Chapter 6 #2
Something molten flashes in his eyes, like he expects me to lay myself down right here on the beach and touch myself.
God, just the idea of him watching me do that sets my body on fire.
Would he stay where he is? His blue eyes searing as I brought myself to release?
Or would he come close to me, offering suggestions in my ear as I plunged into my own heat?
My heart flutters, and I do my best to ground myself. I’m not going to do that. Not after he made me feel ridiculous for wanting to try his experiment again.
I take another step toward the jungle, toward the path that will take me back to Cassandra’s home.
“Annika,” he calls. “Where the hell are you going?”
I turn to face him, shrugging. “To get Saint.”
“Why?” He looks utterly confused.
“Because,” I say, heat drenching my entire body.
It has nothing to do with the humidity. I’m not going to ask Saint for help—we don’t have that kind of relationship—but Dagon doesn’t need to know that. Doesn’t need to know that I’ll hide in my room between my sheets if I must, picturing his hands on my body until I can understand my power.
“I need help,” I continue. “I need to understand this power. And Saint looks like he can use the distraction.” I bluff, solely because I don’t need Dagon to think of me as pathetic for not being able to wield my power any more than he already does.
“The fuck you are,” he snaps.
In a blink, water wraps around my middle like a lasso, hauling me back into the depths so quickly it steals my breath.
My arms fly out as I splay against Dagon’s hard chest.
“Dagon—”
His lips cover mine before I can get another word out.
I melt into his embrace, feeling his control over the water let go, until it’s just him holding me there. His powerful arms wrap around my waist, bringing us flush as he parts my lips with his tongue.
“Dagon,” I whisper. “It’s fine. You don’t have to do this. You don’t want me in this way and that’s fair.”
“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I don’t want you.” He growls the words in between punishing kisses.
My heart pounds against my chest, a rapid tempo that makes my head spin. Or that’s just Dagon and the way he’s kissing me like I’m the center of his entire universe.
I know that’s not even close to true, but damn, I lose myself to the fantasy in the span of a blink.
“Then why did you say we couldn’t?” I ask, drawing back to look at him, needing to know. “I don’t want you to do this out of pity.”
“I’m not.” He holds me tighter. “Damn it, I want you. Even though I shouldn’t. I’m a Hunter. My duty will always take priority over everything else. That’s not fair to you. That’s why I said we couldn’t. I don’t want to give you the wrong idea—”
“I’m well aware of your priorities, Dagon.” I huff a laugh. “Do you think I’m going to fall for you? You’re insufferable on the best of nights. I thought you gave me more credit than that?” I tease.
His lips part, shock coloring those blue eyes. “I do give you credit,” he says, scanning my face. He’s still holding me. My breasts graze his chest, sending chills over my skin.
“You’re fine with it being just physical?” he asks.
I swallow hard. Excitement flares through me like a lick of flame. “I’m more than all right with that,” I say.
He nods. “If this is what you need…” He slides his hands along my hips, then over the globes of my ass, pulling me closer. “Then tell me. Me. No one else.” His eyes go severe. “Deal?”
The words send spirals of heat over my body. If it’s just physical, then why would me asking someone else to help me in this way bother him? The question threatens to still the fire churning beneath my skin, so I ignore it.
“Deal.” I tangle my fingers in his soaked hair, tugging him closer, and kiss him harder to emphasize our agreement.
He kisses me like he’s starved.
He holds me like he never wants to let me go.
“Annika,” he growls my name as I nip at his bottom lip. He bends his knees, lifting me up and up until I have to wrap my legs around his hips. “You feel that?”
I tremble against him. “I feel everything,” I gasp.
The carved muscles of his body flush against my softer ones.
The dominance in the kiss that has a steady pulse thrumming between my thighs.
His hard length pressing against my heat.
The water between us, like a thread reaching down into the depths of my soul—
“There,” he says. “Right there, Annika.” He keeps kissing me, his words rushed and jagged.
I cling to him while mentally gripping that chain of power. I hold it, the connection a release and revelation all at the same time. It’s a well with no bottom with the water surrounding us. I can feel every drop. Feel the weight of it in my hands—
Water swirls and shoots upward around us, the roar accompanying the waterfall behind us.
Dagon keeps kissing me. “Hold it,” he says.
I shiver at the demand, at the way he’s touching me so I can cling to my power.
“Look at you,” he says, breaking our kiss to admire the water I’m controlling.
I smile, pride fluttering through my chest. “Dagon,” I say, practically giddy. “I can feel it.” I scrunch my brow. “It’s like a chain…the connection.” I grin at him before crushing my mouth against his in a grateful kiss. “It’s amazing.”
Then I kiss him again because I can.
Dagon draws back, a confident smile shaping his lips, his fangs out, just like mine. God, he looks so damn sexy like this. “Make spheres,” he commands.
I focus, tightening my mental grip on the internal chain connecting to my power. It’s easier to access with no barriers around it. I have no idea where it buries itself when Dagon isn’t touching me, but I’m determined to figure out how to coax it to the surface permanently.
“Good girl,” he praises me as I shift some of the water around us, drawing up a dozen little spheres to hover in the air.
“I can’t believe it.” My heart is in my throat as I control the water.
“I can.” Dagon’s eyes are on me as I return my focus to him. My stomach flips. “Push deeper,” he says. “Think about it turning solid.”
I nod, closing my eyes, my pulse thrumming beneath my skin as he dips his head to my neck, grazing his fangs lightly over my skin. The sensation turns me liquid, a warmth pooling low in my core. I want him. I want him so badly.
But my power…I want to control that too. I want to make him proud.
I focus inward, holding tight to that connection, and picture the spheres around us turning solid.
Two thumps splash beside us, and I snap my eyes open. A couple of the spheres turned to ice balls, sinking dead into the water. The others are hovering still, though one of them is half frozen, sinking slowly toward the water.
“You’re doing so well.” Dagon kisses my neck, working his way up beneath my jawline.
My thighs clench around his hips as heat pumps beneath my skin. Everything feels too hot and too tight. The spheres splash back into the water, not fully solid, but no longer my focus.
“Dagon,” I groan, rocking against him as his mouth slants over mine. He’s rock hard, his considerable length pressing against my heat in the most delicious way. The swimsuit I wear is a thin barrier I want to shed immediately.
The ground shakes beneath our feet, the very earth trembling. A loud, thunderous crash jerks us out of our kiss, as a boulder careens down the waterfall and splashes hard into the water.
My power slips entirely, the water going still around us.
“That was you?” Why would he shake the ground so much right now?
Dagon’s pupils are almost entirely blown out as he looks at me, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight.
I can’t help but wonder what those would feel like sinking into my thigh.
“Yep.” He’s out of breath as he gently sets me on my feet. The water is cool against my flushed skin, a bit of reality crashing around me like the boulder had moments ago. He clears his throat. “Can you still feel it? The connection?”
I blow out a breath, trying to remember where we are and why we’re doing what we’re doing. I close my eyes, searching inward. I snap my eyes open. “It’s there,” I say, excited. “Fainter than before, but I can feel it.”
“Good,” he says, his voice sounding scraped raw. He takes a small step away from me. “Make the spheres again.”
I hate the space between us, but I understand. This is physical only. A tool to help me find control.
Too bad I feel anything but.
I feel…undone.
And it has nothing to do with my power and everything to do with the deviously handsome hunter helping me.