Page 79 of Birthright

Tilting my head to look up at his face, I gave him the best pout I could through the wine buzz. He drew his eyebrows together and shook his head. “Not going to work, I can’t keep up with you.” He was right. The man was built for power and strength, not speed.

“Fine, a walk then. I need to be outside for a while. I want to feel the forest around me. Please?”

He sighed, and his shoulders fell. “Okay, but just a walk.”

I dropped the high heels at the edge of the woods. He picked them up and took my hand to keep me at his pace. Inhaling deeply, I let the night cleanse my lungs. Bats fluttered their wings in the distance as they did their midair dance to catch insects. A raccoon led her kits through the undergrowth ahead to get them out of our way. I felt alive and free, even walking. I fought the urge to take off and run.

“No, you don’t,” Jordan interrupted. I’d had my wall up to his thoughts so he must have felt the tension in my body.

“Just a walk,” I said, heading in the direction of the clearing by the well. It was nice, almost like a real date or something, but the entire time my legs were itching to go.

We meandered, not talking, simply walking and enjoying each other’s company. He even tried to help me through the thicker part of the woods, lifting me over a downed tree and lifting me into his arms to cross a creek. Jordan was domineering and overbearing when it came to my protection, but he was also trying to be a gentle lover. So cute.

“I’ve seen you change so much,” he said as we met almost nose to nose as he lifted me.

“You have?” I asked, looking at him. His face softened for just a moment, that tender look I knew was just for me.

“I’ve seen you through much of your life, just like Manus. I witnessed your graduation from college, your jobs. When I couldn’t be there for the bigger things, Manus reported to me.”

“I never saw you.” He sat on a massive downed tree that brought him about to my eye level.

He laughed that arrogant laugh of his. “If you had seen me, I’d be pretty crap at my job, would I?”

“If you were such an admirer, how come I’ve been here for months and only recently met you?” I started walking. These emotions were making me uneasy. He had known me for years and I had just met him. He didn’t answer. “Well?”

I looked back at his chiseled profile and saw something on his face I couldn’t read. The mountain of a man sat still and looked like he would shatter if I touched him. But he said nothing. He started walking again, pulling me along with him.

“I’m not sure of the sensitive side of you, Jordan. I think I prefer the bossy, arrogant grump. At least then I know what to expect.”

We hit the clearing and walked to the far end of it. “I think we should head back, Keena. It’s late and you need some rest.” He tried to sound stern, but I had him figured out now. He was just as drawn to me as I was to him, maybe more so. I wouldn’t see this side often and I could tell it made him uneasy. That was to my benefit.

He stepped into the circle I had made to create the potion for Howard the hawk’s amulet. I swiftly closed the circle from the outside, trapping him in. Circles were used to call Demons and hold them, so when Jordan tried to leave the circle, he couldn’t.

He looked shocked. “You closed a circle without ritual magic?”

I walked around the circle that held my own personal Demon. “I said I’d been practicing. You’re the chief of WildLand security, Sarge, you should have known all this.” I was teasing.

“Very funny. My people said you and the Imp were playing around in the woods.”

I came right up to the edge of the circle and pressed a finger into it. The glowing bubble gave just a little. “Well, I guess your people had better learn the difference between girls playing in the woods and Witches practicing. We did have fun but we definitely had an agenda.” I circled him again. “I guess I can go for a run now, can’t I?”

The little vein in his temple started to pulse. “Keena, this is not funny. I can’t protect you from in here. Now break the circle.”

“I don’t think so.” I moved into the woods and started running. He was shouting all sorts of obscenities at me. I stayed close and only ran enough to feel the earth give beneath my feet and the woods come alive to me, the colors expanding and brightening. I don’t know why running made it all seem so much more alive, but it did and I drank it all in.

The volume of his cursing let me know how far I was from the huge man in my circle. I also didn’t know how far away I could be and still hold the circle closed, so I ran through the trees surrounding the clearing a couple times to stretch my legs. It wasn’t all I wanted, but it was enough.

I made my way back to the clearing and broke the circle before I got all the way back to Jordan. He was seething and marched over grabbed my arms below the shoulders and lifted me off my feet. “Do not ever leave yourself unprotected like that again. Do you understand me?”

I should be mad at his attitude, but I wasn’t. After all, I had pissed him off and Cliona was right. It was kinda fun.

“Protecting me isn’t your job anymore, Sarge.” I wrapped my legs around his waist and used them to pull myself closer to him. His power rushed over me, sending shivers down my spine, and I purred at the feel of it. His hard, muscled body and his magic turned my body into an instant raging fire.

He raised his eyebrows and let go of my arms. I held myself in place with my legs tight around his waist, clenching my abs hard. I wrapped one arm around his neck and ran my other hand over his chest. He growled.

“The Vamp queen isn’t here, is she? So it is still my job.” His breath ran cold over the heat his power was pushing through me. I relaxed my legs, sliding intentionally slowly down his body, making him close his eyes as my mound passed over the bulge in his leather pants before dropping to my feet.

“Like that, do you?” I let my hand trail the length of his stomach and stop just above the top of his pants. He opened his eyes and looked down at me. I smiled sweetly. “Then catch me if you can.”