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“Then there are my friends, who refuse to see reason and just want to have fun and cause mischief. Admittedly, that was also what I did before…I’m hot. It’s really hot.”
That he was, his body already heating her skin as they rubbed against each other while they walked. She rubbed his hot back, trying not to let the alarm sink into her voice.
“We’ll get you somewhere colder.”
“I’m thirsty.”
“Okay. Let’s get something for that too…”
Emerald’s eyes widened as it clicked, her blank mind parting to reveal what she had been searching for all along.
And just like that, she already knew what they needed to get away from the constant assault of pixies.
Chapter 2
It was all a blur in Rickavior Aviel’s mind, mostly because his mind wasn’t in its right state at the moment. Despite the constant buzzing in his head, a few things still managed to flit through: one, the blurry state wasn’t of his doing and he was actively struggling to get out of it. Two, there was a weight plastered against his side and urging him to walk, even if walking was a pain and he would rather lie down and sleep the dizziness off.
Three, a voice was ringing in his ears and repeatedly telling him words that didn’t make sense.
Keep going. Walk faster. Don’t you dare fall.
Why would he fall when he had never fallen in love with anyone in his entire life?
“I can’t support your weight. Please keep up with me. We’re close. We’re so close.”
They were sexual words, the ones he was used to saying in bed or being on the receiving end of. But her voice was all but sexual. It was prim and filled with determination, as well as a rising frustration every time they paused from walking. Some dim part of his still-functioning mind told him he was holding them up, so he loosened his fingers and began to let go.
“Don’t you dare give up on me or I swear I will drop you myself.”
His body prickled at the sense of command, unused to being told what to do. He opened his mouth to retaliate—and was thrown forward with sheer force, one he couldn’t stop for the life of him. A second later, his lungs were on fire and he was drowning, the water glissading into every open pore he possessed. He struggled to push off it—and was immediately jerked backward with just as much aggression before he was let go.
He tried to catch his bearings as his heart raced hard and the dizzying effect faded away. A second later, the memory of the pixies and the dust came flashing back and he straightened, blinking even more dizziness away—
“Stay where you are.”
He was drenched to the bone, tied up, and no longer hot from the pixie dust taking its effect on him. Who knew if it was going to burn him in the long run? The water probably stopped that from happening. Belatedly, it occurred that the string around him wasn’t ordinary, the glowing green indicating it was infused with magic. Not Fae magic, but one probably far worse. Either those pixies finally got scared of her or the water did that, too, but…
Rick looked up and found the woman standing ankle-deep in the small bank of water, her hands matching the glowing green of the string. She tensed when he tugged at it. When there was no give, he gave up and settled for studying her, a couple of things fluttering through his mind.
Witch. Danger. Need to stay away.Except…
“You saved my life. I think,” he declared, then paused as he tried to recall the rest. “Not that I didn’t save yours first from what would have been an awful fall.”
The woman scoffed as if not quite believing his audacity. Green eyes seared him with a look, one that shriveled his balls and tightened his gut at the same time. The rest of her was a sight to behold: a tall, willowy frame, an aristocratic nose, pink lips, and blonde hair that still gleamed despite all the bumps they had endured. Sure, it looked like a scary bird’s ass at the moment, but it did nothing to hinder her beauty. Noting his perusal, she turned that nose up at him.
“State your name, affinity, and purpose.”
There was a threat in there somewhere, but he needed to snap out of absorbing that distracting face of hers first. When he did, her smooth tone and cool confidence ticked at his awareness and he remembered just who—and what—he was dealing with.
“Damn it,” he said out loud and didn’t miss her shoulders tensing. “Are you some kind of territorial witch who controls this island and the creatures living here?”
“What?”
At her clear-cut confusion, he relaxed while she tensed further.
“Never mind that. Anyway, my name is Rickavior Aviel. You may call me Rick.”
The offer was cautious but friendly as he toed the line that wouldn’t upset her. Instead of taking the hand as a truce offering, she lifted her chin.
