Under a Blood Moon: Beaux Rêve Coven, Book 2 by Delilah Devlin Page B

study in swells and hollows that left her mouth dry.
    She shook her head to rid herself of the vision of his naked perfection. The fact they’d all gathered nude in the field had been necessary as the witches had drawn down the power of the blue moon to cloak them all in magical armor, infusing the men’s already powerful frames with a little added advantage.
    She recalled how she’d brushed her hands over his chest and abdomen, letting the magic flow from her fingertips to his skin, how his arousal, a natural byproduct of the infusion, had caused his cock to thicken and rise. All the men had been left in similar states, but only his cock had given her pause, because, in that moment, she’d wanted him.
    A resurgence of that need made her body soften, her nipples tingle. It was a damn good thing Renner wasn’t even looking at her.
    He pulled her behind him, stalking down the dock, but she dug in her heels. A mistake, she realized, the moment a splinter from the rough planks stabbed the sole of one foot. “Stop, Renner,” she said, tugging on his hand.
    He aimed a glare over his shoulder and then raked her with a glance, his gaze stopping on the foot she held up from the dock.
    With an irritated huff, he bent and swept her into his arms.
    She grabbed for his shoulders, a thrill sending her blood hammering. She glanced behind her as her sisters watched, their mouths hanging open. Miren was the most resistant to male attention, the least romantic. She could almost read their minds.
    And then they all began to grin and Miren lifted a hand, giving them the finger behind Renner’s back. Laughter rang out but was quickly subdued as more of Ethan’s and Renner’s men descended upon the women.
    Renner jostled her in his arms and then squeezed her. “There are alligators all along the bank. They could have mistaken all that splashing for fish in distress.”
    “I cast a warding spell.”
    “You think you have a spell for everything, don’t you?”
    He sounded so surly she grew worried. Renner rarely displayed irritation, and never anger. Most often, his sly humor was all that was evident. Something that irked the living hell out of her because she suspected his humor was a deflection to keep hidden what was really there inside him.
    She should have known that with a troll for a best friend, he’d be an ogre under his blond good looks. “We didn’t escape just to piss you off. We’re restless. Freaking bored.”
    “And you think we aren’t restless, aren’t fucking frustrated as hell?” His footsteps were getting heavier. Hell, he was stomping toward the porch now. “There are twenty of us and four of you, as yet, unclaimed. Choose already. ”
    “And who do you think I should choose?”
    Renner halted at the bottom of the inn’s steps to stare down at her. A muscle rippled in his cheek. His aqua eyes gleamed. “Choose me, Miren.”
    Shock at his stark look and low-edged tone made her jerk. He’d never been this direct. “Why should I choose you?”
    “You won’t find a mate better suited to you. We’re both ruled by the tides. Both love the sea.”
    She waved a hand. “Mikkel and Elias are mermen. They can live in the freaking sea. And why would I want a mate who loves being on the water? The moment I commit, everything I’ve worked for will be taken from me.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Miren scowled. “Would you let me take a trawler out on the open water?”
    “Not now. Not with the threat—”
    “There have been threats all around us, both natural and supernatural, since we fled to here. I’ve run my own boats for five years. Without incident. Water is my element. Think I can’t conjure a wave or a waterspout if need be? I can take care of myself. But if I commit to a demon, everything, including my will, becomes yours.”
    Renner’s answering scowl was every bit as fierce. “I don’t want to rule you.”
    “By your nature, you would try.”
    “Ethan—”
    Her eyebrows shot