Chapter 263


    Chapter 0263


    Nichs’s mouth was hot on mine. His arms wrapped around my waist, holding me closely. I clutched


    at his shoulders, early epting his kisses, until the need for air forced us apart.


    He rested his forehead against mine. “You have to change.”


    “Nick,” I said. He was being ridiculous. “This dress is not revealing.”


    “You look so sexy in it. I can’t stand the thought of Terry seeing you like this.”


    I smiled a little. This dress was not ttering on me. I knew that. I looked okay, but out of fashion. I’d


    worn more revealing clothes before.


    I imagined a big part of Nichs’s trouble was that he was attracted to me in anything. “You’d probably


    be jealous even if I wore a potato sack.”


    He didn’t argue. “I don’t like the way Terry looks at you.” His arms squeezed me closer. “Why don’t you


    stay here, after all. Stay with Elva. Julian and I can snoop around Terry’s mansion. You don’t need to


    endanger yourself.”


    I shook my head. “You know I can’t do that. Even if I wanted to. I had such a poor showing in thest


    event, that I can’t risk botching another. I need attend and do the best I can.”


    “Terry won’t make it easy on you.‘


    “I know that,” I said. “But I don’t have any other choice.”


    Nichs frowned deeply but he made no further remarks. Instead, he stepped back from me and


    turned on the lights to the garage. Taking my hand, he led me through the various fancy cars until we


    reached a ck sedan with tinted windows.


    He opened the passenger door and helped me inside. Then he went around to the driver’s side. The


    seats were soft leather, the console ck and impably clean. When Nichs turned the key, the car


    started with a confident purr.


    He put the car into drive and carefully navigated out of the garage and driveway.


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    When we pulled out onto the street, my nerves began to prickle again. I worried my hands together.


    Nichs continuously nced over at me, likely seeing my tense posture and the way I couldn’t sit still.


    No one else was on the road at all. The other cars were long gone and no one else seemed to use this


    road this time of night. The sun had set, and the road was dark. Nichs clicked on the high beams.


    The light sliced through the darkness, illuminating the road.


    I focused on the double yellow line, trying to collect my thoughts. Yes, I was amb headed into the


    lion’s den. But Nichs and Julian would be there. And Susie and the other girls. If Terry wanted to


    iste me, he’d have to do so with a lot of witnesses.


    That didn’t make me feel all that better. Terry was bold. He didn’t seem like the type that would be all


    that bothered what others thought of him or his actions. He had the ear of the Luna and the King. Why


    should the opinions of the lowlymoners matter to him? Even the nobles were beneath him.


    We were reaching the mansion. I could tell from the way Nichs’s hands choked the steering wheel,


    his knuckles white.


    Woods lined the road on either side of us. Nichs lifted his foot off the gas. Slowly, he pulled onto the


    side of the road, where a dirt road seemed to lead to nowhere. He put the car into park.


    “Nichs?”


    He turned to look at me and I saw a bit of desperation in his gaze. I knew what it was because I felt it


    too, all the way down into the deepest parts of me.


    “Come here,” he said, and Iplied at once, leaning toward him. He leaned too, and caught me


    halfway.


    Our hug was a bit awkward, with the center console jutting unweed into the space between us. But


    our need to hold each other overcame any obstacle. Nichs buried his fingers into my hair. I wed


    at his back, trying and failing to pull him closer.


    I wanted him so close that I wouldn’t be able to tell where he ended and I began. That way, maybe I


    could finally feel safe again.


    Terry would find a way to separate us tonight. I knew that to be true. Somehow, I would have to be


    strong, depend on my physical training from Nichs, and my mental lessons from Julian. I didn’t feel


    ready.


    I was frightened. I held Nichs tighter.


    His face turned toward mine, and our mouths found each other’s. He licked his way past the seam of


    my lips. I opened willingly for his greedy tongue, and held on while he stole my breath away.


    Like this, with our lips pressed together and our hands holding each other closer, I could almost forget


    about what was going to happen tonight. I could find sce in this man, in his closeness, in his


    strength and his desire for me. My desire for him.


    Whatever Terry threw at me tonight would not be about to surmount this stolen moment of closeness


    with this man I was so soft–hearted for. Nichs and I couldn’t be together long term, but for now, like


    this, nothing mattered but he and I and the pursuit of the pleasure only attainable from our kiss.


    “Piper,” Nichs breathed against my lips, my name twisted in worry.


    I didn’t want him to say my name like that, like he was frightened too, or concerned, or jealous, or all


    three. So I pressed my lips back to his and worked on muddling his thoughts for a while instead.


    He hummed against my mouth, pleased. I moaned but he swallowed it.


    When we broke again, he whispered, “It’s not toote to change your mind. Until the moment you cross


    the threshold, I can take you back to your room.”


    I smiled, small and pitiful, and shook my head. “You know I can’t.”


    “I want you safe more than I care about catching Terry.”


    “I can only be safe when Terry is caught.”


    Nichs’s face went grim. “I hate that you have to do this.”


    To reassure him, I ran my hands across his shoulders and down his arms. His worry for me brought out


    something in me, a hidden courage I didn’t know I possessed.


    “I’m frightened,” I admitted, “But I know that you will help keep me safe.”


    He nodded. “I will never leave your side.”


    We both knew that was impossible. We were supposed to go our separate ways when we sneaked


    through the mansion. Three people individually searching would cover more ground, quicker, than an


    individual and a couple would.


    “Even if we aren’t, I know all I have to do is press my panic button and you and Julian woulde


    running.” I brushed my hair back from my shoulders, showing off the golden ne around my neck.


    Nichs looked at it, then up at me. His brow pulled together. “What panic button?”


    I clutched the pendant of my ne and held it up for him to see. “This? I have it if I get into any real


    trouble. It’s a relief, knowing you and Julian are only a push of a button away from me.”


    Nichs’s frown fell impossibly deeper. “Piper. I have no idea what you are talking about.”


    Wait. Julian had promised he would tell Nichs about the panic button and get him in the loop?


    Hadn’t he?