yellow fingers, he ignores the warning throbbing in his skull and takes her hand.

T
he elevator crunched and hummed, sweeping us upward in the soft lemon scent of detergent. Cool air-conditioned air fanned me, drying my sweat. I giggled, my eyelids itching under his warm hand. “Can I open them yet?”

“Nope.” He pressed against my back, hard fae muscles shifting like curved metal parts as he moved, and I could feel him sniffing my hair, scenting me, inhaling my perfume.

Not that I was wearing any. I hadn’t anticipated this. At least tonight I didn’t stink like a whore. At least, not yet. “How about now?”

“Nope.” He teased my wings with crisp metal hair.

I rubbed back, and he rewarded me with a lick, spreading hot shivers all the way up to the tip. I giggled. “Now?”

“Nope nope. Keep ’em closed.”

“Where we going?”

“Somewhere special. It’s a surprise. You’ll like it.”

The elevator pinged, and slid to a halt. I squirmed in pleasure and excitement. A surprise. Goody good. Maybe he’d brought me to his place. Even better.

His hand slipped from my eyes, and I squeezed them shut, enjoying the game. Elevator door, sliding closed behind us, another lock clicking open. More cold air, my wings stinging dry, the lost warmth of his body a seductive echo. Slippery warm tiles under my bare feet. His knobbly fingers strong and slick in mine, leading me on. The warm smoothness of metal around his wrist, brushing my arm. A door whispered aside, heated air rushing on glass, and we flittered up a few steps onto sun-warmed concrete.

Summernight breeze whipped my face, the smell of rain and nighttime and warm city streets. Distant traffic noise whispered. Sparse raindrops stung pleasantly cool on my cheeks, and I opened my mouth, letting the fresh bitterness catch my tongue. Happiness flushed me. I wanted to run and twirl and jump until I was soaked. I laughed, stretching out my arms blindly. “Rain, rain, I love the rain. We there yet?”

“Just a bit farther.” He guided me forward, rough concrete scraping my toes.

“Where we going?”

“Stop right there.” He pulled me to a halt. My feet slicked on smooth steel. Breeze lifted my hair, spiraled warm fingers around my bare legs, dragged my skirt against my thighs. He slipped his arms around my neck from behind and covered my eyes again. His close whisper warmed my ear. “Do you trust me?”

My body started to ache all over again, longing for him to touch me the way he had in my dreams. “Gosh, you feel so nice. Sure I trust you. Can I look now?”

“No, I mean d’ya really trust me?”

“Umm . . . I guess. Sure. Some reason I shouldn’t?”

A soft coppery chuckle. “Well, you did just let on that I’m your weakness, Ice. Apart from sparkle and fat juicy diamonds, that is.”

Disquiet crept in on insect feet, worrying my high. “Uh-huh. Guess I did.”

“And you did just admit we’re in competition. For the shiny, I mean.”

“Guess we are.” His body against mine made me shiver, for more reasons than one.

“And there’s the whole left– right bangle thing. That gives you the creeps.”

“Uh-huh.” The wind rose, threatening, whipping my hair in my face. Worry caressed my lungs with silent black fingers. So there was something to that bangle business after all. Which wrist was it on now? And this was just a balcony, right? In some skyscraper apartment? Alarm sparked, and I strained to open my eyes.

But he clenched his fingers tighter, his claws digging into my temple. My pulse skipped. He rubbed his crisp hair in mine, that cute little gesture I’d liked so much. Now, it seemed a wicked tease. He slid his open mouth across my cheek in a possessive kiss I wasn’t sure I enjoyed, even if pleasure did shiver all the way down inside me. “And you did just tell me who owns that ruby necklace.”

My heart thudded, too fast for comfort. “Uh-huh. Indigo, you’re creeping me out now—”

“So the fact is, Lady Ice, you shouldn’t trust me, because . . .” I felt his lips curve in a smile against my ear, and he whipped his hand away from my eyes.

I teetered, and looked down.

Empty space lurched at my feet. My toes curled on the steel edge of a rooftop, a hundred floors of nothing looming below.

Shock jerked my limbs, and I overbalanced.

The air gripped me like sucking octopus tentacles, dragging me inexorably over the edge. Sour terror splurted into my mouth, and I screamed.

My wings pulled against swirling air, useless. My arms flailed in circles, reaching for anything to hold me back, my only solace Indigo’s warm hand in the small of my back.
He knows I can’t fly. He’ll catch me.
“Indigo, help me!”

A sly metallic laugh, mocking. “Because I don’t need you anymore,” he finished coolly, and gently but firmly he pushed me off.

18

F
or an instant, I didn’t fall.

Anyone who’s seen the cartoons where the scrawny coyote skids over a cliff will know what I mean. Until you believe you’re falling, you’re suspended in the rare sweet air of denial.

I’m not falling. He didn’t just push me. I’m not about to die.

And then you look down, and you can’t lie to yourself anymore.

The ground loomed up at me, glowing city lights impossibly far away. Terror chewed my guts to pulp. I whirled my arms, my feet tripping in space. I strained my wings wide to catch myself, but pain speared my joints, my membranes stretched to breaking in a whirling gust of wind, and I knew I couldn’t hold my weight.

My struggles drove me facedownward, and I fell.

Air howled in my ears, the screeching discord of madness. Water streamed from my eyes, blinding. I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t think.

I screamed, and fell faster, and faster, my pulse a sprinting squeal of panic. The breath ripped from my lungs. Raindrops knifed my skin. My wings dragged behind me, wind tangling them uselessly together, and I struggled to free them, to force them out into the rushing air to break my fall. But my joints dislocated with an ugly jolt that resonated in my skull like a gunshot, and I just tumbled over and over, a tangle of wings and limbs and gut-melting terror.

Hellflash scorched before my eyes.
This is how I die. Thrown from a skyscraper by the maniac who’s stolen my heart. A blind, foolish, lovesick fairy girl who can’t even fly
.

The irony didn’t cheer me up.

And then something thudded into my chest and dragged me sideways.

My limbs whiplashed, pain ripping into my joints. My chin smacked into my chest. Hair slashed at my face. My unjointed wings lurched taut in suddenly swirling wind, and my shoulder blades screamed with selfish agony. And then I gusted upward in a steely embrace, floating on glittery twitches of wings far stronger than mine.

My ripped ear ached. I opened my eyes in a blue-blotted haze. Windows, city lights in prismed reflection, a flash of silverfoil wings. The dark alcoves of apartments, green vines crawling on lattice, lounge lights and televisions in muted glow. In and over a glass railing with a polished white edge, and my burning feet splatted on something blessedly solid.

I reeled, my pulse galloping, and sucked in a breath for the first time in ages. Oxygen swarmed in my panicked blood, and relief swamped me, dizzying. Solid ground. Tiles. A room.
I’m not dead.

No bloody thanks to him.

A rich chuckle rumbled my back, and he pressed his cheek on the top of my head and slid strong arms around my waist. “Gotcha.”

Crazy fucker still had a hard-on. I could feel him, hot and tempting against my hip. Rage juddered my muscles. I struggled in his embrace, wrath drowning my gratitude. “Get off me, you fucking freak!”

“Okay, okay.” He let go, still laughing.

Asshole. I straightened, tossing my giddy head. “Fine. I’m f—Oops.” My limbs buckled like wet paper, and I crumpled onto my butt, my bones jarring. Mortified, I scrabbled to get up, but my strength melted in the aftermath of terror and the stupid relief of being alive. My abused wings hurt like poison. My pulse wouldn’t slow. My skin wouldn’t cool. I just lay there and flopped in a puddle of my own water like a grounded fish.

A very, very angry fish.

He leaned one elbow on the balcony rail, coppery sweat gleaming on silver-swelled muscles. Tension quivered along his thighs, and he was still breathing hard, his excitement uncontained. His blackmetal hair gleamed, tousled by the wind. He shot me that sultry silver-fanged smile, and I couldn’t peel my eyes away.

Fury slashed through my blood like lust. “How the fuck is this funny? You just threw me off a bloody skyscraper!”

“Should see yourself now.” He let his gaze drape over me, white hot, and his tongue flicked his teeth, mesmerizing. “Knew it’d get you hot.”

“Are you out of your mind? I can’t believe you did that! You know I can’t fly!”

“I was never gonna let you fall.” Molten metal swirled in his iron-gray eyes, a fiery glimmer of hurt or apology. “I’d never hurt you, Lady Ice. You know that.”

So sincere. My anger softened, a little. Maybe he hadn’t meant anything by it. I scowled, still shaking and hot under his gaze. “Whatever, okay? You scared the shit outta me.”

He poked at my naked toes with his foot, teasing me, and a naughty little grin tweaked his silvery mouth. “No fun for you if you’re not scared out of your mind.”

I still wanted to leap up and strangle him. But the treacherous mirror giggled and groaned in my head, fueling my anger with excitement and raw desire. Moisture trickled over my legs, soaking my skirt. Anger throbbed harder in my veins, stinging my flesh sharp like desire. I squirmed my hips, but the water wouldn’t stop. Now embarrassment as well as rage flooded my cheeks. I hated it. My will struggled against the very idea of it. But my breath fought harder in my lungs, my wetness splashed the floor, and struggle as I might, I couldn’t deny that being alive right now, in this instant, fired my blood like nothing ever had before. My sex throbbed. My nipples ached. God, I wanted him to touch me.

Deep in my body, the mirror giggled and stroked me, rich and seductive like a lover. It felt so good, I swallowed a gasp.
Damn it.
I kicked at his thighs, frustration lending me strength. “Fun? That’s your idea of fun? Are you fucking insane?”

He laughed, dark and intense, his eyes glowing. “Yeah. I am. Insane. Petrified. Alive. God, you turn me on like this.” He grabbed my flailing ankle and tugged.

My butt skidded over slick tiles, and my skirt raked upward. I kicked harder, but he fought for my other ankle and suddenly he was on his knees. My legs curled over his shoulders, silky skirt ruffles falling in my lap, and he pulled my knees apart and licked a hot wet swath of trembling lust up the inside of my thigh.

Breath rushed from my lungs. My skin sizzled, hot like sunburn from my breasts to my sex to the sensitive tendon at the top of my thigh where his teeth scraped me, raw and needy. He bit me there, swift and crafty, and sensation jolted straight to my clit. A groan forced from my lips, unwilling, those lustful hormones dancing through my blood. Adrenaline rush be damned. This was a life rush, an unbreaking wave of sheer joy and crippling tension from which I couldn’t surface. My pulse hammered in every vein, painful. My breath jerked and shuddered. My wits sloshed, drowning in lustful liquid. Surely it was the mirror, tormenting me. I didn’t care. I couldn’t calm down. I needed release.

He pushed my thighs farther apart, and I let out another helpless groan. He pressed me onto my back and pulled my thigh up onto his shoulder, and all by itself my knee crooked around him, desperate.

He sniffed me and slicked his tongue under the edge of my panties, deliciously hot and agonizingly close.

My tight flesh thrummed, and slick moisture slid from me. He gripped me tight around the hips, and I wriggled, helpless frustration cramping my legs with blood-sweet pain. No fair. He’d done this on purpose. I wanted it too much. “Damn it, don’t fuck around, can you just—? Oh, shit.”

He slashed my panties away with stinging claws and fastened his tongue hard on my pulsing clit. Sensation juddered through my legs. Not pleasure. Too extreme for that. Raw nerve damage, intense and razor-bright and exhilarating, pouring hot delight through my whole body. I think I screamed. I certainly didn’t push him away.

I was burning, but his molten mouth still scorched me. He delved his tongue deeper into my folds, and my flesh slid and swelled between his lips, aching for him to take me. At last he thrust his long curled tongue in, claiming me, caressing me deep inside until I wanted to scream for release. He licked me, kissed me, teased me with his teeth, every stroke dragging me closer to what I craved. Still impatience wrenched my muscles taut like whipstrings. I squeezed my eyes shut. The tension inside me twisted, harder, tighter, more unbearable. I sobbed, my teeth aching. I couldn’t take this. I dragged desperate hands through his sharp hair to pull him into me. “Harder. Please, harder.”

Great. I was begging. Now the bastard would take me even slower.

But he sucked my clit hard into his mouth, flashing sparks before my eyes. And now it did feel good, my desire flowering like a volcano, spilling delicious burning sensation inside me like lava. When he thrust his long finger inside me, searching for my deepest pleasure, I split apart.

Water crashed in my ears. Sensation rushed all the way to my fingertips, my scalp, my toes. My muscles spasmed, and the tension shattered like dropped glass, draining me. I groaned. Blessed, erotic, wonderful relief. God, that felt amazing.

I melted, limp, and if he hadn’t been holding my legs, I’d have collapsed to the floor.

He caressed my ankle and kissed me softly between my legs like he kissed my mouth, slow and deep, but I barely felt it. I was numb.

I lay there, dazed, my wings crumpled beneath me. Lights swirled in my eyes, dazzling me. My muscles wouldn’t move. My brain glugged like sun-warmed custard. Where am I again? What just happened?

Oh, yeah. Indigo just gave me a blow job.

Correction. Indigo pushed me off an eighty-story skyscraper, and then gave me a blow job.

That doesn’t seem strange at all. Does it?

Mirrorsparkled mirth frothed in my chest, and I laughed, fresh and full like a rose bouquet. Life was good.

He swept me up, and next thing I knew we were inside in the dark. His warm arms cradled me, his rusty breeze fanning my face. Shadows of furniture, faint rosy sweetness on the cool air. Sensation prickled back into my limbs, and I wobbled my head up, wet locks sticking to my cheeks. “Where’s this?”

“My place. One of them.” He nudged a switch, and gentle light blossomed. Steel-gray carpet, rosy walls, a black marble kitchen top. Masses of dark roses drying in crystal vases, petal edges crisp and curled. Stuff everywhere, books with ripped covers and half-read magazines and silver DVDs missing their cases. A one-room place, shiny black bath in the corner and his bed in a loft up a light ladder. Couch looked comfortable, too, a splay of warm ocher cushions. I’m not fussy. Right now, I’d have him on a pile of broken glass.

I giggled, dazed. “Pink. Not what I expected.”

“I told you, I’ve made the wrong impression. What did you expect?”

“I dunno. Bars on the windows. Mirrors. Guns in the fridge.”

He flitted up the ladder, his chest warm against my thighs. He dropped me facedown on the crumpled quilt, heedless of the moist mess I made.

Excitement clenched my thighs tight. I inhaled delicious copper, the velvety smoothness of the quilt slipping on my cheek. Shadows streaked the bed. He slid his body onto my back, light and hard-muscled, fragrant rust flecks showering. “Knives, not guns.”

He nuzzled between my shoulder blades, teasing a slow tingle down my spine with one crafty claw. Static arced tenderly over my skin. My ribs thrilled. His thigh wrapped around mine, pressing me into the bed. My wings quivered with fresh desire. I yearned back against him, my breasts aching, my skin wet for him, the flesh between my legs still slick and hot and swollen. I’d had my release. Now I wanted him all over me, under me, inside me. Long, slow, lazy love that lasted all night, lots of deep kissing and sighs and
oh my god
s. “What did you say?”

He slid his arm under my belly and flipped me over, folding my wings under me with a deft swipe of his hand. Now his body pressed into mine, torturing my breasts, making me ache and yearn. He licked a damp trickle from my shoulder, his hair dragging like a hot whisper over my throat. “I don’t do guns. No intimacy in a bullet.”

My body yearned for his touch, but my brain staggered a few seconds behind, and when it caught up, unease fluttered wildly in my heart. My wings stretched, ready to jerk me away, but he lay on top of me, trapping my body with his. Sudden awareness shivered through me of how strong he was compared with me. Sex is often like that. It’s one thing that gets me hot. But . . .

He traced lazy fingers over my hip, and my breath caught, my claws digging into the quilt. “You know, that’s a really freaky thing to say.”

He stroked my hand to relax it, unhooked my claws, spread hot wet kisses in my palm. “Hardly. Would you rather die of indifference? Or of love?”

He kissed inside my wrist, and I shivered. I couldn’t see him. I didn’t know if he was laughing at me or not. After all this time, I’d finally made it to his bed, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay. I swallowed, nerves clawing my throat. “Are those my only choices?”

He laughed, steel on crystal, and the vibration tingled my bones. “That was funny. I like you, Ice. Very much. Don’t be afraid. You can check my fridge for weapons later, okay?”

He licked in the corner of my elbow, and pleasure sparkled to my fingertips. Damn, but staying was tempting. I stretched my arm above my head, searching for the bedpost so I could push against it, press my body harder against his, wrap my thigh around his to feel him where I ached. His hips crushed into mine, his delicious hardness making me groan. He’d already ripped my underwear away, and my skirt didn’t cover me. I could feel every tight muscle, every engorged twist, every quiver.