Desire: #4 Brightest Kind of Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page B

shoot—versus being shot upon as a goalie—with any kind of accuracy is a skill I had to develop, not one that came from dreaming it the night before.” I pause. “Speaking of shooting, I haven’t done it in a long time. That might be kind of fun to do together some time.”
    “How about we start with this for now,” Ethan says. Standing, he puts a small, cold stone in my hand, then holds out the slingshot.
    “You want me to try?”
    “Why not?”
    I start to hand him back the stone. “I’ve never done it before.”
    “Then I’ll show you.” He flashes a confident smile and moves behind me. Setting the slingshot in my other hand, he shows me how to set the stone inside the leather and pinch it closed around it. Then, he lifts my arms and directs me how to pull the slingshot back. While I ready my aim, he rests his hands on my hips and leans close to whisper in my ear, “I want many of your firsts to be with me, Sunshine.”
    His firm grip tightening on my hips and his husky voice radiating in my ear send the rock flying before I’m ready. I snort when it makes a spectacular arc right straight down into the pond. “David would so not want me on his team against Goliath.”
    Ethan chuckles. “You’re not aiming for a monstrous giant’s head. Just some mistletoe.”
    “Like that’s so much easier.”
    He sets another stone in my hand. “Try again.”
    After three more attempts, I at least got the rock as high as the mistletoe, but it lost steam and quickly fell before getting anywhere near the greenery.
    Sighing, I hand him the slingshot. “Your turn. Hopefully your aim is far better than mine.”
    After retrieving some more rocks, Ethan sets one in the slingshot, then closes one eye as he pulls the rock back. “For the mystical power of the mistletoe,” he says, then releases the leather.
    The rock shoots out of the slingshot so fast and hard, I can’t track it, but a couple seconds later, I see a bundle of mistletoe the size of a soccer ball tilt sideways in the tree.
    “Dead on!” I say and clap in appreciation. “One more hit should bring it down.”
    Ethan sends another rock flying. Two seconds later, the greenery tumbles down…landing in the middle of the pond.
    Pouting, I scan the massive oak for other options. “Crud. The only bundles are in the branches reaching out over the water. Any other mistletoe you break free will end up in the same place.” As if mocking me, the floating mistletoe hits some ice, then ever-so-slowly sinks under the water. I glance his way and sigh. “Now what are we going to do?”

Chapter Three

    Nara
     
    Ethan stands by the pond, shirtless and in the process of stepping out of his boots and socks.
    “You are not going in that water.”
    He touches my chin, a slight smile tilting his lips. “Do you know your cheeks get rosy when you’re all worked up?”
    I slice my hand toward the huge pieces of ice floating in the pond’s surface. “Your brain will shut down. The water’s too cold.”
    Ethan’s brow furrows. “We just talked about this. I’m not cold. At all. I’ll be fine.”
    His fingers might feel warm on my skin, but I jerk my head back and forth. “It’s one thing to be able to withstand cooler outside temperatures, but you don’t know how your body will react in freezing water.”
    “You’ve studied ravens, Nara. How do you think they survive, even in arctic environments?”
    I shuffle through my memory, seeking an answer even as I mumble, “They certainly don’t go swimming in freezing ponds.” By the time I glance up, Ethan has already stepped barefoot in the snow to the pond’s edge.
    “Ethan, no!”
    He just grins at me and walks into the water. My heart jerks when he shallow dives, disappearing under the water’s surface. Remembering he’d told me that he always keeps a change of clothes in his car in case a demon hunt turns messy, I tromp through the snow and open his car door. Once I pop the trunk, I hurry to the back to