Anya Bast - Witch Fury

She headed out of the room as well, more than ready to knock off for the night. All the way up to Theo’s apartment she kicked herself for running on at the mouth about sleeping with Theo. As much as she tried to deny it, the more time she spent with the man, the more she imagined what it would be like.

Theo was so intense . Would he be that way in bed, too? How would all the focused, passionate emotion that teemed under his constant brooding translate between the sheets? Just the thought made her shiver.

She’d read that certain elements were attracted to each other. Air and fire fed each other. Earth and water nourished each other. When two people who were already attracted had elements that complemented, that attraction was intensified. Earth and fire had nothing special — no pumped-up attraction.

On her end, it mattered not a whit.

Sometimes before she went to sleep at night she imagined what it would be like to kiss him. He had such a sensual mouth, such full lips. How would they feel slipping and sliding against hers? How would his toughened, powerful hands feel moving against her most intimate places? She knew firsthand from the massage he’d given her that he could be gentle and strong at the same time.

Would he be uber-dominant in bed, or would he allow her to take the lead?

Oh, God.

She stopped in front of his door, trying to calm the furious flush that had entered her cheeks. It was the curse of the fair-skinned. She had to get control of her fantasies. Theo had given her absolutely no indication that he was at all interested in her that way. He’d made that one remark in the kitchen, but, hell, she could have misunderstood. Then there’d been that comment about appropriate clothing.

No, he wasn’t attracted to her.

She walked into an empty living room. Grosset was in his usual place on the couch. She set her bag down on the floor by the coffee table and noted that his apartment had been much tidier since she’d been staying with him. Probably a combination of her picking things up and Theo becoming more conscious of not simply stripping as soon as he got through the door and dropping his clothes willy-nilly.

Not that she’d mind if he stripped as soon as he got through the door.

Theo walked down the hallway. “Did you have a good session with Claire?” She sought Grosset’s leash and nodded. “She taught me how to ricochet my magick to get around daaeman shields and how to deflect their blasts.” Theo watched her walk toward Grosset with the leash in hand. “I already took him out.” “Oh, great. Thanks.” She put the leash back.

“Mira has been hearing some disturbing whispers. It appears that the air witch the Duskoff captured has been killed.” Sarafina jerked. “Really? That’s horrible.” “That’s the Duskoff. If they can’t bend you, medicate you, or if you’re of no further use to them, they kill you.” “But wait.” She turned to him. “Why wouldn’t they keep her alive? I mean, they need witches of all four elements to cast a demon circle, don’t they? Why wouldn’t they use her in one of those?” She chewed her lip, thinking. “They didn’t use her to bring Bai through, or she would have been dead long before now, since the witches in the circle are sacrificed to pull a daaeman to Earth. But they could have used her to pull a second daaeman through, right?” Theo bared his teeth in something Sarafina assumed was supposed to be a smile. “Very perceptive. Thomas thinks it’s one of two reasons. Either the witch didn’t have enough strength to bring an adequately powerful daaeman through, or they don’t need to cast a demon circle. Considering Bai is here and no one knows how he arrived, Thomas is leaning toward the second thing.” “You mean, the Duskoff didn’t keep her alive to toss her into a demon circle because they already have their demon.” “Yeah.”

“We just don’t know how he got over here.” “Yeah.”

“Sounds ominous.”

“It’s never anything less.” He moved the coffee table to the side of the room as if it weighed nothing. “Because of recent developments, I want you to show me what you know.” “What? Is this a pop quiz?”

He stood in the center of the room and faced her. “Yeah. I’m going to attack you and I want you to throw me off. I want you to prove to me you can do it.” She glanced around at the furniture. “Shouldn’t we do this down on the mats?” “Do you really think your attacker will wait until you’re somewhere convenient?” “Good point.”

“What are you waiting for?”

“You haven’t attacked me yet.”

He rushed her. Having a man twice her weight careening across the room at her was just about enough to stop her heart for a moment. Then instincts took over, driven by his training over the last two weeks. She didn’t really think, she just reacted.

Moving to the side, he rushed past her. Her tactic didn’t work. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her, spinning her around. Her breath crushed out of her and her magick flared, running over her body, just far enough away to keep from burning her. . but not him.

Theo yelped and pushed her away, the fabric of his shirt smoking. In a moment, he was on her again, the scent of earth magick flaring in the air. Grosset started barking. Just as a bolt of power spiked toward her, she ducked, hitting the floor, and rolling back up onto her feet.

He grabbed her from behind and they struggled. She brought her elbow back into his solar plexus, making him grunt. Then she pivoted on the balls of her feet and brought her palm up against his nose, pulling back only at the last minute so she didn’t break it. He oofed and whirled to the side, tripped and fell against the corner of the wall.

That saying about the big guys falling harder was true.

“Oh, my God! I’m sorry!” Sarafina rushed to Theo’s side, placing her hand on his back and hoping like hell she hadn’t injured him too badly.

“I guess you pass the test,” Theo said, holding a hand to his head.

“Come on, let me see.” She pulled his hand away from his face and saw that he’d beaned himself in the forehead. Those kinds of head wounds bled a lot, and this one was no exception. She gasped and bit her lower lip. “I’m really sorry, Theo. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She led him over to sit down on the couch. Grosset eyed them both warily. Sarafina pushed his hair away and examined his forehead, wincing.

“I asked you to hurt me. Don’t be sorry. You proved that my training has actually done some good.” She frowned. “You seem to get hurt a lot.” The ghost of a grin passed over his lips. “I let you win.” He caught and held her gaze. “Anyway, this gives you a chance to practice your healing on me again.” Sarafina stilled, captivated. This was the longest he’d ever looked directly into her eyes. His pupils dilated a little, the color turning a deeper, darker brown. Her lips parted and her breath caught at the intimacy of the moment. The silence between them seemed pregnant with possibility. .

Her next sentence came out in a near breathless puff of air as she stared deeply into his beautiful eyes. “Take off your pants.” That pregnant, intimate moment popped like a bubble.

He blinked. “What did you say?”

Mentally, she smacked her forehead. Brilliant, Sarafina, brilliant!

“I meant your shirt, not your pants. I’ll try to get the blood out of it.” She gave a nervous laugh. “Why would I ask you to take off your pants?” He gave her just the briefest hint of a smile. Because of its genuineness, it was the most stunning thing Sarafina had seen in a while. In one smooth move, torso rippling with power, he removed his shirt and gave it to her.