Descendants Academy: Young Adult Urban Fantasy Belle Malory (highly recommended books .txt) 📖

to Sheridan to make her want to hurt me? Since we’ve met, I’ve only done good things, like save her life, rescue her from organ-stealing witch doctors, help her out of booby traps, take her bubble-diving and buy her yummy gelato—”

“You’re so amazing, Xander.”

“I know,” he agreed, and I rolled my eyes. “Aside from the small thing of wanting to keep our friendship a secret, I’ve been, all around, a pretty decent guy.”

I snorted. He actually thought that was a small thing.

“Can we at least agree there?” Xander said, ignoring my reaction.

“You’re not so bad.” And that was as far as I was going with that. He didn’t need any more of an ego boost.

“Good. Now back to my original question—why do you want to hurt me?”

I let out a tired breath. “I don’t want to hurt you, Xander.”

“Bingo.” He pointed at me, his mouth curving into an infectious grin. “You’re right; it’s not me you want to hurt. It’s the last guy that broke your heart.”

I stared at him like he’d lost his mind. Connor? He was trying to bring Connor into this? Okay, I was officially done with this conversation.

“Xander, you’ve been drinking—”

“Not nearly enough.”

“And you’re not thinking clearly.”

He stood up and walked toward me. “Wrong. I’ve never been so clearheaded in my life.”

I swallowed, nervous for some reason. “How do you even know there was a guy?”

He tilted his head to the side, like that was a dumb question. “Aphrodite descendant, remember?”

“Fine—whatever.” I waved that aside. “Let’s say you’re right, and there was someone. Why would I try to hurt you instead?”

“Because I’m here, and you know I’m crazy about you.”

His soft words tripped my heart. “You’re not—”

He shushed me by putting his fingers over my lips. “You know it, your mom apparently knew before either of us, and we might as well face the truth.”

I took a step back, carefully circling around him. “What does that even mean?”

“For one, it means you need to stop confusing me with your ex.”

Ugh. I should probably stop entertaining this, but I kind of wanted to see where he was going with it. “Exactly how am I supposed to stop confusing you, or making you suffer, or stop any of your complaints against me?”

“Another great question, one I’ve had plenty of time to think over in the woods. It’s simple—I need to kiss you.”

I nearly choked on my own breath. “What?”

“Once we’ve kissed, you’ll never confuse me with any of your loser ex-boyfriends again.”

I laughed, unable to help it. He was making me super nervous, especially the way he continued to walk toward me, as if this thing he suggested was about to happen at any moment.

“Xander.” I shook my head. “I have to tell you, your logic is—”

“Brilliant, I know.”

I cleared my throat. “Why don’t you use the night to think it over, then tell me if you still believe it’s a good idea in the morning?”

He reached for my hand, intertwining his fingers through mine. Oh God. Even while he was drunk, his touch and magic still worked its way over me, turning me into a puddle at his feet.

“Or we could just get it out of the way, here and now.” He leaned close to my face, his voice tickling my ear. “What have you got to lose?”

My heart? And that was still healing as it was.

Xander’s arm drew me closer. My body swayed toward him, falling under his hypnotizing spell. His other hand slid along my neck, his thumb tilting my chin up. I stared at his lips, knowing this was a bad idea, but wanting to go along with it anyway. What was going on with me? What was going on with him? “I don’t know…”

“Just one kiss,” he said, sweetly. “And I swear I’ll leave.”

It would be nice to get Connor out of my head. And for weeks, I’d been curious what it would be like to kiss Xander. We could have this one short moment, couldn’t we?

I had to know, and this was my chance. “Okay.” As soon as the word left my mouth, his lips were on mine, gently pressing, warm, and intoxicating.

And…wow.

A firestorm of energy exploded between us. I felt his magic blend into mine like swirling, languid wine, making us both drunk from the taste. It started off slow and sweet, but with a brush of his tongue, I felt the moment everything changed.

Seconds ago, this had all been a game to Xander. A silly little way to punish me for making him chase me around the campus. I was pretty sure he never expected this.

Suddenly, there was a desperation to his hands. His fingers dug into my hair, pulling me against him, leather and metal pressing against my chest. I reached around his neck as he deepened the kiss. He groaned, the sound vibrating against my mouth. We both just lost whatever game he started. It was no longer silly or funny. No longer a joke. Desire had swept in too fast, and we both wanted each other too much.

Oh God—why did this have to feel so perfect?

Part of me screamed at the unfairness. If Xander was a book, he would be the most beautiful, passionate story I’d ever read, ended by one long ellipses. There was an impending tragedy to the end of this story, and we just made it worse by tasting the forbidden fruit.

As long as I lived, I was pretty sure no kiss would ever compare.

One of us got a grip and pulled away—not sure if it was him or me. Our breaths were erratic, and we both just stood there, at a loss for words.

I dared a glance up at Xander, and he suddenly looked very sober. His eyes were heavy with desire, his lips swollen and pink, but there was a clearness in his gaze that told me he knew he’d taken it too far.

“I should go,” he said in a low voice.

“Yeah…” I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing he never came in