Chapter Two
Ven
It takes all my willpower not to stare. Xander had said his friend was a lust demon. I suppress a snort. Of course his name is Ryder. Sweet goddess.
The glorious, dripping wet creature in front of me smiles, and with it comes a push of power. A not-so-gentle push. His magic wraps around me, singing of heat and lips and throbbing places of desire. My nipples harden against my will.
Which is when I cast up my own wall of magic.
I’m not about to let this lusty and oh-so-tantalizing demon rudely invade my space. Plus, romance is the last thing I need right now with how my life has been going. My power flares, creating an orb around me to block out his sexy radio signal. His magic falls away, and the abrupt lack of it feels like a wintry wind.
Ryder cocks his head to the side and gives me a questioning look. “You’re a strong little witch. Especially for someone so gorgeous.”
Anger flashes through me. I cross my arms over my chest. “Little witch? And since when does beauty cancel out strength?”
A grin crosses Ryder’s face, and he tosses his head again, flicking droplets of water over me. “Ahh, a feisty feminist. My favorite kind.”
“I’m not going to be your favorite anything,” I snap. “And next time ask before you go shoving your giant, magical—”
Dick is the only word that comes to mind, or a variation thereof, and the harder I try to think of another, the more it eludes me. Ryder’s grin grows wider and wider. He knows.
“Anyway, it’s rude!”
Ryder folds himself elegantly into the chair across from me, setting his board down beside him. “You seem rather worked up. I mean, I’m used to it, I have that effect on people. I can certainly be professional if you can?” He raises a brow devilishly.
I open my mouth to argue. “I am not—”
“So,” he interrupts, as if he hadn’t asked a question. “Xander says people are missing?”
I take a deep breath and shove down the boiling response perched on my lips. My protests are only supporting this narcissist’s ego. I make a mental note to ask Xander what the hell he was thinking. “Yes. My roommate, a fellow witch. And I’ve heard of others.”
“Who else?”
I lower my voice so the humans closest to us can’t hear. “A couple witches in my coven heard rumors of a faerie that also went missing. And a couple shifters.” I lift my drink and take a big sip to calm my temper.
Ryder leans back in his chair, staring at me a moment in silence with his bright lagoon-colored eyes. “And what makes you think any of these disappearances are related?”
I stiffen. “Well, it seems odd, don’t you think? That several supernaturals go missing in the same area all at once?” Another sip.
“It could all be coincidence,” Ryder says with a flippant gesture of his hands. His fingers are long and clever, as if they have a mind of their own. “Faeries disappear all the time, go back to their magical realms. Disappear in some forest orgy for a year. I remember this one time—”
“Yes, I’m sure you’re quite familiar with orgies.” I roll my eyes. “But even if the others are a coincidence, my friend is not. She’s a considerate person, really helped me through a recent tough time. She wouldn’t just vanish without saying anything.”
“Maybe she found some hot boy toy and they ran off together.” Ryder shrugs. “Happens all the time. And what makes you so sure I’m into orgies?”
Another big sip of my guaro sour. The lime and liquor are the only thing keeping me from slapping this arrogant bastard out of his chair. “First of all, she’s into women, not dudes. Second, women are not so frivolous as you make them out to be. And third, regarding the orgies—”
I can’t find words, so I end up just sort of pointing/waving my hand up and down at his torso. He’s sprawled in his seat, one foot kicked up on an adjacent chair, which I’m pretty sure is giving the women at the next table a full view up his swim trunks. Sex radiates off him in waves. The women next to us aren’t even trying to hide their stares, and a dozen others in the general vicinity are gawking, too.
As I struggle to find words, Ryder’s grin grows and grows. “You’re trying to say that someone as attractive as I am obviously gets offers of sex from so many people, so frequently, that surely things devolve into orgies on the regular?”
My mouth opens and closes. Not exactly what I meant, but he’s not wrong, either. I don’t exactly want to admit it, though. “Well, I mean, you’re kind of cheating, don’t you think? With the whole attractiveness thing?”
“Am I?” He arches a brow.
I finish my drink and cross my arms over my chest. “Xander told me what you are,” I hiss in a low voice.
Ryder straightens in his chair and leans toward me. “Oh, he did, did he? What exactly did he say?”