Page 7 of Emerald Rising
Chapter 4
EMMY
After consuming the rest of my whiskey for a little boost of confidence, I sat on the sofa and stared at my new house guests. They just stared back. Intensely and uncomfortably. I was trying to get my rapidly beating heart under control, but it wasn’t playing ball. I felt terrified, aroused, and confused, which was not a good combination at all.
“So,” I started with more confidence than I felt, “who are you and why are you here?”
River leaned forward. He’d instigated the first conversation when they had appeared, and I figured that meant he was the leader. He did come across as the guy in charge. I could see the other two looking to him in deference, so I turned my attention to him and hoped he’d answer my questions.
“I think the better question to ask would bewhatare we. Although, judging by the way you reacted when we appeared, I’d say you know nothing of the world you are from.” River’s gaze was unwavering and those red eyes, which were surely some sort of coloured contacts, seemed to see far more than I wanted him to. It was like he was looking right through me, to my very soul, and I suddenly felt very naked beneath his gaze.
“I know nothing about who I am or where I came from.” I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. Saying those words out loud always brought a twinge of pain with them. “I received a letter this morning with instructions on how to perform that.” I pointed to the summoning circle and the three men looked over to the chalk marks on my wooden floor.
“It’s very well drawn. Have you ever done anything like that before?” Ash asked tentatively, his voice smooth and sending a calming wave towards me. God, he could narrate the dictionary and it would be the sexiest thing I’d ever heard.
I shook my head. “Never. I will admit that I didn’t think anything would come of it. I was definitely in the sceptic camp over this one. But I like to draw. It’s one of the few things I’m any good at.”
“It takes great skill to perform a summoning with the grace you showed,” continued Ash. “The journey from the Underworld was the smoothest one I’ve ever been on, and I’ve been on a few.”
I blanched. What?
River clipped Ash around the back of the head. “What the fuck you tell her that for?”
“Because it’s the truth, and you’re only going to tell her anyway.” Ash rubbed the back of his head as he spoke, a deep scowl etched in those beautiful blonde brows.
“Well, I wouldn’t have done it quite as heavy-handed as that.” River raised his eyes to the ceiling and muttered some words under his breath before dropping that eerie red gaze back to me.
“What are you?” I whispered, worry churning like lead in my gut.
River’s expression turned serious. It made him look older, like he’d seen more of the world than I could ever comprehend. “Ash and I are demons, and Blaze is a fallen angel.”
A gurgle of manic laughter bubbled in my throat before it burst from my mouth in a display of full-blown hysteria.
“Demons and angels?” I spat out between laughter. “Seriously? You expect me to believe that?”
River’s expression soured and I choked on my laughter. He was scary when he looked at me like that. Like he was barely constraining a temper that would be merciless if allowed to break free.
He flicked a glance to Ash and barked out an order. “Show her.”
“Show me what?”
Ash rolled his eyes before flashing across the room to sit beside me on the sofa. I hadn’t even seen him move. One second, he was next to River, the next he had his hands on my waist and he was pulling me onto his lap.
“Wait. What are you—”
Ash’s eyes found mine and my words disappeared along with my ability to think. Some magnetic pull held me there, immobile, sat on his lap, just waiting for him to dosomething.
His voice dropped to a sinful whisper that caressed my body all the way down to my toes. “What do you want, Emmy?”
He licked his lips. My head turned fuzzy. My entire world centred on those pillowy soft lips and I suddenly wanted to taste them. To bite them, to lick the inside of his mouth and let him whisper dirty moans on my tongue.
Wait. I didn’t think like that. That wasn’t me.
I pulled back but one of his hands slipped under the hem of my shirt and settled under the curve of my breast. His other hand slid up my spine before settling possessively around the back of my neck. His touch was hot against my sensitive skin and I found myself burning for him.
He rolled his bottom lip between his teeth in a move that was so hot, so blatantly sexual that wetness pooled between my thighs instantly. That fascinating lip ring was pulled between his teeth and all I could think was that I wanted a taste. I was drowning in him and all he’d done was touch me.
“Do you want me to kiss you, Emmy?”
