Chapter 26
Rani
No one had ever done something like this for me before.
I increased my speed, laughing; high on a freedom I hadn’t felt in a long time.
The sharp blades of my skates easily cut through the first layer of Ezra’s ice, and the result was a smooth glide that made me feel like I was suspended in midair.
I spread my arms and tipped my head back, relishing the way my hair flew out behind me.
The beautiful lights dangling from the tree weren’t strong enough to block out the stars, and out here, there were thousands of them.
I had an entire galaxy above me as I soared below.
I went faster with each lap around the pond, to Ezra’s eternal dismay.
He called for me to slow down, but that bossy tone of his only made me ignore him and push harder.
I was going to fly tonight, and I dared anyone to try and stop me.
“Don’t make me melt a hole in this ice!” Ezra shouted, just as I skated under the willow’s drooping branches.
When I came out the other side, he stood in my direct path, unconcerned that an upturned pair of blades could take his eye out. I pinwheeled my arms and stopped just in time, saving us both some bruising, then stuck my tongue out at him.
“I can’t drown, remember?”
My comment brought an intimidating glint to his eye, and I tried to ease around him to get out from under its scrutiny, but the ice beneath me became suspiciously too bumpy. Ezra gave a misleading half-smile right before he reached out and gripped me by the front of my sweater.
“Right,” he rumbled, and the low tone did something to my insides.
“Not drowning. That thing you discovered when you deliberately disobeyed me and took on a whole hunting party of djinn.” He slowly hauled me into the middle of the pond, not once looking away.
“I never gave you your punishment for that, did I?”
Oh, fuck.
My stomach flipped, and his eyes lit up like he could feel it.
“I—I, u-um… You said… But I didn’t—”
He beheld my stammering and attempts at escape with a small twitch of his mouth and a raised brow. Amusement trickled down the bond—an emotion he wanted me to feel. He wanted me to know that he enjoyed this, my squirming. Like a merciless cat playing with the poor fish trapped in a puddle.
I took a step back, or tried to, but my skate wouldn’t move.
Glancing down, I saw a thick layer of ice encasing both my feet all the way up my ankles.
My instinct to break free immediately threw me off balance, and only Ezra’s hand on the small of my back kept me from collapsing in half like a lawn chair.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, voice tight.
There was no answer, only the sound of footsteps crunching over ice. His hand suddenly disappeared, and I keenly felt the lack of its warmth, especially with two frigid cinder blocks now decorating my feet.
“Seriously, Ezra. What. The. Fuck.”
He couldn’t leave me here like this. No amount of chocolate chip cookies in the world would save him from my wrath if he left me stuck to the middle of this damned pond. I listened for his returning footsteps and nearly fell as I twisted to look over my shoulder.
Each second of silence added fuel to my growing fire, a fire I wished was real so I could free my skates and then use the blades like wicked throwing stars in my revenge. Like a ninja, Ezra wouldn’t even see me coming.
“If you don’t come back here right now, I’m going to scream!”
“You’re already screaming,” he countered, his voice close, but not close enough. I wanted him here . Unfreezing me, so I—
Wait. I wondered if I could…
Admittedly, I wasn’t an expert at siren magick, but I’d gotten better. Even without the ocean fueling me, I’d managed to freeze raindrops and sling a frozen lasso, so un freezing should be a piece of cake. Right?
Wrong. So wrong. What the hell had Ezra put in this shit, cement? No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get the water to listen. It wouldn’t budge. In fact, if it had middle fingers, I was sure they’d be in my face right now.
With a growl of frustration, I tried one last time to channel my magick into my hand and use it to break free. When nothing happened, I prayed for a hammer instead. Lo and behold, that was what worked. Sort of. It wasn’t exactly a hammer, but my desperation did give me an icicle.
I immediately crouched over my frozen skates and went to town, pummeling the chunk of ice with the tip like a pick. A pair of sneakers appeared in front of me, but I ignored the asshole who wore them until a warm hand hooked under my elbow and pulled me to standing.
“Are you trying to stab yourself?” Ezra scolded, his eyes narrowing on my little, sharp ticket to freedom.
As if I didn’t know what I was doing. “What doesn’t kill me might make me kill you,” I smirked.
His nostrils flared; obviously, my cunning ingenuity was not part of his plan. He held out his hand, palm up, and set me with a stern look.
“Gimmie.”
“No.” I clutched my icicle to my chest. “It’s mine.”
“Fine,” he huffed, then lazily waved a hand, and my little tool melted between my fingers.
Just like that. I mourned my icicle and swore to get even for its senseless murder, but the surface of the pond trembled like a scene from Tremors, and I forgot about vengeance in favor of survival.
Now would have been a good time for Ezra to release me, unless this was him making good on his earlier threat of melting the ice and dropping me into the pond.
I eyed the dark water beneath my feet.
I swear to God, he better not actually make a fucking hole.
He didn’t. Instead, a column of ice rose in front of me; wide enough that I could stretch my arms out to reach either side, but short enough that it stopped just below my waist. Flat across the top with a slope from the side closest to me, I wondered if he was making a throne.
I could get on board with that. A little birthday worshipping never hurt a girl.
“You flirt in the weirdest ways,” I said, still stumped. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what this thing was.
“Only because I know you like it,” Ezra taunted, one arm holding the blankets from the base of the tree. Were those supposed to be a cushion?
He laid them over the top of the not a throne and inspected his work.
Something about that look set off warning bells.
My skin flushed under a wave of adrenaline, and I started to sweat.
It was chilly on top of a frozen pond, but in the rest of the glade, it was still summer.
My sweater and leggings were almost too warm, and yet my entire body was covered in goosebumps.
Like it knew what was coming before my brain did.
I subtly resumed all attempts to free my skates.
“I’m going to give you your final birthday present and your punishment all at once,” Ezra crowed, arms crossed as he circled and watched my helpless struggles.
Giving up all pretense, I set my hands on the blankets and yanked with my feet. Even the fish swimming below me knew that was a shit plan.
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” I hissed.
“I’ve decided.”
My eyes rolled all the way back to my brain. His level of audacity was astounding.
“Well, fucking good for you , but—”
“Bend over.”
I stiffened when I felt him behind me, his firm chest grazing my back.
He leaned into me, applying gentle pressure that pushed me against what I now worried was some type of rustic spanking bench…
or a sacrificial altar. Two strong hands seized my hips in a firm grip as the blocks of ice encasing my skates casually slid apart, until I was almost forced to obey due to my wide stance.
“Bend over, baby,” he coaxed, with a gentle nuzzle on the back of my neck. “Last chance if you want your present.”
I shivered and fought the immediate urge to do as he said. My knees teetered on the edge of betrayal, ready to give out.
“You also said punishment,” I contested and dug my fingernails into the blankets.
His laugh rumbled through his chest and into me. “I have a feeling you’re going to enjoy that, too. But probably not as much as me.”
When I didn’t put up any further argument, his hand left my hip, skimmed up my spine, between my shoulder blades, and anchored on the back of my neck. His fingers clamped down, keeping me still as he brought his mouth to my ear.
“Do you trust me?”
I nodded, the flutter in my stomach too powerful to allow for talking.
Between the butterflies doing cartwheels in there and my heart pounding like it was at a rave, it was all I could do to focus on the here and now.
A punishment? What? Who cared when everything in me demanded to see what Ezra would do next.
There was a little pressure, and he had me head down, ass up in seconds. The hard ice pushed into my hips and lower stomach, but the layers of blankets were enough cushion to keep it from being uncomfortable.
Bossy and thoughtful.
His hand remained on the back of my neck, strong and secure; unbreakable. My face was turned to the side, allowing me to gulp down air as I panted through the knee-buckling arousal his gentle but relentless control unleashed.
“Are you going to be able to stay like this, or do you need restraints?”
Well, that fully depended on what he planned to do to me.
I licked my lips and met his challenging stare. “Skip the punishment and I’ll do whatever you want.”
He shook his head, bottom lip trapped between his teeth as he tried to hide his smile. “Not a chance.”
He enjoyed this far too much, and I hoped my dirty look spoke volumes. It was my fucking birthday! There were no punishments allowed; it was a well-known and respected rule… by everyone except Ezra.
“You’re not going to stay put, are you?” My scowl deepened, and he nodded, like he already knew the answer. “Restraints, it is.”