Chapter Sixteen
Practice had gone better the next morning than it had the entire time. Though they still didn’t complete the course, they’d been able to work together up until that point. The problem they realized was that Radley was used to being the alpha and Cricket had a penchant for going against orders of any kind, so they’d had to meet in the middle. They agreed that it wasn’t “orders” from either person. It was recommendations and instincts. Practice had gotten better after that, after they’d come to a sort of compromise.
But now, they had to prepare for something far more stressful than trying to make it through a practice course unscathed.
Cricket moved this way and that in the mirror, admiring the dress she’d picked out. It was a glittering pink, the cut going all the way down to her naval to reveal a tantalizing amount of skin. The back dipped just as low to the base of her back to allow room for her wings once she revealed them. The dress was form-fitting until the bottom where it flared out slightly, making her look like an upside-down flower.
“I’m going in cloaked at first and glamoured. No one will know it’s me until I choose for them to know.”
“Very dramatic,” Radley murmured from his spot against the wall. He’d come inside to discuss the plan, but he hadn’t said much until then. “I should go get dressed myself since you’re nearly done. I’ll make sure to call you by your pseudonym until the reveal.”
Cricket spun and looked him over. She did a tiny spin. “Is the dress suitable, you think?”
He glanced at her face and then away, not daring to look down at the skin revealed. “You look. . . suitable,” he replied awkwardly.
She chuckled. “For someone who claimed they wanted to fuck me, you sure are trying very hard not to look at me right now.”
His eyes jerked to hers. “We have a schedule to keep, sugar plum.”
“And?” she teased, her eyes glittering at him.
“And if you tease me and I crack, we won’t make it to your big reveal.”
Pouting her lip out and rolling her eyes, Cricket sighed. “Yeah, yeah. It’s probably a bad idea anyways. Go get ready. I’ll just grab my cloak and make sure the car is arranged properly.” It was a silly excuse because it would take her exactly three seconds to put on the cloak and she knew the car was already arranged. Danny would never make a mistake and the car was likely already waiting. Still, it was enough to get Radley to nod and leave the room, off to go pull on whatever outfit he was wearing to the event. She’d given him a whole closet of choices, but she wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up going in jeans and a t-shirt.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she studied the dress she picked out specifically to drive Radley crazy. Apparently, it had worked, but not how she’d intended. “What are you doing, Cricket?” she asked herself with a sigh. “You should be trying to work with the alpha, not sleep with him.” But she couldn’t help the magnetism between them, nor the deep desire to claim him. It was a stupid idea. She was a fae and he was a wolf. If her father found out. . .
Falling for a wolf would be the same as putting him to death. There was still the chance she would be forced to marry someone else, whether they won the race or not. Everything about the idea was foolish, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the way he walked, the way his voice sounded, the growl he was fond of.
Sighing, Cricket pulled the cloak on. She left the hood down for now since there was no point in hiding her identity in her own home. The hood would go up before she got in the car, however. They’d already flown across the states and put their stuff in another Snapdragon home. At least they were close enough.
Walking across the hall to Radley’s door, she knocked three times. “Are you ready?”
“Come on in. Just finishing up,” he called through the door.
Opening the door, Cricket nearly swallowed her tongue when she caught side of the wolf. He stood in the middle of the room, wearing only jeans and dress shoes. His chest was gloriously bare, his skin riddled with harsh claw scars. For there to be scars there meant the damage had been nearly bad enough to kill him, but he stood there unconcerned as she looked him over with her mouth ajar. There was rippling muscle everywhere, as if he were chiseled from marble.
“You keep looking at me like that, and we won’t make it out of here,” Radley growled at her.
She snapped her mouth shut and met his eyes. “My apologies,” she breathed, but her eyes dipped lower again to the deep V revealed above the jeans.
He stalked across the room, a predator stalking his prey, and she barely breathed as he pressed her back against the door. Her wings were glamoured away beneath the cloak, so the wood pressed hard against her shoulder blades, a strange feeling. One of his hands circled the back of her neck and she just stared up at him, meeting his glowing eyes. In this moment, there was no mistaking he was a wolf, not with that glow reflected there. Her own were wide as she stared at him, as she let him touch her in ways she shouldn’t allow.
“It’s not the dust,” he said. “You’re not even releasing any.”
“I know,” she breathed.
“Good,” he grunted, the corner of his lips curling up. “Glad we agree.”
And then he was bending down toward her, his lips coming close. She held her breath when he hovered just there, when she could feel his breath fan her face. His eyes took her in, waiting for her to push him away.
Instead, she reached up to thread her fingers into his hair and dragged him down for the savage kiss she’d been waiting for.
For a second, she forgot that it was a bad idea to kiss the alpha.
Hell, for a second, she forgot her own name.