Page 29 of Witch's Dawn
A hunter green V-neck T-shirt stretched across his broad chest and biceps. Two dark lines of a tattoo peaked below his throat before disappearing under his shirt. His signature dark jeans, black leather jacket, and motorcycle boots completed the bad boy look that I wished didn't make me so weak in theknees.
He wore his cool, aloof expression as he approached the counter, although his icy eyes twinkled with mischief. Unlike Raum's gregarious demeanor, he kept whatever emotions he felt behind a mysterious wall. Even his aura, a deep, almost black navy blue, didn't revealmuch.
"Morning, Deja," he said in a lowrumble.
"Morning, Ash," I replied stiffly, immediately on high alert. Somehow I didn't think he came here to apologize like Raum, which only made me wonder what he reallywanted.
Out of the corner of my eye, Nona gaped at him unashamedly. Now that two of the three hot men from the party showed up to my shop, she must have thought I really did have plans for an orgy, although that couldn't be farther from thetruth.
"What can I do for you?" I asked him, once again trying to ignore the heat rising in mybody.
He lifted one shoulder in a lazyshrug.
"Raum was raving about your place. Thought I'd come check it out." His mouth lifted into a hint of a smirk. "Although I'm not much of a teadrinker."
"Then you're probably wasting your time, seeing as this is a tea shop," I replied with more venom than I hadanticipated.
My heart beat out of control and my stomach flip-flopped as an internal war raged within me. I didn't want to lash out and be all bitchy. All I could think about was taking that lime from his mouth, how our lips brushed with a touch that barely resembled a kiss. But if Diana was right and he only wanted to take something from me, I couldn't let myself be seduced by him, no matter how badly my body wanted ittoo.
Even that part of me pulled in three separate directions as my raw, primal attraction seemed to cycle between all three of themequally.
Ash only seemed amused by my rebuff, however. He stroked his blonde whiskers as if deciding how hard he should spank me for talking out ofline.
"Is that any way to talk after we had so much fun the other night?" he said in a lightheartedtone.
A crash came from behind me as Nona dropped something, clearlyeavesdropping.
"Fun for you all, maybe. It was impossible for me to win," I shotback.
"But it was your idea," he so kindly reminded me. "And even though you were the loser, it seemed you enjoyed what you received out of thewager."
His handsome face gave away nothing, a steely poker face. Meanwhile, I squirmed, flustered and frustrated by all these hints and jabs and innuendos. Why couldn't anyone just be fucking straight withme?
"Well, now I have the much better idea of not getting involved with the three ofyou."
Shit! I didn't mean for it to come out sounding likethat.
I bit my tongue but it was too late. The innuendo wasn't lost on Ash as he finally revealed a full-on, predatorysmile.
He leaned his long, sculpted torso across the counter, resting on his forearms while keeping his eyes glued to mine until our faces were mere inches away. The plywood and Formica counter seemed to tremble under the weight of his power. He could do away with the flimsy barrier between us with a snap of hisfingers.
"And what makes you so turned off to the idea, Deja?" he asked, lowering his voice to a sultry murmur that I could practically feel across myskin.
"Well, I don't know you for starters," I said, bristling defensively as I lowered my voice to a hushed whisper. "And it's honestly creepy how you all are always popping up around me since the party, especially because I don't know you and can't protect myself from whatever it is youwant."
"Cut the bullshit, Deja." His words sliced through the air as his aura began to crackle with tension. I was certain mine was coiled up and radiating with my heat and frustrationtoo.
"I'mnot--"
"Yes, you are." He spoke with the sharpness and authority of a double-edged sword, his eyes burning intomine.
"You're not threatened by us. You feel safe and protected when we're around you. You’re relaxed, not a wound up spring like you are now. You enjoy us. And even more, youwantus."
I opened my mouth to deny it but my throat seemed to constrict and dry out. He could see right through me as if I was naked and bare before him. Who knew if my aura told him or he just knew how to read people but he saw what I was struggling to acceptmyself.
"Whoever told you not to trust us was not being truthful," he continued, his voice softening with either lust or affection. "Although witches and ordinary mortals alike have their biases againstus."
My grandmother's face flashed through my mind, the tears thick in her eyes as she said,The deaths of innocents doesn't matter toimmortals.
