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His skin was dry now, and so warm. I kept my hands at his waist, letting my fingertips edge to the top of his soft slacks, itching to explore. I panted puffs of white breath that vanished against the heat of his skin. Reality slapped me hard when I remembered my boyfriend passed out in the car behind me. The voices grew closer, but Paxon didn’t let go, simply held me till the voices faded into the distance.
    Folding his wings to his back, he leaned across and opened the driver’s side door. My body mourned the loss of his warm shield. Still reeling, I slid into the seat. Clayton’s head lolled against the window, mouth hung open. He was drooling. Ew.
    Paxon held my door open and squatted so that we were eye level. I hadn’t said a word, couldn’t say a word. My body still thrummed. Aching. Wanting. Such a new sensation, I felt lost like a loose ship at sea.
    Flustered, I started the engine, adjusted the rearview, moved up the seat, anything to not look at him. His hand came up and gently turned my jaw to face him. “You okay?”
    “Mm-hm.”
    Liar.
    “You’re alright to drive home?”
    “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
    His charming smile was back, plastered wide, making my heart skitter a few more beats. He knew the effect he had on me.
    Enough. I needed to get out of there. “I’m fine. Really.”
    A deep chuckle. “Goodnight, angel.”
    I cleared my throat. “Goodnight.”
    Before I could pull the door closed, he leaned his head into the car and whispered against my ear, his lips brushing the soft shell. “I’d fight a million more for that prize.”
    With a low chuckle, he shut my door. I shifted into gear and tore out of the parking lot, not giving a damn that Clayton’s head was bobbing against the glass.
    What in the hell had just happened?
     
     

Chapter 4
     
    “Clayton! So good to see you.”
    “Hi, Mrs. Barrow. You look like you could be Ella’s sister. Is Mr. Barrow taking you out on the town tonight?”
    My mother giggled like a schoolgirl. Actually, I’d never heard a schoolgirl giggle quite so girlishly. I refrained from rolling my eyes. Clayton’s flattery was so false and transparent. Unlike the charms of someone else I knew.
    It was true. My mother was pretty and petite, but Clayton was being overly obsequious. His charisma always worked with my parents, especially my mother, who was now beaming from ear to ear.
    “Yes, Ella’s father is taking me into town for dinner. Where are you two headed?”
    Clayton twined his fingers through mine, giving me his winning smile. “Oh, I have something special planned for Ella.”
    “Lucky girl.”
    This time, I did roll my eyes at my mother as I grabbed my jacket. “Ready to go, Clayton?”
    He took my jacket from me, helped me slide it on, and lifted my long hair out of the collar.
    “You look beautiful tonight,” he said in a low voice, but loud enough my mother could hear. She sighed and made a he’s-so-sweet face at me.
    “Don’t be too late, you two,” she called when we headed for the door.
    “Don’t worry, Mrs. Barrow. I’ll have her home safe and sound.”
    Once in the car, Clayton relaxed into his less fawning, more self-assured demeanor. I didn’t mind his cockiness. It actually gave me a bit of a boost, the same way Sorcha’s company did. Sorcha oozed confidence. Her presence could always lighten my mood whenever I was down. The thing was, Sorcha was preoccupied now with her husband. I mean, mate. Whatever. The same with Jessen. My best friends had found love so easily and settled into their post-college lives without a bump.
    The moment I met Clayton at a dinner a few months ago with my parents, I was instantly attracted to him. Not in the storybook way, but in the way you’re pulled to a bright light. He had the it-factor, whatever the heck “it” was. Over the past few months, the light had dimmed whenever I witnessed the cruelty behind his laughter, his scorn for the less fortunate, his vanity surpassing his