Except I couldn’t block the memory of what he had said.
The gruff, needy words he’d rumbled into my flesh as he kissed me into a puddle.
Admitting that he wanted me the way I wanted him.
In a terrifying, overwhelming way.
But something severe was stopping him.
A darkness that made him look even more menacing than usual, which was saying a whole lot.
Elena tossed me a sassy grin. “Oh, I think you could probably work your magic on him.”
“I think it’s entirely the other way around and it’s him who’s working his magic on me. He’s the one who’s casting spells.”
She shifted and snuggled up to my side as we started to walk again. “So, you’re saying you do like him?”
“So you’re saying you do like Trevan?”
Deflection was the best defense.
She fumbled over a step, heaving out a breath before she slung out what I knew she hoped to be a casual response. “I didn’t say a thing.”
“You don’t need to when your face does all the talking.”
She snuggled closer, her head basically buried in my shoulder as she whispered, “Like I said, these boys have a way of trampling all over our hearts. I think I should probably leave it at that.”
And maybe I could already feel mine breaking as we stepped out from the cover of trees and headed for the toiling group of bodies that appeared as silhouettes and shadows around the firelight.
Because I swore I felt it cracking beneath the pressure as I looked across the flames to the only one I could really see.
Silas Mercer staring back.
What the hell had I let this man do to me?
THIRTY-ONE
SILAS
The fire curledand licked toward the underbelly of the trees. Shooting sparks that danced higher before they turned to ash and fluttered to the ground.
I sat rocked back in a chair, entranced by the flames while my crew joked around me.
“Did you see me in action?” Brody gestured at himself. Amped after today’s unfortunate incident.
“What I saw was you ducking for cover,” Trevan razzed behind a sip of his beer.
Brody gasped in mock offense. “Are you kidding me? I went straight hero today.”
Brody stretched out his arms like he was the prize.
Phoenix grunted the way he always did. Seldom amused.
“Hero, huh?” Trevan’s brow lifted with the tease.
“Don’t you know not all heroes wear capes?” Brody tossed out.
Trevan cracked up. “Nah, heroes wear cuts.”
