Dark Tremor (Mated by Magic #2) Read Online Free

entered silently. From the shelves of cheap souvenirs in the back, he inched forward toward the register.
    Already, she’d unzipped a small vinyl bag and emptied rough turquoise onto the countertop.
    A large black guy, twice the size of her, took a look at the stones and said, “Twenty bucks.”
    Bullshit. The stones, if they were the ones he’d seen on her table, were worth over five hundred. His ears burned. Why did she put up with this shit? Why not go to a reputable buyer? He walked to the front, turned his back to her, appearing to study the figurines behind the cabinet. He used the glass as a mirror.
    With a scrunched up face, she shook her head, no, and put the stones back in her bag. Good girl.
    “Tell you what, you give me a piece of that black you showed me awhile back, and I’ll make it worth your while. I got us a real generous buyer.” The man leaned over the counter and clamped a paw over her wrist.
    “Let go.” She struggled.
    “Can’t do that, Doll. I want that stone and you’re going to give it to me.”
    The ground started to tremble. A few glass ornaments fell off the shelves and crashed to the floor.
    “I said, let go.”
    “Your kind doesn’t scare me.”
    “I think you should do as she asks.” Jace turned, balls of flaming energy blazing in both hands, weighing the possibility of burning the bastard to a crisp. The cops would call it spontaneous human combustion.
    The big guy let go, and one hand reached under the counter.
    “Hands. Let me see them.” Jace shot one of the balls close to the man’s head.
    “Stop it.” Terra glared at him. “What’re you doing here?”
    “Saving your ass. Get behind me.”
    The man used the opportunity to pull out a shotgun. “I got video to prove self-defense.”
    “I have no problem dealing with the fallout. Do you?”
    The man cocked the gun.
    “Are you insane?”  She shook her head at him.
    “Are you? Get behind me.”
    Rolling her eyes, she turned back to the man behind the counter and set down a shard of black turquoise. “Here. This is what I got. What’ll you give me for it?”
    The man’s eyes glistened and he licked his lips. “Three hundred.”
    “I’ll give you five. C’mon. We’re going.” Jace scooped up the rocks, and tugged her behind his back.
    Wham. He almost staggered at the double dose of intoxication, of black rock and solstice mating heat.
    “You’ll regret this,” the man sneered.
    He already did. But what the hell else was he supposed to do?
    Breathing hard, and with blood rushing to his cock, he backed her out of the building and didn’t stop until they reached his truck.
    “Get in.” He pushed the key fob with one eye on the door.
    With a slight hesitation, she jumped in. “You really are crazy.”
    “I wasn’t the one trying to sell a magical conduit to a thug in the middle of the Nevada desert.”
    “I wasn’t–”
    He slammed her door, not waiting to hear her excuse.
    When he jumped in the driver’s side, she picked up her tirade. “Who do you think you are? And why were you following me?”
    Ignoring her, he gunned the engine, checking the rearview every few seconds. At least four laws were broken as the blocks of pawn shops and dollar stores flew by. Wheels squealed, he turned onto the main freeway, and exhaled.
    She gripped the edge of the seat with white knuckles and said, “I need to go back. I can’t just leave my truck there.”
    He reached into his pocket, threw his phone at her, and growled, “Call someone to get it. You’re not going back there. Ever.”
     
     

Chapter 4
     
    The high towers of Vegas faded into the distance before Terra had to admit that he had the upper hand. She picked up his phone and called Jelly, making up a lie about the battery going dead. Jelly gave her an earful when she learned where she’d been and who she was with. She ended the conversation and dropped his phone in the cup holder.
    “Happy now?” She glared at the nosy witch with the cowboy