Page 68 of Tricky Magic
“Yes and no,” she responded. Her long nails traced idle patterns in the wooden table. Their points were sharp, and they left a shallow indent in the worn wood. He broke the stare from her ethereal eyes and assessed her. Ink snaked up both arms and continued under the loose black shirt she wore. The details and the way the lines crossed and swirled in such an intricate pattern reminded him of the tattoos his family bore. Leaders and warriors inked their skin to match their weapons that were forged by the Gods. No two were the same. She leaned back further and stretched her long legs out from under the table in a feline manner. Bare feet poked out, and he noticed she was wearing loose faded jeans that were rolled up at the ankle. Her outfit was such a dramatic contrast to her features. They were fierce and strong, features he hadn’t seen in quite some time.
“Like what you see?” she purred at him. He cocked an eyebrow in response.
“Why would you order my coffee?” Ros asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I ordered both of your coffees,” she said, leaning forward. “I figured you wouldn’t know what Ellea wanted.”
“How do you know Ellea?” he growled.
“So protective,” she mocked. “And she isn’t even yours yet.”
“I will ask you again,” he said, placing his hands on the table in front of her—bringing his eyes level with hers. “How do you know Ellea?”
His powers began to build, ready to fight this unknown threat. Her eyes slowly squinted before a wide smile stretched across her face. Then she laughed, right in his face. Ros growled low and deep, and the table shook slightly under his hands.
“Oh, chills,” she mocked with a shiver. “Sit, Rosier,” she commanded, her rich laugh disappearing. “I won’t ask you again.”
“I’m not going to sit at a table with someone I don’t know,” he forced out.
“But you’ll stalk a witch and threaten her life multiple times?”
Ros was stunned. How did she know so much? And that tone… Ros’ mouth dropped open, and the female nodded her head.
“Billy,” he whispered.
“Me,” Billy answered.
Ros sat heavily in the chair as more questions popped into his head.
“How?” he asked. How was she here, like this? “How did you know I was going to get coffee?”
“We all have our secrets,” she said, and Ros rolled his eyes at his own line. “We need to talk.”
Talk?They talked already. Why was now any different from the times when she was screaming in his head about how nice his ass was?
“Rosier, don’t make it weird,” Billy said to him.
“Get out of my head,” he scolded. “And since when do you use that name? It’s always been ‘hunk’ or ‘fine piece of ass.’”
“Since I fully understood the situation,” she said seriously, but her eyes lightened. “And I will still probably call you those things.” She dragged her bottom lip across her too-white teeth as her eyes roved across his body.
“Stop that,” he said. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Don’t play dumb,” Billy said, meeting his eyes. “I need to know your plan.”
“What plan?” he asked, more confused. “Get coffee and go see Ellea. Does she know you’re here?”
“Not that plan. Gods, the pretty ones are always so thick-headed,” she mumbled to herself. “What do you want from Ellea?”
“Want from her?” He was shocked. “I don’t want anything.”
“Oh, nice answer,” she scolded. “First you wanted to kill her, then to mess with her, and now you share her bed?”
“It was one time.” He looked down at his hands, questioning what she was getting at. Of course, he didn’t have a plan, it’d been barely a day.
“She’s special, you know,” Billy said with so much love in her voice.
“I know,” he answered.
