RYLEN (The Tangled Web Book 1)

by Morgan Wylie

  He stalked forward the rest of the way until he was right in her face, not caring that he was pushing her back against the railing. She bent slightly over it, but she didn’t flinch. He gave her silent credit for that. His body pressed against hers as he leaned down. “Do you know where we live?” he asked through gritted teeth.

  “Not… not exactly,” she faltered a bit and her hand slipped but she quickly regained her grip. “I know the block you seem to be on, but haven’t gotten close enough to pinpoint it. You are safe from me, I won’t tell them.”

  “Well, you see, I can’t believe you on that point. That is my family and if they are in danger, I will hunt you down little girl,” he threatened. A single tear fell from her eye. “You should be scared,” he pointed out, but he didn’t actually feel her fear anymore.

  “I’m not scared,” she looked away. “They are lucky to have you,” she quietly added as an afterthought.

  Rylen cocked his head, trying to understand this girl whose body he was still pressed up against. He could feel her every curve, the heat of her body as it wrapped around him, calling him to her. He let up a fraction so her back wasn’t bent over the rail, but he didn’t move away. Something about her intrigued him and the way her body fit next to his was soothing. He leaned his head into her neck and breathed in her scent. Honey and lilac trapped his senses, disarming the centuries-old walls around not only his mind but his heart. Alana stiffened beneath him. Slowly, he began to nuzzle her neck, gentle and so light it wasn’t more than a ghosting of what could be. Alana surprisingly relaxed, melting beneath him with a soft moan. He didn’t think she even realized her body’s betrayal. She was intoxicating to his senses. As he rubbed his nose against the soft skin, he couldn’t help but taste her. He licked her at the base of her neck where her collarbone rose to meet it, the taste of her stirring a hunger deep within. His beast took notice, and he couldn’t help but to do it once more. He didn’t know why, but she let him. Foolish girl. He would take her, use her, then spit her out, sending her on her way. She was the enemy, at least a part of the enemy. Quickly sobering, he took several steps back and let her take a moment. The loss of her heat and closeness to her was a surprise to him.

  Her eyes were dilated and her breathing quick, but she never took her eyes off him. Need and want slammed into his senses. It was all he could do to remain where he stood and not reach out for her and take her right now in this den of iniquity. Perhaps he should, maybe she would get her fix of danger and leave him the hell alone.

  He cleared his throat. “I will ask once more. Why are you really here?”

  “I question what I’ve been raised to believe blindly,” she started outright. “I wanted to see for myself, if all those with magic were evil, if they deserve to be stripped of what they’ve been given simply because they were born different. I’ve known others to go searching for the truth for themselves and they never returned. So either they were killed for their betrayal… or they found something that kept them from returning to the mission.” She looked him straight in the eyes, daring him to check the validity of what she was saying.

  Rylen studied the girl before him. He noticed she used the words “stripped of what they’ve been given” as opposed to “wiped off the planet.” He couldn’t detect any lies from her. Frustrated, because she might actually be telling the truth, he didn’t know what to do with that. One thing he did know, however, she would not be returning to her home tonight. He would keep this enemy close until he had a plan.

  “Better question: How did you get in here?” Rylen watched her reaction closely. This should be good.

  Alana shrugged her shoulders with nonchalance. “A group was just about to enter. They gave the password or whatever and I snuck in with them, pretended to be a part of their group,” she responded matter of fact.

  Rylen scowled at her. She scowled in return. “What? It wasn’t that hard. It’s not like there was even a bouncer at the door when we walked in. I’m almost twenty-one, plus I’m not even drinking.” Crossing her arms, she seemed to feel justified in her words even though it wasn’t what he was asking her.

  Rylen pondered the girl before him. “There is apparently more to you than even you realize. This brings something entirely new to the situation. I need to think about this,” he said more to himself considering he wasn’t looking at her anymore. Coming back to the present, he approached her more carefully this time. An attraction simmered just under the surface toward her, but he wasn’t willing to explore it—at least not yet he told the animal inside him, agitated not to take her right now and mark her before someone else did. “I want to take you home with me tonight.” His tone was flat with no room for negotiations.

  “That’s pretty forward of you. I mean, we did just meet,” she replied with intended sass.

  “So a smart-ass then.” Rylen smirked at her. “Let me clarify. The group I am with are leaving now and we are taking you with us.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll tell where you really do live then?”

  “I didn’t say we would let you leave.”

  “What? That’s kidnapping. My father will hunt you down to find me,” but the truth of her statement was weak as if she didn’t quite believe it herself. “Wait. You’re bullshitting me… aren’t you?”

  Rylen only gave her a sexy half smile that didn’t lie or give her truth. He moved in close to her though and whispered in her ear. “You want to go though, don’t you? Your curiosity will never be quenched if you don’t. You will always wonder what it could be like.” Seeing the spark in her eye told him he was hitting the right spot. She wanted adventure. She wanted experience. She wanted to live. He could give her that and see what she was made of.

  “So will you be cooperative? Or will you put up a fight? I’m half hoping you’ll put up a fight so I can haul that pretty ass of yours out of the club over my shoulder.”

  By the look in his eyes, Alana was sure he would do just what he said. “I’ll go with you. I do have a question though…”

  “Go ahead,” he prompted.

  “The scary guy down at the table that came in with you… is he safe?” she asked with a slight tremor in her voice that said she had had to put up with someone she felt unsafe with.

  His fists clenched. The idea of that made something rise up in him. She flinched at seeing his fists. He relaxed them, realizing he gave her the wrong idea for his reaction.

  “Love, none of us are safe. Or did you miss that lesson from your leaders?”

  At the slight blush that crept up her neck, he realized that she definitely had not missed that lesson… and yet she still came. This girl had fight in her spirit, and his interest was piqued.

  “If you don’t cross him or those he is protective of, he is as safe as the rest of us. He is loyal to me, but he is also dangerous. If you gain his loyalty, you will never find one more allegiant. I trust him with my life,” he explained further but left it at that. Rylen headed for the stairs—the only set of stairs into the cave—and turned to ensure she followed before he moved down them. She did.

  “How did you get up here without me seeing you?” she asked as they took the first steps of their descent to the lower level where his team waited.

  He peered over his shoulder as he continued to step down and gave her a naughty grin. “I jumped.”

  “You what?” she asked dumbfounded. “From where?” She looked back up at the area they had just come from.

  “I climbed the set of stairs that went higher than the landing you picked and jumped from that landing onto the canopy covering yours and flipped into it,” he stated as if it was no big deal. It helped that he had the same reflexes and instincts of his animal.

  “Wow,” was all she uttered as they continued down.

  They reached the bottom floor at the opposite end of the dance floor from his now-assembled group waiting on him. Lucius must have gathered them while he interrogated Alana. They either had to walk all the way around
the bottom level to get to them and the exit or they could cut right through the middle of the dance floor. Rylen cut through the middle.

  The people closest to him moved, without thought, out of his way. He had a way about him that made people do that. Vi always teased him that he used magic to do it because they didn’t do that for her; they usually tried to stop her. But Rylen emitted a badass vibe that others didn’t want to cross. That energy surrounded him along with a darkness that he couldn’t escape so he embraced it… most of the time.

  He reached back to take Alana’s hand so not to lose her in the mix of people. She didn’t hesitate in giving it to him, which confounded him. Her hand was slight and feminine though slightly rough with callouses. This girl full of curiosity was a fighter. He wouldn’t underestimate her until he could see what she was capable of. Rylen couldn’t help but notice how her hand snuggled into his as if it owned that position as no other’s had. As he walked slowly through the throng of people dancing and weaving to the music, he drew Alana close behind him. He navigated her position easily. Just when they hit the center of the floor, he turned abruptly around, pulling her in close. Her breasts pressed tightly up against his chest. He moved his other hand to her lower back and held her tightly. She looked up at him with shock and confusion in her eyes. But when he searched them deeper, he saw the spark he was looking for. She was tempted. He waited a beat, giving her the chance to pull back, but she didn’t. He moved her body with his to the beat of the song, pulsing with energy and sensual rhythm. He didn’t dance often, but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t. And with her in his arms, he thought he might want to do it again.

  “You may not ever come back here. Seemed it would be a wasted opportunity. It’s not often a woman tempts me to lose myself in the music,” he whispered so close to her ear to be heard over the loud music. Shivers chased each other down her arms. She looked up into his eyes unabashedly. He returned the stare then leaned down once more. “I could lose myself with you, too, I’m afraid,” he added then scraped his teeth across her earlobe as he pulled away from her.

  As quickly as it began, he released her body—all except her hand—and moved off the dance floor and away from the luring seductive beats of the music. He could hear her breathing deeply behind him. He could smell her arousal which only fueled his own attraction. Rylen had to shake his head. Women did not leave him feeling this way. In all his years, he was struck that he had not felt such instant attraction as he had with this one. Lust… for sure, but not this… whatever “this” was. It made him feel unsure and agitated.

  Reaching his table and the openly questioning stares of his people, he pulled Alana forward and dropped her hand.

  “This is Alana. She’s been following me and has information for us. We will be taking her home with us,” he said, giving them the look that said there would be no dissuasion. He could see the wheels turning in Enock’s head, but the look of confusion on the girls’ face told him they needed more than a directive from their leader. They wouldn’t question him, not in front of her nor in the Black Hole, but he would be getting an earful afterward. They didn’t bring strangers to the Lair, especially ones they knew nothing about. He couldn’t wait to see their faces when he told them she was associated with the Fairfax Alliance.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Enock pulled the SUV into its parking spot right next to the entrance to the Lair. Rylen decided, based on the tension he saw in the girls, he would let Enock drive while he sat in the back middle seat with Alana then Lola and Vi could take the very back bench-seat. The girls were extremely protective of their home, but he didn’t expect the complete cold shoulder they were offering. Lucius was in the passenger seat, sitting quiet and closed off as usual. Rylen wished, not for the first time, he knew what he was thinking. However, he did not envy the ability to hear thoughts or mind read as a very few could. That would be too much to deal with; Rylen had enough trouble with his own demented thoughts, he didn’t need all the thoughts of those around him.

  They piled out of the vehicle one by one. Alana waited patiently to be escorted, holding her own against the scorn from the girls. They had come to an agreement in the parking lot—as the girls weren’t going to let her in the car—that she would be blindfolded so not to know the true location of the Lair. She easily agreed and that seemed to pacify Lola and Vi.

  “Head in,” Rylen said as he realized that for some reason he was a little nervous bringing Alana home. He didn’t second guess his decision but he still felt like he was missing something. The thought struck him that he should have searched her before they left in case she really was sent to them and she was being tracked. After all, that’s what he would have done.

  “Before, we get through the door, Alana, we need to search you to make sure you don’t have any transmitters on you,” Rylen said as he guided her closer to the door. Alana replied with a shrug.

  “We should’ve done that earlier, Rylen,” Lola grumbled with attitude. Rylen shot her a glare, causing her to back down.

  “She’s right, we should have, but we’re doing it now… well inside the tunnel, I don’t want to be in the open. Enock, go ahead and open the door.” Rylen grabbed Alana on the inside of her elbow and tugged her gently forward with him. Vi came along the other side of her and grabbed her other arm to show Rylen support and possibly to help with the search.

  After they made their way into the tunnel and shut the outer door, they stopped to let their eyes adjust to the darker lighting. Although it was technically underground, it had more of an evil lab vibe to it than dark and rocky tunnel through the earth. It was sleek and cold with curved walls that were covered in solid metal to support the weight of the road and the garage that rested above it. Scattered wall sconces with dimmed bulbs reflected light like a flame would, but they too were modern and industrial in appearance and reacted to a dimmer switch at either entrance. In addition, they also reacted to Rylen’s magic if needed in a power outage which happened from time to time in that area. Most of the team had enhanced eyesight due to their various magical abilities, but it was still nice to have the added light. Rylen guided Alana to face the wall. Vi raised her eyebrow asking Rylen if he wanted her to do the search, but he shook his head as he moved up behind Alana.

  “Alana, I’m going to pat you down to feel for wires or any kind of devices,” Rylen explained.

  “All right,” Alana said a little nervously. “Do I still need to keep the blindfold on?”

  “It’ll be more fun that way,” he breathed near her ear as he lifted her long blonde hair to check her neck. Both of his hands went up into her hair and he ran his fingers over her scalp then back down her neck. His large masculine hands cupped her shoulders as they began their slow descent down each arm on the outside then back up on the inside. His hand was wide enough for his thumbs to meet at her spine while his pinkies skimmed down her sides. She jerked slightly as he got down to her waist.

  “Ticklish, Alana?” he asked with humor in his voice.

  She snorted in return. “You’re having fun with this aren’t you?”

  “What wouldn’t be fun about running my hands all over a beautiful woman as she stood still and blindfolded willingly?” he retorted. He heard Enock grunt humorously behind him and he gave a playful grin over his shoulder at him.

  Alana sucked in air as Rylen had ran his hands over her tight ass then down each leg feeling both the inside and outside at the same time. The tension in the small tunnel escalated. Rylen could feel Alana breathing deeply beneath his hands along with a slight tremor in her body. She had a current of energy that felt faintly like magic. He shut out everything else in the tunnel to focus. He used his own magic to not only aid his search of any electronics or devices, but also to see if he could stir that current—energy buried beneath layers of years of disuse and neglect. Rylen was so focused on what he was doing with his magic and trying to stir hers that he didn’t even realize that he had been searching the front of her body from behind all the
way up her chest until he heard giggles from up ahead in the tunnel and a throat clearing from Lucius. He didn’t jerk away from Alana especially when he realized that she had leaned back into him. Just for fun, he ran his hands over her breasts again—this time playfully—because he had full access, so why not? He gave them each a little squeeze. She inhaled in shock and annoyance then pulled forward.

  “Ok, we’re done here,” Rylen said trying to make his voice not sound roughened with need.

  “Are you sure?” Lola rolled her eyes. “Because we could give you another minute to finish up, we’ll wait.”

  “Behave, Lola. She’s clean, let’s head inside,” Rylen pointed to the door at the end of the tunnel.

  “Me? Check out the pot calling the kettle black, ladies and gents,” Lola whispered sarcastically to Enock who was next to her. Enock tried to hide his smile, but she was right and it was funny.

  Rylen walked at the back, still guiding Alana. He looked over to see a light blush on her skin. “Was that really necessary?” she asked quietly to him.

  “Absolutely,” Rylen said with satisfaction. “You know you liked it.” Her flush grew brighter, but he could smell her arousal and knew he was right.

  Once inside the Lair, the lights were brighter. Lucius took off without a word to the others in the direction of the Den or possibly just to his room. Rylen took the blindfold off of Alana gently, trying not to pull her hair with it. She blinked and rubbed her eyes trying to adjust to the brighter lights. Alana looked around the room they were in. They seemed to be in a main lobby or entry area. The walls were painted a dark wine color with little artwork and a few black iron sconces giving off warm light as well as an overhead Victorian-looking chandelier. It was sparse of furniture, but there was a large darkened wood unit almost like an armoire that stretched the length of one wall with a door slid open on a track, revealing rows of lockers inside. A black stained double wood door was closed just in front of where they stood, and to the side of it was a long wooden bench. Off to the right, a hallway and a wide-open doorway beckoned visitors into a spacious and extravagant kitchen and eating area. On the opposite side was an elevator.