Page 5 of Starfall

Shock crossed her features, her pert nose wrinkling. She showcased extraordinary strength, and my muscles strained as she struggled to free herself from my clutches. Not happening . She wasn’t going anywhere until I got some answers. She woke me with this nonsense.

“Let go before I hurt you,” she snapped, an inner fire flaring in her gaze. She practically hummed with sizzling life, and the anger gleaming in her eyes could fell a man with one glance. Luckily, I wouldn’t be that man.

“Hurt me ?” I repeated, incredulous. The blood in my veins thrummed wildly, much like it did during a match. While half my size, I couldn’t deny the strength she displayed.

“Yes, hurt you,” she repeated, her voice brimming with conviction. She made no move to buck me off, her body going deceptively lax. I didn’t trust it.

“Lass, I hardly think you have the ability to do much damage.” The words tasted like a lie on my tongue, but my pride was a beast she had wounded the second she’d tossed me on my back.

Below me, the intruder let out a growl of warning, her jaw clenched tight as she glared daggers.

Unfortunately for me, her indignant stare did little, but I became acutely aware of the soft curves beneath me, how they melded against the hardness of my muscles, her ample chest pressing against me in a way that sent heat burning my cheeks.

I cursed. My body hadn’t reacted to a woman like this since?—

No.

I refused to think about her now. The raven-haired enchantress who’d made me believe in an emotion I never wanted to experience again. But like all true love stories, ours ended in pain .

“You made your point, brute. You’re strong, too.”

She wriggled beneath me, making my…situation worse.

“I just want you to leave,” I grated out. “Breaking into people’s homes is a crime.”

“I’m not leaving until it’s done,” she countered, nearly breaking free of my grasp. Sweat dripped down my back as I held her in place.

“Explain,” I demanded, my head lowering. She smelled of jasmine, the scent overwhelming my senses.

“I already did.”

“Not well enough.”

She rolled her eyes, the childish response almost making me smile. “I shouldn’t have to explain, anyway.”

“Indulge me.”

“I’ve indulged enough for one night.” The muscles in her neck tensed seconds before she lifted her head and aimed for my own. I maneuvered out of the way at the last moment.

“Nice try.”

“Hardly a try .” She huffed. “I’m trying not to hurt you. I still need you alive.”

“Charming.” So she wasn’t a murderer. At least not yet.

She shocked me by wrapping her legs around my torso, her heels digging into me. Hard. My lips parted, my hold loosening ever so slightly?—

Big mistake.

The room spun, and I found myself on my back once more.

Fuck me. I groaned aloud.

“Are we going to do this all night?” I’d have been impressed if I wasn’t reeling, my sense of reality almost nonexistent.

“Look, I have an early train to catch and I don’t feel like playing more games.

Leave. Now .” She frowned. I had to be up at dawn and on my way to Darren, ready to fight whoever he placed in front of me.

Truth be told, I itched to be back, to release my pent-up rage on some cocky foe.

Feeling anything other than defeat would be preferable.

Her eyes seared into mine, and my heart skipped a beat. The traitorous bastard. It belonged to another—or did— but the stranger caused my pulse to thunder at my neck.

When she raised a lone finger, I didn’t stop her, and my throat bobbed as she brought it to rest on my cheek before leisurely drifting to my forehead.

I inadvertently shivered from her caress.

It felt like winter, like catching the first snowflake on the tip of your tongue as it floated down from a gray sky.

I shut my eyes, the rush of adrenaline and ice undoing my control.

Suddenly, I wandered back in time—to the hunting trips with my father where we’d explore the deep caverns of the eastern woods and fish from its crystal-clear lakes.

I pictured it all as if it was yesterday, and the same elation I’d felt in my father’s presence, that heartening wonder, filled me like a warm drink.

I could grow drunk on that feeling alone.

Her hand fell from my face abruptly, and the winter frost faded—along with the cherished memories I’d long ago locked away. Where they belonged.

The aftermath left me aching, my insides hollow. When my eyes flashed open, I found hers narrowed, scrutinizing my every feature. My weaknesses.

“Stop inspecting me like that,” I said, gruffer than I intended.

“Like what?” Her silver hair dropped forward as she inched closer, tracking the tic of my jaw; she missed nothing. Those tresses fell into her face, and my fingers twitched as if they desired to push them behind her ear.

“Like you’re analyzing me. Dissecting me.” The memory of my father had been an unwelcome reminder of all that I’d lost, and all that I could never have.

“I need to understand why it went all wrong.”

“Then try to understand that outside .” Grasping her hips, I gently shoved her off as I pressed my back against the headboard. She landed gracelessly at the end of the mattress, a mixture of shock and confusion twisting her features.

I assumed she’d let me move her. I doubted she’d have gone easily if she wanted to stay .

“All right, so it didn’t work.” She scrubbed a hand over her face in exasperation. “But even if your wish changed, there’d be another to take its place. It should be the person I chose, not the wish itself. There has to be a way to fix this.”

More nonsense.

“Time to go, lass,” I ordered, rising from the bed and marching toward the door. I yanked it open, my irritation sending the wood thudding loudly against the wall. With any luck, she hadn’t snuck in through an unlocked window. I’d have to check them all before I attempted to sleep again.

Her lips fell open. “I?—”

“Now!” The deep timbre of my voice jolted her, and she lifted herself on unsteady limbs. If the potency of grief and loss hadn’t struck me, I might’ve felt sorry for my harsh tone. And the way she gazed upon me, inspecting me?—

She could go haunt some other unsuspecting soul and steal into their home in the middle of the damned night. I had no use for ghosts. I had plenty already.

“I just don’t understand,” she repeated. When she passed, I smelled the hints of jasmine clinging to her hair. More evidence that this was no dream like I’d originally wished.

Shaking my head, I walked to the front door where she stood immobile, and reached above her to unlock the bolt. I opened the door, the grating chirps of insects drowning out the sound of her heavy breathing.

Waving a hand past the threshold, I simply said, “Out.”

Enough mystical women. Enough mind games and riddles. Just…enough.

Hell, I didn’t care that she glowed like a goddess that descended to Earth. I had my own shit to deal with. She meant nothing to me.

She hesitated for a split second, sparing me a concerned look, but she placed one bare foot after another, venturing into the night air. I pushed the door closed, but a foot blocked its path.

My attention landed on her face. Wetness lined her eyes, and the part of me that wasn’t an emotionless bastard paused, my chest tightening as her chin quivered .

“What is it you wish for? What do you want most in the world?” she asked, sincerity making her voice turn into a lullaby of a sound.

I blanched. “The only thing I want now is a fool’s dream.”

My heart gave a painful twinge. Even that admission had cost too much.

The second she removed her foot, I slammed the door and slid the deadbolt in place.

Nothing could help me, let alone something as useless as a wish.