Chapter 35 Instability #2
“No, I didn’t hurt your precious Raelynn.” He sucked his teeth. “She liked it rough.”
Zeke looked at Ash. “Did you hurt her?”
“No!” Ash slammed his fist on the counter, making the laminate vibrate. “I would never hurt her.”
Cyn and Zeke both stared, wide-eyed at Ash’s explosive response.
“I mean, if she wanted it…” Zeke looked down. “Sorry.”
Ash cursed. “No. I’m sorry. I asked her if she wanted—should we really be talking about this?”
“You’re the one who brought it up,” Cyn muttered with a dismissive shrug.
“Actually, that was you,” I said, growing tired of their back and forth.
“Yeah, but he implied it first.”
Children. I’m dealing with children.
I expected childish behavior from Cyn and Zeke, but not Ash. Though older than our brothers—and two years my senior—he bickered with Cyn like an undisciplined soldier.
Ash’s lip curled. “I was gentle, like she wanted. Now, can we move on? I saw the necklace when she was asleep afterward.”
“You didn’t think to bring it up before now?”
He looked at me. “I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
“I warned you all not to fall prey to the magic of our summoning, yet you can’t stay away from the human.”
Cyn gave me a flat look. “Really? Like you don’t want her too?”
“No. I can separate the spell’s effects from my own will. I don’t want her—or any other woman. My duty is to my people and the council.”
As they fell silent at the reminder of our position, the front door opened and the troublesome human in question stepped inside.
“We’ll discuss this later,” I said, turning as Raelynn dropped her purse on the table and pulled off her short combat boots.
Zeke turned on his stool. “Where’ve you been?”
She looked up at him. “Work?”
“You’re usually home before now.”
Her shoulders relaxed as she shook her head. Zeke sounded worried, not accusatory, and it seemed to set her at ease.
“Oh. About that. I went to the bookstore where I got the book that summoned y’all. Apparently, it comes from where you’re from.”
“How do you know that?” Cyn asked, leaning his hip on the edge of the counter.
I wondered how she would explain herself. Her answer would go a long way in determining whether we could trust her for more than shelter.
She hugged herself in a protective gesture. “Well, I…” she mumbled, teeth sinking into her lower lip, making heat rush to my groin. I hated the spell binding us to this woman. “I kind of said stuff I probably shouldn’t, and the woman understood.”
“She did, did she?”
She glared at Cyn. “Yes, she did.”
“Did you stop to think that telling another human might be an idiotic thing to do?” He took a step toward her. “You were so worried about being locked up, yet you divulged information to a stranger?”
“Well, no. The thing is—”
“The thing is,” he mocked. “You didn’t know what might happen. It was stupid.”
Her eyes narrowed, and the timid woman who intrigued me gave way to the defiant one who rose to Cyn’s every challenge. “I’m not stupid. I was upset.”
“Like that’s better,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“Fuck you.”
“I told you that isn’t happening again.”
“I don’t want it to.” She planted her hands on her hips, pulling her button-down higher and giving me a better view of the tight dress shorts over her black hosiery. “Besides, it wasn’t anything to write home about, anyway.”
“Excuse me?”
Ash snorted.
Cyn glared at him and turned back to Raelynn. “Say it again.”
She laughed. “Did I bruise your ego?” She shook her head and held a hand up. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone about your performance… if you can call it that.”
Before anyone could react, Cyn crossed the room and wrapped his hand around the front of her throat, pressing her to the wall. “Don’t. Test me.”
She licked her lips, and his gaze dropped to her mouth.
If I weren’t so incensed by how the spell manipulated us all, I’d find his reactions and their push-pull dynamic amusing. Instead, it highlighted how far the insidious spell had sunk its claws into each of us.
“Test you?” She scoffed. “What are you gonna do? You said you wouldn’t fuck me again.”
“No, but I could rip your throat out.”
“Cyn!” Zeke jumped from the stool, followed by Ash.
“He won’t do it,” I said, keeping my voice low. “He’s more in control than he realizes. Acting on pure lust.”
Ash turned to me. “Are you fucking serious?”
“From what he said earlier, and what I’ve noticed, this is foreplay for them.”
They stared at me with slack jaws.
I inclined my head. “Look.”
In the time it took me to explain things to Ash and Zeke, Cyn had already given in to his baser needs and now had his tongue in Raelynn’s mouth, hand still at her throat.
When she moaned, surrendering to him, he grabbed the back of her thigh, lifting her leg until she hooked it around his hip.
Zeke slumped down on the stool, eyes riveted to the two of them.
“I’ll be damned,” Ash murmured, hand running over his mouth.
Cyn broke the kiss, glaring at her as she gasped for breath. “I hate everything you are.” His fingers tightened around her throat, and her eyes fluttered shut.
His voice was raw enough to almost convince me.
A tiny whimper escaped her lips, and she rocked against him as he pressed his hips forward in response. I wondered if they forgot their audience.
Her perfume, a provocative blend of roses and plum laced with tart apple, hung heavy in the air, a cloud of potent arousal I could taste.
When Ash shifted on his stool and Zeke turned to the counter, covering his mouth to suppress a soft sound, I knew they smelled it too.
She opened her eyes as Cyn licked her jawline, released her leg, and stepped away.
He chuckled when she stumbled a little.
“Asshole,” she murmured.
Cyn didn’t hate her. He hated what she did to him. Hated how she stole his rationality and broke his control. I believed she felt the same. Even though I sensed her attraction before I learned what they’d done, I saw no reason for her to act this way.
Soon, we would figure out how to break the spell and return home to our normal lives, setting her free.