Descending Darkness(26)

I scream as Bragden comes running toward me. I take off but not soon enough. He grabs me around the waist and starts tickling me. My feet come off the ground as he picks me up, still ticking my stomach. I laugh so hard I start crying. He places me back on the ground. “Your weakness is that you’re very ticklish,” he whispers in my ear.

“You’re mean,” I say breathily as I take a step away from him. I don’t trust those large hands of his. He waves his fingers at me as I take a step back.

“I know.”

Stopping, I move toward him again. I call magic to my fingers and slowly walk past him, grazing my fingers across his back. He jumps and glares at me. I throw up a shield around me as he starts coming toward me again. He hits the shield and stumbles backward. I walk over to Colton and stand behind him. He laughs as I use him as a second shield.

“Well, I guess training is over for today,” Tom calls out. No one is really training anymore anyway. David, Emma, Logan, and Larkin are all sitting on the floor talking. Tom, Conner, Liam, and Natalie are all watching what is going on between Bragden and me. Bragden is still watching me while I hide behind Colton.

I slowly put down my magic shield, but I remain behind my soulmate. Bragden shakes his head but throws his hands up in surrender. I can feel Colton’s shoulders moving. I peek around him and see him silently laughing. “You have to instigate everything, don’t you?”

“Who me? I would never.”

“What am I going to do with you?”

“Hopefully not tickle me. You’ve seen how that turns out.” I motion with my eyes toward Bragden. He laughs and wraps an arm around my shoulders, walking toward the doors. When we walk past Bragden, I stick my tongue out at him. He moves toward me, and I put a shield up in front of him. Colton starts laughing at our little antics. I keep the shield up because Bragden starts following us. I know he’ll try something if I’m not paying attention.

Entering the house, Colton pulls me upstairs to our room so we can change. I didn’t do a whole lot of training today, so I’m not all sweaty like he is. As we enter the room, I pull my hair out of my ponytail and turn around as Colton closes the bedroom door. Usually, I am nervous when we are alone together, but I’m not right now. I feel really comfortable—like this is where I’m supposed to be.

I blindly try to fix my hair as I watch Colton. When he catches my eyes, he smirks and slowly walks toward me. Wow, he is attractive. I always knew that, but watching him now, I become very aware of his looks. My eyes slowly rake down his body as he moves closer. When I make it back up to his face, he is standing right in front of me. “Like what you see?” he asks me; his voice lower than usual—huskier. Sexier.

“I like it when you wear white,” I whisper to him, trying to keep my cheeks from going red. Because he is sweaty, his shirt is clinging to his skin, clearly defining the muscular physique underneath. I slowly reach my hand out and lightly trace the outlines of the muscles of his abdomen. Under my touch, his breathing starts to increase; the muscles of his stomach expanding and contracting with each breath. I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him on the cheek, the corner of my mouth touching his. Abruptly, I turn around and skip over to my suitcase to grab some clothes to change into. I smile as I hear his groan behind me.

“You’re going to drive me crazy, Ryanne.”

I wink at him as I walk into the bathroom to change. Colton is sitting on the edge of bed when I enter the room again. “Sorry, I forgot you’d probably want to shower.”

He walks over to me and places his hands on my hips. Pulling me toward him, he leans in to whisper in my ear, “I’ll always wait for you, Ry,” he says reminding me of the time in the kitchen where he told me that he’d wait until I was ready. The stubble on his chin, brushes against my cheek. The slight tickle causes goosebumps to form all over my body. As his lips brush against my earlobe, I can’t contain the shiver that spreads through my body. He chuckles against me and walks into the bathroom, slowly closing the door.

“You’re going to drive me crazy, Colton.”



Colton

Walking down the stairs, I can see the girls sitting in the middle of the living room floor with all the guys sitting on the couch. “We’ve already had this discussion before!” Ryanne says.

“I know, but now we have someone to be the deciding factor,” Emma says while turning to Natalie. Natalie sits straighter and waits. “Chris Evans or Chris Hemsworth?” Liam looks at me and rolls his eyes. I agree. What’s up with those actors that have these girls arguing all the time about which is better?