Finally, she reached her destination, and oh, wow. He wielded magic, too. Her eyes widened. He wielded a lot of magic. Ancient, dark, and powerful. The air around him vibrated with it, making her skin tingle.
The women ignored her, too wrapped up in William to notice or care. William, though, was not so wrapped up in them. He stiffened ever so slightly. She fought a smile. His awareness of her hadn’t dulled in the slightest, he was just doing everything possible to hide it.
Too bad, so sad. Deep breath in, out. Mistake! His scent… She closed her eyes and savored, her mouth-watering. He smelled like angel food cake laced with crack.
Calm. Steady. No need to act like an uncouth wolf-shifter.
“—my best thinking naked,” he was saying to Jaybird and Cash. “You?”
Let’s do this. “Hi. Hello. Hey,” Sunny said, rapping her knuckles against the table. Ugh! Blowing this already.
Languid but self-assured, William canted his head in her direction. He made a real event of it too, as if premiering a blockbuster movie. Why bother going to so much trou—ohhh. That’s why. Up close and personal, his eyes weren’t just bejeweled; they were a real showstopper, sparkling with arousal, glinting with a sheen of icy rage, and glittering with steely determination.
Electrical currents zapped her nerve endings. Ignore the pleasure. Forge ahead. She pasted on her best “come hither” smile and waved.
A wave? Seriously? Get it together, Sun. Remember what he and his family did to you and yours.
As she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, he looked her over sloooowly, starting at the bottom and working his way up—singeing her from the bottom up. He reached the apex of her thighs and her chest tightened. Shivers rocked her.
No, no. I will not react. He will not affect me.
His gaze continued moving up, still singeing her…
When he reached her pasted-on smile, he projected amusement. But, but…why?
Voice husky and low, he asked, “How may I service you, pet?”
Pet? Pet! Her hands curled into fists. “In ways you never imagined, handsome,” she replied, careful to moderate her tone. She glanced at Jaybird, then Cash. They had to go. Letting her savage, violent side glaze her eyes, she snapped, “Get lost.”
“You fall off the face of the earth for years,” Jaybird groused, “then come back meaner than ever? That’s just great!” With a huff, she stood and flounced off. Cash and the third female followed.
Here’s hoping Willy-boy is just as easy to manipulate. “Hello.” Ugh. Not this again. “I’m Sunday Lane. Sunny to my friends. My turn-ons include kindness and responsibility. I look twenty-five, but I’m older. Promise!” Nearly eight thousand years old.
A flash of intrigue, there and gone. “I’m William…King. Lovers call me the Panty Melter. Everyone else calls me the Ever Randy. My turn-ons are living and breathing. I’m older than twenty-five, as well.”
Mmm. His voice had grown huskier, like audible sex. If women were “sex kittens,” this man was a “sex panther.” Meow.
A wave of desire crashed into her sea of hatred. To combat the arousal, she reminded herself of his crimes. Long ago, Lucifer and his horde of demons rode into her village. They raped, pillaged, and utterly slaughtered her people. Men, women, and children. Their screams… Sometimes, when she closed her eyes, she still heard their screams.
Her family, brutally murdered.
Her few friends, torn to shreds.
The only home she’d ever known, razed.
In only a handful of hours, the entire scope of her life changed.
There’d been six survivors, Sunny included. No one remembered seeing William, only Lucifer, but Willy must have been involved. He must have. Why else would Lucifer’s war cry be, “For William?”
Perhaps the Ever Randy had done the planning. Perhaps he’d hidden behind a mask. Either way, Sunny lost everything, even the survivors, because they’d agreed to split up and better the odds of hiding their origins.
She and Sable were together now only because Sunny reached out to ask for assistance.
Fingers snapped in front of her face, yanking her back to the present. She was panting, her limbs ice cold. William watched her with a frown.
She re-pasted the smile and forged ahead. “Ever Randy, hmm? Does anyone call you ER for short?”
“Only if they wish to die,” he replied, his tone dry. Despite the dryness, he thrummed with tension. Did her nearness rattle him?
“So, he’s cute and ferocious. Good job, Sunny.” She patted herself on the shoulder, playing her role. “I picked the best slab of beef in the deli.”
He arched a brow. “So, I’m a piece of meat to you?”
“Yes, pork chop. Yes.” She reached over to pat his cheek, the urge to slap him almost impossible to ignore. Almost. “You should come with a warning label. Or eyeball condoms.”
“Why? Do you plan to stuff your eyes inside my sockets?”
“Maybe?”
“Sorry, but I think I’ll pass.” He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, his shirt pulling taut over deliciously flexed muscles. “No, you know what? I’m feeling daring today. Let’s go for it. Gotta try everything once, right?”
A laugh burst from her, only to end abruptly. A prince of darkness would not amuse her, and that was that. “Sorry not sorry I sent your companions away. When I want something, I go for it.” Truth!
He winged up one brow. “And you decided you want me?”
His tone…she thought she detected a hint of certainty and uncertainty. How odd. “I spent five whole minutes planning your seduction. That’s five minutes longer than usual.” Another truth.
“Five whole minutes? That means you’re only twenty-four hours behind me.”
A joke…or a statement of fact? Did he just admit to attending the conference to find her?
So. I was wrong. He knew who she was, or at least suspected, and he’d come to stop her—forever. Rage flared anew, but so did lust. The two scorched every inch of her. Soon, the rage would be appeased…
She forced another smile. So far, William hadn’t invited her to join him at the table, much less issued a desire to leave the bar with her. Time to take their banter to the next level and give him an excuse to act. “If you were a pizza topping, you’d be hamburger and jalapeno, because you’re grade A beef and hot. I’d be ham and pineapple because I’m salty and sweet.” No. No way I just compared us to pizza toppings like a Facebook quiz.
Okay, so, she didn’t just suck at flirting. She sucked, period. But wait! He smiled a genuine smile, as if she’d truly amused him, and her belly quivered. Then he jerked as if she’d punched him, the smile vanishing. He tossed back the remains of his drink, his movements powerful, aggressive, and seductive, making her belly quiver a thousand times harder.
As he slammed down the glass, a blank mask descended over his features. “You may go.” He blanked his tone, too. “We’ll chat again later, when it’s your turn.”
Her turn for what? Interrogation? Maybe he suspected every female code breaker of being the one hunting his family. And leave him? Hardly. Now, having breathed in his magnificent scent, experienced the of seduction of his voice and beheld the lethal seduction in his gaze, she wanted him dead sooner rather than later. Dangerous.