AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Ten
Ven
Ryder smirks. “Are you quite sure?”
I toss him my own smile and lean back in my chair. “Very.”
He shrugs. For a moment nothing happens, and I wonder if he’s backing down.
Then his magic slams into me with the force of a tidal wave.
Raw heat and sexual energy swirl around me. I feel a ripple of pleasure from my toes to my groin, and my nipples perk to attention. My core pulsates as if I’m on the brink of climax. That feeling like a flower unfolding in the center of your sex, one petal at a time. Stronger and stronger and stronger…
He’s right. His power is much more amplified inside the orb. I suck in a breath and shove back hard with my own magic. Instead of writhing naked bodies, I picture a gray sky over an icy arctic landscape. Feel the shiver of a howling northern wind instead of warm breath against my skin, kisses moving down my neck, my breasts, my stomach. I put up a barrier, a line separating us within the orb.
Ryder’s teal eyes lock on mine and his lips turn up in a triumphant smile. He sends another wave of power into me, battering my defenses. I can feel his teeth teasing my earlobe, his hand sliding between my legs. His tongue flicking my nipples, one at a time. I draw in a shuddering breath, and my sex tightens and throbs.
I want to give up. So, so badly. To lower my walls and let Ryder in, in every possible way.
But I can’t let another demon control me. And most of all, I can’t let this arrogant asshole win.
My magic blasts out against his. I imagine it wrapping around me, encasing me in ice. Layer upon layer of cold, frozen and impenetrable. Ryder’s magic slowly recedes, until I can’t even feel it anymore.
Finally, he raises his arms in surrender. “Alright, you win.”
Somehow, though, I feel like I just lost. Big time. “You’re a formidable foe,” I say shakily. It’s all I can do not to slump against the table in exhaustion.
I mean it as a compliment, but he frowns. “Is that what we are? Enemies?”
Before I can respond, the gawking waitress is back, asking if we need anything else. “Um, we’re good,” I say. “Thanks, though.”
She hands us the bill and walks off, looking over her shoulder several times. Ryder shoots her a grin and slaps enough money on the table to pay five times what we owe.
“After we see your witch friend, we need to go see a contact of mine,” he says, changing the subject.
“Oh?”
“The crates in the warehouse at the club, they had a strange symbol on them. He might know what it means. Who’s running these drugs.” He picks up his fork as if he’s going to eat another bite of his burrito, but then sets it back down.
“Yeah, I noticed that symbol, too. Almost like a rune. But none I’ve ever seen before.” I sip on my coffee and nibble on my final piece of toast. “Well, hopefully your friend can tell us what we’re up against.”
“Contact,” Ryder says pointedly. “Not a friend, a contact.”
“Great. That doesn’t sound ominous at all.” I roll my eyes.
We get up and head out to the street. “The high priestess lives up in the mountains,” I say. “We’d better head back to my house to grab the Jeep.”
“Why on earth did we walk to breakfast when you have a perfectly good Jeep at your disposal?” Ryder asks, narrowing his eyes at me.
“There’s nothing perfectly good about it, first of all. And secondly, I wanted to stretch my legs.” I shrug.
A few minutes later we reach the grove of trees outside my house. I’m just hitting the mottled shade from their branches when Ryder grabs me. His hands wrap around my waist and he spins me behind one of the trees, pressing me up against the rough bark. My heart hammers in my chest as the length of his torso shoves against mine.
I start to protest, but he claps a hand over my mouth and points toward the house.
Nothing catches my eye for a moment, but then I see the front door. Or rather, the front door hanging halfway open, ripped off its hinges.
I go still, my heart thudding for an entirely different reason now. My eyes scan the trees, the yard, the exterior of the house. Is the shadow in the window the branches shifting, or is someone still inside?
