“You are not done working, Abbigail.” He sounded pained to say her name as if he couldn’t say it without yelling it. “Get back up there or I swear I’ll--”

Oooh!

She spun around and let all the frustration and anger that had been building throughout the long day fly from her mouth. “Or you’ll what? Magically force me to cast a damn spell? Sorry, but I don’t think even you can do something so ridiculous. I think I did good today. I started not even able to make the stupid little branch move a hair. Now I’ve made it fall over twice, and you know what? I’m wiped. Totally freaking wiped. I’m hot and sweaty, my skin feels sticky, and all I want to do is wipe the dirt and grime off me. And nothing you can do, I mean nothing, will stop me from doing just that, you got me?”

To prove her point she grabbed the hem of her shirt and whipped it over her head. It had to be the emotions riding her that made her wad the shirt into a ball and throw it at him. It didn’t come near hitting him but he didn’t seem to care. His eyes were locked on her chest. She had a moment of panic before anger overtook that too.

She propped her hands on her hips. Maybe she wouldn’t have been so cocky if she didn’t have a bra on, but right now she felt like she could command an army. “Are you gonna stand there and watch me bathe too?”

Something changed in the air. Energy crackled. His eyes turned hungry. That’s the only way she could describe it. His gaze darkened, eyes smoldered and devoured her body as if seeing her as anything other than “the witch” for the first time. He had the look of a man that wanted to eat her up. She could almost feel his gaze caressing her breasts. Her breasts pulled tight at the predatory look—the look of assessing a female.

Her breath caught. “Alrik?” she said hesitantly. Something about his stiff stance, the way his eyes glowed brighter, made him look as if he was fighting some inner war with himself.

His eyes flicked up to hers. His voice sounded thick, heavy, and slow. “Yes.”

Breathing became difficult, as if all the oxygen around them had disappeared. “Yes what?”

He blinked. “Yes, I’ll watch.”

She swallowed over the knot in her throat. Oh.

Abbigail had never purposely taunted a man for any reason. Even with her previous boyfriends and other short-lived flings during college, she’d never teased a man on purpose. She’d never had any reason to. Yet, she wanted to with him. Partly because he pissed her off, she wanted to unsettle him and watch him suffer. Another part, a much bigger part that she didn’t quite understand, wanted to see if she affected him, and to see if her body could sway the tall dark demon whom she couldn’t help but find physically appealing. A feminine charge spiked through her blood making her flushed, her movements slow.

She reached behind her back and unsnapped her bra. The white material floated to the ground. Their eyes locked together in a fiery battle and then she tugged down her jeans.

She heard his deep growl as she shoved her underwear down her legs.

Alrik couldn’t move. He was rooted in place not by a spell but by a human woman. Abbigail. Surely, life couldn’t be so cruel as to send a woman like her to him. She was seductively formed, small waisted with hips made for a man to hold on to while he thrust inside of her, and breasts that made his palms itch to hold.

She turned her back to him and waded into the water like a brave enchantress. The sight of her shapely backside and the sexy dip of her lower back nearly sent him after her. Her legs were strong, with just enough muscle that they rippled as she stepped into the lapping water.

Was she testing him? Trying to taunt him with something he couldn’t have or wouldn’t take?

Wait. He’d take it. Yes, he’d take it and so much more if she offered her young lithe body to him. After all the horrible deeds he’d committed in the past, using her body would hardly fare against them. He’d taken several steps towards her retreating back before he stopped himself.

No, he couldn’t touch her. They both needed to stay focused. He’d had and lost his love.

He could not turn so easily to another woman with Arianna’s death still lingering on his hands.

But it’s been a year since she died, a voice in his head taunted.

Abbigail ducked into the water and came up with a splash that glistened from her hair and bare shoulders. His mouth watered at the sight of naked skin, and his cock throbbed and hardened to a painful point.

Breathing hard, he stepped away from her, away from the temptation. She wouldn’t welcome him. He could make her but the thought of that didn’t sit well in his gut. If he touched her, something terrible might happen—he might begin to care. No, he couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t risk gaining any feelings towards her lest he be unable to go through with his plans. He needed her to die to save him. He finally had a chance to become the man he’d once been and he wouldn’t lose that chance no matter what.

He’d already lost one woman he cared about, he wouldn’t put himself in the same situation twice. No matter how the light glinted off her body. She cupped handfuls of water and scrubbed her face. She turned just enough so that he caught a glimpse of the side of her breast. He groaned low in his throat. He ached to know how she’d feel in his hand—heavy and full or light and firm? His cock became a heavy, throbbing mass.

He couldn’t do this. Not for him and not for Arianna.

Alrik made one of the hardest decisions of his life then and turned around. Back at the camp, he sat next to the fire. Air filled his head making him feel light and dizzy.

The human Abbigail was proving to be trouble. How could he ever look at her again and not see her naked in his eyes? He must harden his mind to her and hurry her spell casting lessons. The sooner she became strong enough to defeat his mother, the quicker he could be rid of her and live some semblance of his old life. He craved that relationship with his brother that they’d once had. Now that his mother’s cursed potions weren’t in his body and overriding his thoughts, he felt for the first time in a long time some of his own emotions. Not everything had come back with the curse still overriding him, but now he could feel something. These feelings seemed foreign to him, like someone else’s emotions, but they were his. And what he wanted more than anything was to be back at his brother’s side. He’d do anything to have that, even if that meant using and sacrificing Abbigail in the process.

A far off cry caught his ears. Alrik turned his head to the sky and his body tensed. Far off in the distance, coming from the south at a quick pace flew a flock of birds. Not just any birds but kolans, a large black bird known for eating anything found dead along the way. That wasn’t what sent Alrik to his feet and running down the path to Abbigail.

A dark foggy cloud surrounded the black-winged creatures and in that fog flew evil. The birds moved at incredible speed and as they neared a roar became louder and louder. The sounds reminded him of battle, where men yelled and screamed only the sounds of the birds was much higher.

“Abbigail!” Alrik roared.

She came up from the water and hearing the bird’s cries, turned to see the dark mass charging at them from high in the sky. She turned quickly and started for him. Smart witch. He thanked the seer once again that his savior was a smart witch.

She met him at the beach just as he reached it. Without hesitating, he grabbed her clothes in one arm then latched onto her hand with the other. He dragged her to the rocky slope that led down to their hidden cove.

The roar became deafening. He didn’t know what magic was at play, but he had an idea and it wasn’t good. The bright sky darkened to a murky grey. He had a moment’s hesitation that he hadn’t put out the fire at the camp, but as he looked up at the sky with the dark birds nearly upon them he knew he was out of time.