Free Life Cycle by Zoe Winters Page B

This
is the only place I can focus without interruption.”
    Cain concentrated and produced a ball of fire in his
hand.
    Tam had another energy ball ready. “Don’t even think
about it.”
    “I thought you wanted to die. I’m sure this counts
as a magical death. We could find out if you like? Though I can’t
blame you for not wanting to die by fire. I’ve seen my share of
witch burnings. It’s a brutal death.”
    “I know. Been there, done that.”
    The retort caught him off guard, and for some reason
the images it produced bothered him.
    Tam braced herself, ready to disarm him, but the
fireball hadn’t been meant for her; he just couldn’t resist the
opportunity to screw with her head over the assumption. He stepped
to the side and lit a torch on the cave wall. “Relax, this isn’t
for you. Remember, I planned on seducing you first for the fun of
watching you beg me to keep you. I continue to find that plan
amusing.”
    She held the purple glowing ball steady in her hand,
clearly not trusting his word. He didn’t blame her. He wasn’t all
that trustworthy when it came to things he told humans. He moved
through the main part of the cave, lighting torches on the wall,
then he let the fire fizzle out of his hand. For a moment he
assessed the space, worried about the ventilation with a human, but
the cave was large. It should be fine.
    He laid the bag with the scroll on the ground and
peeled his shirt off.
    Tam took a step back, the idea of being his toy on
demand not yet having settled in her mind—if her reaction to him
was any indication.
    “What do you think you’re doing?”
    “I don’t think. I know. You and me. Now.”
    “Here?” she squeaked.
    He chuckled. “You’re the one who wandered out here.
Nobody dragged you. And as you said, we won’t be interrupted.”
    “I’m not in the mood.”
    The chuckle turned into a full-bodied laugh. “I’m an
incubus, sweetheart. I know that’s not true. You’re always in the
mood when I’m around.”
    Her cheeks turned an endearing shade of pink, visible
even in the weak torchlight, but she quickly recovered. “What’s the
point? You aren’t going to kill me anyway. You’re just amusing
yourself with me.”
    “Drop the shields, Tam.”
    “No. Work for it.” A smirk lit her face as she let
the ball of energy burn out in her hand. “Seduce me. No
tricks.”
    He pushed her against the wall, using his larger size
in an intimidation attempt, but she remained unconcerned. He tried
not to think about how much he loved that about her. He almost
pulled back in surprise when Tam kissed a trail from the side of
his neck up to his ear.
    “I will never beg you to keep me,” she whispered.
“I’m not one of these bubble-headed bimbos you take home every
night. I have much more experience, enough to know the difference
between sex and love. I don’t have sparkly romance fantasies.”
    She did want him; he could smell it; he
could feel it. Her energy pulsed with it. She may as well have been
under his thrall, but her words still shook him because inside
them, he felt the kernel of truth. It was the kind of truth that
could be spoken because there was no danger in anyone believing it.
But he believed it. God, she was just as jaded as he
was.
    He wanted to dampen her desire and end her game.
“Okay. No tricks, then.” He couldn’t feed if she didn’t want him,
but who said he had to feed? He had her alone out here in the caves
in his dimension. He could do whatever he wanted with her, assuming
he could stop her from hitting him with an energy ball or chanting
him into a jar. Those were big assumptions, but right now all he
wanted was to wipe out her upper hand.
    He dropped his glamour, smoothing away all the
perfection to leave someone who looked like a real man. A little
less muscled, a few more lines, a scar across his forehead that
marked him forever as a betrayer.
    “You must be a mind reader. Rugged is just my type,”
she said, the coy taunt still in