Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“Then what took an hour? Did you get caught in a time warp?” Cadeon had gotten caught in one with a beautiful demoness, leading Holly to suspect the worst.
Rök shook his head. He parted his lips to speak, then seemed to think better of what he’d been about to say. Finally he muttered, “I got summoned again. And again. Maybe a few times after that. Erol’s must’ve been running a drink special or something. And it was a Saturday night.”
“Oh, Hecate, what a piece of work! You’re like a debauched pinball bouncing around from one score to the next.” And she’d dared to consider placing herself into the rotation?
“I didn’t sleep with anyone!” Could that possibly be true? “I made my usual excuses, but extricating myself takes time. More than I figured, I guess. Being summoned isn’t like teleporting. It’s a mind fuck. I never know where I’ll appear. I get taken from a dead sleep or right when I sit down to a meal I’m looking forward to. And then that night with you, everything was perfect. Everything was prelude.” He cupped her face in his big hands, and she could feel the calluses from his sword. “We both knew we’d finish what we started in the parking lot. For the first time in my life, I wanted to create a summoning pact.”
She exhaled a breath that sounded suspiciously like a sigh.
“I dream about taking you.” His attention dipped to her lips again. “If danger wasn’t all around and a severed leg giving us mood music, I’d be kissing you right now, kissing you long and slow. I’d do it till you got so wet for me and craved me inside you so bad. . . . You said you don’t beg, but I could make you.”
The irresistible charge between them dwarfed even the lightning. She angled her chin up. The tip of her tongue decided to daub her bottom lip.
His pupils enlarged as he clocked her mouth. “Fuck, Red, you love to tease me. You play with me.”
“I play with you?”
“You look down on demons. You want a warlock for your man.”
“I just want someone who’ll be true to me. I don’t care what species he is!”
“Yeah?” he asked, his tone saying, Really?
“Yeah,” she answered, her tone saying, Duh! “I can’t trust my own magic; I can’t trust my fellow Loreans until I find out who cursed me. But I have to be able to trust my partner.”
All the ire seemed to drain from him. “No wonder you wouldn’t give me the time of night after our date.”
“You have to admit the situation looked bad,” she said. “And you do have a certain reputation. But now I’m glad we’ve gotten everything out in the open.”
Had his eyes darted?
“Rök?”
“C’mere.” He reached for her. “You’ve picked up a spiderweb.” He teased it out of her hair until her lids went heavy, her own irritation melting away.
Though she’d steeled herself against his charisma and effortless charm, this tenderness might prove her undoing.
“I need to focus on keeping you safe.” He brushed his knuckles along her jawline. “But when I’ve delivered you from this place, I’m going to make love to you.”
His confidence shouldn’t be that sexy. “You sound sure of yourself.”
“Done deal.” His gaze gleamed with anticipation.
Maybe that was exactly what needed to happen. She could enjoy him, getting him out of her system. She wouldn’t become a swimbo—because she would never summon him again.
Thud thud thud. That sound broke the moment for Poppy. “More mood music.”
He glowered in that direction. “Time to push on, huh?” When she nodded, he took her hand in his, and they continued deeper into the lab.
Was Poppy his fated one? Still doubtful. But Rök was trying. And he did care about her.
Expectation filled her, changing her entire outlook. This threatening place didn’t bother her. The past didn’t bother her. They would find a way out of this lab, break the curse, then enjoy each other.
For just one night.
Buoyed by that knowledge, her steps were lighter, her lips curving on their own.
Reading her thoughts once more, he said, “Everything is prelude again, isn’t it?”
They’d reached the curtain, prompting her to remind him, “If we survive.”
“The motivation of all motivations.” He drew the cloth back, revealing steps to a platform. Chucking her under the chin, he started up.
As they climbed, she murmured, “We’re in deep.”
“Heard it’s the only way to swim,” he murmured back. “Just stay frosty.”
“Ah-firmative.”
Atop the platform stood what looked like an old transformer, with voltage meters and levers. Positioned beside it was a stainless steel table. Metal restraints jutted from it like ribs, but they’d been wrenched open.
Rök tested one of the restraints. “No mean feat to break these. That wizard must’ve thought Frankenstein was a how-to manual—and he actually brought something to life, something strong. How’d he do it? Electricity and magic?”