Page 82 of Magic of the Damned

Thoughts of our sleeping arrangements were interrupted by Dominic calling me from the door. A towel was wrapped low around his waist, his hair was wet and messy, and the dimmed light cast a shadow that darkened his eyes.

“I’m out of the shower,” he said. “It’s free if you need it,” he added, answering my expression of confusion.

“Where am I sleeping?” I asked, grabbing the cami and panties and following him into the room.

“Wherever you’d like.” He moved to the bed, dropping the towel and giving me a glimpse of his ass before sliding on a pair of briefs and getting into the bed.

It was nearly impossible to enjoy the shower, the waterfall showerhead, the dark and jagged stacked stones surrounding me, and the soft lights designed to create a relaxing experience. I should have focused on all that, but my mind kept going to the sexy-as-sin prince just outside my door. Showered, I stacked my towel-dried hair into a messy bun and slipped on the clothes.

Dominic was sprawled on one side of the bed, the top sheet over the lower half of his body, the duvet rolled away. I had an unobstructed view of more sigils covering his back. I eased into the opposite side, which was larger than any king-size bed I’d ever seen. It was massive, which put to rest any worries of unintentional intimacy. If we neared each other for any reason, it would be intentional.

As it was when he moved, rolling toward me. Amber eyes a silhouette of a dying flame but with the raging intensity of a forest fire. Lightly brushing his lips against mine, softly at first, he then kissed me harder. Firm hands pressed into my back, kneading at my skin. The warmth of his body engulfed me. I wanted more. Needed more. When he pulled away, he was panting. Soft breath wisped across my lips. His fingers ran over the soft material at the front of the cami, making my nipples harden. His desire was palpable, along with his restraint.

“Why did you stop?” I whispered.

“We have a busy day tomorrow.”

That was a BS answer if I ever heard one. He’d questioned the prisoners. They hadn’t given him any answers about Peter, but maybe they’d disclosed something about me that left him unconvinced that me being in their lives wasn’t coincidental.

“Goodnight,” he whispered, turning his back to me. It was difficult to turn from him, ignore him, despite there being enough space to ignore the other’s existence, or at least give it a gallant try. Dominic wasn’t a presence that could be ignored. Eventually I turned my back to him.

“What’s the worst-case scenario?” I asked.

My question was met with a contemplative silence.

“That you’re more than you appear to be, a tool of chaos that needs to be handled,” he admitted eventually. The prince wasn’t one to coddle. I guessed I should appreciate that, for the second time today, he’d taken care with his wording. It might have been a verbal act of kindness, but it didn’t chase away the knowledge of how the supernatural community ‘handled’ things.

I tried to wish him a good night, but the words were stuck. I settled into the uncomfortable silence.

CHAPTER 3

Dominic had fallen asleep quickly. I couldn’t begin to do the same. On my side, with my back to him, I was ever aware of the man next to me whose body radiated heat that couldn’t even be tempered by the intentional distance he’d put between us. Frenetic energy permeated from him as if he couldn’t rest even while sleeping.

In an attempt to find a position that would promote sleep, I moved to my back, then stomach, and finally to the opposite side, facing his back and quickly becoming distracted by how the subtlest of movements caused his defined muscles to contract and relax. The urge to trace my finger over the ink markings that covered them increased with each passing moment.

Before I could act on it, he turned to face me, groggy and seemingly aware of my thoughts. His slow, lazy half smile made me momentarily forget that we were trapped in the underworld, his role in both our worlds, and the power and brutality that accompanied that position. There was a gentleness to him, along with the ease of him moving closer to me. Tracing his finger along my jawline, he whispered something and a halo of warm, soft yellow lights shone above.

Tentatively, his fingers trailed from my jawline, along my neck and down my chest to the swell of my breasts. He held my eyes until dropping them to my breasts and, undoubtedly, the hardened peaks of my nipples. My breath caught when his finger ran lazily over them, and I exhaled a sigh of disappointment when he moved away.

“I’d like to satisfy my curiosity,” he whispered in a low, rough voice.

“About what?”

His intense amber eyes held mine. “What’s hidden on you that can’t be seen with the naked eye,” he admitted. I turned the question over, taking out the sexy lazy way he made his request. This involved magic. He wanted to use a spell to reveal things on me that he believed Peter had hidden.

“When Peter used you as a conduit before, he made the markings visible,” he provided, his brow furrowed.

“You believe he changed his M.O.?” I asked as his hand slid under my shirt and curved around my waist, his thumb making languid circles over the exposed skin.

“No, I think I got to you before he could cloak it. I’ve been thinking about your last encounter with him. He had your hair and blood, enough for several spells. One possibly being a cloaking spell. May I?” he asked, inching his face closer to me. I inhaled his appealing scent. His lips brushing lightly against mine and the deep throaty question seemed like more than just a request for magic. The appeal came wrapped in a sensuous package. Fully aware I was being treated to the Prince of the Underworld’s seduction, I allowed it with the excuse that it was done in an effort to break the spell imprisoning us and nothing at all to do with my desire to feel Dominic’s expert touch as he searched for all the things he believed were hidden on me.

“Will it hurt?”

When Dominic thought I was a Dark Caster, he enclosed me in fire to force me to reveal myself and the spells that he then used to return the prisoners. It wasn’t painless but I powered through it because it needed to be done. I’d do the same now but wanted to prepare myself for the worst possible scenario.

“No, but you will feel it. I promise I’ll be gentle.” A wolfish smirk skated over his lips.

It took a moment after him invoking the spell before I felt it envelop me like a weighted blanket. Each moment became lighter as the spell dispersed over my skin, slithering over every inch, trying to pull out the secrets it was called to reveal. Dominic eased me onto my back before pulling the sheet off me. He took his time, inching to my feet where he examined them, migrating to my legs and then thighs. His hand glided along with his eyes. Dark mischief flickered when he lifted them to meet mine. He moistened his lips, his eyes asking the silent question.

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