Resistance sharpened his expression. He blinked several times. “Granite.” The word escaped just before his mouth clicked shut.
“Granite?”
Green hardened to emerald. Shaking out of her grip, he relaxed into his chair. “You really want my secrets? Try harder.”
Disappointment coursed through her. Heart squeezing tight, Anna took a steadying breath. “Maybe I don’t want this.”
The grin turned wicked. “You don’t know what you want.”
And if that wasn’t the absolute truth. Acknowledging it, however, was terrifying. If she wanted this, if she wanted him to teach her to coerce, to seduce, even to block these forsaken emotions, she’d have to offer him more of herself than she was willing to give. She’d have to place herself at the mercy of Galadaine Manae’s progeny. She’d have to open her chest, show him her beating heart, and trust him to take care of it.
This man was beguiling, enigmatic, but utterly impenetrable. So how could she trust him? Letting all that magic inside her flimsy walls could dismantle her, and she’d barely leave a scratch on his ice.
Anna stood, let a few seconds of silent staring pass, then fled. She sensed him following as she shuffled along the rough earthen floors.
“Running away.” Hetsked behind her. “Not very brave.”
“This is madness,” she replied. “I don’t want this power.”
“I had to learn the hard way… Sometimes it leaps out when you don’t want it. At the worst possible times. It’s better to control it than let it control you.”
She reached the spiral staircase and climbed toward the light, his footsteps hushed on the steps behind her. Everything about him was soft yet sharp. A blade sheathed in satin.
At the top of the stairs, she paused to gawk at him. “I never had a problem until you showed up.”
Eyes alight, hair gold as the chain around his neck, David Berkeley was tempting her to take his hand and fall with him. “You never had a challenge until I showed up.”
Blessed Mother. This man could see right through her.
“Come on, Anna,” he said softly. “Since when has a challenge scared you?”
“Since now, I guess.”
“Your emotions are ruling your life, aren’t they? You need to learn control. Youneedthis.”
“I need no such thing,” she argued. “I’m fine.”
He stepped closer, just a tad, just enough that no one could hear if they strayed too close. “If I stop throwing fights on the training grounds, will you let me teach you this?”
She paused, intrigued.
“Come with me,” he said, voice still soft and magic-free. “You won’t regret it.”
A huff of laughter escaped, and she started toward the exit. This person who hid behind the ice was too tempting. Too fascinating. Every day, he crept deeper inside, and she wasn’t even sure when he’d found the door. “Why do I get the feeling those words have ushered many persons’ downfall?”
He smiled. “I can only lead them to the path. They’re the ones taking the steps.”
Anna shook her head, smiling despite herself. “Dangerous man.”
“Coward,” he shot right back.
“Stop peer pressuring me,” she said, pausing at the door.
David raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t have to if you’d just surrender.”
Some strange zap of sensation sizzled low inside—something uncomfortable and hot and foreign. She glared at that raised eyebrow.
“Don’t run from me.”
