Whatever he sees on my face makes him smile. “See, I can joke too.”
“Not funny.”
“Believe it or not, I’m taking a page out of your book.”
“What? Never shared my kinks with you and I’m never going to,” I stammer.
“When we were at the carnival,” he reminds me. “You got me mad.”
“Oh. That’s what you’re doing?”
Suddenly I understand exactly how he feels whenever I try to rile him up. Harper starts circling behind me and I whirl around, but he’s moved again, gone again. Then his hand brushes the small of my back, and I spin, snarling. He’s already ten feet away, and the sound of his soft chuckle makes my blood boil. He’s toying with me, and I hate that it’s working so well.
“Stand still, damn it!” I mutter through gritted teeth.
“I’m doing a damn good job, aren’t I?” the bastard gloats. “Come on, put me in my place.”
“This won’t work,” I protest.
“Oh, I’ve annoyed you enough times already to know it absolutely will.” His smug grin wavers somewhere between annoying and sexy. It makes me want to throw the whip down and tackle him. “You’ll drop your guard, get that tough little look on your face, square your shoulders, and go off. Show me that steel in your spine. You’re a force to be reckoned with, just do it.”
“Shut up.”
“Do it, sweetheart,” he goads.
“Oh, don’t you dare,” I warn. Now I really might whip him.
“Had a feeling that would fire you up,babe.”
Something inside me ignites, sparked by Harper’s deliberately infuriating pet names and his smug, knowing smirk. My fingers tighten around the braided leather handle. There’s no room for hesitation anymore, just the raw, pulsing need to putthis arrogant wolf in his place. My anger and energy flow into the whip without thought.
Harper stalks toward me with that predatory grace, golden eyes gleaming with challenge. He expects me to retreat, to dance backward like I’ve been doing. But this time, my feet root themselves to the mat. I don’t move an inch. My arm moves of its own accord, snapping forward. The whip cuts through the air with a sharp crack that echoes throughout the training facility. The sound is satisfying in a way I can’t explain, like the perfect chord struck on a guitar.
“Stay there,” I growl, barely recognizing my own voice. The energy flows into Harper, taking control and freezing him in place.
His muscles strain against the invisible bonds. He’s completely immobilized, caught mid-stride with one foot forward. The look of shock on his face is worth every moment of frustration.
Then it hits me. Whoa. I did it? I did it. I did it! As soon as my concentration breaks, the energy dissipates and Harper moves on his own again.
He straightens up, smoothing out his shirt with a hand and sends me a sly look. “There, was that so hard?”
“Shut up.”
“Yes, dear,” he says, smiling.
He was furious at me and used his aggression a little too well if you ask me but now he just looks so pleased. It flusters me and it’s like there isn’t enough space in the ring for the two of us.
“Woohoo, nice work!” Marlow claps his hands and steals my focus from the confusing werewolf. He climbs in the ring with absolutely zero finesse, trying to swing himself over the ropes and getting caught in the middle. He snarls and curses at the ropes, insulting their mother like that makes sense, kicking and fighting his way free.
Then he bounds over to me like none of that just happened and he isn’t even ashamed. It’s actually pretty impressive.
“Pretty good,” the demon says. “Now it’s time for the real thing. Let’s see what you can summon.”
Visitors from the Beyond
