Hours later I could still hear his roar in my ears, trickling down my spine in wave after wave of crippling pleasure. His face was painted in my head, eyes black with need and jaw carved from stone even though the promises he whispered were soft and sweet.

It played in the background of my mind and along the swollen, tender bits of my skin as Rowena’s delicate voice threaded words together in small notes of conversation.

“I’m not sensing any magic attached to him.” She said with an encroaching frown, her lips painted in a new shade of lipstick—one with a nude undertone that reminded me of a caramel latte. Her dainty hands moved swiftly, weaving around one another in a graceful dance that was made mysterious by the jade glow they emitted. A scowl coated Asher’s face in harsh lines and angles when she dropped them abruptly. “…just a great deal of stress, and quite a bit of anger.” As I thought he would, Asher stood from the leather chair the moment a wilting note of sy