"Because they will be attending the Engagement Ball and we can use all the help we can get right now to keep Arianna safe. I won't take chances with her."
"Where is she? If you guys are getting married I’d think you'd be dying to be together already. I know I would be….well with…" I was tripping over my tongue and his amused smile told me he was enjoying it, "If it were me Ryder, I'd want to be with you." I watched his smile fade and then I replayed what I had just said. "That came out wrong."
"I'd want you close as well Synthia," he whispered close to my ear. "Maybe I should ditch her and take my chances with you."
"That wasn’t how I meant it at all," I squeaked even as he smiled wider.
"And what if I did?" He asked still smiling.
"Well then I would say you are crazy." I asked and watched his smile fade away to the normal wicked grin.
"You think someone would have to be crazy to want you?"
"Well, you yes. Because you don’t like me remember? I'm sarcastic and stubborn and those are just a few of the things you don't like about me, I should start a list—to keep track." I said softly.
He did the last thing I expected him to do. He threw his head back and laughed while still moving us around the dance floor without missing a step. I had to remind myself to breathe. Smiling was one thing but watching this man laugh took years off of his face and replaced him with a rogue who was irresistible and his laughter was contagious.
Everyone inside the room was watching us closely. Those who had been dancing had moved from the dance floor, the song had also changed and yet I'd been too wrapped up in Ryder to notice anything. His touch and the sound of his laughter had instantly made my body flood with heat, it was unacceptable.
He growled seductively, pulling me out of the panic before I could get too deep in to worrying about it. His eyes narrowed on me, his body pressing further against me. "Come with me tomorrow night Synthia," he said huskily.
"Where?" I asked even though I shouldn’t have. I would have been attending the Witch Guild event tomorrow if I hadn’t been under contract. I'd cleared it for Larissa and Adam to go since I had no reason to keep them from attending the only holiday the Guild celebrated.
"An event my club is throwing, just something small," he replied smoothly but his grin had come back with blinding affects.
"Posing as Arianna?"
"No Syn, as yourself."
I narrowed my eyes on him carefully thinking over everything he had said. I had to be missing something. "Why would you want me to come as myself?"
He narrowed his eyes, his lips drawn back from his lips. I was walking in uncharted territory here. He'd never really been kind to me, hell we weren't even friends, more like enemies with slightly twisted benefits. He could choose from any woman he wanted and he was choosing me? Or maybe I was reading too much into this, maybe he wanted to take me somewhere private and kill me. It was the more likely scenario.
He leaned in close again, his hot breath fanning on the hollow column of my neck before lifting to my ear to whisper. "You're doing it again, over thinking, over analyzing everything. My club in action would better prepare you for the ball. It's a win, win situation Syn."
I shivered as his lips pressed against my ear as he inhaled deeply before moving back to where I could read his face. "No tricks?"
He smiled, but it was all teeth, "No tricks, just us, being who we truly are."
"No using your powers on me," I swallowed with the memory of how they felt.
"Not unless you ask me to and then I won't hold back."
I blinked and made a mental note to under no circumstances ask him to use them. I tilted my head thinking of what else I needed to ask but I was coming up blank. "This is for research only."
"No Syn, this is to get you to let go. You keep struggling to control everything around you. It's impossible. Well, unless you're me. Think you can handle that? One night of letting loose, just being yourself and not this tough shell you show off to everyone else?"
"I'm not a shell and I don’t try to control everything," I narrowed my eyes, "Okay, so maybe I do try to control things. The unknown can get people killed Ryder, if I lose control people die in my line of work."
His lips turned down as his eyes narrowed, "Mine too, I still allow myself one night to—well one night to let loose and be myself."
He'd hesitated, Ryder never hesitated. "If you tell me when you will end the contract between us, it doesn't have to be a date, but it has to be a time frame Ryder. If you can give me that, then I will give you one night of just being myself."