Page 84 of Kai
The realization he’d meant what he said almost wiped the fight out of me and took me out of commission. Almost, but not. Missy’s future was on the line.
“Are you ready?” I glared at Javier. “Or perhaps you’re nothing but a defenseless rake?”
“Not defenseless, not a rake, so stop calling me names,”Javier shot back, his voice firm with renewed certainty. “If you wanna beat me up, then go ahead. But I’mnotfighting you.”
“Do you think I’m weak?” I demanded. “That you’re a better fighter than me?”
“None of that toxic masculinity crap.” He clasped his hands behind his back and held my glare. “I won’t fight you because you’re Missy’s dear sister, emphasis ondear, and I don’t hit women, period. People like you often mistake me for a brainless brute, and even though my mouth has, on occasion, given fuel to the idea, I own a brain and I use it.”
His brief speech told me he could string together an argument and stick to it. Hunky Javier was smarter than I’d thought. I kept my feet braced. I wasn’t ready to give him a pass yet, and I needed to test this man’s mettle to the fullest.
“Your vibes are very Casanova, very Don Juan.” I tilted my head and showed him my teeth. “Not the boyfriend my little sister needs.”
“With all due respect, you don’t know me.” He stood his ground. “Maybe I was a version of that at some point, but I’ve changed, and I mean for good.” He surprised me with his open admission. “Since I met Missy, she’s been the only woman in my life.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and watched as his aura began to glow.Oh, shit. Where the hell did it come from? Had I called it?
Hues of red with sparkles of green tinted Javier’s aura. It swirled around him in colorful eddies that were almost psychedelic. Every once in a while, flashes streaked the twirling colors, lightning unleashed. Did those flashes reflect Javier’s temper? What did they mean? Flexibility? Complexity? Unpredictability? Another thought led me astray. His aura was mostly red. Was he as passionate as I was? Did he and I have more in common than I realized? Would my aura look like his?
Does it matter, Astor?
It didn’t matter, and yet… it did. Pressure built behind my eyes. A wave of dizziness washed over me. I steadied myself on the gunwales.
“Ma’am?” Javier’s voice shook me out of my shock. “Missy wouldn’t want me to upset you. Are you all right?”
Javier’s aura gained brilliance when he mentioned my sister’s name. Its thrum got louder. Oh, shit. Perhaps my sister meant something to him. Rubbing my eyes, I shifted my stare to Kai. His familiar aura glowed brightly and hummed peacefully in my ears, restoring my balance, soothing me with a sense of calm I only felt when he was around. It eased the pressure in my head and offered me relief.
I didn’t want to look, but my curiosity struck. A glance at Micah showed me a brilliant but static silver and white outline framing his body. It contrasted with his dark skin. There was no movement to it. It was as solid as the man, and yet it almost blinded me. The sheer luminosity of it turned him into a shadow, a stark outline of his form, a man without expression.
My head ached and my thoughts spun.
What the hell is happening here?
You wanted to know who these men are? Now you’ve got your answers.
Could I trust my eyes, my intuition, and my perceptions? Had my brain short-circuited, or could I really believe that their auras had meaning?
I intended to find out right now.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Cece
“Sorceress?” Kai’s voice startled me out of my head. A frown scrunched his forehead, and concern flickered in the stare he lasered on me. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” Looking away from Kai, I blinked, trying to shake off the human light show taking place around the men. The stubborn auras refused to go away.
I forced myself to return my attention to Javier. His aura had not dimmed. It was different from Kai’s and also noisy as hell in my head, strumming like the overture of a techno hit. Did this mean that, although the man who had become my sister’s lover was a bit of a hothead, he was telling the truth?
“Forgive me for saying this.” Javier cleared his throat, and his aura flared as if it was going to go nova anytime now. “It’s hard to have a rational conversation with you right now, or to keep from being distracted when you’re dressed—or should I say undressed—as you are.”
“Guzman.” Micah slapped his hand on his forehead.
“Dumbass.” Kai shook his head. “You had to go there.”
“What?” Javier lifted his hand toward me as if I was proof of a crime. “It’s true!”
For a second there, I had no idea what he meant. Then I glanced down at myself. Only then did I remember I hadn’t dressed for a fight. I’d dressed for seduction.
