The Warrior Vampire(35)
Jenner wasn’t the only one suffering from control issues right now.
* * *
A cool breeze kicked up the damp ocean air and the tangy brine was just what Naya needed to clear away the remnants of lust and want that once again fogged her brain. Over the course of the past week, centering her focus was becoming more difficult the longer she was in Ronan’s company. They’d fallen into an easy rhythm, hunting after sundown, sleeping for most of the day—her in the bedroom and him on the couch—and then they’d start all over again. The search for his sister was proving as fruitless as Naya’s search for the mapinguari. Either the magic that had infected Crescent City had moved on, using El Sendero to find a new home, or this current lull was simply the calm before the storm.
Likewise, the malicious magic that infected Ronan’s body hadn’t surfaced since the episode in her dining room a week ago. The music she heard in his presence was soft and melodious, a comfort to Naya’s own soul. And though she’d exercised tremendous self-control over the past days, Naya felt that control slowly slipping. She didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to keep herself from Ronan. And for that matter, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to anymore.
Ronan had managed to awaken something within her that pulled the reins of her control taut. She’d never felt power in such a raw, visceral way before.
Naya was no novice. Not in magic or in sex. Tracking and repossessions were her specialties. She’d studied blood magic because it was part of her craft. Her heritage. Magic could corrupt a person through the blood. Spreading like a virus through the cells. Sex didn’t usually enter the equation. And though she’d had a few romantic entanglements in her past, none of them had ever triggered that aspect of her power. It was a heady thing. Dangerous. And it made keeping Ronan at arm’s length a damn near insurmountable task.
She could easily become addicted to the power he’d awakened in her.
Magic corrupted. Period. And it could damage those who inherently wielded it as easily as it did those who couldn’t. Naya needed to be very careful in her dealings with the vampire. Their contact so far had been relatively innocent. She could only imagine what magic it might manifest if she gave herself fully to him or the emotional connection that it might forge. The elders had pledged her life to another male. And no matter the spark that ignited when Ronan touched her, Naya knew that there could never be anything between them. Tethered or not.
“This is where I found you.” Naya put the car in park and turned off the headlights. They’d come full circle, hunting throughout the town and the forested areas surrounding Crescent City for any sign of demon or dhampir. “You were standing there”—she pointed to one of the broken floodlights—“and magic bled out of you.”
“I don’t remember any of it.” Ronan gave a slow shake of his head. “I must have been looking for Chelle, but you’d think I’d remember something.”
“Rogue magic takes a physical toll on its bearer. It could be the equivalent of an ethereal concussion.”
“Vampires don’t get concussions.”
He’d gone from zero to broody in the space of a few minutes, and from his dark tone Naya suspected that his mood wasn’t going to improve anytime soon. “Vampires might not suffer from head trauma,” she remarked. “But a supernatural creature can definitely sustain a supernatural injury.”
“Maybe.”
His profile stood out as a finely cut shadow in the dark interior of the car. Naya’s body warmed as she recalled the sensation of his strong hands on her. The way his mouth moved over hers. A week holed up with any female’s living, breathing sexual fantasy was starting to take its toll. How much longer could she go on like this? Keeping him at arm’s length when all she wanted to do was draw him closer. Her breath hitched as she recalled the intense pleasure of his bite and the heat that raced through her veins as—
“If you don’t want to be stripped naked and fucked in the front seat of your car, I’d advise you to curb your thoughts, Naya.”
She started at Ronan’s words that ended on a warning growl. The sound cut through the silence, penetrated her skin, and left a flush in their wake. “You can hear my thoughts?” She had no idea what the parameters of Ronan’s abilities might be. Gods, what else had he eavesdropped on?
“I can’t read your thoughts.” He kept his gaze straight ahead, but Naya didn’t miss that his irises were rimmed with silver. “But through our tether, I can sense your emotions. And…” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I can smell your arousal.”