A deep huff came from the hallway, and I knew it was Ryker. Like me, he probably needed to flee Amara before he exploded.
Footsteps fell, echoing down the corridor.
Turning to the back wall, I focused on searching for the candles. My irritation still rode across my neck. The door clicked shut behind me, and I craned my head over my shoulder.
Ryker’s outline filled the space. His white eyes glittering under the weak light. I exhaled and turned back around. “What do you want?” No response. “I think I can find candles by myself.”
Again, he didn’t say anything, but I heard him move to me, his boots hitting the wood floor. I stiffened as I felt his body behind mine.
I wanted to ask what he was doing. To tell him he better leave, but nothing came out of my throat. His hand grasped my elbow, sending electric shocks through me, and grabbed the flashlight from my hand, switching it off. The room went pitch black. The clank of the flashlight being placed on the shelf by my head rang in my ears.
“What are you doing?” I rasped out.
“Ruthlessly going after what I want,” he whispered and moved in closer. My back still toward him, I sucked in a jagged gulp of air. We weren’t touching, but his heat and energy felt like a thousand tiny fingers pressed against my skin. Without sight, my other senses fired up. My skin became extremely sensitive, feeling every molecule of him.
We stood there, tension crackling between us. He trailed his fingers along the backs of my arms. I squeezed my lids together. Even a slight touch from him shook my knees. Amara was right across the hall. Her warning earlier was not an empty threat. She would come after me.
“Stop. Someone might hear.” My voice was barely above a whisper.
He responded by stepping flush with me, his body heat engulfing my back. I could no longer think straight, his alluring smell filling my nose and thoughts.
“Please.” If he didn’t stop touching me, I was going to be a puddle on the floor.
Ryker ignored my hollow pleas. The tips of his fingers skimmed the tops of my shoulders before wrapping around my hair, brushing the loose strands over to one side of my neck, causing my heart to thump wildly in my chest. He leaned down, his lips grazing the back of my neck and kissing the sensitive area behind my ear. A soft whimper escaped my lips. He moved me to the wall, pressing me into the wood paneling, trapping me. His hands went to my thighs, skating up them and under my cotton shorts. His mouth barely touched as he skimmed over my shoulders and the base of my neck.
I could no longer fight him or try to be good. There was a strange feeling of being completely in the dark. Like it was safe. What happened here wasn’t actually real.
My head went back, leaning into him. His breath trickled my neck as his hands roamed over my hips and back down my legs. I could feel him pressed against me. Hard and wanting.
The desire for him spun my head. I craved him. Inside.
I went to reach for him, but he stopped my hands. Twining our fingers together, he placed them on the wall in front of me. Without a word I knew he wanted me to keep them there. His fingers left mine and moved slowly over my body. My muscles shook as he traced every inch of my skin, moving beneath my clothes. The overabundance of yearning for him was hitting the point of no return, where he only had to touch me, and I would explode.
“Ryker,” I whispered his name.
One hand trailed between my breasts as the other found its way down my shorts. His fingers nudged at my underwear, pushing away the fabric. Air rushed through my teeth. Both his arms came around my waist, pulling my weight back into him. He prodded my legs to open more as his fingers found their way inside.
I moaned, and he nipped at my ear, hushing me. It was like a game—how quiet I could stay.
He gripped me harder as my knees almost gave out. His fingers found the spot and my teeth dove into my bottom lip, trying to prevent any noise from escaping.
My breath hitched as he moved quicker, building the friction. He took on my full weight, my muscles no longer able to hold me. I felt it coming, and I couldn’t stop the low groan pumping out of my lungs. He vigorously moved inside me, his thumb working at the sensitive part. As I began to climax, he nipped his teeth into the curve of my shoulder, inflicting an exhilarating pain, heightening the peak. Everything shattered. His hand covered my mouth as a deep wail burst from me.
Holy shit.
Sex had always been my thing, not bothering too much with the foreplay. I knew guys wanted to get to it, and I let myself believe I did too.
Ryker changed that. He was mind-blowing. Not solely at sex, but all the before and after stuff. He had me all twisted up and turned my entire world around. In every aspect.
His chest went up and down in frantic gulps as if we had marathon sex. My back curved into his stomach, feeling him still hard against me. Sweat caused our shirts to cling together. I steadied my legs underneath me. He took a step back. The absence of him was instantaneous. I went to turn around, and he clutched my shoulders, pointing them back to the wall. In the dark I felt his lips on the base of my neck, between my shoulders, before he spun and walked out.
The moment he shut the door behind him, I fell against the wall, trying to regain myself.
What the hell just happened?
That was another thing I wasn’t used to. Someone who wasn’t about only getting himself off. He could have easily had sex with me and left. I would have done it willingly, but he didn’t.
My hands covered my face as I tapped my forehead against the wall. Well, that was hot as hell. In the dark I could almost pretend it didn’t really happen. A dream. I straightened my clothes, sucked in a deep breath, pushed back my shoulders, and went back to the room.
Ryker sat at the table and glanced at me as I entered. He quickly went back to eating with Sprig, acting like nothing happened.
Amara sat on the bed, and Croygen leaned against the far wall by the dresser, a strange gleam in his eyes. I dropped my gaze from him, feeling for some reason he could see right through me.
“So where are the candles?” Croygen’s eyebrow quirked up.
My mouth dipped open. Fuck.
“You didn’t get them?” Amara shook her head. “What the hell were you doing then?”
Uh...
“Really, Zoey. We send you to get one thing, and you get distracted.” It was slight, but I saw Ryker’s lips twitch with amusement as he shoved in another fry. Meticulously licking his fingers.
Hell. The shit was taunting me.
“I apologize.” My lids narrowed in on him. Oh, it’s on.
“Think it will be faster if I go get them.” Ryker stood, his shoulder brushing past me. My skin immediately reacted to his nearness. I was thinking of ideas of how I could leave without it being obvious, when Ryker turned. “Stay here.”
“Where were we going to go? You won’t let us go or do anything.” Amara raised her arms.
It was meant for me. Damn.
Ryker shut the door. The candle flickered from the slight breeze.
“You all right, Bhean?” Sprig burped, rubbing his tummy. “You look twitchy.”
“Funny.” Croygen strolled across the room. “I thought she looked relaxed. Like someone who recently had sex.”
My head jerked to Croygen. He winked.
Amara groaned, leaning back against the bedframe, oblivious to Croygen’s underlying meaning. “Please don’t talk about sex right now. It’s been way too long.” Amara’s glare turned on me.
I excused myself and stomped to the bathroom, needing to hide from the room for a moment. When I returned Ryker was still gone, and Croygen was no longer in the room.
“Where did Croygen go?”
Amara glanced up from the magazine she was reading and shrugged. “He disappears all the time.”
“Where does he go?”
“Why would I know?”
“You never followed him?”
She shook her head. “It’s his business, not mine.”
&nb
sp; “Even if he’s up to something? What if he’s selling Ryker out? Don’t think I haven’t wondered how those jaguar shifters found us. Ryker doesn’t trust him.”
“Ryker doesn’t trust anyone.”
He trusts me, I wanted to blurt out. I was the only one in the room who knew the true whereabouts of the stone. It was hard not to shove this fact in Amara’s face, but it was a secret I could not tell, especially out of petty jealousy.
“Sprig?” I turned to the furball on the table, surprised he was still vertical. “You want to come with me?”
“Where are you going?” Amara sat up.
“I am going to try and find him. If he’s about to fuck us over, I want to know.” I pulled a black long-sleeved shirt over my white tank and slipped into my boots.
“You really think you can find him?” Amara stood up, tailing me. “He can vanish in front of our faces, and you think you can track him?”
“I’m going to try.” I could still see fae auras. I’d gotten lazy, grown so used to seeing them, I barely even noticed them anymore. I was cross with myself. Just because I was comfortable with fae, didn’t mean I should let my skills go soft. Of all the people in here, I was the one who should see Croygen come and go. He was planning something. I could feel it in my gut, but my indolence let us be sitting ducks.
“You ready?” I asked Sprig.
“Aye, matty.” He jumped on my shoulder. “Let’s go capture a pirate.”
“It’s matey.” I rubbed my head. “Never mind.” He was never going to get it.
Amara sprang for me, grabbing my arm. “You are being a fool.”
“Sounds about right.” I tugged away from her and seized the doorknob. Did I think I would merely go outside and find Croygen? Not really, but if there was a chance, I would take it. I would protect what was mine. “And why would you care what I do?”
“I don’t.” Her nose wrinkled. “But you know Ryker would not want you to go.”
“You going to tattle on me?”
Spitefulness curled her mouth.
I mirrored her grin. “Have fun finding me.” I jumped from my spot and reappeared in the alley where Ryker and I made out.
“I think I’m gonna be sick.” Sprig clung to my neck.
“Sorry.” I hadn’t planned to jump. For a long time I either couldn’t control it or I limited my use of the magic, so I kept forgetting it was another available travel option.
I slunk to the opening of the passageway. The streets were mostly empty; only a few hard-core people ventured to and fro. Electricity was out through the village, and most shops and cafés had closed early. The wind howled down the dark street, whipping at the telephone wires, swinging them like giant jump ropes.
Sprig huddled close into my neck, hiding from the onslaught of air blowing my hair around. My skin prickled with apprehension as I slipped through the dark town. The same feeling from earlier was growing, unsettling me, my attention on alert to everything moving or tumbling down the streets.
Sprig kept quiet but clicked his tongue continuously. If his nails clinging to my neck or the fact he hadn’t mentioned food once were any indication, he felt the same unnerving energy mounting. With the storm brewing around me, it took me back to the night in Seattle when all our lives changed forever. The same niggling swirled in my gut. Had I listened to it then, Daniel might still be alive.
This reasoning should have turned my ass right around, but it didn’t. Curiosity compelled me past reason or welfare. I wouldn’t confront Croygen; I wasn’t that stupid. I only want to see what he is doing then jump back and tell Ryker, I reasoned, knowing I would never have turned around, no matter what I had told myself.
The silence in the village only swelled the flourish of nerves bundling in my stomach. My boots cautiously stepped forward, keeping to the darkest shadows. Far at the edge of town, my eyes caught a glow. Several different fae auras circled the edge of the forest. Fae were everywhere around here, but instinct told me not all were trolls or water fairies.
Croygen was one of them.
I edged down, slinking along a fence, trying to get closer to see the group better.
Baaamm!
Something hit the fence where I crouched, and a choked cry stuck in my throat. A low-pitched shrieking of a cat made me leap from my hiding place. I vaulted away as claws swiped at the animal on my shoulder.
“Holy dingleberry nuggets!” Sprig moved in closer to me, his free hand batting back at the feline. Sprig was three times smaller than the normal monkeys around here. More like a mouse, or maybe a rat. He would make a perfect meal for a cat. “Stay back, you Chinese takeout dish.”
I clutched my chest, regaining my breath. Then I glanced over my shoulder, searching the location for where the fae had gathered. The spot was empty.
“Dammit,” I muttered.
Sprig hissed back at the growling cat. I kicked the fence, sending the tabby running.
“Yeah, run like a pussy,” Sprig called after the animal. “Scaredy cat!”
“Sprig!”
“What? Come on. That was funny. I can tell you want to laugh.” He poked at the side of my mouth, trying to raise my lip. After a while I couldn’t help but smile. “See? I knew it. What would you do without me?”
“I don’t know.” I honestly didn’t anymore. Life without Sprig was inconceivable. He had weaseled into my heart and become my buddy. My best friend. I rubbed his head and turned around to head back home.
My curiosity had ended at the edge of town. The fae controlled the forests at night; things were out there I probably never heard of. I wasn’t going to let my snooping convert me into a blatant idiot. Too many things out there would look at me like Chinese takeaway.
Hoping to spot Croygen again, I didn’t jump, but wandered back through town. As I drifted across the bridge, the unsettled feeling didn’t ebb, sparking at the hairs at the back of my neck. Sprig stirred under my hair.
“You feel it too?”
“Yeah, Bhean. There’s a lot of magic out here tonight.”
Two streets away from our building I spotted a cluster of glowing auras. Warning bells shrilled inside my head. This was double the group I saw at the edge of town.
“What?” Sprig must have sensed the tension tighten my body.
“The group there. They are all fae.”
“Can you see who they are?”
“No. Not this far away,” I whispered back and pointed. “I’m going to get a little closer by jumping to the alley over there, okay?”
Sprig wrapped his arms around my neck in response.
I closed my eyes and jumped. We slammed into a garbage can and tumbled to the ground, splaying across the lane. The shrill sound of metal clanging echoed down the alleyway.
Fuck!
I scrambled back up. The instinct to jump home before we were caught took hold, but I stopped myself.
Sprig!
I scanned fervently for the little sprite. My eyes latched on to a lump of fur at the entrance of the alley. He was out cold. The shock of our landing probably kicked in his condition. My feet leaped over a crate, heading for my friend. I reached down to grab Sprig, but another pair of hands snatched him first.
My head jerked up, eyes landing on a beautiful fair-haired fae. His eyes glinted as they looked back into mine.
It felt like my chest collapsed, sending an avalanche into my legs.
“You should keep your pets on a leash.” He held Sprig by the neck. “So they can’t get away from you.”
“Maxen,” I uttered his name, more in trying to believe he was in front of me than confirming who he was.
“You remember me?” Maxen grinned. “But really, I am hard to forget.”
Maxen’s presence meant Garrett was here too, and they all led back to Vadik. I wanted to jump, to get away from Maxen, to warn Ryker. But I couldn’t leave Sprig. They would not hesitate to kill him. To most fae he was unnatural and wrong. My presence kept him alive, and I could never abandon him. He was my
family.
“You killed my partner.” My teeth clenched together.
“Right.” He nodded, his eyes sparking with pleasure. “Good times.” He took a step, his finger pressing on Sprig’s throat. “How about we keep up the tradition.”
“Stop!” I yelled. “Don’t hurt him. You want me. Take me, but leave him out of this.”
“See, that’s the thing. We don’t really want you either. You are merely leverage.” Maxen shook Sprig. His little body swung limply. “Just like this thing.”
A noise came from the far end of the opposite alley entrance, and I swung around to see more fae blocking my way. One pushed his way in front and strolled down the alley to me. His red hair and beard shone bright enough to make out in the darkness. A large dark-haired fae walked next to him, his gun pointed at my head. I recognized him from the night of the storm. The one who grabbed Amara.
“Zoey. May I call you that?” Garrett feigned politeness. His man came beside me and pressed the weapon to my temple. “I feel a bond with you now. Like a long-lost sister.”
It was how he had searched for me in Seattle. Showing people my picture and telling them I was his sister. Using his Irish charm and fae glamour, he seduced people into telling him anything they knew. I was almost caught the night at the Red Cross by this tactic.
“This is how you treat a sister?” I lifted my eyes to the gun.
Garrett shrugged. “I’m an only child.”
“And I killed my brothers,” said the fae holding the gun to my head.
“Yes, Cadoc dispatched his siblings. Guess we’re not good with family relations.” Garrett walked around me. “Now tell me, Zoey. Where is the Wanderer?”
I pressed my lips together, folding my arms in defiance.
“You really want to play it this way?” Garrett got within an inch of my face. “We will find him no matter what, especially when he hears your screams. It’s up to you if you want to be tortured first.”
The threat of being beaten did not affect me like it would others. Besides street fighting, I had experienced my fair share of being tied and beaten by a few foster parents. Getting hit was not enough to scare me into leaving Sprig or caving in about Ryker’s whereabouts.
The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) Page 27