Page 9 of Unhinged Magic
“I’m not the one using the mate bond like it’s bait,” I whisper-shouted, trying to keep the conversation between us. My looked to the store clerk, seemingly oblivious to the rendezvous goingon in the back of her shop, before returning to the distraction in front of me.
Wesley frowned, surprised at my outburst. He didn’t move. Remained silent.
“I’m not like other girls, Wesley; I don’tneedyour attention,” I seethed.
A spark suddenly twisted his haunted gaze, his knuckles grazing his jaw. It framed his face in a way that should be illegal, and I was sure panties had dropped on their own accord on that jaw’s merit alone.
His shoes scuffed as he took a step closer. “Are you sure about that?”
The tone of his voice made every hair on my skin rise in triumph like disobedient children.
I couldn’t tear my eyes from him even if I tried. I internally groaned. Why in all shit was I attracted to this man? Theplayer.
I retreated, but each step away from him produced another to his front.
Stumbling backwards, I yelped, scrambling as I fell. The top of a stepladder broke my descent, and I found myself perched on top of it.
A smirk teased Wesley’s mouth. I was practically at his waist height.
Of course I was.
Unspoken words gathered in his stare, teasing his lips. I knew the innuendo he was undoubtedly holding onto, but instead of coming out and saying it, he surprised me, bending at the waist. His hands fell on either side of my hips to the platform I perched on, though he didn’t touch me, his arms keeping him steady.
Damn him and his vicious green eyes. They stamped me in place, his emerald ink sinking into my bones.
He seemed to contemplate his next move. “It looks to me like you’re trying your hardest to make this difficult.” He cocked his head to one side. “To make me beg.”
A coil tightened in my lower belly. I swallowed a wad of air.
This wasn’t the mate bond. This was lust. An unfathomable lust I did not care for. I bet he did this to all his women, called them his mate and expected them to cave to his advances. I would not be one of them.
His gaze dipped to my lips as his face came closer. I didn’t dare look away. I would not. His breath floated over my mouth, warmth spreading over it. Controlled. Collected.
“Is that what you would like, Skip? You want me to beg?”
Not one part of him touched me. Yet every nerve ending within me flared to life, my fire element scorching hot and rocketing through my veins. He stared at me as if I was his to take, and something about that purred inside me. I despised it.
I pulled in an even breath, trying not to show how much his proximity affected me. “You wish,” I countered.
“Then tell me.” He paused, the corner of his mouth lifting slowly. “What exactly is this?”
His hands remained in place, our lips separated by only inches. This close, I could smell his aftershave. A spicy hit of black pepper, combined with an undertone of sandalwood, drowning my every inhale. Damn him, why did he have to smell sogood?Words failed me as neither of us moved, my breath suspended in my chest.
He lingered, taking me in as I did him. We had never been this close before.
At this proximity, his pupils seemed larger, scattered darker green flecks blotching the vibrant green circling them. A small scar lay under his eye, evidence of the time he had fallen from the tree in my backyard.
Suddenly, he stood upright again, his hands gripping the back of his neck. He looked down at me, irritation flickering in the depths of his scrutiny.
I didn’t dare blink.
I was still at his waist height.
Don’t look down, don’t look down,I repeated in my mind, willing myself to obey.
As if I had issued myself a giant middle finger, my attention dipped to his waist, where right then, he shovirisesed his hands into his pants pockets, causing the material to pull tight across his…
My throat went dry. Okay,nowI got the whole sweatpants thing. When he folded his arms again, I couldn’tunseeit, like now that I knew, it was just moreprominent.
