“Oh gods, Wayla.You do wonders for my ego.”
“I don’t think your ego needs any inflating.”
Jarred pulled her tighter against him, and she felt something definitely getting inflated right behind her back.She wanted to rub against the growing hardness, but refrained.Barely.There may have been a small shimmy involved.
“Wayla, I need you to stop doing that.I have only so much self-control.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“You need to learn how to shield properly.”
“I could just stay back here,” Wave offered.Jarred shook his head.
“No.The location of the trip exposes you more to the Hell Moon’s effects, but being anywhere else doesn’t negate them fully.I’m starting to have a vested interest in your well-being.”His hand slid a bit lower on her stomach.
“Fine,” she murmured.“Let me try again.”
“I’m not stopping you,” Jarred said, the smile evident in his voice.His hand didn’t move away, and Wave groaned before trying again.
“She’s not going to learn like that.You’re not giving her enough incentive to block,” a voice interrupted her next attempt.Slowly, she turned her head and noticed Marc leaning against the wall next to a door.She had no idea how long he’d been there.
“You have a better idea?”Jarred asked him.
“You could have the demon boys attacking her.It’s going to be a Hell Moon after all.”
“I had planned to ask Hellion to help once she managed the simple form.”
“Simple,” Wave gasped.There was nothing simple about what he wanted her to do.Jarred let go of her and moved to Marc’s side.
“Yes, simple,” Marc said with a slight smile.Wave eyed him up and down.He had looked muscular and broad in the Grand Hall, but here, standing so close to her, he made her feel tiny-tiny-tiny.
His features were more rough-hewn; no one would have ever called him a pretty boy.He had a large nose that had been broken at some point, leaving it a bit crooked.There was a faint scar going over his left brow and up to his hairline.She wondered what happened to cause such marks?
It managed to distract Wave from his purple and blue eyes for a second, but once she really looked into them, they captivated her.The purple ring denoting him as a mage was wide and beautiful and it blended like broken glass with the blue of his eyes.
“Earth to Ms.Spinwell,” Jarred said, waving his hand.
“Why does he have to be so hot, too?”Wave complained, tearing her eyes away from Marc’s captivating looks to Jarred’s more classically handsome face.
“I think you have me mixed up with someone else,” Marc snorted.Jarred looked intensely at Wave and shook his head.
“No, she doesn’t.”
“What?”Now, Marc turned to glare at Jarred.
“Look at her, man.”
“Nothing to see here.”Wave threw her hands into the air and turned her back to the two men.
“But Hellion—”
“Is in the dog house from what I hear,” Jarred cut Marc off.Wave sensed him moving closer.“Besides, Ms.Spinwell hasn’t indicated any exclusivity or clear preference so far.It’s a free-for-all.”
Wave spun to face them again and glared.Mention of Hellion reminded her of him holding her, and that almost made her rub at her wrists.The little nervous tick resurfacing threatened her control over all the memories she was determined to forget and made her even more furious.“Is that what this is?Hellion wanted to win a bet, and you want to stake some stupid claim?”
“Wayla, no—”
“You know what, whatever.”The anger that rushed into her veins was so potent that Wave had trouble containing her power; she could not crack or let her aura slip.Besides, a flash flood in the basement would be bad.“You can find some new toy to fight over.I’m done.”
