Fallen University: Year One

The fire demon stiffened in surprise for a moment, but my kiss wasn’t fierce or violent. It wasn’t a demand.

It was an offer.

And he took it.

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His arms wrapped around me as he kissed me back, a kiss so deep and consuming I thought we both might drown in it. The succubus power that laced my body rejoiced in the connection between our lips, but this was about so much more than that. It was about making sure Xero knew he was wanted and trusted, cared for and desired.

He reached out with one hand to shove the door closed behind us, and when I heard it hit the frame with a dull thunk, I pushed on his chest lightly, guiding him back toward his bed. He sat down, and I climbed onto his lap, our mouths still moving in a slow, languid kiss that was fueled by a deep river of desire.

Xero was the most fascinating blend of softness and hardness, of gentleness and strength. Of violence and peace.

He’d been through hell—literally—and had come out the other side changed by his experience.

But it hadn’t made him a worse person. It had made him a better one.

He had seen evil, lived with it, and he had chosen the opposite. He was probably a way better man than I deserved, but the succubus magic that bound us together didn’t care about that. And maybe Xero didn’t either, because he held me flush against his body and kissed me like I was the most precious thing in the world.

I pulled away and framed his face with my hands, my fingers pale against his dark skin. His beautiful, dark eyes, full of so many colors up close, sparked as he gazed up at me.

“I want you, Xero,” I murmured. “So much. But only if it’s what you want.”

Jayce had thrown himself headfirst into the bond we shared, eager and willing to explore what it meant. Kai still seemed like he’d be willing to consider gnawing off a limb if it got him out of the bear trap of my succubus bond, and Kingston? That fucking man was impossible to read—hot one minute, cool as a fancy glass of ice-water the next.

Xero had neither actively resisted the bond nor given in to it. He had stayed close to me, feeding my succubus power with his mere proximity, and over the past several months, we’d gotten to be… friends.

But that didn’t mean my body had ever stopped craving him, that sparks of heat didn’t flare every time he touched me. And it didn’t stop nerves from churning in my gut as I waited for him to answer.

His dark eyes seemed to peer right through me, down to layers of my being no one had ever seen or even looked for until now. The arms that were still wrapped around me tightened, and his beautiful features softened.

“I want you too, Piper. I have since the day I met you. Before I even knew you were a succubus.”

Relief flooded my body at his words.

He wanted me. Thank fuck.

“God, I’m glad you said that.” I couldn’t suppress my smile. “But I meant it,” I added, still holding his face, gazing down at him seriously. “I won’t seduce you into anything. You’ve given me so much already, and I want you in my life—in whatever capacity you can be. I’d rather have some of you than none of you, and if you’re not—”

I didn’t even get to finish the speech I’d mentally rehearsed on the way to his room, the one all about how I wouldn’t let my succubus powers dictate the terms of our relationship, because Xero’s lips met mine again, cutting off my words.

And his answer was in his kiss.

Our lips danced as our tongues chased each other, and even though fierce need rampaged through my body, we didn’t rush.

I couldn’t rush.

Not with Xero. Not for our first time.

When my lips were swollen from kissing him and my head felt like it was in danger of floating away, he turned me in his arms and laid me down on the bed. Then he carefully removed every article of clothing on my body, working his way up from my feet. Every inch of skin he bared was then covered with soft, burning kisses until it felt like he’d lit my whole body on fire with his lips.

He was still wearing all his clothes though, and that was totally unfair. So I pushed him away from where he was lavishing attention on the skin of my neck and breasts, rolling him over onto his back.

Then I followed his lead, stripping off his clothes like I was unwrapping a fucking gift from the universe. When I finally had him completely naked, I blinked down at him in shock, sitting back on my heels.

He was solid and strong, with sculpted muscles rippling beneath his dark skin. His broad pecs led down to a carved six-pack, and the V at his hips was so defined I wanted to trace it with my fingertips—with my mouth. His cock was thick, so heavy and erect it brushed against his stomach, and my mouth and fingers longed to touch that too.

But what had made me sit back on my heels wasn’t any of those things. It was the large, raised scars that slashed across his body from wounds long-ago healed but never forgotten. And given that most demons had some form of advanced healing, the wounds must’ve been horribly deep when he’d received them.