“What’s in the box?”
“Nothing for you to worry about,” he answered, gaze dropping to the floor.
I rolled my eyes and pushed away from the island with my hands on my hips. “You just want me to beg.”
His smile widened. “I’dalwayslove to hear that, but I still won’t tell you. It’s a surprise.”
His eyes hadn’t lifted once. They stared hard at my legs, then traveled down to watch my feet as I shifted my weight from one to the other. I swear to god if he had a foot fetish and something in that box made itevenmore creepy… What if it was nail polish and weirdly scented lotions? My imagination ran wild with all the demented options that could be in there.Gross.
“It better not be sex toys or some other disturbing fuckery, Ezra Alantes!”
He jerked out of whatever trance my feet had him in and met my glare with wide eyes. Looking more confused than I’d ever seen him, he glanced down at the box and then back at me. Twice.
“What toys doyouuse that need a box this size?”
What?“That’s not—”
“I knew you were into freaky shit babe, but damn.”
There was no talking my way out of that one. I walked right into it. Choosing to ignore him entirely, I turned and went backto finishing my cereal. I heard him place the box in the hall closet before coming up behind me. Still crowing.
“Now you have to tell me,” he begged. I put another spoonful in my mouth. “It’s a dragon dildo, isn’t it? No, too small. The dildo and multiple vibrators?” He paused and then dipped his head between me and the bowl until I had no choice but to look at him. “Oh my gods,” he said with the dirtiest grin. “A sex machine!”
“Are you done?”
“Don’t be ashamed.” He winked. “I’m open to trying everything once.”
Dear fucking lord.
“I’m sure you are.”
I moved around him to rinse my bowl and place it in the dishwasher. He flopped across the granite with a dramatic sigh. “Fine. Don’t tell me.”
Bouncing up with enough energy to power a truck, he followed me to the other side of the island and began…inspecting. My toes curled on the cool kitchen tile as his eyes touched on every part of me: my collarbone, shoulders, hips, my bare legs. When he was focused like this—hair out of his eyes, arms crossed, brows lowered, bottom lip trapped between his teeth—his scrutiny was a little hot. Though he’d never hear me admit it.
“If we’re not going to play, then it's time to get to work,” he said, plucking my tank top. “This will do. Follow me.”
I frowned at my cotton shorts and top, sleepwear really, and curiously followed him out the back door. I hadn’t seen much of the property since arriving, just what I noticed through the windows, and I was unaware that there was a pool in the backyard.
I froze as Ezra casually passed it, plans of how he wanted to teach me to defend myself falling from his lips. When he didn’tstop at the patio and disappeared around the side of the house, I let out the breath I’d been holding and quickly scampered after him.
Sweat dotted my hairline, and it had nothing to do with the warm weather. There was so much water. So deep. Soclose. Images of me falling inside and being sucked to the bottom flooded my mind, despite knowing that I had no plans to go anywhere near that pool.
“Are you listening?” Ezra called, standing next to a stationary punching bag.
I walked up to it, my face stuck in a scrunched frown as I wondered what I was about to get myself into now.
“I don't know much about siren powers,” he admitted. “Or how to teach you control of them. That’s why Kai is sending a tutor. But I can show you how to defend yourself without magick… if you’re interested.”
Fuck yes. Anything that kept me from being helpless was something I wanted to know how to do. If he had whipped out a cadaver from the school’s body lab and told me he was going to teach me how to stab someone to death on it, I’d jump on that with zero hesitation, too.
I met his stare and smiled, a true one that I hadn’t felt on my lips in weeks. “I’msofucking interested.”
He nodded, serious. “It’s not going to be easy. But if you can harness all that anger inside you, it just might be enough to make a difference.”
Whatever. Maybe this could help me control the rage, but I wanted to know more about how it would keep me from dying. Ezra held his hand up in front of me and showed me how it curled into a proper fist. I watched carefully and tried to mimic the exact position of his fingers.
My nails cut into my palms and he taught me how to curl my knuckles tighter to avoid it. Thumb untucked and wrist straight, I opened and closed my fist a few times until I got the hang of it.
