Anya Bast - Witch Fury

He turned toward her. “What? That a person with an upbringing as fucked up as mine wouldn’t want to risk parenthood?” “No!” She held out a hand as if to ward off his belligerent tone of voice. “I wasn’t thinking that at all. It just seems like your life is all about your work. You seem so hell-bent on taking the Duskoff down and not really all that interested in dating, let alone building a family.” He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “Yeah, well, maybe one day we will take the Duskoff down and I can concentrate on other things.” He paused. “More important things, like marriage and a family.” “I hope so.”

“Maybe,” he said again. “If I can ever find a woman crazy enough to stay with me.” She laughed. “You have your charms, Theo, even if they’re a little buried under a crust.” He grunted, turned, and walked toward the cycle. “You ready to head back?” His tone really didn’t invite disagreement. Apparently, it was time to go.

She turned toward him. “I would like to be your friend, Theo.” He halted with his back to her. His shoulders tightened. “That’s nice. Do you want to hold my hand, too?” Sarafina blew out a frustrated breath and walked to the bike. “I’m trying to extend an olive branch here.” “I didn’t know we were fighting.”

“It’s just that, things seem tense between us after what happened, you know, in the hallway. .” “You mean when I kissed you, Sarafina?” He turned toward her and she stilled like a deer in a hunter’s line of sight. His voice had gone a shade lower, a bit more velvety. Almost. . seductive.

She couldn’t take another kiss-and-run.

“Yes, you kissed me, then pushed me away.” Theo turned back toward the bike. “That was a mistake.” “What was a mistake, the kiss or pushing me away?” He fiddled with the helmets lying on the cycle’s seat. “The kiss, Sarafina.” “Not from where I was standing.”

“Your perspective might change if you knew that every woman I become involved with ends up dead somehow.” “What?” She put her hand on her hip. “That sounds really ominous, Theo. What exactly are you saying?” He turned toward her. “ I didn’t kill them, Sarafina. I’m just saying they have a habit of turning up dead.” She opened her mouth, then closed it. “I have no idea what to say to that.” “Don’t say anything. I don’t want to talk about it.” “Okay.”

“Come on, I’ll let you drive for a while.” “Huh?”

“I’ll teach you how to drive a motorcycle.” “Oh.” She eyed the huge heavy. . hog . Isn’t that what they called them? “Um.” “It’s not hard. Come on.” He extended one of the helmets toward her.

She took it, knowing this was his olive branch.

ADAM’S BLADE MET THEO’S AND REVERBERATED down the length of his arm. Theo pushed back with a grunt and sent Adam backward. Adam swung around, slashing upward with his sword and forcing Theo back into the defensive.

Theo whirled, his tail of hair lashing him in the face, and blocked Adam’s powerful swing. Adam was one of the best swordsmen in the Coven and Theo loved to engage him. It was a challenge. Today he craved the burn in his muscles and the state of mindlessness that combat gave him. It provided a much-needed escape.

Sweat poured down Theo’s chest as he took the offensive again, pushing Adam back in a flurry of flashing copper blades and ringing metal. Channeling all his current frustration and rage into the battle, Theo pressed Adam farther and farther back. His muscles straining and his arms and legs screaming, he gave a loud bellow and forced Adam to stumble backward onto the mat.

Adam threw his sword to the floor and swore at the top of his lungs. He shook his sweat-soaked hair and yelled, “All right, enough! I give in! Gods damn! ” Theo let his sword dangle at his side. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes for a moment, savoring both his rare victory against Adam and also the satisfying physical strain in his body from the exertion it had taken to gain it. Then he reached down and offered Adam his hand. Adam took it and Theo hefted the other man to his feet.

“Good fight,” said Theo.

Adam eyed him warily. “You’re only saying that because you won.” Theo grinned. “Maybe. Want another go?” Adam rotated his shoulder. “Hell, no. You’re out for blood today. I want to keep my head on my shoulders. I have a woman at home to think about.” Yeah, Theo had a woman at home right now, too. That was a turn of events he’d never counted on. At first he’d figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. She was his job. Sure, she was pretty, but there were lots of pretty witches in the Coven and he’d been able to resist almost all of them. Theo wasn’t like how Adam had been pre-Claire, chasing after every woman he came into contact with.

But after just a week of living with Sarafina, his resistance had been worn to a nubbin.

Her constant presence — the subtle, sweet scent of her invading his nose at every turn, the sight of the nape of her neck when she twisted her hair up onto the top of her head, or the curve of her calf and her small bare foot when she sat in the recliner and rocked herself while she read a book. All of those tiny little things had added up. Now her presence in his apartment was all a tease to him — foreplay. It excited him. Like waving a steak in front of a starving tiger.

He’d had nothing but contempt for Jack McAllister when he’d begun sleeping with his charge, Mira Hoskins, way back when. And when Adam and Claire had fallen into bed while Adam had been helping to keep Claire safe from the Atrika a year and a half ago, Theo hadn’t been surprised, but he had been a little disgusted. He’d sworn both times that if he were Adam or Jack, he’d never follow the whim of his dick and nail the body he was supposed to be guarding.

Now here he was trying hard to think with his big head and ignore the little one.

“So what the hell is with all the extra energy?” queried Adam, rubbing a towel across the back of his neck. “You always fight hard, but that was exceptional.” He raised an eyebrow. “Sexual repression, maybe?” “Shut up, Adam.”

“Yeah, well, if it is sexual repression, keep it away from me, all right? I don’t swing that way.” Theo readjusted his grip on the blade. “I just wanted a good fight today, that’s all. Knew I’d get one from you.” “Everything going okay with Sarafina? She seems like a really cool chick. Claire likes her a lot. Shouldn’t she be training with the copper blades by now?” “She is training with the swords, but she’s doing it with Isabelle.” He paused. “Everyone likes Sarafina.” He glanced at him. “You including yourself in there? I know you two got off to a rocky start. You know, what with you dragging her through the cornfield and all.” Theo lifted the blade and examined the edge. “Yeah, things were rocky back when I thought she was a warlock. There was something suspicious about her.” “Suspicious?” Adam shook his head and snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, well, she’s never looked like much of a warlock to me. An angel, maybe, not a warlock.” “Sometimes people who look sweet and innocent really aren’t.” “Yeah, true. Okay, got me there.” Adam glanced at him. “She’s kind of hot, too. Don’t you think so?” Theo rested his sword against the wall and pulled a bottle of water from the small fridge nearby. “You think every woman is hot,” he said with a snort before uncapping it and taking a long swallow.

“I don’t,” he protested, turning toward him with sword in hand. “I’m committed to Claire now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t notice an attractive woman when I see one. I just don’t think any of them hold a candle to my wife.” Theo just grunted. It was true that Adam was a different man now that he’d met Claire.