His brow knitted together. “Psychics?”
Was he purposely acting perplexed or did he truly not know? “Psychics claim they can predict the future, but they can’t. Not really. No one can.”
He paused as he considered her words. “Magic is real. As I seek someone who wields it, aye, your psychic will do nicely.” Despite his now amiable tone, cold determination tightened the line of his jaw. “As for the bedding,” he added, mocking her. “It will be spectacular.”
Mmm. Agreed.
Argh! She might as well send him an STD for the big event.
Crap! STD. She’d meant “save the date,” not “sexually transmitted disease.” “Let’s drop this subject,” she grated. “I’m not having sex with you, and that’s that.”
His blue, blue eyes iced over—the only warning she received before he advanced. His long stride forced her to walk backward, until she bumped into a statue. She expected a surge of fear but…she experienced a storm of lust.
Unacceptable! She didn’t know this man. Not the big things, and certainly not the little things. Like, did he prefer tea or coffee? Fact: tea drinkers thought they were better than coffeenians like Katie. Did he only make decisions based on his astrological sign? Annoying! It removed any kind of personal blame for a person’s decisions. Did he get tired of women as soon as he slept with them? Probably. Because he had a penis, the world’s permission stick for bad behavior. Yet…
Her lust refused to fade, her long-ignored body hungry for pleasure. Her nipples puckered, and her core ached. Next thing she knew, she was arching her back to push her hips forward and grind against his erection.
Shivers plagued her, as if she’d been horny for eighty-four years, and she sucked in a breath. At the moment, sleeping with him didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
“Tell me you do not want me, katya, and mean it. Do it without gyrating on my rod. Only then will I believe you.”
The low timbre of his voice held the steely edge of a sword, and even that was an aphrodisiac.
Crappity, crap, crap. The man oozed power and authority, challenge and charisma, and she was one hundred percent into it.
No, no. Fight his appeal! Breathless she said, “About the psychic.” She flattened her palms on his chest and pushed, but he didn’t budge. In fact, his irises seemed to harden back into stone. “All business establishments are closed until tomorrow morning.”
Hold up. Had she truly thought the word back? So she believed he’d been stone, and what? He’d changed into a man, à la the movie Mannequin? Nope. No way.
“When the sun rises, you will take me to see a sorcerer. Promise me.” His lips parted as he awaited her response, giving a hint of the pearly whites beneath. “Now, let’s backtrack again.”
“Mention sex one more time,” she said, “and I won’t take you to see a psychic. Why can’t you take yourself, anyway?”
He ground his teeth, anger seething just below the surface of his skin. “You know this world. I do not.”
Wow. She hadn’t expected the threat to work. Now that it had… “I’m going to ask some questions, and you’re going to answer me or…” She let him fill in the blank.
Which he did. Accurately. His expression darkened, and he barked, “Ask.”
Where to begin? “How did you make the stone disappear in a snap of time?” She snapped her fingers for emphasis.
As she waited for a response, the fine lines around his mouth pulled taut. Would she hear phrases like “new next-door neighbor,” “trap door” and “silver paint”?
One minute bled into another, silence reigning.
Her sense of unease intensified. When she could stand it no longer, she blurted out, “Make the impossible make sense. And don’t tell me magic is responsible.” Nerves more frazzled by the second, she peeked at him through the thick shield of her lashes. “Be honest.”
His eyes glittered with hints of silver as he snaked her arms around her waist. “Magic is responsible, and I would be lying if I said otherwise.”
Her body reacted of its own volition, heedless of her will, melting into him. Her mind followed suit, crafting images of naughty kisses, roaming hands and wet panties. New shivers racked her.
Okay, she needed to escape this man soon…ish and think, think, think before she did something crazy. Like throw herself at him and demand he “put her in her place.”
When she moved to extract herself from his embrace, however, he tightened his hold.
Annoyed, she commanded, “Let me go.”
An-n-nd he tightened his hold again. “I am not finished proving my point. Little girls like you should not play with big warriors like me.”
Little? Little! That had to be the absolute sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her.
Do not soften. Must stay mad. “I’m warning you, Muscles. Let me go before I show you the skills of Mr. Lee’s best student.” Well, second best. Fine! If you factored in other students, she’d been last best.
“I know not this Mr. Lee, but I am certain that he and his students are no match for me.” With a single yank, Jorlan fit Katie more snugly against him. Hardness to softness. Cool cotton to heated flesh.
Far from cowed or charmed, she let her anger jack straight into fury. Eyes narrowed, she bit out, “We’ll see about that, won’t we?”
Katie prepared to knee him in the groin.
Then he squeezed her butt, kicked her ankles apart and fit one of his legs between hers. “Allow me to demonstrate my skills of persuasion,” he all but purred.
The beautiful jerk rocked his knee against her core, and those damp panties she’d imagined became a reality.
Pleasure shot through her. Mmm. Yes, yes! More! Her blood became molten lava, an inferno setting her ablaze. Still rocking… The bliss!
He palmed one of her breasts, startling her. But also electrifying her. Her knees weakened, right along with her will to resist.
She prayed he didn’t notice her mounting desire.
A dark brow rose, taunting her. Oh, he’d noticed all right. Rolling her distended nipple between his fingers, he said, “Have you, mayhap, changed your mind about the bedding?”
Yes! “No,” she forced out. “Let me go, Jorlan. Now.”
“You wish to be free of me? Very well.” As if he were the last sane man in the universe, he held his hands up in surrender and stepped back.
Though disappointed by his compliance, she darted out of range while she had the chance. Disappointed? Seriously? “Touch me again, and you’ll be sorry,” she said, her teeth gritted.
Was she more angry with him…or herself?
A husky chuckle rumbled from him. “Perhaps I’ll be sorry, but I’ll be the only one. You’ll be euphoric. Arousal still burns bright in your eyes, sweet katya, and your body trembles anytime I near you.”
“How dare you.” Yeah. How dare he speak the truth. “There’s a fine line between arousal and hatred. Guess which way I’m leaning. And I’m trembling from cold. Definitely cold.” Despite the midseventies temperature.
“Is freezing what your world calls a desire to tup nowadays?”
“Tup?” she asked, though she had a sinking suspicion she already knew the answer.