EXCERPT


Then, by none of my own volition, I abandoned my chair to meet him in his – uninvited maybe, but not unwelcome. One minute I’d been seated, steady; the next I was traversing the gap between us without touching down. All I knew was that there’d been nothing but air supporting me until I’d climbed onto his lap and connected with the solidness of him.

His response to my assault was not immediate; he clutched the armrests as long as conceivably possible while waging an inner battle between desire and decorum. His conflict – his call to me held in check by his uncertainty – froze his body as if he were petrified. More likely not so much by me as by this new us.

Breaking his resistance, I ran my hands up his shoulders to touch his fine hair, prickly soft under my fingertips. On his lap, facing him, I nudged up his chin, making him look into my eyes and see that this was what I wanted, what I needed. Our faces a breath apart, I felt heady inhaling his delicious scent. My heart raced even faster, calling his to match pace. My hunger for him burst forth in an intensity I’d never experienced as I claimed the first kiss.

So this is why Eve was the slandered one, the seductress, I thought. That first taste of him, like the first bite of the apple, was the drop that knocked down the floodgates. And in the same instant that I knew there was no going back, that nothing could stop the wave I was riding, he stopped fighting and met me at its crest, joined me in the us.

His hands moved smoothly from the armrests to my waist, his broad fingers spreading across my lower back as he settled me more securely onto the seat. My knees slid up to his hips, my legs still folded underneath me but now pressing against the outside of his. And then it was he who deepened the kiss, hurtling from concession to conviction, clutching my backside as I bowed deeper into his chest.

Without fully separating, we both took a necessary gasp at the same instant, seeming to breathe in the same pocket of air, resealing our lips with yet more urgency. Where did the air come from when desire bound you too tightly to each other to part for even a second? More than just I want you, but I need you – need you more than air?

As if from a distance, I heard my own throaty moans, vaguely aware I should be embarrassed by the near-growling, but his grip only tightened at the sound. The heat between us climbing higher, his hands followed suit, up my back and sides all at once, over my bursting ribcage, rounding the tops of my shoulders, trailing down to rest lightly on the front of my biceps in an unexpected but tender hold. I wanted the moment to last forever. He was so strong yet soft, vulnerable and safe all at the same time. So intense, so overwhelming, so…not Jack.

1

Picking up where “Solid” left off, Clio and her friends realize that
they aren’t ready to go home; they’re determined to stay on campus
and continue their journey of self- discovery. But someone doesn’t
feel the same way and will do anything to drive them away – even kill.

Friendships will be tested, abilities will evolve, and more secrets will come out
as the teens race to stop the killer before he sets his sights on one of them…