Destiny glared at him when Nicolae appeared next to her, shimmering into solid form on the highest rooftop above the neighborhood. “Would you like to explain your arrogant behavior to me?”
Her eyes were smoky green, with turbulence swirling in their depths. She looked wild and unpredictable. Her body was poised and ready to fight, coiled like a spring, yet as still and as watchful as a tigress. The wind was ruffling her hair like the touch of fingers and her mouth was… tempting. His gaze dropped to her full lower lip. Its slight pout didn’t mean she was sulking. It meant trouble for someone.
His entire being reacted to the sight of that pouty lower lip. His arousal was swift and hard, accompanied by a punishing ache that wouldn’t quite leave him even when he was away from her.
Destiny was furious. Not just furious. She was frustrated and restless and strung tighter than a bow. Anger roiled in the pit of her stomach, mixed with an age-old excitement she couldn’t contain. It was a reaction to the way he was looking at her, his hooded gaze hot with desire and an intensity of need and hunger he didn’t bother to try to hide.
“Was my behavior arrogant?” His gaze never lifted from her mouth.
The power of his voice sizzled in her stomach, throbbed lower. She recognized need for what it was, and it frightened her that she could be so caught up in the force of his power. His voice stroked her skin like a velvet glove, making her intensely aware of every inch of her skin.
“Are we going to talk about this?” Her own voice sounded husky, strangled, as if she couldn’t catch her breath. “You used your power against me. That’s entirely unacceptable.” She had to look away from him. Up close he was stealing her very reason, putting erotic ideas in her mind that should never have been there. Destiny closed her eyes and inhaled, hoping the cool, crisp air would clear her head.
“Is that what you think I did? Used my power against you? When has anything I have ever done been against you? I have lived for you for more years than I care to consider, Destiny. You have to meet me somewhere, if not halfway then at least make a few concessions, take a few steps toward me.”
She inhaled his scent. The beckoning call of male to female. Her breath exploded out of her. “Nicolae.” His name came out an aching whisper. “I have tried. I swear to you, I have tried.”
He reached for her, unable to prevent himself when there was raw pain etched into her face and such urgent need in her eyes. “Come here to me. Nothing can be done until we resolve what is between us.” His hands settled around her, gathered her into the shelter of his body, and he took to the air.
She knew she should protest. Wherever he was taking her was a place in which they would be alone. She couldn’t afford to be alone with him and the temptation he represented. Her hand was already splayed over his chest, feeling the heat of his skin through his thin silk shirt. She reached around his neck to loosen the mass of his long, thick hair so that strands blew around her face and over her arms.
Nicolae felt the shiver that ran through Destiny as he took them far out away from the city to one of the larger underground chambers he had found in his explorations of the area. His lips skimmed her throat, lingered for a moment over her frantically beating pulse, feathered up her neck to press against her ear.
“We need a private place to speak on this matter. I do not altogether trust what is happening within the neighborhood. Anything could be listening to us.”
He placed her on her feet, waving his hand so that flames leapt to life in the carved urn he had left behind days earlier. Golden light flickered and danced on the walls of the cave, illuminating gems buried in the rock so that the chamber seemed to sparkle. A ring of boulders captured a pool of shimmering water that bubbled up from the ground and fizzed like a Jacuzzi.