Crescent Bound (52 page)

I gla
n
ce at Samuel smiling,
“
Ah, Samuel, when it comes to these two
.
”
I wave my hand between Megan and David
.
“
You
’
re just wasting your time.
”

Samuel looks at me with wide eyes
, but
doesn
’
t say anything.  Just then David snickers at me with eagerness.
“
So, now
you
think you can do better, huh?
”
  I shrug my shoulders at him as he walks around the pool shaking dazzling sparks from his hands, each finger looks like a firework sparkler.  He cranks his head from side to side and jumps up and down, like a prize fighter g
etting ready for round one.

He
walks to
the other side
of the pool and
raises his right hand up
,
giv
ing
me th
at
famous hand gesture
from the Matrix
that Morpheus gave Neo.  I look around to find I have been abandoned, coyly I point my finger at myself and with an innocent voice reply,
“
Me?
”

I feel myself being levitated out of my chair
,
so I quickly move my body upward into a standing position.

Lisa grips Samuel
’
s arm protectively and says,
“
Move back this could get ugly.
”

My theme music begins to stream through the
air;
Break
The I
ce
sets the tone for my pre-match introduction.  I narrow
ly
gaze over my shoulder at Megan as she grins widely with her cell phone up in the air and the sounds of
Brittney
’
s
voice echoing much louder than it should from the
tiny
speaker of her cell.
L
et
’
s
play
.

I steady my gaze at David as I shoot out my ice
directing
it so that I make a frozen path below my feet, and
then
begin striding across it. 
I m
ak
e
sure he sees my mischievous simper.

“
Are you ready for this, David
,
”
I s
ay,
as I flow
my ice up and over the pool like an
arched
bridge as
I keep walking, or I should say strutting down
an
ice runway, doing the cat walk.  Lisa and Megan start w
histling and cheering behind me as
Dawson
roll
s
his eyes.

David shoots a small fireball at me, and I raise a hand with ice. 
The
fireball
hits
and
hiss
es
as it
fizzles out.
H
e aims again two more
blazes
at me, and I hit them in quick
succession
of ice daggers.
I reach the other side of the pool
close to
David.

He gives me an enticing grin.
“
Are you ready
for this
,
is the real
question,
”
h
e says while throwing out three rapid fireballs my way.  Gathering the frozen particles that pack within my hand I fling out ice daggers again
,
not missing a
beat. Moving my hips to the
mesmeric
rhythm
, I spin around and shoot out ice daggers at David.  He hits everyone
,
except
,
the last one and shifts away.

I turn around
and taunt him
,
“
Come on now,
don
’
t hold back,
you
’
re acting a little timid
.
”
The next thing I know several
flaming ball
s of fire fly toward
me,
and
I lean backwards, doing a backbend.  I feel the flames licking my body as it soars over me.

I hear David
call
back to me,
“
Is that more of what you are looking for?”
I
laugh as I stand up
and
shift next to the pool
’
s edge.  Kneeling down
I shoot my ice
,
freez
ing
the entire pool.  I peer up at David and s
ay
,
“
Let me cool you off before you burn yourself
.
”
 

I begin dancing alluring
ly
across the glistening icy pool.  The next round of fireballs come hurling my way with more precision than before, and I shift as fast as I can to the left, then to the right and spin around
.  O
ne of the fireballs whiz by
me, and singes the tip of my hair.  That makes me move even faster and closer to David.  Doubling my time I
’
m finally right in front of him and I
form
a thin ice wall between us. 

He frowns with disappointment as he looks at me through the clear
cold
wall, he s
ays
to me, pointing a flaming finger my way
“
You
’
r
e
going to get me all fired up now, Alyss
.
”
I place my hands on the wall and move to the music, showing no interest in his
idle threat
.

Using my
best
hypnotic
voice
I say
,
“
It
’
s going to get colder before it gets hotter.
”
  He flashes a few fiery f
lames towards the wall
.

“
Don
’
t bet on it, baby
,
”
He answers.

I move my body up and down the ice wall
,
and when I think
he is
distracted
, I
shift to the left and form another ice wall.  David turns to lock his eyes on m
e
th
rough the newly created barrier
,
“
This is what
I
call the cold shoulder, and it can get colder,
”
I remark
,
s
haking my head
as
I lean my back against the wall,
looking over my shoulder
.

“
You
’
re not going to like this
.
”
I shift t
o the other side of him, placing
up another wall.  Now I have three walls around him with only one more to go.  Knowing this is my last and final chance to block him in
,
I actually shift right
in front of
him, but David ramp
s
up his own blazing fire and
forc
es
me
to flip backwards.  I meant to just lean back like I had before, but he shot
his fire
faster this time.

His fire
scorches me down my stomach.  I’
m lucky he didn
’
t catch my shirt on fire, but I focus my ice and cool the areas that got a little heated.  When I look over at him I say in my best amorous voice,
“
Naughty, naughty
.
”
As I shake a finger at him.

He looks concerned at first
, but
then rolls his eyes at me.  I have one more wall to put up and I
’ll
have him sealed in.  I need a distraction.  Shifting to the other ice wall I
dance provocatively against it announc
ing
,
“
It’
s time to wrap you up and put you on ice
.
”
I shift as fast as I can to the opening and begin to shoot out my final ice wall.  Instead I feel Marc shift with me.  He wraps one arm around me and we shift
, then
Marc completes
a
huge wall of ice
completely
surround
ing
David.

Marc looks down at me and says,
“
Let me show you how I like to cool things down
.
”

David places one hand
casually
on the wall,
“
So, is anyone gonna get me out of here?
”

Marc looks at me like he’
s seriously debating whether or not
he wants to release David
. 
“
What?
”
He says knowing what
I’m
thinking.

I look up at him and shrug.  He moves quickly, but I can feel the intense strength from his arm as he slams a fist
into the wall.  His massive icy
wall along with mine crumble down around David
’
s feet leaving small glistening flakes dissipating through the air and then gently settling back down to the ground.

David steps over the mound of ice surrounding him,
“
Thanks,
Ice
M
an.
”

Samuel shifts next to David and asks,
“
Who is she?
”
p
ointi
ng his finger in my direction.

David smirks,
“
That would be Alyssa Worthington, my friend, but I should warn you she
’
ll give you the chills.
”

I take no notice to
David and reach over to shake Samuel
’
s hand.  He does the coven shake like he
’
s been doing it all his life.  I
am
impressed, either he is an extremely fast leaner or David is a great instructor, I decide it is probably both.  As Samuel leans in to kiss my cheek he whispers in my ear,
“
I
’
ve heard about you, and I th
ought
you
were
hot, but now I know,
you
’
re
the
bomb
.
”
  When he steps away from me, he gives me a lovesick wave and shifts back up to the house before I have a chance to wave back.

I blush,
g
reat, Marc is the cougar magnet and I
’
m the teen idol.

Marc and I thank our last guest and pick up a few things, then move our furniture back.  I start picking up all my candles from the living room. Lost in my own musings I didn
’
t even realize Marc changed the music.

His presence is overwhelming as he stands behind me and quickly I
’
m aware of h
is excitement as he lowers down s
ending soothing, kisses along my neck.
In a
n
unspoken command I tilt in head back exposing more, enticing him. The feeling of his sensual fingertips lightly touching my
skin
sends invigorating impulses along my body.

Without another thought, he has my strapless bra off allowing it to fall
on
the floor then slowly he turns me and tugs playfully on my belt. A sly curve of his lips hints that it will be the next item of clothing I will lose. Maneuvering my hands over his chest I begin to gradually release the first button of his dress shirt, peering back up to him with a scandalous grin.

With meticulous fingers I unbutton his shirt, but before I have the last button undone, he slips my silk top off.
Moving his arms around my
waist, we stand flesh to flesh,
not wanting to waste
anymore
time I
slide
my hands o
ver
his bare chest, and
then
diligently lower
them
downward. As I begin unbutton
ing
his jeans, his suave hand abruptly stops m
e
from my
determined destination.