Risk (A Mageri World Novel) by Dannika Dark Read Free Book Online

present for introductions.
    “Hello, Mouse.”
    She blinked, staring at his mouth.
    This time, he moved his lips slower. “Very nice to meet you, Mouse.”
    Slap .
    His cheek stung like fire as she catapulted out of her chair, lips pressed tightly, a mottled scarlet tinting her face.
    Startled by her unprovoked reaction, he stood up and kicked his chair away. For pity’s sake . He never understood why women had to be so bloody temperamental. He yanked his glove back on and stalked inside, drawn to chaotic laughter to his left.
    James clapped him on the shoulder, a tear wetting the skin beneath his eye. “I didn’t think you’d do it. Such a gullible ass . Who said age brings wisdom?”
    Simon snatched James by the arm and twisted it behind his back. “Touch me again and I’ll snap your radius in two. What are you blabbering on about?”
    One of James’s friends chugged down a longneck and walked outside with his buddy. Simon spun the Learner around and seized his throat, pushing him against the wall. “I have a dagger tucked neatly in my boot, and you don’t want to know where I’ll put it if you don’t tell me what that was all about.”
    “Her name isn’t Mouse, you moron.”
    When a few people turned to look at them, Simon released his hold. James rubbed the red mark on his neck and lost all humor. “I didn’t have any trouble getting her naked, but something’s wrong with that bitch. She threw me down like some kind of take-charge whore, but she didn’t make a sound while I was banging her. Just squeaked like a mouse.” James chuckled and rubbed his jaw, pleasantly lost in his perverted thoughts. “Funniest damn thing I ever heard.”
    Simon felt the blood rush to his head, spiked with adrenaline. His energy pulsed like a heartbeat, and James stepped back.
    A guy yelled out, “Come on, James. Waste of time.”
    James moved past Simon and lingered by the open door. “She’s a good lay, but totally frigid when it came to binding… no matter how hard I tried to get her on board with the plan.”
    Simon looked on at the three men and decided it had been a long time since he had taught a Learner a hard lesson about respect.
    And it didn’t get any harder than his fist.

Chapter 4
    S imon wiped the blood from his nose and staggered toward the front door of Hannah’s mansion. The party was in full swing—alcohol erasing inhibitions, lights sparkling like jewels, music and laughter filling every empty space. He waved at Silver, ignoring all the elitist snobs who were gawking at him.
    Silver’s green eyes widened in horror. She abandoned her friends and hurried toward him. “What the hell happened to you?”
    He shrugged. “The usual. Sometimes the ladies love me a little too hard. Once the stampede started, it was hard to control the orgy that ensued.”
    Someone walked briskly past them, and the breeze ruffled the ends of Silver’s black dress. She glanced down at his shoeless foot, then up to the bright streak of blood on his arm where he’d wiped his bloody nose. It felt broken, but that hardly mattered since he planned on putting a bag of ice on it until he could heal at dawn. After three hundred years of fighting, a man learned to heal his battle wounds if he didn’t want to wind up looking like a creature feature.
    Simon glanced at his reflection in a mirror—a bruised eye, rumpled hair, and a split lip. Bugger .
    “Where’s your shoe?” Silver branded him with a judgmental stare.
    “Getting shined.”
    “It looks more like you got your ass kicked.”
    Simon spat out blood, and it marred the pristine floor. “You should see the other guys.”
    “Guys. As in plural?”
    She had to be kidding. Simon could fight an experienced Mage in the dark with his hands cuffed. A few Learners were nothing but a warm-up. And those blighters deserved everything they had coming. Especially the cad named James Dmitry who proudly admitted he’d tried to force a woman to bind with him, and not just any