“Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”
He shrugged. “You’re a killer, there’s no doubt about it, but notthatkind. You have morals and empathy, two things I always told you were your biggest weaknesses, and they still are. You won’t kill me because it’s beneath you.”
“You’re always so sure of yourself but are wrong about many things.”
He grinned as he set down his drink and opened his arms as if to embrace me, something he’dneverdone. “Then do it. We’re all alone in this room; I’m all yours. Take me out, Ryker.”
Oh, how badly I wanted to do it, but it would ruineverything.I had to keep reminding myself of this even as my lightning ability sought to connect with a source to power it.
It wouldn’t be easy to draw it from beneath the stone floor, and the lightning rods would deter many of my bolts, but I didn’t require my lightning to kill him. I was the stronger of us, the one trained in war, and I didn’t have any qualms about beating him to death.
Instead, I smiled as I rose. “Good night, Father.”
“That’s what I thought.”
He lowered his arms and reclaimed his drink. I didn’t acknowledge him as I strode to the door.
Always so arrogant, the Duke of Locksley had no idea his death certificate had already been signed. It was just waiting for me to deliver the killing blow.
CHAPTERFIFTY-SIX
Ellery
Ryker wasin a particularly foul mood when we got together the next night, which made our fun times even more fun. We met in the same place, but he didn’t bring another dummy.
Instead, he barked at me to follow him before stomping into the trees. I jogged to catch up with his long-legged strides; it took more time than I would have liked, and each step irritatedmemore.
“There’s a river nearby,” he said when I caught up. “We’ll work with your ability to manipulate water and rain today. It’s been a while.”
I was slightly breathless as I strove to keep up with him. “What’s the rush?”
“We have a lot of work to do and little time.”
“Oh, so we have a deadline for your plan now?”
“No, but we have to speed things up.”
I frowned at his surly expression. “What happened between last night and tonight?”
He didn’t respond, and though we’d been going out of our waynotto touch each other, I grasped his wrist and pulled him back. I ignored the familiar and enticing sensation of how my body reacted whenever it came into contact with his.
He wasn’t in the mood for anything other than a fight. I’d purposely stayed off birth control as an extra way to keep what happened between us last week from happening again, andthiswas more important than my overstimulated sex drive when it came to him. Still, I’d missed touching him, and it took all I had to keep from caressing his arm.
“What happened?” I asked.
He scowled as he jerked his wrist free. “That’s none of your concern,Ellery.”
“This whole thing is my concern,Ryker.” I said his name in the same bitter tone he’d spat mine at me. “You want to use me andmyabilities to your advantage, so you don’t get to treat me like this because you’re in a pissy mood.”
When he stood and stared at me with cool indifference in his icy eyes, I planted my hands on my hips and scowled back at him. “What’s the matter? You couldn’t get fucked last night?”
I regretted the taunt as soon as it left my mouth. I’d prefer not knowing what he did when we weren’t together, and I couldn’t think about him being with other women.
It hurt to consider the possibility he was with someone else, never mind having him confirm it. I already had the memory of the blonde in the carriage, sucking his dick from when I robbed him, and the memory of that woman in the bordello.
I didn’t need Ryker and more women living in my head.
A cruel gleam came into his eyes. “I get fucked anytime I want, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
