“Now, tell me more about your friends.” Gunnar walks over to the desk and pulls out the chair.
“I thought you wanted to talk about the wards?” I remind him.
He waves his hand as he sits and the chair squeaks in response. “I’m more interested in these baddies.”
“Why do you want to know about them?” I narrow my eyes on him.
“Just curious. I don’t call my friends ‘my baddies.’” Gunnar drags himself closer to the desk, his knees slamming into the underside. “Mother—” He tightens his mouth and adjusts his legs again. Not his desk then after all.
“Do you not believe I have friends?” I lift my chin in the air. I may not have any human friends, but my friends are better than humans anyway. Humans scare way too easily.
Gunnar holds his hands out defensively. “I was just curious. I was thinking they were your… never mind,” he concedes. “I got off track.” Gunnar makes a circle over his temple with his pointer finger.
I nod my head and agree. He has. If I want to get more information out of him, I should probably be a little more cooperative, too. “I really didn’t know about the wards. I just felt a thickness in the air.” I run my fingers over my thumbs and palms, thinking about another way to describe it, but come up empty. “It made me curious.”
Gunnar makes a sound between a snort and a huff. “Considering the wards are designed to do the exact opposite of making people curious, it’s no wonder they didn’t deter you.” He pinches the bridge of his nose.
“What’s the big deal? I don’t care about Vanessa and her miscreants.” I eye the small sofa, this arm is starting to get uncomfortable, but I’ll be damned if I sit on that nasty thing. I’d probably get mange or herpes from the cursed thing. “This place is nasty.” I stand up.
“The big deal,”Gunnar announces, while rising to his feet, “is you’ve madeotherpeople curious, and we both know what happens when people get curious.” He crosses his arms over his chest and looks down his nose at me.
I plant my hands on my hips and glare back at him. “Maybe you didn’t hear me, but I couldn’t give two shits about Vanessa or her friends.”
Gunnar’s eyes travel up from my legs and linger on my breasts for a brief moment before he collects himself and focuses back on my face. Good to know the dress served its purpose. “You don’t know anything about them or what they’re capable of.” His voice is harsh. I think he knows I caught him looking.
Lowering my arms, I saunter away from the sofa and closer to Gunnar. He licks his bottom lip in an almost predatory manner. My heart skips a beat. I think I would like to tame him. The earlier attraction I felt for him blooms.
I take my time giving him a once over, not shy at all to show him exactly what I’m doing. His black hair is cropped short, and his brow is a little too heavy for him to be classically handsome, but he exudes masculinity. The scar over his lips is distracting me. I want to bite it, see if it’s as soft as his lips look.
I force my eyes to travel down to his chest. He’s wearing a dark Henley, and there are a couple of buttons left open at the collar, exposing his neck. His shirt, unlike Calix’s, is molded to him. I have no idea why I’m comparing the two of them, other than Calix is still on my mind.
Gunnar’s hands tighten into fists at his sides. I don’t let it deter me from checking out the front of his black tactical pants and deciding they’re way too baggy.
“Do you know something about Vanessa or her friends that you’d like to share with me?” My voice comes out a little husky, but I don’t bother hiding the fact that I find him attractive.
“I know you should be more careful.” Gunnar crosses his arms over his chest again, this time tucking his hands under his armpits.
I give him a curious look. He’s definitely giving me mixed signals. “You seem to be warning me away every time we speak, Gunnar. I’m starting to wonder whether you know something I don’t or you just don’t want me around.”
He blinks rapidly and drops his arms to his sides again. “I want you around,” he answers quickly, then his lips thin. “I mean, I want you to be safe. People are willing to do stupid things for power.”
It’s my turn to cross my arms over my chest. “You’re implying that I have power—how would you know that?”
“Anyone with any supernatural senses can tell you’re powerful, Damiana,” he tells me, speaking like he’s talking to a child. “Why do you think your friends are drawn to you?”
“How long have you been watching me?” My back goes ramrod straight.
Gunnar curses under his breath. “Let’s stop playing games, all right? You knew I was watching you. I felt you in the clearing last night when that idiot called me.”
“You’re the one playing games,” I accuse petulantly. “I came here to figure out what you’re up to and how you ended up at my house.”
I spin as someone bangs loudly on the door. Gunnar stalks past me and reaches for the door handle roughly. “What?” he barks, before it’s even open.
“Sorry, boss. Vanessa is looking for you.” The guy at the door doesn’t meet Gunnar’s stare, instead, he focuses right in the center of Gunnar’s chest.
I watch Gunnar’s back as it expands, and I can see a fine tremor work its way down from his head and chest.What the hell is that?I wonder, as I step around him and peer up at his face. The veins along the sides of his neck are standing out thickly, and his eyes seem to almost sink in deeper, making his brow even more pronounced.
“I didn’t want to interrupt you, boss, but you told me to.” The man at the door holds his ground, even as Gunnar stares at him with barely restrained rage. Strangely enough, I don’t get the urge to feed like I usually do when such emotion presents itself. I watch Gunnar to see if his aura takes on any smudges, but I can’t see that either.
