“Let her go, Kace,” a deep, rumbling voice growls.
Snapping my head toward the sound, I suck in a sharp breath when I find the furious Fire immortal standing a few paces away. Hands fisted, lip curled, and his chest expanding with each angry breath, Darius’ glacial orbs flash with white fire, fixated on the arm currently wrapped around my waist.
“Oh, no! Someone’s getting jealous,” Kace taunts, tugging me tighter to his chest.
“And angry.” Raging is more like it. Most would be trembling in fear at the lethal air wafting from Darius, but I can only assume the Stars forgot a few crucial ingredients when creating me, because instead of removing Kace’s arms, I drop my head back instead, resting it along his collarbone as I watch the fire surge within Darius’ gaze, enlivening my nerves with a dangerous thrill.
“You know you love that possessive growl,” Kace says with laughter in his voice, flaunting his lack of natural instincts.
“It does cause a tingle here and there.”
“Kace,” Darius warns. Clenching his teeth, he flexes his fingers before curling them into a fist. I can see the blood rushing through the throbbing veins of his neck.
Kace presses his lips to my ear and lowers his voice to a whisper only I can hear. “Do you want to see how much more we can rile him up?”
Nope, Kace has no sense of self-preservation. Or else he's as crazy as the rest of us. I’d have to bet on the latter when I peek out of the corner of my eyes and spot a mischievous sparkle in his that I've seen all too often in Zander’s. One I’m sure has manifested many times in my own.
Raising my thumb and forefinger, I press them together until there's only a breadth of space between. “Maybe just a smidge.”
Kayce snickers, then smothers it, raising his voice. “Last night was amazing, my little fruitcake.” He groans, nuzzling my cheek. “The things you did with your tong– I’m kidding, I'm kidding! Ahhh!” Kace’s arms are suddenly torn from me, his body thrown through the canvas opening by a furious Darius.
“I was just joking, asshole!” Kace shouts from his spot on the cobbled pathway between stalls, but Darius pays him no mind as he stalks toward me.
And then he's there. All of him. Too much of him. So massive and imposing, he blocks out all sight, scent, and sound, banishing all else besides him and me as his intense gaze lashes into me, slicing straight to the core of my soul.
The bond flares, strumming along the tether until he rushes into me. His thoughts, his emotions, all of what makes Darius Darius crashes into me in a colossal wave, battering my senses and drowning me in an onslaught
But just as I submerge within its depths, choking on the sudden invasion, the waters calm and level out, transforming from a violent torrent into a gentle stream that’s more natural and smooth as it flows alongside me, intertwining with me. I suck in a breath, shocked that his presence alone could invoke such a euphoric tranquility. But as the shock subsides and logic prevails, I realize as much as I crave this feeling, as much as I'm desperate for it, until I choose to reveal all, this bond is still unwelcome, even if I'm beginning to realize it's no longer unwanted.
Shutting my eyes, I smother the link and I feel Darius' presence return to him with a whoosh, leaving me alone with myself once again. He frowns, clearly unhappy I’ve cut off the connection, before his eyes narrow and the tether vibrates. Darius tries and fails to reopen the bond.
I should be happy about this, thrilled even. I've managed to cast him out completely, where not even a shadow of him remains. Yet, even though I can no longer feel his emotions, which is exactly what I intended, I can't escape mine. Nor the hollow feeling within me that forms with his retreat.
Seeing his displeasure and feeling my own, I make an impulsively foolish decision, quite possibly a dangerous one, and loosen the clamp on the tether, allowing a trickle of the bond to seep through. I sigh in relief as he fills the void within me.
Kace slaps at the flaps of the leather canvas, jarring me back into the moment as he walks through the opening to the stall, rubbing the side of his scraped cheek. “You didn't have to throw me so hard.”
Darius snaps his arm out, pointing in Zander’s direction without removing his gaze from mine. “Stand over there,” he barks.
Kace tosses him an accusing glare while dragging his feet towards Zander, mumbling profanities all the while.
“Hi,” I breathe, but Darius says nothing. He just stares back with those glacial blue orbs. So wild and intense, it’s like he’s fucking me with his eyes. I've heard the saying before, but that's all I thought it was. A saying. With the desire curling within my belly and the sensations pulsating between my legs, I can no longer be sure.
Can you orgasm from just a look? Hopefully not, otherwise this situation may become quite embarrassing.
Attempting to regain some of my mental faculties, I clear my throat. “What are you doing here?”
“Aurora told me you’d be here today,” he says in his low, gravelly voice, speaking directly to me for the first time today. “I thought I’d join you.”
I feel a smile stretch across my cheeks. “Is that so?”
He glances towards my lips. Seeing the joy there, his mouth creeps up into a smile of his own. The dimple one I've become so fond of. “It is.” He swallows, his throat bobbing with the motion. “How are –” he begins to say, but his words cut off at the sound of a feminine growl, dragging both our gazes towards the source. “What's going on?” Darius folds his arms over his sculpted chest, brushing his arm on my shoulder. A physical hum spreads with the contact.
“Amara’s causing trouble,” I reply, watching her get angrier by the moment while the gangly male she's arguing with seems to be getting more flustered.
Peeking at me out of the corner of his eye, Darius’ lips curl into a teasing smirk. “You're not aiding her?”
“I don’t always cause trouble,” I retort in the same moment I hear a snort.
That snort!
“Stop it,” I snap, ducking around Darius to glare at Tristan.
He raises his hands innocently. “It was just a snort.”
“No,” I hiss. “It’s that condescending snort you do that makes me want to punch you in the face.”
“Fine. I'll admit it was.” Tristan arches an unrepentant brow. “If you admit that the only reason why you're not letting your psycho loose right alongside Amara is because you’re not in need of new trousers.”
Folding my arms over my chest, I snap my gaze from his. “I’ll admit nothing.”
Darius barks a laugh and I elbow him in the ribs as I return my attention forward, watching Amara’s movements become more aggravated the longer she speaks with the poor vendor.
“She’s getting really angry,” Griffin notes from his spot beside Darius. His voice startles me a bit since I hadn't even realized he was there.
“And she’ll be even angrier by the time we leave,” Tristan says.
“Shouldn’t one of you do something?” Griffin asks, waving a hand towards Amara.
