“I never asked to be here.” I reminded him.
Something flickered in his expression… something unnerving.
“Again?” I asked.
His brows lifted. “You want another round?”
“I want to win twice.”
He chuckled, low and dark, but genuine. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Temptress.”
I raised my sword. “So, stop me.”
And he did.
Just not in the way I had expected.
He lunged forward, grabbing my throat and spinning me so fast the world tilted. My wooden blade clattered to the ground as my back hit his chest… again. His arm looped tight around my waist as he pulled me close, burying his nose in my hair.
I should have seen it coming.
His mouth brushed my ear. “That’s twice you’ve let me pull that move on you, Temptress. Is this your way of saying you want to be wrapped in my arms?”
“I didn’t let you do anything.”
“You sure?”
His grip loosened, but he didn’t move away. I could feel the heat of his body. Smell the leather and sweat and something uniquely… Ryker.
I hated how much I wanted to lean into him.
“You going to let go?” I asked.
“You going to stab me again?”
“Maybe.”
He laughed, and then finally released me.
I strode away without looking back.
But gods, I could feel his heavy gaze burning into me with every step.
Chapter Five
Cadence
The scream tore through the night like a blade, pulling me from sleep.
I sat bolt upright in bed. My breath caught in my throat, and my blankets tangled around my legs like shackles. My heartthundered in my chest, each beat echoing louder than the last as I strained to hear.
The sound had been raw, high-pitched, and… inhuman.
Icy dread slid down my spine, and I didn’t dare to move in case whoever, or whatever, had made that noise was still close, watching. The silence that followed wasn’t reassuring. It pressed in on me from all sides, heavy with foreboding.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
