Page 27 of Torn Between Two Worlds

“Deal. Now go home to your world so that I can go to work!” She stood and playfully pushed him toward the doorway that was still open.

“Alright, gosh I can tell when I'm not wanted.” With a wink, he went through and waved once before the shimmering doorway closed between them.

Sticking his hands in his pockets, he blew out a breath and called Fasheem. As always, his brother picked up on the third ring. “Hey, you have a minute?”

“Absolutely. What's up? I can count on my hand the number of times you've called me, and there wasn't motive.”

“I want to talk to you about the mate thing. I know Ciara is mine, Fash. I can feel it. Every time she's near me, my body feels like it's on fire and being struck by lightning all at once. I can hardly suppress the need to throw myself in front of her or toss my jacket down over a puddle for her to walk over or some shit.”

“What about when she's gone?”

He growled without control at the thought. “Empty. Like someone reached in and pulled my damned heart out. On edge, twitchy, wanting to put an end to the distance. Plus, War doesn't seem to like the idea of her being alone either. When he popped up earlier, it was more than just the fight calling to him.”

“Yup, you're screwed, Brother. Welcome to the club. I'll meet you at the bar in forty-five minutes.” Fasheem ended their call.

He ran inside to shower real quick, not altogether too annoyed that he had been right about Ciara.

14

The only word todescribe how she was feeling was giddy. Sliding the post of the silver cluster earrings into her ears, she stood back and looked in the mirror. Her black hair was curled and pulled away from her face with a clip. A purple dress that hung to about her knees and had a lace insert at the top was finished off with a pair of white patent leather pumps. Having worn a dress outside in the cold the day before, she figured she might as well do it again. Especially if things ended the same way.

A shudder of anticipation rolled through her. No matter what she was telling herself, she liked Stryder. He seemed to be a good guy and was clearly intent on protecting her to the best of his ability. Not to mention, he could possibly be a God in the sheets, or maybe demon was fitting, with how he made her feel.

“Thinking about something, sweetheart?”

His voice startled her at the same time as it wrapped around her. He wasted no time crossing the distance between them and kissing her. Sparks shot through her body, and she felt herself pressing into him. When he pulled back all too soon, she pouted, and he saw and laughed.

“You're early.”

He laughed again and pointed behind him. “Someone opened a doorway. I bet it's anytime you think about my world, or maybe even just when you aren't thinking about locking it.” He wiggled his brows at her and smiled. “You look beautiful, by the way.”

She flushed at his implied thought and his compliment. “Thank you. To answer your earlier question, I was thinking how foolish it is for me even to be indulging you in a date. Let alone sex.”

“Ahh mind blowing sex and a date that you practically begged for. Can't play that game here, sweetheart. My demon can smell your lust.” She paled, and he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “But mine matches it, so you're in good hands.”

It took her a moment of swallowing and slow processing to get her thoughts in order. What had she been thinking the other day when she'd agreed to that first date? She should have just sat around in pj's and ate pizza to get to know him better. That's what she and Alcott had done. But no, from the start, as much as she hated him, she'd wanted him. Wanted to be with him and to see his world. But she'd written it off as wanderlust and simply being curious. Now, she wasn't so sure she could stop the intense developing feelings for him.

“Well, we'd better get going.” She focused on closing off the doorway. Once she'd forgotten to do that, and she'd come home from a football game to Alcott's crazy evil mother waiting. Never again.

“Um, how are we getting there if you just closed that off?”

“Duh, we're driving.” She grabbed her keys and tugged on a white wool peacoat for when they were outside. “Long Beach is about an hour from here, so we'd better get going.” She turned and noticed he was staring skeptically. “Oh, hell no, demon. Get your ass downstairs with me, we are driving.”

“You know you could just open a portal and walk through, sweetheart.”

“We both know I don't even know if I can do doorways, let alone portals, in my own world. Plus, I'm not going to try to step through one until after the date. You promised. You don't want me to think of you as a demon and a liar, now do you?”

He grumbled but followed her down the stairs. “It's not that I don't want you driving. It's the idea of being in a tiny space next to you.”

He looked down at his pants, and she felt a blossom of heat flood her at the sight of the bulge.

“See, just a few seconds of contact, and I'm more than ready for you.”

She threw her head back and laughed as they got in the car. “Well, pretend this is a way for us to learn more about each other.”

They buckled themselves in, and she pulled out. His hand snaked over the center console and took her right hand off the steering wheel, holding it in his own. His thumb ran circles over her knuckles, and she had a feeling she was about to tell him they could try doorway hopping.

“So, there is one question I didn't get to ask yesterday, and if you're insistent on this being a sexual relationship, I can't say I'll deny you. But no way are we adding strings. You have your world, and I have mine. Whatever this bond is between us just hypercharges things.”

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