Chapter Fourteen

With the Intensity of Hellfire

RILEY

The moment the car stopped moving, Mila Bennet rummaged in her overlarge bag and pulled out a small red gift-bag, handing it to him.

A present? She’d gotten him a Christmas present? Why? He hadn’t gotten her anything—the thought to get her something hadn’t even crossed his mind. And where had she gone to buy him a present on such short notice? He’d dropped her at her house almost at dawn the previous night. Wait, was the gift a way for her to come on to him—

Mila chuckled. “Oh, gargoyles, you have such a big head. I’m not coming on to you, Chief King. Don’t worry, your virtue is safe with me.”

It’s your virtue you should worry about . The thought slipped his treacherous mind before he could censor it, and from the way Mila suddenly blushed, she’d heard it loud and clear.

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “Transmission received, over,” she joked. “Do us both a favor and open your present.” She pointed at the red bag now in his hands. “I assure you, it’s a gift for me as much as it is for you.”

Riley shrugged, curiosity getting the best of him, and retrieved a black wool beanie from within the bag. He stared at it a little puzzled but was about to put it on when she said, “I’ve enchanted it.”

He immediately lowered the hat and stared at it with renewed suspicion.

“Don’t worry,” Mila continued. “No unsanctioned magic. It’s a simple screening spell, but it should prevent me from hearing most of your thoughts. Put in on,” she urged him. “Try it.”

Not without a healthy dose of skepticism, Riley put her beanie on.

Mila smiled. “You look cute.”

He scowled. “I’m not cute .”

Mila Bennet rolled her eyes. “All right, Mr. Not Cute, now try to think something offensive,” she prompted.

“Easy,” he said, and then thought, Why did she have to give me a stupid hat?

To his surprise, Mila didn’t react.

“No comeback?” he asked.

“Nope, the beanie is working. Try again.”

The next thought that popped into his head was definitely not something he wanted Mila to hear. But he had to test the beanie’s enchantment, didn’t he? So he thought, I wonder what she’d sound like moaning my name.

He waited for Mila’s reaction, but once again, there was none. Relief washed over him, and he smiled.

“See?” She beamed back at him and affectionally punched him in the arm. “The beanie rules. Now, one last test. Think something a little more risqué.”

Riley smirked. “I think we’re good.”

Mila’s eyes widened. “Why? Was your last thought dirty? What did you think?”

Riley was ecstatic at having the privacy of his thoughts back and couldn’t resist teasing her a little. “You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?”

“I’m not so sure.” She pouted. “But at least we know the beanie works.”

And just as well, given how much that pout made him want to kiss her. It was a pull so strong it scared him.

Mila reared her head back, and Riley scowled. “Wait, did you hear that?”

“Not exactly.” She studied him for a long moment. “But I got a sense of the emotion behind the thought. The beanie doesn’t work if you go too intense on me, Chief King.”

“Noted,” he said, then thought, and she’d better stop calling me Chief King.

The appellative on her lips had switched from a perceived mockery to a turn on.

Mila didn’t react, and Riley sighed with relief in his head once again. The beanie wasn’t perfect, but at least it kept most of his inappropriate thoughts private.

All he had to do now was to stop wanting to kiss the witch next to him with the intensity of hellfire, and he’d be good.

Riley put the car into gear and once again merged into the non-existent traffic.