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Shaking himself, he turned back to the circle. “Sit in the middle,” Tripp commanded, “on the star.”
I did so, criss-crossing my legs so that I was completely inside the circle. There was a certain tone in his voice that I wasn’t sure I minded. Heat swirled in my core, and I swallowed. Okay, Delphine, calm down. This is an interrogation not a seduction.
Tripp bent down and pushed me this way and that, making sure I was directly centered over the star. I could smell his musky aftershave. I swayed toward him and then jerked myself upright.
He frowned but didn’t say anything.
“You know, if you keep scowling,” I murmured, “your face is going to freeze like that.”
He snorted and backed away.
I thought he needed more teasing in his life. Tripp was way too serious for such a young guy. He couldn’t have been older than thirty. He’d already taken on such responsibility, running the aquarium and keeping vampires and shifters in check. At twenty-seven, I could barely keep a job.
Backing away, he raised his hands and cast using a symbol that I didn’t know. A few breaths later, the circle came to life around me. Blue flames danced along the edge, but I didn’t feel like I was in danger. They gave off a warm cozy heat.
“Pretty blue,” I said, stroking my hands near but not touching them.
“You can see that?” he asked gruffly.
“I can see the magic of others,” I said, pulling my hands back and folding them in my lap. “I just can’t touch it or cast any of my own.”
“Interesting.” He went around the back of the desk and opened a drawer, then drew out a large black book. The outside looked like it was made of dark vines that crossed over and over each other. It looked dark and forbidding, and I wondered what secrets it held. He flipped through a few pages.
“Any time now,” I teased, crossing and uncrossing my legs. “I’m bored.”
“Don’t move.” He glanced at me, his blue eyes fierce. “I mean it.”
I kept my eyes on his as I lifted my knee and leaned against it. His gaze traveled down my body to the spot where the t-shirt lifted, and I was sure he could see between my legs. I wasn’t wearing any underwear. His body stiffened, and his hand opened and closed on the edge of the book. I licked my lips.
When did I become so brazen? I didn’t know. I just knew that the more time I spent with these men, the more I knew that we were meant to be together. It didn’t matter what Tripp’s attitude was now, he’d come around. We were fated—fated mates.
Again he looked away and focused his attention on the page.
I let my leg slide back down into a criss-cross.
After a few moments, he set the book down. Then he moved in front of the circle and started chanting.
I didn’t know the language he spoke, but I could feel the pressure building with the magic. Tripp had said that he came from a Viking lineage when we talked before. I wondered if the language was Norwegian or Danish or if it was a special magical language. My parents had passed down their curiosity to all of my siblings, and I had nothing to do but try to figure it out as he cast.
The spell rolled over me. It was gentle, like a wind, but had intent on its purpose. It slid over my neck and shoulders and I pressed my lips together. It dived into my cleavage and ran over my breasts, and I gasped. The errant wind glided over my stomach and between my legs. I moaned, and my eyes met Tripp’s again.
He watched, open-mouthed, as the spell inspected me, head to toe. His fingers thrummed on the edge of the desk. Tap, tap, tap, tap.
I tried to focus on him and not the invasive spell. The wind flowed over my ass and up my back, seeking whatever it was that it was seeking. Then it ran over my head and dissipated. The particles of it floated away like sparkles through the air. I reached my hand up as if I could almost touch them.
“Well,” I said. “That was interesting. What was it looking for?”
“Malicious intent,” he said, turning back toward the desk and the black book.
“And I have none.”
“No,” he said, that same note of gruffness in his voice. “I wonder . . .”
He paged through his book and stopped on a specific page. His eyes lit up and he turned back toward me.
I tried to steel myself against whatever was next. Well, steel my hormones, anyway. This was not supposed to be turning me on.
Tripp started another cast. This one involved writing symbols in the air.
