SHE MIGHT HAVE MISCALCULATED THE EFFECT plucking at the tension that came so easily to them. before that night, it had been suffocating, filling the spaces between them until they clawed at each other to breathe. she had spent her life fighting for every inch the world had to give until the miles she had gained meant nothing without the struggle. somewhere she had carved a chasm inside herself to fill with all her anger, her rage, until she could pull from it like a well. it was as bottomless as it was ruthless. he had that anger too, that fight that came from his bones. so that night she had given him a choice—we can fight or we can fuck, but this tension needs to end so pick one. he did and it was good, well, way better than good. it reminded her that if he wasnt a good man, she wouldnt have even suggested it. plus, it was hard to go toe to toe with someone youve seen naked.
the problem? she was painfully aware of him in a way that had nothing to do with anger. the necromancer watched him walk across the room toward her, the blue button up stretched over the swell of his biceps and across his chest in a way that almost looked like it was a size too small. she knew that wasnt the reason. her dark eyes drank him in, remembering how his thighs felt under her hands, how his skin tasted, the way he sounded when she—
he stepped into her space and she took a sharp inhale at the hum of power that was suddenly much closer to her than she had expected him to stop. she set her lips into a frown, controlled except for the heat she couldnt take from her dark eyes. with a wall behind her, she had to crane her next back to look up at him with how close he was. he leaned down, bending to place his lips next to her ear. the smell of his cologne and the hum of power under his skin felt like a someone had wrapped her in a blanket. her power knew his now, how it thrummed at the proximity almost begging her to touch him. she didnt and it wouldve been stifling if not for the fact that she could almost feel the small smile on his lips.
“ are you going to stick to the plan this time? ”
had he said that weeks ago, she wouldve been tempted to threaten the whole mission if he didnt get out of her face and stop treating her like a child. to her surprise, and probably his, that anger wasnt there this time. there was no tension filling the spaces between them, not the kind of tension that was there before. she didnt feel insulted or think that he was going to ruin everything. instead there was a sense of tentative trust and enough rapport that made him more into a friend than a potential enemy. good sex would do that.
“ this time we go by your plan, captain, ” she whispered, her cheek brushing against his in the closeness, his title rolling off her tongue like warm chocolate. “ when it goes wrong, im going to take it out on you. ”
somehow, those words no longer sounded like a threat when she said it like that. maybe ‘friend’ wasnt the right word.
