She then realized she wasn’t in their little cave hideout beneath the beach. Not even close. She was in a building of some kind. It looked similar to the temple she’d hidden in from Alrik, or at least she was assuming it was temple of some kind since she wasn’t exactly adverse in demonic architecture. Colored stones in dark greys and shiny black covered the room’s walls and floor creating a medieval, yet beautiful look. A doorway paved out of the same stone, stood at opposite stone wall. Bright light poured in. She could see trees waving in the wind some distance away. She blinked against the brightness as her eyes adjusted to the light.

Where was Alrik? What happened? She thought back and fought to remember. She remembered the birds. Birds have never scared her before, but those did. And then, the storm. That storm...

It was as if it was after them, trying to kill him. She’d never felt anything so ominous before. The storm seemed to have one goal in mind: to swipe them down into that lake and make sure they didn’t return for air.

She didn’t want to think about how powerful his mother must be if she could send a storm that powerful after them, and he’d said she wasn’t even close to them. She could perform that kind of magic from great distances?

 Abbigail shivered as dread filled her. No way could she kill a person, even if she wanted to. No way she could go up against someone that powerful and win. Hell, she was a medical examiner not a combat-trained witch. Alrik showed greater magical powers than she did. Right, but according to some seer, he couldn’t kill his own mother because of the curse. Again, she wanted to know more about this curse. What kind of woman would curse her own son and to what purpose? Just why.

Abbigail walked out into the light. The day was surprisingly cold. Wind blew making her shiver. Abby hugged herself against the biting chill. Her clothes were dry now but she still wore the jeans and t-shirt she’d changed into after the police came to her house. She didn’t want to think about how long she’d been wearing these clothes. Nope, she wasn’t going there.

She took in the scenery outside. If the rift was one thing—beautiful was it. The landscape rolled up and down in hills some ways in the distance. The ground was covered in vibrant green grass, golden flowers, or maybe they were weeds to the demons, that were short or sometimes as tall as her waist. Trees were taller here; trunks thicker and older looking as if they’d never been cut down, never had to grow a new one. Everything looked so similar to a forest she might have visited in a park before, but it was the small details that made the difference.

Something made her pause her surveying, some niggling feeling at the back of her head. Slowly, Abby turned then stilled. Even her breath stopped.

Alrik sat on his knees, ankles behind him with his back facing her. His shirt lay on the ground beside him. His dark, black skin showed almost shining in the reflection of the light. His back was a piece of art. If someone had asked her what the perfect man’s body would look like, she would have fumbled for an answer before. Well, now she had an answer. It’d look like Alrik.

Smooth sinew rose over strong shoulders and down a tapered, thick waist. A strong enough waist she could wrap her legs around, squeeze, and it wouldn’t break him. Her chest grew hot and breasts pulled tight and heavy as she pictured doing just that.

His arms, which hung loosely in his lap, were nothing to sniff at. Even relaxed, his shoulders rounded out hard then cut in over solid triceps and bulking forearm muscles. He looked smooth and completely hairless. His dark ebony skin was like looking into a sky without any stars.

She’d taken a spinning class at her local gym a few years back with her friend Jenna, not that Jenna needed the workout, she practically had a six-pack from just walking which wasn’t fair. But even at the gym she’d hadn’t seen a man like this. She’d seen strong men, men who worked to get cut and hard, but nothing about Alrik’s body shouted “muscles obtained by gym-membership.” He wasn’t bulky; he was thick, strong, and cut. She flushed all over. Need gripped her and chose that moment to remind her how long it’d been since she touched a man. She hadn’t been physically intimate with anyone since college. Yeah, that would be two years ago now. Yikes.

“Are you done staring at me?”

Alrik’s deep voice jolted her. Abby’s face burned red and she started to run back into the little stone house but that’d be cowardly. Instead, she stood her ground, blush and all. However, she still hoped he wouldn’t turn around and see that blush. What did it mean that she found him so deliciously attractive? It couldn’t be good, not at all. Every instinct she had told her as much.

“I just woke up.” Crap, that didn’t answer his question. She searched for something else to say, but no words came. She was at a loss all because of some bare skin. Bare, strong skin.

Alrik planted his hands on the ground in front of him and then stood with a fluid motion. He turned to her, his dark gaze instantly locking on hers. Her stomach did a little fluttery flop. She swore if she’d met him under nearly any other circumstance she’d be happy, maybe even flirty. She didn’t normally chase after men but in this case he’d be worth it. If only circumstances were different.

He moved towards her and didn’t stop. Abby’s mouth dried up at the sight of all that skin. A slow, heavy thump started in heart. Each step he took her heart banged. An awareness came over her.

His chest was just as delicious as the backside, maybe more so. Smooth and hard. Would he be as soft to touch as he looked? His chest had two defined pectorals that trailed down to rows of ribbed, packed muscles that disappeared beneath his pants. For the second time, something wild, strange, and raw crackled between them. A dark colored tattoo covered his right side, but the paint was so dark against his skin she couldn’t tell what it was.

Her gaze flew back to his and her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t have moved if she tried. A dark heat glinted in his eyes. She had to see what he was going to do, and even though she hoped he wouldn’t, a part of her wished like hell that he’d touch her. She had to know what he’d do because what she felt she saw mirrored in his dark eyes.

He stopped before her, his heat warming her from the chill. They were so close to touching and yet so far. He seemed completely unfazed by the chill in the air. His hands came up and cupped her cheeks. A stuttering breath escaped her. Warmth permeated off his body. He had such strong hands, the kind meant to cup and cradle a woman. Something about the mixture of heat and hands brought a shiver between her legs. The look in his eyes spoke of only one thing—hunger. Her body answered the hunger with a growing need of her own centered deep within her body. Her skin tightened, entire body poised waiting for him to kiss her.

Only, he turned her head left then right, his eyes not low-lidded as she expected hers were, but hard and searching now. Something had changed in a flash. After that, he picked up each of her arms and checked them too. When he reached for her shirt, she was so surprised by the action she didn’t get to protest before he jerked it up.

She jerked to pull away and that only made her sides flare sharply. Instant blazing pain seared up her side and along her back as her muscles pulled. She winced and caught his hands to halt them.

A finger traced along her side softly. Still, it wasn’t soft enough and she hissed before latching onto his wrist. His eyes flicked up to hers. She swore she spotted a hint of lingering heat there, or maybe it what she wished she saw.

“You’ve sustained some serious bruising.”

Abby looked down and gasped. Serious bruising was no joke. Her entire left side was black and a dark ugly blue. She twisted around and saw the bruising covered a decent portion of her back too.