Page 78 of Magic of the Damned

“I don’t know,” I said before his hand slipped from my neck and eased to my waist, under my shirt, the warmth of his touch slinking over me. Lavender filtered into the space, a somnolent feeling of peace fell over me, and I found myself relaxing into complacency.

No the hell I’m not. My hand shot out to punch him. He grabbed it and pushed it against the wall, then my other hand received the same treatment before I could make an attempt with it.

“Luna, Luna, Luna,” he drawled, a sharp edge in his tone rounding off. “Why so violent?”

“Me? You just had your hand around my throat,” I hissed.

His lips still curled. “Did you believe I was about to choke you?”

I wasn’t confident enough in saying no to respond.

“If I wanted to choke you, I would have. I was just making sure you were telling me all I needed to know.”

His thumb was back on the pulse of my neck.

“That’s not how you take a person’s pulse. You press two fingers to it.” I demonstrated it for him. “And you could have just explained that.”

“I’m not used to giving explanations.” That wasn’t an acceptable answer, but from his expression he clearly believed it was.

“And you were using magic to draw me to your will,” I accused.

“I don’t draw people to my will, I bend them to my desire.”

Swallowing, I knew it was the truth. His way.

“You were agitated, and I was simply trying to calm you.”

Helena had warned me that Dominic was ruthless when necessary but calculating in his execution. A tactician, a stark contrast to his sister who was ruled by impulsivity and violence-lust.

“I’m telling you the truth. I don’t want to be locked in here any more than you do.”

He leaned in closer, pressing a light kiss against my lips, his tongue brushing lightly against mine and causing me to immediately forget I was in the middle of an interrogation. Dominic’s hand glided along the curve of my waist. The tentative kiss quickly became rough and hard. When he lifted me, my legs wrapped around his hips, pulling his impressive hardness against me.

He pulled away, his hands cupping my ass. “What am I missing about your family?” he requested, his lips resting against mine.

“What?” I exhaled in a rush of breath. How did we get back here?

“I don’t believe the Dark Caster chose you randomly. There’s a connection and I’m curious about it. Why choose you and not your brother, Forest?” A touch of humor was in his voice at the mention of my brother’s name. Luna and Forest. People always found some amusement in it.

“Your parents met at a bar in Colorado, married six months later, and two years later you were born. They relocated a year after you were born because of a new opportunity for your father. He works as a bank manager and your mother as a stylist. Absolutely no connection to the magical world. Your brother is the least traditional of you all. If there is a familial connection, why not him over you?”

That was a polite way of saying Forest was a transient—or, to use his preferred definition—a ‘discoverer of life’ where he periodically attended college, moving from one calling to another, including being a barista, self-proclaimed events planner, writer, and social media influencer with a following that would allow him to influence a small classroom. In the past two years, he had trained to be an electrician and was currently working as an apprentice. It seemed to be something he enjoyed, although he’d comment it was just another experience. An experience I hoped would lead to a career he liked.

Dominic went on to list the various jobs and professions my brother has had since he was sixteen. Some, I wasn’t even aware were part of his vitae.

“You seem to know everything. I’m not sure what more I can offer?”

The heat of his body was enveloping me everywhere his hands touched, his amber eyes as mesmeric as a dying flame.

“But there is more. He chose you and that wasn’t by coincidence. Think. No detail is too small.”

My life wasn’t exactly exciting, and nothing stood out that would remotely link me to the world of magic. My name inevitably led to people believing our parents were hippies. They couldn’t be further from the truth. Our parents were so rigid in their beliefs that bringing up even the possibility of a supernatural world would have been quickly dismissed. The connection wouldn’t have been through my family. So, I moved to my friends. Other than Reginald, the faux witch, I had no connections through my friends, past or present.

“I think it was coincidental,” I admitted, acutely aware of Dominic nestled between my legs. “Wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe Peter watched me because I seemed likely to do what he wanted. How many people would find a strange book, take it home, and read it? The ring would have appealed to only some people, and he put himself in a position to be able to watch his plan unfold.”

“Well this is an interesting interrogation technique. Will screwing her be part of the torture?” Helena said breezily, her blade-sharp glare traveling up my legs wrapped around Dominic’s waist to his hands under my shirt and tantalizingly close to my breasts.

“Helena,” Dominic ground out to his sister and her disapproving scowl.

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