She nodded. “I don’t want to hide from my power any longer.” She glared at me. “That doesn’t mean I’m helping you, though. I’m practicing so that I can take you out.”
That, I believed. “But why practice with me?”
“You made me stronger.” She grimaced. “I hate to admit it, but I learned more with you than I did while practicing on my own, so here I am.”
Warmth filled me, an immediate sensation that was uncomfortable specifically because it was pleasurable. I stepped back to allow her entrance. “All right.”
She nodded and strode inside, tossing her cloak on a chair by the door then going directly to the table in the middle of the room. She set down the plant and turned to me. “So, how do you want to do this?”
“I thought you might tell me. You seem very determined, all of a sudden.”
“Nope. I don’t know how you do what you do.” She tapped her shoulder. “Maybe touch me, like before.”
Heat shot through me, strong and fierce.
Touch me.
From her lips, the words were intoxicating. The same words I’d uttered last night. If I weren’t careful, they would go straight to my head.
She couldn’t possibly be genuine. This was a trick of some kind. Yet I couldn’t resist the opportunity to touch her, even if it was part of a betrayal.
I’d never wanted before, and now that I did, it was a beast impossible to tame.
I swallowed hard and stepped toward her.
As before, she turned around to face the plant. Her hair was piled high on her head, random curls escaping here and there. The long sweep of her pale neck drew me, and I wanted nothing more than to press my lips to her skin.
No.
I could not afford that distraction.
More than that, she would not welcome it.
I was a bastard. I was the bastard, if the rest of the gods were to be believed, but I wasn’t that kind of bastard. I wanted her like I’d never wanted before, but it meant nothing if it wasn’t welcome.
She welcomed it last night.
The memory of her breaking apart in my arms made desire surge through me.
No. I couldn’t afford to lose control again. It was such an obvious weakness. Unforgivable.
I stopped behind her, trying to keep my wits about me as her scent wrapped around me, pulling hard at my soul. At my desire.
“Gloves off.”
I swallowed hard, pleasure shooting straight to my cock.
Gloves off.
There was a reason I never took my gloves off, and it was precisely this. I felt too much. Wanted too much.
“It will work better that way.” Her words skated over my skin.
Would it?
I wasn’t sure I cared.
There could be no real harm in this one little thing.
Tension tightened every muscle in my body as I removed the glove and pressed a hand to her shoulder. She drew in a faint breath, her head tilting slightly to the side, baring her neck to my touch. My palm burned to press against her there, bare skin to bare skin.
I kept my palm on the fabric of her shirt, her heat burning through to me. I gritted my teeth, resisting. “Begin.”
Her magic welled inside her, bright and clear. I drew in a deep breath, unable to help myself. When she glowed like this, it was intoxicating, my ambrosia.
I stepped closer, stopping short of pressing myself to her back. As much as I wanted to feel her against me, it would be too much. But tension tightened the air between us, as if electricity could bind us together.
She shivered, and I tilted my head back, squeezing my eyes closed.
She’d run from me. Poisoned me.
Yet I couldn’t resist her.
“How’s this?” she asked.
I opened my eyes and looked down, seeing the plant growing. The vines stretched longer, thickening. “Well done.”
Her magic grew stronger, the faintest spark of darkness igniting in her soul. She twitched, then continued, making the plant grow larger. The vines trailed onto the floor, then crept backward. I watched them reach back toward me, wrapping around my calves.
I frowned, then felt her touch on my bare hand.
Her skin burned, her palm blazing.
The pleasure made me feel almost human, and I loathed it. Yet still, I craved.
The vines wrapped around my back. Not tight, just present. Forming a cage that bound me to her.
My heart leapt, racing. “What are you doing?”
She threaded her fingers through mine, then turned to face me, so close that I could see the specks of gold