My blood feels like ice in my veins. I stare down at the strand of my hair stuck in the honey. It’s surrounded by the rose petals, and I hope to all of heaven that I don’t have three more demons showing up at my door.

My hands shake at the thought of how much worse this spell could’ve backfired, so I quickly set to clean up everything and drown it in saltwater. Both the salt and water are purifying agents and will stop the spell from continuing to work. At least, I hope so, since nothing else has gone my way today.

A whine sounds at the door, and I debate leaving Matthis stranded out in the hallway. I finish scrubbing the honey residue off the coffee table. An instant later, Matthis is stretched out on my bed with his fingers entwined behind his head against my headboard as he watches me.

“I cleaned up all the books you left trashed in the library,” he says, as though he should get a reward.

“Oh?” I scrub at a stain. “Wasn’t it you who made a mess to begin with?”

He kicks his legs, coming off the bed in one smooth movement. His hand covers mine. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” My words come out high-pitched. “What’s not wrong should be the question. I tried to do a simple crush spell for my roommate and instead, I get a horny demon bound to me. My own crush is now under the metallic fingernails of the girl I hate the most in the world. And I can’t use magic unless I-I’m being attacked or getting it on with a demon.”

Matthis whistles. “That does sound intense, but definitely has an upside.” He smirks.

I huff, “You think?” I try to remove my hand from underneath his, but he only uses it to pull me into his embrace. His arms wrap around me, and I shudder, trying to keep the tears pressing in on me at bay.

“What, no snarky remark?” I hiccup a cry. I hate crying in front of people—even a demon, apparently.

“Let’s work on your next final, eh? Can’t be demon conjuring; you’ve already aced that one.” He winks, and I snort. “Which one do you want next?”

I chuckle and wipe my face. “You’ll really help me?”

“As long as you don’t snot on my fav shirt, luv.” He taps his shirt, and my tears vanish off the silk. “So, is it going to be possession or torturing your enemies in a liquid fire?”

“Neither.” I shake my head, unable to stop my smile when I should be horrified. Somehow, though, I know he doesn’t really mean what he’s saying, he’s just trying to get my mind off everything else. “I need help in levitation.”

“Think you’ve got that one down,” he says in a sexy voice that has me pressing my thighs together.

“No, I need to be able to do it on my own, or at least without,” my voice catches, “without doing what we did in the library.”

“Easy.” He sits on the edge of the coffee table. “Lift me into the air with your power.”

“Wha—” I cross my arms. “No way, you’re way too heavy.”

“Let me guess, your teacher had you start with a leaf?”

“Feather,” I correct him.

“That would work on someone with mundane magic power, but you, luv, are anything but ordinary.”

“Flattery won’t get you out of doing what you promised.”

He shakes his head, chuckling. “Wow, your family really did a number on you, didn’t they?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I stiffen, crossing my arms over my chest.

“You’re like an exotic tiger lily in a field of plain daisies, upset that you’re not like them. All their teaching does nothing for you because it’s for daisies, not you. You need different soil, more water, more sunlight than them. They are cookie-cutter flowers that always follow the same boring pattern and never change.”

“Okay, so where does that leave me? I’m going to have to have a demon teacher for the rest of my school career?” I sit across from him on my bed.

“You want me to start a bonfire for you when I’m trying to teach you not only how to start a fire, but how to chop your own wood and make your own hellfire.”

“Right now, I just have to show I can light the fire.” As much as I want him to show me everything he knows and how to access my magic, I can’t allow my emotions to carry me away like in the library. He’s a demon, trying to get me to lower my guard so he can take my magic and kill me. I have to remind myself that he’s a demon… a monster. Not a hot new guy whose kisses are better than indulging in chocolate.

His crooked grin brings out a dimple and I bite the inside of my cheek. “All right, then lift me with your magic.”

My attention snaps back to him. I know if I argue that he’s too heavy, he’ll give me another weird analogy. Concentrating, I scrunch up my nose, willing him to move off the coffee table.

He remains in place, unmoving.

“What am I doing wrong?”

“You’re overthinking,” he says like it’s the simplest thing in the world. Like I can flip a switch in my mind and turn it off. “In the library, you weren’t thinking about how many books there were or how heavy they were.”

“That was different. You distracted me.” When he starts to stand, I hold my hands up. “No, I can’t do that every time I have a final.”

“You are stressed, luv. You’re thinking too hard about what needs to happen instead of just letting it happen.”

I’m not sure if he’s talking about the kiss or the books, but I’m afraid to ask in case he may want a repeat of our make-out session—though a huge part of me wants to jump him right now and see how far we can take each other. “Can’t you just tell me what to do?”

“How has that worked for you in the past?” He steeples his fingers, pressing them to the spot below his lower lip. “Did anyone explain how to send a blast of power into an attacker before you did so when I was in wolf form?”

“Well… no.”

“Exactly.” His golden eyes brighten. “Your power is attached to your emotions.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. When I did my potions final, I had tons of emotion and I still failed.”

“Stress is your kryptonite. It has to be adrenaline from either a fight-or-flight situation or passion.”

“How do you know comic book lore?” I thought demons read dark magic books and chanted backward in Latin or something.

“We’re not as uncivilized as you think.” He clears his throat. “Stop stalling and levitate me. Or I may kiss other parts of you.”

Suddenly, it’s too hot in my dorm room. I’m in here with a demon and my bed is right next to me. Images of us entwined together flash through my mind. There’s a flutter in my stomach that doesn’t make any sense. I can’t be crushing on a demon.

The spell.

I gasp out a breath, clenching and unclenching my fists as I try not to freak out. My hair activated the magic. That’s what called Matthis to me. But why a demon? Was it because I was using the spell to show everyone I could do magic? Well, I succeeded, only to have everyone want to toss me out of the school. A bubble of a laugh gets stuck in my throat.

“Do you not believe me?” Matthis asks, breaking me from my downward spiral.

“Yes. But that won’t help me on a test. I have to be able to do it on my own.” I am pretty sure not all the teachers will allow me to film passing their finals with flying colors. Can’t say I would blame them, either. “How do I access my magic without your help?”

I expected Matthis to shake his head or mumble that he wasn’t sure. Instead, he smiles like he’s caught his hand in the cookie jar.

Suddenly I feel naked in front of him, even though I’m fully clothed. Heat envelopes me and I resist the urge to cross my arms over myself. Matthis’ dark gaze slides down my body and back up to my face. The hairs on the back of my neck stand upright. I part my lips to say something, only to find the words I was going to say have vanished.

“You don’t know how powerful you really are. How beautiful.”

His praise makes my skin prickle in delicious heat. I want to cross the room and kiss him, but I’m not supposed to. If I can keep my heart and soul separate from him and only indulge in my body, then he can’t take my power and kill me. I’ll be skating across a thin line.

Giving in would be so easy.

With a promise I won’t fall in love with this demon, I take the three small steps to him. I stand between his legs and gather my courage or foolishness. “Show me.”

His fingers skim underneath my uniform shirt and pleasure jolts into me. He tugs me closer, his lips brush across my stomach. I grasp onto him, finding his horns and hold on.

He rubs his thumbs along the underside of my breast and a quiver rolls through me.

His lips nip down my stomach to the hem of my skirt, and I hiss in an inhale. I can’t believe a demon is turning me o— Oh…! He trails a finger down my skirt, and it rips open at his touch, falling like a curtain around my feet.

He hisses out a whistle that shakes me to my core as he parts my legs. Warm breath fans over my underwear and I swear my sex grows damp.

“Black lace underwear…” He looks up at me through hooded eyelids. “I knew you were a vixen underneath all that ridged exterior.”

“No,” I lick my lips, “no sex.”

“You’re a virgin wearing lingerie like this?” He skims a finger along the inside of the waistband and my breath hitches. “Scandalous,” he teases.

“I-I’ve had sex before. B-But we can’t do that.” I shouldn’t even be doing this much with a demon. But the need to feel his hands on me, his mouth, has clouded my brain.

His dark eyes full of lust gaze up at me with such longing that I tremble with desire. “There are other things we can do aside from intercourse.”

I’m not sure if there isn’t a question in his statement, but I find myself biting my lip and nodding once. It’s enough as Matthis eases my panties down my thighs. And as though he can’t wait, he fastens his mouth to my sex.

He licks at my pussy like he’s a starving man, and I moan. When he sucks on my clit, my knees threaten to buckle and I grasp onto his head to stop myself from falling.

With a growl and never leaving my sex, he lifts me and lays me on the bed. Leaning over me, he swipes his tongue across my clit. I gasp in pleasure, rolling my hips forward.

His tongue circles my sex in slow, small circles, and I grasp at the bedsheet beneath me in desperation. No one has ever made me feel this desired and needed, like he can’t get enough of me. Like I’m some yummy dessert he wants to savor. I rock against his mouth, unable to stop myself, unable to keep from pressing myself closer. His tongue on me is both maddening and exhilarating. A moan shatters on my lips as a raw hunger chases away any reservation I may have had with letting a demon eat me out.

“Mmm…” he murmurs against my sex, “you taste divine.”

“Don’t… stop,” I pant, twisting to get him back to what he was doing. I’m throbbing and so close to the edge that I’ll do anything to alleviate it. I feel like he’s holding back, like he’s afraid I’m some glass statue that will break if he handles me wrong, and I want him to ravage me.

“My pleasure,” he says in a low voice that has goosebumps of anticipation breaking out across my skin.

His tongue darts out onto a sensitive spot on my inner thigh and I jerk.

“I need to explore every inch of you and find more of these delightful buttons of yours that have you squirming for more.”

My nails dig into the bed deeper. “Please. I’m so close,” I beg, not caring how he brings me to orgasm but needing him to take me there.

He licks and sucks on my clit until I’m whimpering. My legs shudder and I’m so hot, I feel like I’m on fire, but in a very good way.

His hands move from my hips to my breasts. My shirt and bra evaporate in a puff of smoke.

“Devils, but you are so stunning.” He strokes my nipples, bringing them to hard pebbles and my breasts feel heavy from his attention.

“Oh, shit. Matthis.” I don’t know what else to say. Don’t even think I can say anything else as I crave him more than I should.

His touch is firm and strong, yet almost reverent. Like he’s soaking in being intimate with me this way. I never want him to stop. I want to have his mouth on me wherever he wants, his hands stroking me.

Tingles spread from my sex up through my core. I feel like I’m floating. His tongue feels so good on me and I’m sure I’m soaking him, but I can’t keep the tension building in my core. A climax builds and builds inside me, threatening to have me lose control. If he asks to plunge his cock inside me, I wouldn’t be able to deny him. My eyes roll up into the back of my head.

He moves one of his hands to my ass, fingering me, and my moan turns into a high-pitched scream as my orgasm shudders through me.

And still, Matthis doesn’t stop lapping up my juices. My muscles tense as my climax sweeps me off the edge of an abyss, and I know I will never be the same. I will never forget this moment right now with a demon licking every last drop from me until I’m boneless and can’t form words.

He lifts his head, slowly wiping away the shine from his face with a wicked grin. “I could taste you all day.”

I’m at a loss as I stare into his golden eyes that are full of passion and it takes my breath away. I want to bring him pleasure as he did me, and I can’t have that. He’s a demon. I made a mistake letting him get this close to me and even now, I want him again. I can’t do this, can’t pretend that he’s my enemy when he made me come and my body aches for him to feel me. I must be losing my mind or any common sense I may have had.

“Care to lower the bed, luv?”

“Wha—” I gasp. We’re floating on the bed, along with every piece of furniture in the room.

The items pitch and Matthis cradles my head to his chest as the bed drops. His elbows strike the headboard where my head would have been. All the other furniture bangs when it hits the floor.

“That was all you,” he says with pride that makes me giddier than I have the right to be.

“Except we can’t do any of that during my final.” I push out of his arms and snatch up the blanket, wrapping it around myself. “You’ve yet to teach me how to do this on my own.”

“I promise I will.” He lazily traces a finger across my bare shoulder and my breathing turns ragged. “First, I have to break down the walls around your power. You’ve been imprisoned longer than I have and believe your limitations.” He nods to mark along the wall behind the nightstand where the furniture must have scraped it. “You still doubt yourself and your abilities. I have to remove your self-imposed and rigorous mold this institution has shoved you into.”

“I think we can safely say you’ve demolished my walls.”

He blinks slowly at me, his bronze skin shifting to the dark, ruby-red of his demon form along with horns, and I stiffen. “Not all of them.”

Earlier, I allowed myself to forget he was a full demon. It’s easier to push aside when he looks normal, like any other guy at this school.

“What does me accepting that you’re a demon have to do with anything. I know you are.” And how I’m not even supposed to be speaking with him, much less kissing and orgasming.

“You’ll understand in time.”

I throw my hands up. “Why won’t you just tell me what you’re talking about? Why all this secrecy?”

“If I said to you that allowing me to kiss you would have you levitating objects, would you have believed me?”

I squirm on the bed, tucking the blanket up higher on my chest. “Well, no.”

“Then how do you expect to trust me when I tell you something you haven’t experienced?”

Embarrassed, I glance down, picking at a stray thread.

“Now,” he says, “when you lift something, imagine what it felt like when we kissed. For heavier objects, think about me between your thighs.”

My blood pounds in my ears and my face feels like it’s on fire.

“Lift this paper.” He holds out a scrap on his red palm.

I concentrate, focusing on the paper and it floating in an invisible breeze.

“Relax.” He presses a finger to my brow as though silently telling it to unfurrow.

The paper flutters in his palm. It’s not much, but it’s a start, and I clap my hands. “I did it!”

“Told you.” He beams and the pride in his voice makes my stomach flip.

I stifle a yawn that leaves me feeling bone-weary. Darkness feathers along the edge of my vision, and I shake my head to clear it.

“Wha… What’s going on? Why do I feel so drained?” My eyelids grow heavy, and I fight to keep them open.

“You’ve used more magic today than you probably used your whole life. Once you’ve practiced more, you’ll get acclimated.” He leans me back against the pillows. “In the meantime, rest.”

He gives me a guilty look and before I can ask what he’s actually done, darkness closes in around me and I fall into a void.