Air of Seduction (Elemental Enforcers #3)

Chapter 7

Ronan

“There’s no place for you to go. It’s the middle of the day.” Pushing the fear for Payton away, I let my rage fill me to the brim.

The vamp has the audacity to laugh. “Well, it’s a good thing I have this sweet thing to keep me company then.” He bends his head and brushes his lips against her temple.

She lets out a squeak, and her eyes go even wider. His hand is wrapped around her throat, but at least it doesn’t seem to be tight enough to cut off her air supply.

Fury takes over my body like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It burns through me with an intensity on par with a volcanic eruption. My whole body vibrates with the need to rip this asshole apart limb from limb.

“Let her go, or you’ll never see another night again.” The air starts swirling around me like a small whirlwind. It wasn’t my intention to use my power, but I can’t seem to shut it off.

The vamp’s brows push together for a moment, but then he laughs. Although, it sounds forced. “Is that supposed to scare me? I can snuff this woman’s life out with a little twist of my hand, and you know perfectly well you won’t be able to stop me in time. But if you get out of this house right now, I’ll make sure to leave her alive to do with as you please after I’m done with her.”

It takes all my willpower to stay in place. He’s right. I won’t be able to get to her in time. She’ll be dead by the time I can take her away from him.

The only way to stop him is to render him immobile or dead so swiftly he won’t have time to react, and all without hurting Payton in the process. Decapitation would be the most effective, but I don’t have the tools or the opportunity to carry it out at the moment. And of course, there’s a significant risk of injuring Payton if I tried.

Locking his eyes on me, he bends his head and kisses Payton on the cheek. Her eyes turn pleading as she stares at me, but all I can do is watch.

Then, he stretches out his tongue and licks the corner of her mouth, and she squeezes her eyes shut.

Something snaps inside me, and my power surges before it leaves my body in one giant pulse.

I see it like in slow motion when the air in front of me condenses into a thin sheet and sails clean through his neck without touching Payton’s head less than an inch away. There’s a look of surprise on his face as his body twitches. Then his head slides off his neck and falls to the floor with a thud.

His arms fall away from Payton when his body crumples to the floor and starts turning to ash. He’s clearly young, since his body doesn’t disintegrate instantly.

Payton’s knees give out, but I’m already there to catch her. She slumps against me, gasping for air like she hasn’t breathed in minutes. But I think it’s the fear talking more than a lack of oxygen.

I hold her against my chest while I stare down at the slowly disintegrating body of the vampire. My heart is still racing in my chest, not yet ready to relax and accept that Payton is safe.

I frown. She might not be safe yet. We still have a temporarily incapacitated vampire on the floor right outside the door and one more room to check on this level as well as the attic. Barry and Olivia might still be here, even if they weren’t in this room, or there might be other vampires staying here.

Slowly turning us around, I meet Lucas’s gaze as he enters the room. I didn’t even know he had left.

“The last room is empty. Do you want me to check the attic?” He lifts an eyebrow at me.

I nod, feeling Payton’s hair tickle my chin as I do. “Please. Is the vamp still down?”

“Yes. Erica will burn him to a crisp if he moves.” A proud grin stretches his lips.

The beautiful woman in my arms tips her head back and stares up at me. “Do you think there’s a chance she’s up there?”

I know what she’s asking, and unfortunately, I have to disappoint her. “No. I’m sorry, but I don’t.”

She squeezes her eyes shut and lets out a shuddering sigh. “I have to find her.”

“I will.” I take in the anguish on her face, but I’m still angry with her for almost getting herself killed. “You’re not coming, though.”

“What?” Her eyes fly open. “Of course I am.” Her eyes narrow on mine.

I shake my head slowly. “No, you’re not. You can’t be trusted. You promised to stay behind me, but you didn’t. And look what happened. You could have been killed. I’m not taking that risk again.”

Her lips press into a hard line. Putting her hands on my chest, she pushes away from me, and I reluctantly release her.

Crossing her arms, she stares at me with defiance. “Fine. I’ll go alone.”

“No, you fucking won’t.” My voice is reduced to a growl, and my nostrils flare with my anger.

“You can’t stop me.” Her eyes are narrow slits. If looks could kill, I’d be out cold.

“I can, and I will.”

***

Payton

We stare at each other, the air practically vibrating with the tension between us.

My blood is soaring through my body at an alarming rate, my pulse rushing in my ears. He’s so much bigger and stronger than I am. If he really wants to stop me, he can. But if he thinks I’ll give up without a fight, he’s in for a surprise.

“You’re not the boss of me.” I shake my head to underline my words. “I can do whatever I want. Or, are you going to take me prisoner? I think your friends might object to that.”

He crosses his arms over his impressive chest, mirroring my own stance. “My friends can object as much as they want, but they’ll recognize that I’m only keeping you restrained for your own safety.”

Restrained. I blink as an image pops into my mind of Ronan holding me down and pushing inside me, and something tightens low in my belly. My pulse rushes in my ears for an entirely different reason than anger.

My gaze drops to his lips. They look so soft, unlike the rest of his body that’s all hard muscles.

Before I can think better of it, I launch myself at him. My arms wrap around his neck, and my legs lock around his waist.

His body tenses against mine when I press my lips to his. His lips are warm and soft, just like I expected. But he doesn’t respond to my kiss.

Until he does.

A deep growl rumbles through him, making his chest vibrate. Then his fingers dig into my ass, and his lips seal over mine.

His tongue swipes into my mouth, forcing a moan from me, and I tighten my arms around his neck. It’s a good thing I do, because in the next instant, he proceeds to plunder my mouth like kissing me is as vital to him as breathing and his lungs are depleted of air.

His tongue rubbing against mine stokes a fire inside me. My pussy clenches with a desperation to be filled, and like he knows exactly what I need, he presses my lower body to his and rocks his pelvis against my core.

Judging by the hard ridge in his pants rubbing against my sensitive clit, he’s just as affected by me as I am by him.

But then I’m suddenly back on my feet.

I blink my eyes open as I sway and try to find my balance. Ronan’s hands are on my hips, keeping me steady, but his eyes are squeezed shut, and his lips are pinched.

As soon as I’ve found my feet, and am no longer in danger of falling over, his arms drop to his sides, and he takes a step back.

Raking his fingers through his hair, he opens his eyes and glares at me. “I hope you don’t think that’s going to change my mind.”

My jaw drops in disbelief. But before I can shout at him for being an ass, he reaches down and adjusts himself. And my brain must short-circuit or something at the sight of the huge bulge in his pants, because I suddenly can’t seem to find any words.

I’ve had a couple of boyfriends before, but none of them were packing anywhere near his kind of equipment. I wonder what it would feel like to…

I shake my head to try to regain normal brain function. Narrowing my eyes, I prepare to rip him another one for implying that I launched myself at him in order to change his mind.

Before I can, though, he bends down and picks up something from the floor. When he straightens, I see that it’s a phone. “Maybe Aidan’s friend can pull some info from this to help us find Olivia.”

Ronan’s gaze lifts to mine, and all my anger falls away. He’s my best bet at finding my best friend. The fact that he’s a pigheaded ass—and a gorgeous pigheaded ass at that—doesn’t change the fact that I need him.

At least until he can tell me where she is. I can pace myself and be compliant until I get that information, and then I’ll leave and go after her myself.

I paste what I hope is a warm smile on my face. “That would be great. Anything you can do to help me find Olivia is much appreciated.”

His brows furrow as he studies my face, like he doesn’t trust my suddenly sweet disposition. As well he shouldn’t. But I have to be convincing if this is going to work. “Thank you for everything you’ve done so far. And I’m sorry I stormed in here. I was just so anxious to find her.”

Nodding slowly, he lets out a sigh. “I know. But it could have cost you your life. You do realize that, don’t you? I don’t want to watch you die, even if it’s a result of your own reckless behavior.”

Fuck. Now he’s being sweet. That will make it harder to defy him. Why couldn’t he have just continued with his arrogant attitude?

“Are you two coming?” Lucas’s voice sounds from the doorway. “As expected there was no one hiding in the attic, but we have a vampire to move without raising suspicions. Do you want to bring the car around or should I?”

“I’ll do it.” Ronan doesn’t wait for me as he storms out of the room, but then there’s no one here left for him to protect me from.