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In the time it took me to explain things to Ash and Zeke, Cyn had already given in to his baser needs and now had his tongue in Raelynn’s mouth, hand still at her throat.
When she moaned, surrendering to him, he grabbed the back of her thigh, lifting her leg until she hooked it around his hip.
Zeke slumped down on the stool, eyes riveted to the two of them.
“I’ll be damned,” Ash murmured, hand running over his mouth.
Cyn broke the kiss, glaring at her as she gasped for breath. “I hate everything you are.” His fingers tightened around her throat, and her eyes fluttered shut.
His voice was raw enough to almost convince me.
A tiny whimper escaped her lips, and she rocked against him as he pressed his hips forward in response. I wondered if they forgot their audience.
Her perfume, a provocative blend of roses and plum laced with tart apple, hung heavy in the air, a cloud of potent arousal I could taste.
When Ash shifted on his stool and Zeke turned to the counter, covering his mouth to suppress a soft sound, I knew they smelled it too.
She opened her eyes as Cyn licked her jawline, released her leg, and stepped away.
He chuckled when she stumbled a little.
“Asshole,” she murmured.
Cyn didn’t hate her. He hated what she did to him. Hated how she stole his rationality and broke his control. I believed she felt the same. Even though I sensed her attraction before I learned what they’d done, I saw no reason for her to act this way.
Soon, we would figure out how to break the spell and return home to our normal lives, setting her free.
36
PREY
EZRA
Dinner tested my patience.
Cyn and Raelynn traded cutting remarks, while Zeke attempted to play peacemaker. Ash continued to watch her as if someone had told him she only had days left to live. They’d all forgotten our earlier discussion, driven by impulse and raw emotion.
Which left me to uncover why she possessed a Zhyfri crystal.
After everyone cleaned up, Raelynn retired upstairs for an early shift the next morning. I waited until Zeke distracted Cyn and Ash with a movie before slipping upstairs to confront her.
The bedroom was empty when I entered, but I heard the sink running in the adjoining bathroom.
When she stepped into the room in nothing but an oversized T-shirt and saw me, she jolted. “Jesus. Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
My gaze drifted from the disheveled nest of hair on her head, over her makeup-free face, to the dark bruise marring her neck right above the cord of the hidden crystal.
She cleared her throat when my gaze slid down to her bare thighs, taking in the tattoo on one and the healing claw marks on the other.
Looking back at her face, I kept silent. It didn’t take long before I got the results I wanted.
Her gaze shifted to a point across the room.
In the beginning, her nervousness intrigued me.
Whenever I watched her, trying to learn more about our situation and the one who brought us here, she squirmed beneath my scrutiny. I suspected that if I heard her heartbeat, I’d find it racing. She never held my gaze long, unable to challenge me in the way she did with Cyn.
I liked that.
