After explaining who Mave is and how we met, in exacting detail, my answer seems to appease him. Bastien twines his fingers with mine, rubbing his other hand over my shins, his smile happy and carefree again.
“Where’d you and Mave go?” Sabin inquires, watching Bastien and Valen keenly.
Sabin stands in the corner holding a cue stick, waiting for Knox to finish his shot. He gives me a gentle smile, and his dimples make an appearance. I give him a small smile back and then wince in pain when Bastien unknowingly squeezes my bruised knuckles.
Sabin catches my pained look and rushes over. I hiss and try to pull my hand free which makes everyone else take notice. Bastien brings my hand closer to his face and narrows his gaze at me when he takes in the fucked up state of my knuckles.
“Bruiser, what’s with the bruises?”
I laugh at the Dr. Seuss sounding questions. “It’s not a big deal. I came down here to see if Ryker can work his magic, pun intended, before you two started distracting me," I chuckle again at my own joke, but apparently I’m the only one who sees the humor.
“How’d that happen?” Knox asks me, a tick in his jaw.
“We were hanging at this lake, and this other group showed up and started harassing Mave’s friends. I just pointed out some reasons why they shouldn’t do that," I finish, pointing to my bruised knuckles.
Sabin runs a hand over his face. “Vinna, shifters are more than capable of defending themselves. You should know this after seeing what they can do at the fights. Don’t get involved in their feuds.”
I stare at Sabin irritated and wish I could take the smile I gave him earlier, back. “Thank you for that useless opinion, but they can’t retaliate against this coven. Mave’s alpha doesn’t want them to do anything that could mess with his relationship with the Elders Council, so they have to just take what’s done to them. But seriously, even if that weren’t the case, I’m perfectly capable of judging for myself what I should and shouldn’t be involved in.”
I pull myself free from Valen and Bastien’s laps and sit on the arm of the sofa on the opposite side of them. Bastien and Valen shoot a warning look at Sabin. A twinge of regret snakes through me, and I realize that I can’t punish the others every time Sabin pisses me off. I can’t withdraw from them just because I want to withdraw from him.
“Wait, it was a coven that was starting shit, not other shifters?” Sabin asks confused.
“It’s kind of complicated," I tell him “The dudes that are actually in the coven didn’t really do anything other than watch, but the group of casters that hang out with them started everything. I only got involved when they hit one of the shifters.”
“But what does that have to do with the Elders Council?” Sabin asks me.
“I guess two of the guys in the coven have dads that are elders.”
Understanding dawns on all of the guy’s faces.
“What did Enoch do when you fucked up the two guys?” Bastien asks.
“Who’s Enoch?”
“Tall, blonde hair, blue eyes," Sabin describes to me.
“Yeah, that guy was interesting. He just watched me. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t try to stop anything. He just nodded at me when I told him they wouldn’t touch the shifters anymore, like some pretty boy Godfather.”
Knox cracks up and walks over to press a kiss to the top of my head. He swipes my ice cream cone but I’m too focused on the other guys and the look they’re giving each other, to object. I’m about to ask them what’s going on when Ryker pushes my knees apart and steps in between my legs.
He takes my bruised hand in his, and the heat of his magic banishes the pain away. He brings my knuckles to his lips and kisses them softly. Flutters fly low in my belly.
“You know the way you do that, it’s not exactly a deterrent for getting injured," I explain, as I squeeze my thighs against the sides of Ryker’s legs.
“Anything else need my attention?” he asks dropping his gaze to my lips.
I put my hands on the backs of his denim-clad thighs and tilt my head back in invitation. A throat clears loudly in the room, unnecessarily reminding us that we’re not alone.
“Captain Cockblock to the rescue," I chant.
I scoot back on the arm of the sofa, away from Ryker. I give a mock salute to Sabin that morphs into the bird, and the other guys chuckle. Not to be deterred, Ryker drops his weight onto the sofa and snakes an arm around my waist. He sends a challenging look to Sabin and pulls me down between his legs. I lean into him and press my back against his chest. Sabin watches for a second more and then moves to the table for his shot.
I can feel the hardness in Ryker’s jeans against my lower back, and I can’t lie, I like this reaction to me. I let out a deep breath and relax into him. One of his strong hands rests on my thigh, and he absently starts to run his fingertips over my skin. Goosebumps spring up all over my body. Ryker notices and breathily chuckles in my ear.
“So tell me about your magic," I prompt the room in an effort to distract myself from how good Ryker feels against me.
“Do you have an idea of what kind of magic you think you have?” Ryker asks with excitement in his voice.
