Melting.
Falling.
Ensnared by his masculinity and grace.
That’s not right, I thought, frowning. I don’t even know this guy.
I attempted to step away, only my feet refused my mental command.
What’s happening to—
“You’re bleeding,” he murmured, his hold tightening as his opposite hand drifted across my arm.
I glanced down to see the trickle of red oozing from my skin.
And blinked.
“How?” I asked, trying to shake myself out of this daze, to force my legs to work. But I felt spellbound, lost to the stranger’s touch, as if being pulled into a dream.
A part of me recognized the magic, felt the dark tendrils of it seeping into my pores. With it brought memories of the time I nearly died, how I’d fought to cling to the source of my existence in a futile effort to save everyone but myself.
“The bike,” the stranger beside me said softly, drawing me from the nightmarish image threatening to capture my mind. “He clipped you as he took the corner. Clumsy fool.”
“Oh.” I swallowed. “I’m… okay.”
Minus the daydreamy state I’d lost my senses to.
The world shifted as he moved us into the doorway of a building, one I recognized as my destination. Odd. I could have sworn that was a block away.
Who is this guy? Why is he holding me?
His arm loosened, giving me a chance to flee, but I found my back pressed up to a wall instead, my vision lost to a haze of momentary darkness.
Something’s wrong. A thought that had tried to appear moments ago, only to disappear beneath this strange magnetism. Whatever spell he’d cast over me had my mind short-circuiting, my body bending beneath his command.
Must… stop… this…
“He warned me you would be beautiful, Aflora,” the voice whispered, his face far too close to my neck. “But I didn’t expect you to be such a delicate little flower.”
My lips curled down at the phrase. “Wh-what?” I stuttered, my breath seeming to escape me as he kissed my throat. What are you doing? I wanted to demand, but my mouth rejected the words, choosing to moan instead. How do you know my name?
This can’t…
Oh…
His mouth touched my skin, causing my knees to buckle.
Holy Elements…
This was bad. I felt the illicitness of it crawling inside me, igniting my instincts, only to be tampered down by a seductive, dusky cloud.
Dark magic, I recognized, my heart skipping a beat. It swam all around us, infiltrating my ability to reason. To think. To run.
“Stop,” I managed to say, my demand lost to the raspy quality of my tone.
He chuckled against my neck, his tongue darting out to tease my racing pulse. “I wish I could, delicate flower. But I’ve been given a task. You.”
My fingers curled into fists, my limbs locking up as I fought to break the spell he’d woven over my form.