Chapter 2 #3
Desperately rubbing the stone still clutched in her fingers, Wynn tried to ignore the heat that seared through her.
She might have succeeded if it’d just been lust. That was expected.
The male walked straight out of her deepest fantasy.
But the tingles of awareness weren’t just a hunger for sex.
They were a weird sense of recognition. As if the magic inside her was reacting to his presence.
What was he? Not a leech. Which meant he had to be a demon. But she’d never encountered one without an aura. And never one with the sort of power that made the ground tremble and the hair on her nape stand up in fear.
“Who are you?” The question came out as a croak. Honestly, she was just glad she got the words past the lump in her throat.
“Azh.” He dipped his head, as if they were formally introducing themselves. “And you’re Wynn.” The sparks danced around his slender fingers. “Let me through your shield, sweet Wynn.”
Said the spider to the fly...
“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“You like to play games? Very well.” He tilted his head to the side, the eyes returning to a shade of misty gray. “I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what you are. You don’t smell human.”
Wynn blew out a shaky breath. She didn’t know what the male wanted from her, but she didn’t intend to stay around long enough to find out.
“What I am is none of your business.” She leaned against the wall, pretending a bored nonchalance as she continued to rub the stone. “I assume you’re the one who’s been stalking me. Do you want to know where you are on the scale of creepiness?”
He ignored her question. “What are you?”
“A low-level mage just trying to survive.” A tiny thread of power ignited inside the stone. Please work, please work, please work...
“No, not a mage. I would be able to sense your wild magic.”
Wynn didn’t have to pretend her annoyance at the mention of her inability to create her own spells.
“I already admitted I was low level. Yeesh. Want a little salt to rub into the wound?”
“I didn’t say you aren’t blessed with magic. But it doesn’t flow in your veins. And you don’t have the scent of a mage.”
Wynn focused on the thread connecting the stone in her hand to the one she’d placed several blocks away.
“Then what is my scent?”
His nostrils flared, as if he were absorbing her very essence. “Old. And...” The misty smoke in the strange eyes swirled, as if he’d been caught off guard. “What have you done?”
Wynn licked her lips, continuing to tug on the thread of magic even as she studied the dangerously addictive male.
“Do you recognize it?”
“That has yet to be determined.”
“What do you mean?”
“Where do you come from?”
Wynn hissed in frustration. “I asked you a question. Do you recognize the magic?”
His lips pulled into a taunting smile, the flames coating his fingers suddenly charring the shield in a silent warning.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Wynn. I’m the one asking the questions, and you’re the one answering them. Now tell me where you come from.”
Wynn rolled her eyes. Okay, so much for her brief hope he could give her the answers she so desperately wanted. Gorgeous or not, he was just another male spewing out orders like he ruled the world. Time to bounce.
“You want my life story? Fine. I was born on a small island in the South Pacific.” She launched into one of her well-rehearsed stories, focusing her concentration on connecting the thread of magic from one stone to the other. “My mother was the local medicine woman.”
“Medicine woman?”
“Yes, she was a great healer who was adored by our entire village, but we were forced to flee after a volcano destroyed our home. Since then I’ve been doing whatever necessary to provide for my family.”
His jaw tightened. “Have you always had this power?”
“Not when I was a child. It only emerged after the eruption of the volcano. You see, we were surrounded by lava and I had to lead my family into a nearby cave to survive. When I woke up we’d been miraculously protected.”
“Protected by what?”
“I don’t know. I think there was magic in the cave and it followed me when I fled the island.”
“What does it do?”
“Nothing. I know it’s there, but it doesn’t help.”
His dark, heavy brows furrowed. He didn’t like her answers. Tough luck.
“When did this supposed volcano erupt?”
“A few years ago.”
“How many years?”
“I don’t know. Ten years. Maybe more.” Her voice was distracted as she snapped the thread tight, the magic humming through her. She was almost there. “My memories are fuzzy.”
“Then why haven’t I sensed the magic before now?”
Was he talking about the magic that was currently ruining her life? It had to be, although it hadn’t just appeared. It’d been plaguing her for over a year. Wynn hesitated. She wanted answers so damned bad. And if this male...
No.
With an effort, she shoved aside temptation. This male had already refused to answer her questions. And more importantly, he was dangerous. She could feel it pulsing in the air. The sooner she could get rid of him, the better.
“That sounds like a you problem, not a me problem,” she taunted. “Maybe you’re not very good at sensing magic.”
“Let me through.” The flames climbed up the barrier, the spell wavering as he attempted to sear a hole through the shield.
“No.”
“If I touch you I can determine the source of your magic.”
“Touch me?” She scrunched her nose, refusing to acknowledge the white-hot excitement that blasted through her.
If he tried to touch her she was going to punch him, right?
She most certainly wasn’t going to melt into a puddle of breathless need.
.. Wait. No, no, no. She hissed in frustration.
“You think you’re the first guy to use that line?
You’re just like all the other perverts. ”
The air pulsed with a choking heat, a strange shimmer of power floating behind him.
What was that? Wynn narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on the iridescent outline.
It looked like some sort of transparent silhouette.
Then, with a loud curse, the male turned and the shimmer expanded as he raced toward the door, stretching out like. ..wings?
She was still trying to focus on the bizarre illusion when the magic from the stone abruptly snapped into place, jerking her into the void. A second later she reappeared in yet another alleyway. This time, however, she was smart enough to maintain her grip on the thread.
The stranger had been running out of the building with the confidence of a male who knew exactly where he was going. Or worse, exactly where she was going.
Her caution was rewarded when a dark shape appeared at the end of the alley, stalking toward her with blatant impatience.
Shit. Fumbling through her strands of magic, she created a hasty barrier. It wouldn’t withstand a direct assault, but she just needed a second to regain her balance before she skipped back to the abandoned building.
The male halted directly in front of her, no doubt assuming he had her pinned against the back of the alley.
The glittering illusion of wings had disappeared, replaced by an aura of anger that heated the air until sweat dripped down her face.
It wasn’t the aura of a demon. It was more like he was surrounded by white-hot flames.
“Stop running, damn you,” he growled. “I just want to talk to you.”
“Liar.” She rubbed the stone. “You already admitted you wanted to touch me, you creeper.”
“Was your story true?”
“What story?”
“About the volcano.”
“Right. That one.” She shrugged. “Of course not.”
“Then how did you gain the power?”
The heat curled around her, wrapping her in a tangible cloak of power. Was it a warning? She didn’t think so. She wasn’t sure he realized he’d been able to penetrate her shield.
She trembled, something inside her yearning to be immersed in that luscious warmth. Like a lioness bathing in the sun.
“It was a gift,” she forced herself to retort, squashing her bizarre reaction to the male. Obviously her sleepless nights were starting to take a toll.
“From who?”
“A genie.”
The smoky eyes darkened to a metallic gray. Still annoyingly beautiful. “A genie?”
“Yup. I was wandering through a cave and I stumbled across a magic lamp. One good stroke and poof, out popped the genie.”
As she said the words, Wynn frantically rubbed the stone. She had only minutes to make the jump back before the thread vanished.
“I don’t believe in genies,” he growled.
“Then maybe it was a leprechaun. Or a unicorn.”
He studied her with a grim expression. “Do you know what I find interesting?”
“My sparkling personality?”
“In both stories you mention a cave.”
Wynn froze. Shit. He was the first to notice. Yet another reason to disappear ASAP.
“I have a lot of stories.”
“Is that where you encountered the magic?”
“Seriously I have no idea what you’re yakking about.”
The eyes lightened back to mist, his power brushing over her skin like a caress.
“If you give it to me, I swear I’ll allow you to walk away and never bother you again.”
Maybe she wanted to be bothered... No, no, no. She wanted to get the hell out of there.
“Allow me to walk away? Who made you the boss?”
His gaze moved to the brick wall behind her. “I’m the boss because you’re trapped.”
“You say trapped. I say momentarily inconvenienced.”
He heaved a loud sigh. As if she were being unreasonably difficult. “I’ve been watching you for days, you know.”
“You mean spying on me, creeper.”
“So I know your tricks.”
Wynn felt the thread tighten, preparing to yank her back. She flashed a mocking smile.
“Stupid male. You should never tell a woman she’s lost her mystery. No wonder you’re forced to stalk and corner strangers in dark corners to get your yee-haws.”
Something flared in the misty gray eyes, but it wasn’t anger. It was something perilously close to fascination.
“You truly are unique,” he murmured, his gaze sweeping over her.
Wynn snorted. “That’s the only thing we can agree on.”
He studied her for a long moment, as if he were silently reminding himself she was the enemy. It seemed to work, as he lifted a hand and laid it flat against the barrier. Instantly sparks danced around his fingers, his magic sizzling against her shield.
“I’d hoped we could keep this civil. I’m not a barbarian despite the reputations of my people.”
“Your people? You mean vampires?”
She threw out the question, already knowing he wasn’t a leech. Just as she somehow sensed he wasn’t going to like being mistaken for one. She was right. His breath hissed between clenched teeth.
“Dragons.”
“Dragons?” Wynn laughed. “Yeah, right. And I’m the tooth fairy.
..” The words died on Wynn’s lips as the clues belatedly fell into place.
Like pieces of a puzzle. The magic that was reaching out to shroud her in a smothering heat.
The flames that even now coated his fingers.
The smoky silver eyes. The explosive power that could easily grind her into dust. And the strange illusion of wings when he’d turned around.
Of course.
How the hell had she been so blind?
“Holy crap. You are a dragon.”