Fae Chronicles 01 - Fighting Destiny (25 page)

"I want to feed from you so fucking badly, Syn. I need to part your legs drive my cock inside of you, I want to see you as you come on my cock."

His words penetrated my brain like a knife through an eye socket. "No, Ryder I can't."

"Can't, or won't Syn?" He growled in frustration.

I was about to answer when a soft knock sounded from the door. Ryder was up and fixing his erection against his jeans before I could say anything else. My eyes latched on to it as it stood proudly against his navel. I licked my lips wanting to ask him to stay, but not knowing how to. I knew where he'd go after this. I could see his hunger burning in his eyes.

"You keep saying you can't and it's a lie. You
won't.
You hide in the fucking past. You're not living Syn, you're just going through the motions of it. You want me, I can smell it—you need it as much as I do right now. The difference is, I can admit to what I want—you
can't
."

I gulped in air and fought for something to say while he waited, watching me struggle internally. He snorted and turned for the door. "Wait, Ryder I—"

"Save it," he interjected cutting me off. "I own you Syn, so know this. While you're under my roof and my protection, the only release you will get, is from me. Not by your hand or another's, when you can grow the fuck up and admit to me what your body already knows—well you know where to find me."

I watched him turn and walk out of the room as Larissa and Adam walked in wide eyed.

"Oh hell Syn, your lips are kiss-me-silly swollen," Larissa said with wide shocked eyes.

"She's more than that baby," Adam responded when I couldn’t find the words. He was holding her hand and I wanted to cry. I'd never have that again, the love they felt for one another. It would be forever beyond my grasp.

"So, what's up with you and Ryder anyways?" Larissa asked floating in to sit on the bed while she dragged Adam with her.

"Nothing," I lied and felt a pinch of regret for doing so. "I'm immune to him apparently, well mostly. He can't turn me into a mindless zombie, but I do feel his powers, just not on a level I should."

"That mother fucker tried to turn you FIZ? I'll fucking kill him!' Adam was enraged and off the bed in seconds taking long strides to the door.

"I asked him to, well sorta." I said quickly to stop Adam from getting his ass handed to him, which I was pretty sure Ryder would do right now if disturbed with Claire and his damn desk.

"Wait, wait a minute. You hate the Fae. What the hell is wrong with you?" Adam demanded coming back over to sit on the bed beside Larissa.

I blew out a deep breath, "This brand on my neck, it's not for the Fae Adam. Ryder doesn’t know what it says and I’m pretty sure he's older than dirt."

Adam narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "What do you mean it’s not for the Fae, what the hell did Titus put on your neck?"

"No idea, but we need to figure it out—and soon." I replied shaking my head.

I tried to remember what Titus had said while tattooing the ink and gave up. I licked my lips nervously and spoke low so only those inside the room could hear me. "I have no birth certificate according to Ryder, you don’t either Adam. There are no pictures of me inside my parent's house before I was six months old."

"I was left at the Guild so no surprise there, but there has to be some pictures of you as an infant—well unless you were an ugly baby."

I snorted at his response since it pretty much matched the one I had given to Ryder. I considered my option and then turned to look at Larissa. "If Adam cut it off, you could heal it right?"

"Oh hell no! We cannot just cut it off Syn, have you lost your mind?" Larissa said turning a light color of green.

I rubbed my eyes, tired from everything I had dealt with today. "Adrian is alive," I mumbled knowing that was what they had come in here for.

"Technically he's—Ow!" Adam whined and rubbed his ribs where Larissa had just elbowed him. I barely contained a smile as he continued to do so.

"I know, how could he do that to us? I mean, he actually got turned into a Vampire I can't believe it! And he was all over you. He thinks he can come back in here after we buried him? Seriously, the guy is going to send my ass to counseling!" She shouted in her best outraged voice for my benefit.

"If you want I can grab my notebook and a pen and you can lie on the couch?" I teased her.

Adam laughed and lifted his green eyes up to meet mine. He wasn’t fooled by the jokes I was using to deflect the conversation at all. "He doesn’t deserve you, he left us. All of us, he left the coven to become more powerful Syn."

"Yeah, I get that. But, why? He was already powerful." I replied thinking it over.

"No idea, but now that Larissa has fed her curiosity of why Ryder was inside your room and no voices could be heard from the door…I bid you goodnight," Adam smiled as Larissa glared at him before he walked out and closed the door behind him.

"You can't be with Ryder,
ever
Syn," she said hastily.

"I know that, he was trying to figure out what the brand on my neck was for. Just don't worry about it. It's my ass, not yours. Why are you so worried about me, when you have Adam?" I asked deflecting her statement.

"I've liked him since we were little, I just need to see where this goes," she moved her hair behind her ear and smiled sadly.

"I'm doomed, I think I should become a nun," I smiled trying to lighten the mood.

"We're both going to hell, but at least we will be there together," Larissa said grinning.

"Not anytime soon though," I joked halfheartedly.

If we didn’t catch this killer, it might be sooner than later.

The next few days were difficult, but we'd managed to settle into a routine of sorts. My coven worked out in the morning together as we always had, while Ryder and his men disappeared to wherever it was they went to during the days.

Communications were short and kept to a minimum. I trained with Ryder and Zahruk who seemed to be his second in command. I'd even managed to hold a tea cup in the correct way. Who knew there was an actual right way to hold a flimsy little china cup? Today, I was being instructed on how to dance. By Ryder himself.

Ryder had said to pick out something suitable to dance in, so I was relieved when Larissa showed up holding an ice blue dress and shoes. It was backless and soft, not something I would normally wear, but I was limited on choices. I slipped into it and stared at my bare feet.

I slipped on the matching shoes and decided to leave my hair down and slapped on some light make-up. Zahruk knocked and opened the door and nodded, before offering his arm so we could head to the room in which we'd be dancing in.

Adrian had never wanted to dance, the other night couldn’t be considered since all I had done was move my feet while he had held me. I'd been too stunned to do much more than that. I just had to train for one more night and then I'd been promised we'd be allowed out, even if only for a few hours. Adam and Larissa had both begged to go to the Guild's Samhain party.

I peeked around Zahruk's wide shoulders to watch as several couples twirled around the dance floor. Surprisingly Adam and Larissa were one of those couples. I smiled as I watched them glide smoothly to the music and wondered how I could have missed the relationship. They looked happy together, complete.

"Coming in, or do you plan on hiding behind me all day?" Zahruk said with a wide grin that lit all the way to his vivid blue eyes.

"I don’t dance—not like that anyways," I mumbled looking around the faces, stopping when I realized I was looking for Ryder.

I stepped forward into the room and everyone stopped as the music halted. Zahruk herded me towards a set of chairs that had been set up. I was told to take a seat and watch. Easier said than done as Claire and Ryder came in smiling together from where I had just entered the room myself.

Ryder was dressed in the casual clothes he normally preferred, white long sleeve shirt with low slung jeans. His hair was wet as if he'd just come from a shower, his eyes flickered to me briefly before going back to Claire's perfect chocolate depths.

Claire gave me a haughty look before she said something to Ryder as he allowed her to curl up against him and the music started up. I swallowed down the foreign feelings that rushed up and fought to control my mind. Why should I feel anything if Ryder had his mistress in his arms and they were currently dancing slowly to music?

I bit my lip and looked away from the happy couple to the door as more of Ryder's men walked in wearing white T-shirts and jeans. Muscles and tattoos pulsing against their bulging bronzed perfection showing through them. I almost bit my lip off as Adrian and Vlad walked in close behind them.

What the hell were they doing here? I sunk lower in my chair trying to become one with it. No such luck. Adrian walked over and sat beside me as Ryder detangled himself from Claire's clutches, leveling a glare on us.

"We need to talk Fancy Face," Adrian said without looking at me, as he watched the couples still dancing.

"No we don’t."

"I need to explain why I did this, so you can make peace with it," he continued.

I watched as Ryder's men gathered in a corner pulling out folding chairs and sitting in them, some were straddling them while others pulled out two and sat in one while kicking their feet up. Were they expecting a show?
Great, more people to witness my disgrace.

I watched as Ryder came over and held out his hand while Claire did the same to Adrian. I stood meeting Adrian's turquoise gaze while I accepted Ryder's hand and allowed him to pull me across the floor to stand between some of the couples that had paused for us to join in. He placed his hand on the small of my back. His other held my hand as we waited for the song start. We didn’t have long to wait.

The music started even as the butterflies played with my insides, his eyes locked with mine as the song started up slowly. David Cook's
The Time Of My Life
came on, the music filling the room around us. I stumbled when he moved and apologized until I caught the smile on his lips. "I can't dance Ryder. You never said anything about dancing when I signed the contract."

"Take off your shoes," he countered, already releasing me and bending over to take his own footwear off. I watched him as others did the same and eventually I ignored the brilliant blush that crept up to my cheeks and did the same, stepping out of the borrowed strappy heels.

Ryder smiled and I stared at him, he was shockingly beautiful and ethereal. Like a lion, you wanted to touch him but knew by doing so he'd consume you, body and soul. I swallowed and held my hand up for him to take it.

"Put your feet on mine Synthia," he said quietly, aware that everyone was watching us.

I exhaled and obeyed him, knowing his men were watching us, as well as my coven. When the song restarted he carried us both, his hand once again on the small of my back. Rubbing it softly as his fingers settled against it. My heart raced from his touch, the deep desire in his eyes made it flip-flop as he swept me around the room until everyone else faded away, leaving us alone inside the room.

I smiled as I looked down to see our feet together. Nervous at being so close to him and doing something I had only ever done with my father. It had been the last thing we’d ever done together. But with Ryder, it was intimate, sending heat flooding through me. I looked back up with the smile still in place to catch him staring openly in wonder at me. "What?" I asked growing self-conscious.

"You’re very beautiful Syn," he whispered tenderly.

I swallowed and tried to repay the compliment but thought better of it and lowered my eyes. The butterflies had left, but in their place were a million reasons screaming that I should be running, that I was treading on dangerous ground with him. When I looked back up he was frowning softly as he watched the emotions playing upon my face.

"Not used to getting compliments, are you?" He said moving us closer together until my body was completely flushed with his.

"No," I replied honestly.

"I scare you Syn, make you feel things you're afraid of admitting to yourself."

I met his eyes and refused to answer him. He already knew I was turned on by his touch and I wasn’t going to draw it out for him. I lowered my eyes and then turned them over to where Adrian was dancing with Claire. "Why is he here?"

"Because they will be attending the Engagement Ball and we can use all the help we can get right now to keep Arianna safe. I won't take chances with her."

"Where is she? If you guys are getting married I’d think you'd be dying to be together already. I know I would be….well with…" I was tripping over my tongue and his amused smile told me he was enjoying it, "If it were me Ryder, I'd want to be with you." I watched his smile fade and then I replayed what I had just said. "That came out wrong."

"I'd want you close as well Synthia," he whispered close to my ear. "Maybe I should ditch her and take my chances with you."

"That wasn’t how I meant it at all," I squeaked even as he smiled wider.

"And what if I did?" He asked still smiling.

"Well then I would say you are crazy." I asked and watched his smile fade away to the normal wicked grin.

"You think someone would have to be crazy to want you?"

"Well, you yes. Because you don’t like me remember? I'm sarcastic and stubborn and those are just a few of the things you don't like about me, I should start a list—to keep track." I said softly.

He did the last thing I expected him to do. He threw his head back and laughed while still moving us around the dance floor without missing a step. I had to remind myself to breathe. Smiling was one thing but watching this man laugh took years off of his face and replaced him with a rogue who was irresistible and his laughter was contagious.

Everyone inside the room was watching us closely. Those who had been dancing had moved from the dance floor, the song had also changed and yet I'd been too wrapped up in Ryder to notice anything. His touch and the sound of his laughter had instantly made my body flood with heat, it was unacceptable.