His dark head tilted as he took in the slutty clothes and bare feet. I was shaking and it had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with being half-naked and inside Ryder's private domain.
"Afraid you might like it my little itchy Witchy?" His voice came out gravelly, as if he was feeling the same thing I was. Lust.
"No, I just have more of a sense of self-preservation than most women."
I blinked at how husky my voice had sounded.
"Is that so? You're shaking, cold?"
I could have lied.
I should have lied.
Should of, would of, could of.
"No," I whispered dropping my eyes to floor so they would unlock with his bronze stare. They locked on to his bare feet. It was intimate being in his bedroom and both of us missing our shoes. My hands trembled violently, as I balled them into fists to keep them from being noticed.
"Bed or the chair, Pet. What's your poison?"
My nipples hardened at the word "bed" flowing from his lips. Bloody hell I was lusting after my sworn enemy and he knew it. "It doesn’t matter, pick one."
"Bed it is," he flashed me a devastatingly wicked smile before his fingers snapped together and the iPod dock clicked on and the music started playing. I followed his movement as he watched me with those animalistic eyes, no glowing yet which was good.
I meant to start for the bed, but my feet wouldn’t move. They were glued to the spot where I shook like leaf with the reality of what I was about to do—with him. I could take men to their beds to murder them, yet I couldn’t walk towards one where I would pretend to be aroused enough to pull off a stupid job. This was ridiculous.
Why the hell had I let that stupid woman talk me into no panties? I wanted to turn around and run from the room, run from this place and never look back.
"I can still get Larissa to take your place, Synthia," he rumbled, forcing my eyes to swing to his.
I couldn’t put Larissa and Adam through this, I'd told them what was going down when Adam had come up to see what was wrong with me. We had a strong bond, we could sense each other's distress and when I'd explained it to him. He'd cursed but agreed I was the better choice for what we had to do tomorrow.
I strengthened my spine and straightened my shoulders telling myself I could do this. It was only another interview—right. The last one had gotten someone killed! Stop it you freaking wussy! Get it together. Now.
"No Fae-fucking me Ryder, promise me that you won't."
His eyes lit up but he shook his head. "Not unless you piss me off, but I won't fuck you, I don’t fuck unwilling humans, Syn. I have thousands who actually want my dick. I don’t need an unwilling one." He settled on the bed with his back propped up—every inch the predator he was.
I swallowed past the thickness of my tongue. Nine Inch Nails was pounding from the stereo, the beat of Closer, erotic and perfect for what this was. A show. "Good," I replied forcing my feet to move one after the other as I walked toward my impending doom.
When I was inches away from him he held his hand out and I flinched away as if his skin would burn me.
"Relax, if you can't do this, how are you going to pretend to be my fiancé in front of Fae who will see you for the fake you are? They will see the tension and know you are not Fae instantly; we are a very sexual race Syn. To pull this off you are going to have to get over this aversion you have to me."
He was right, which failed to make me feel any better about what I was about to do with him. Even if it was only just another part of the show.
His hand came up and cupped my cheek softly, stroking my skin like a lover's touch. My eyes flashed to his and locked on the amber glowing fully now within his molten depths. His free hand went to the small of my back and he drew me closer, unhurriedly, allowing for me to escape if I needed to, my breath hitched in my lungs as thousands of different sensations ran wildly through me.
"Ryder," I sighed without meaning to.
"Stop thinking Syn. You keep over-thinking everything."
My lip trembled with the need to either kiss him, or run. I settled on biting it softly while his hands held me in place. The one on the small of my back came around softly pressing against the silk of the skirt as he rubbed his hand across my ass through wispy material. He lifted my leg and placed it on the bed carefully.
I watched his nostrils flare as the glow became more apparent, as he allowed me to see the full fire that I’d created in him. "No panties?" He questioned through a guttural tone.
"Claire said it would guarantee you—I mean Vlad chose me for the job," I murmured. My hand instantly smoothing the skirt to assure myself it was still covering my core.
"Did she?" His voice was barely above a whisper before he groaned and released my face to rub his hand down his own.
"I can go change," I blurted trying to remove my leg he still held in place.