Rory’s knees went soft, and she steadied herself, pressing her hands against his hot, naked chest. “If that was small, I won’t survive anything bigger.”
His voice was rough, deep with a hint of amusement. “Perhaps not at first, but soon you’ll be able to take much, much more. As much as you need.”
She wasn’t sure if he’d chosen his words to paint vivid, arousing images of the two of them, bodies entwined, but her pesky imagination was running wild, like some drunk frat girl. “What would I need it for?”
“To find the person who stops your visions. That is what you want, isn’t it?”
Visions were the last thing on her mind right now. She couldn’t think straight so close to a man like him. He made her too hot and achy to concentrate while simultaneously drenching her in thrilling, heady excitement. She wanted things she had no words for—things that sparked to life within her chest, tiny and quivering with possibility.
“Yeah,” she said, hating the vapid, breathless quality of her voice. “That’s what I want.”
His body shifted slightly, the movement so minute she could hardly feel it. Even so, his entire demeanor changed. He held her tighter, nearly lifting her from her feet. A fervent energy spilled out of him, and his voice dipped low, coming out in an almost inaudible whisper. “You don’t have to find this person. We could work together to find a way to block the visions. With my power at your disposal, there’s nothing the two of us can’t do together.”
Oh, man. Not fair. He was intoxicating her with his sexy voice, with his touch, with his scent. His entire presence wrapped around her and held her captive, making her yearn for things she knew better than to want.
She’d been so lonely since Nana had died. His companionship was a welcome respite from the daily grind, like a patch of sunlight in an endless sea of cold fog. She wanted to snuggle right in and take what he was so eager to give her, but nothing this good could be true. His eyes made promises that no one person could ever be powerful enough to fulfill.
“But you said I had to word my promise to you carefully. If I don’t find the person who stops my visions, then what happens?”
His finger traced the necklace she now wore. It jumped in response to his touch, shivering and humming against her skin. “My luceria stays fixed around your neck.”
“For how long?”
“You know the answer to that.”
She did. She felt the knowledge shimmering inside her mind—like some dormant, forgotten memory suddenly sparked to life. “Forever.”
He nodded, his throat working as he swallowed hard.
“You don’t even know me. Not really. How can the idea of us having this weird, magical connection not freak you out? For all you know, I’m a serial killer.”
“The luceria would have shown me that had it been true. It didn’t. I saw other things, though.”
“Are you saying that this necklace showed you something from my life?”
“That is the way it works. I show you mine. You show me yours.”
In an embarrassingly swift rush, her mind went to a naughty little place where the two of them were naked and pressed together as close as two people could get. It was a silly, immature thing for her to imagine, but she couldn’t stop herself from feeling a giddy rush of girlish excitement all the same.
“What did you see?” she asked, looking at her toes because she was too afraid to see any hints of mockery on his face.
“Bits of your life. Your grandmother. Your isolation.” He tipped her chin up with his finger. “It doesn’t have to be like that now. You’re not alone anymore.”
Tears burned her eyes as a wave of unwanted emotions swept over her. She was ashamed of her weakness, embarrassed by her affliction and the loneliness it caused. But mostly, she was relieved to be able to be this close to another person again. She hadn’t been able to see through Nana’s eyes for some reason, and Cain was like that, too—at least when she touched him. He made her feel normal, rather than like the fucked-up freak show she really was.
With him, it was easy to pretend that everything really was going to be okay, and that her life wouldn’t be a constant struggle to keep the visions away.
And that was the problem. With him it was pretend. Not real. Not permanent.
Sure, he said pretty words about forever, but that wasn’t the way the real world worked. Sooner or later she’d piss him off, or he’d irritate her and they’d go their separate ways. And that was assuming he didn’t simply grow bored with her. A man built like him could have any woman he wanted. Sooner or later, that woman would walk into his life and leave Rory looking like a dirty, wet sponge by comparison.
“I need to finish what I started,” she told him. “I will find the person who makes my visions go away and figure out how they do it. Hope said that it might be as simple as finding a magic ring or something.”
That little spark of hope that had lit his green eyes was snuffed out. He nodded and let his hands drop to his sides, leaving a cold wedge of air between them. “If you want to find this person, then it’s time you learned to use my power.”
“How is that going to help?”
“Because you may be able to use magic to aid your search.”
“Really?”
“Really. And even if you can’t use it in that way, you need to learn how to protect yourself.”
“I have a gun. I know how to use it.”
“That will do little good against most demons.”