Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia
Sinnder took a long pull from his beer and closed his eyes as the alcohol lazed its way down his gullet like the slow-kicking legs of an exotic dancer shimmying on a pole. The Fire flirting between the couple hundred anxious Just Breathe fans at Shaggy’s snagged his attention, but it wasn’t hot enough to distract him from Scarlet’s incessant, Gavin-obsessed chatter. His last remaining nerve seized and sizzled in a pitiful death throe.
“There she is. My informant was right. Keep that bitch out of Gavin’s line of sight. Take her to the toilets and fuck her stupid if you have to—or strangle her. I don’t care. Just don’t let her near him.” Scarlet’s coy smile reminded him of a snake testing the air with its tongue. Deadly intent hidden under the guise of a seemingly innocent gesture.
Sinnder turned to check out Zoe and raised a brow. Form fitting purple shirt with a couple buttons undone, tight jeans, make-up. What got into her ? Last time he saw Zoe, she’d been a total Plain Jane yawn-fest decked out in shorts and a tee shirt, limp hair tied up in a ratty ponytail. Tonight? Downright edible.
Fire stretched and pushed at his corporeal boundaries, a pacing lion growing weary of its cage. Fire needed freedom. Something to feast on. It needed to explore.
Zoe might be a good place to kick off tonight’s expedition.
After all the time he’d spent studying her and Gavin in the Dreaming, he’d never thought of her as anything more than a curiosity. But something about seeing her in the flesh rattled his chain. Subtle confidence with an underlying note of duty. Would she be as committed in bed as she was to the whales she studied? His cock hardened. He would soon find out.
Yeah. He wanted her. Not so much her , but her chemistry. It was a fascinating study in contrasts. A mixture of red and blue—hot and cool, passion and emotion, naughty and nice.
He preferred naughty.
She would too when he finished with her.
He took two steps into the sweaty swell of silicone and hairspray, then paused to soak up more Fire. Breasts grazed his chest, propositions bandied, hands with bejeweled nails groped. Inhaling deeply, he embraced the heat, stored it at the tips of his fingers for easy access. He bulldozed a path through the crowd, leaving a trail of pheromones in his wake. While the Wyldlings swooned behind him and clawed at his leather jacket, he tracked Zoe’s path to the drink line and got there just after she did.
“Let me know how it goes.” Scarlet. What was she still doing here? She trailed fingers down his arm, flashed a smile at Zoe, then blended into the Wyldling throng. Zoe’s gaze followed her ass for a moment. She turned around and stumbled upon Sinnder. He barely covered his surprise at the shocking blue of her irises. That shock triggered the release of more pheromones—this time without his permission. He squared his shoulders as she did a glassy-eyed double take.
Hook. Line. Sinker.
His mind sent him on a short detour from reality into the very near future…
“ I want to fuck you.” He licks his lips. His cock throbs.
Zoe blushes and smiles. Hands land on her hips. Sweat glistens on the tops of breasts peering from the inside of her shirt. “Gavin wouldn’t like that.”
His weight shifts as he readjusts to accommodate the growing erection in his jeans. The discomfort arouses him further. “Then, I’ll fuck him too.”
She glances to the stage. Gavin tosses his guitar aside and steps down. He winds his way through the crowd, eyes only for her, glittering under the shadows. Stalking.
In slow motion, her arm extends toward Gavin. Fingers spread and meet his, accepting his silent offer to dance. Fire ignites at the intersection of flesh. The air between them ripples and bends. Clutching his hand, she faces Sinnder. Gavin steps behind her, palms her hips, and presents her as an offering to the Fire god Incendius.
Saliva floods