The Ex Hex (Ex Hex #1)(22)

Magic always had a physical effect. Some spells made you tired, some made you giddy. Some left you crying for reasons you didn’t understand.

And some magic, for whatever reason, turned you on.

Apparently the ley lines were of that variety, and given the intensity of the magic in this cave, the effect was . . . similarly intense.

Probably magnified by the fact that he was currently sharing this cave with a woman he’d once had a lot of truly spectacular sex with, and he should not be thinking of that even a little bit right now, not the slightest bit.

But as he slammed his eyes shut, it was all there, unspooling in his brain in an X-rated highlight reel: Vivienne’s legs wrapped around his waist, Vivienne’s hair against his chest, the feel of her nipple under the lazy sway of his thumb, the hitch in her breath when his hand slid between her legs, the way she laughed when she came, which had always seemed extraordinary to him, that perfect, breathless laugh against his ear—

“Rhys.”

He didn’t shriek exactly as he opened his eyes to find her standing very, very close to him, but the sound wasn’t far off, and then he made the mistake of putting his hands on her arms to steady himself.

Even through her sweater, her skin was warm, and as he looked in her eyes, he saw her pupils were huge, the black nearly swallowing the ring of hazel around it. “This is some kind of magic thing, isn’t it?” she all but panted, and he nodded, his hands now moving up and down her arms when what he needed to be doing was stepping far the fuck away from her and possibly running back out into the main cave to stick his head in all that cold water.

Her fingers curled around the front of his shirt. “Rhys,” she said again, her voice calm and steady even as her gaze moved to his mouth, her tongue darting out to wet her lips.

Rhys just barely managed to keep from groaning, his hands sliding from her arms to her waist. If he kissed her now, would that honestly be so bad? Couldn’t they just look on it as a little formality, one last kiss before they parted forever?

That was romantic. Epic, even.

Didn’t a man get to be epically romantic in a magic cave?

He ducked his head, moving in closer. God, she smelled good. Like something sweet. Vanilla, maybe. He was going to taste every bit of her until he found the source of that scent.

Vivi’s eyes fluttered shut, her breath coming out in a shaky sigh.

And then she seemed to steel herself, her arms suddenly going rigid between them, shoving him back so hard that he actually staggered a little.

“Did you seriously bring me,” she asked through clenched teeth, “to a magic sex cave?”



Rhys blinked at her as Vivi made herself step back because right at this moment, it was taking all her willpower not to launch herself at his face. His stupid, handsome face, currently wearing an expression somewhere between confusion and outrage.

“Beg pardon?” he finally said, and Vivi moved even farther back, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She was practically shaking with how much she wanted him, her head spinning, her heart pounding in her chest, her ears, between her legs.

She took another step away from him, and his eyes widened, his posture stiffening. “You don’t think I knew this was going to happen, do you? Or that I brought you here on purpose? I mean . . . I did bring you here on purpose, but I had no idea—”

Vivi shook her head, which also seemed to help clear it a little. “Of course not, don’t be gross. I’m just saying that maybe you should’ve, I don’t know, asked your dad or your brothers or someone what exactly you’d be getting into in here.”

“Ah, yes, the old ‘Father, will this job you’re sending me to do involve a magic sex cave?’ talk. Truly, I was remiss not to have it.”

“Don’t be an asshole.”

“Then don’t be ridiculous. No, I didn’t ask the exact specifics of this particular job. And for all I know, no one else has ever been in here with his ex-girlfriend, so this may just be a unique-to-us situation, Vivienne.”

Some of the fog of desire was starting to lift now, and Vivi felt her breathing slowing down, her pulse not pounding nearly as hard. Had she just overcome the magic out of sheer irritation, or was it actually wearing off?

It must have been because Rhys was no longer looking at her like he wanted to eat her alive. He just looked pissed and more than a little offended, and Vivi told herself that was definitely the safer option right now.

“My point is,” Vivi said, steadier now, “that you apparently had no idea what you were actually going to find in here, or you would’ve been warned about it. You didn’t even ask, did you?”

Rhys didn’t answer, his hands shoved in his pockets, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “What if there had been darker magic in here? Something that made us want to kill each other instead of . . .”

She wisely let that thought trail off, her face still hot, her skin still tingling.

“But there wasn’t,” Rhys said, and for the first time, Vivi noticed that the pendant at his throat was glowing a little, the same purple as the lines on the floor.

“But there might’ve been,” she countered, and he sighed, tipping his head back to study the ceiling.

“You asked me here with no idea of what we’d actually be facing,” Vivi went on, and he groaned, throwing up one hand.