Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
I ring off with Bram just before Sydney’s door bursts open. In walks the source of my frustrations and fantasies, carrying the blasted magical book.
Lust detonates inside me like a fucking supernova. Lightning races down my spine, electrifying every nerve ending. I’m drowning in need, choking on it. My fingers crush the back of a chair, knuckles white as I fight to stay upright against the dizzying onslaught.
What in blazes is happening to me? I’m a bloody yo-yo—exhausted one second, wired the next. My senses are in overdrive, skin buzzing like I’ve touched a live wire. Sweat prickles out of nowhere. And Christ, my cock is perpetually ready for action. This isn’t normal.
Sure, I’m stressed. The mission is going tits up, Lucan is still a mess, and Sydney, that ginger fireball, is melting my sanity. I ache for the simplicity of my life in Dallas, a world away from this clusterfuck. But deep down, I know the culprit. It’s magic. The same force that shattered my world once before is clawing its way back in.
Only this time, the magic isn’t just around me. It’s inside me, a gathering storm I can’t outrun. And that terrifies me more than anything.
“What is it, MacTavish?” She thrusts one hand on her hip. The other holds the Doomsday Diary casually.
God, if she had any idea how powerful and sought after that book is… I have to steal it as quickly as possible.
Surreptitiously, I withdraw my mobile phone, pretending to sort through the menus, and snap a picture.
“Watch it!” she protests.
“Sorry. New phone. I’m still learning.”
“You wanted to see me? Out with it. And be quick. It’s Friday evening. I have a pub stool and a pint waiting for me.”
She’s in a snit. Because I dismissed Jamie? The thought that she might be interested in that knuckle-dragging prat makes me far more violent than it should. But there’s no way he’s touching her. I’ll make sure of that.
“I have some questions.”
“Shocking.” She rounds her desk, slim hips swaying as she sets the diary on the semicluttered surface. “Well?”
A caustic Sydney is a dazzling force of nature wrapped in a petite package. I shouldn’t stare, but she’s captivated me from the first moment I laid eyes on her and she dug her way under my skin.
That porcelain skin flushes pink, a hint of the fire burning beneath. Her auburn curls cascade over her shoulders like liquid copper, begging me to run my fingers through them. But it’s those eyes that undo me—deep, rich brown pools that seemingly see through my bullshit. When our gazes lock, it’s like a lightning bolt to the chest, leaving me panting for more.
She’s the best version of a pretty redheaded doll crossed with a sex bomb. And god help me, I’m powerless against her pull. I don’t know whether to coddle and protect her from the violent world out there or just fuck her blind.
Don’t think about her. Think smart. Think mission.
I’d rather have her naked underneath me, taking every inch of me.
I clear my throat. “I’ll get to the point.”
“Lovely.”
Sydney stares back with admirable moxie for someone who doesn’t even reach my chin. She defends her stories with passion and wit, cleverly combining logic and fancy to sway detractors and believers alike. The fact she’s smart and sexy makes her bloody near impossible to resist.
“But let me first say,” she goes on. “If you’re going to warn me about the evils of Jamie, I’m a big girl.”
I hadn’t planned on discussing him, but since she brought it up… “Are you interested?”
She shrugs. “Why do you care?”
The possibility drives me mad. I’ve never been jealous of such a wanker. Hell, I’ve never been jealous, period.
Splendid. A new low…
I have to stifle this feeling. Revealing it would be a match on kindling, since I suspect Sydney is attracted to me, too. Still, I must have latent masochistic tendencies because the urge to tell her in excruciating detail exactly how I want her in my bed, her nails in my back, screaming my name, bombards me. But I can’t get distracted, or I’ll never find Anka. And my brother will pass to his nextlife.
“It’s none of my business, I grant you. But you can do better.”
Sydney cocks her head. “Are you offering?”
My heart launches into a furious rhythm. Every muscle tenses. She can’t possibly know how close she is to feeling her desk against her back as I pin her under me.
“I’m merely pointing out that you’re a beautiful, talented woman. You deserve more than Jamie.”
Sydney studies me from beneath her sooty lashes. “Why do you care?”
“If he turns out to be an axe murderer, I’m out of a job.”
She rolls her eyes. “Prat. I’m leaving. On Monday, we’ll continue with the magical battle story. I should have more details by then.”
“Are you convinced it’s real, then?”
She shrugs. “Anything is possible. But even if it’s not, it’s a fantastic story, and readers are eating it up, which makes Holly happy”
My gut tightens. “Will you be talking to your source over the weekend?”
“It depends on how willing she is to talk.”
I need to know if Anka is her source almost as much as I fear Sydney’s columns will incite Mathias’s wrath. “I have a great deal of experience at extracting information from interview subjects. My military background, you know. If you bring me along?—”
“No. I’m not even certain she’ll emerge from hiding.”
“I’ll protect her, if that’s her concern.” And you.
Sydney waves me away. “Against magic? You can’t. But this conversation has me wondering… If you have so much experience in the States working for a ‘reputable’ paper, why are you squatting in the gutter at Out of this Realm? ”
Clever. Of course she’s questioning my cover.
“My brother is gravely ill. I don’t know how long he’ll need me, and a man has to make a living.”
“What’s wrong, then?”
Explaining mate mourning to a human? A definite no-no. “His doctors aren’t certain, so I may be here for some time. I could be very beneficial to you.”
“Unless you’re offering me more than pictures, you can’t. Stay away from my magical war story. That’s final.” She grabs her purse and the book, then gestures me out of her office. “See you Monday.”