C17 Seventeen

Selena's POV

"Fine.." he annoyingly mimicked.

He dragged his gaze up slowly.. neck to chin, chin to lips, lips to eyes and when his eyes finally settled at my face again, my knees nearly buckled.

That was hunger.

That was want.

That was something primal and I needed to know why.

"But on a serious note.. what exactly just happened or did I imagine it" I calmly spoke trying to get over the whirlwind of emotions I was being pushed into.

"That wasn't you imagining it," he said, his voice thick with something I couldn't quite explain. "It's the water. The lake is amplifying every instinct and emotion."

I swallowed hard as I stared at him. "Amplifying how?"

His jaw twitched like he hated answering. "I don't know how to explain it but.. it seems that while in the water touch becomes three times more intense. Attraction becomes harder to control. You feel what I feel, and I... feel what you're feeling."

"Uh.. excuse me?" I quickly blurted out. "Absolutely not. Take that back, that's too big of a theory"

"No," he replied flatly, stepping closer. "I won't."

The ripples around him glowed brighter, illuminating the sharp angles of his shoulders.

He looked like hot sin poured perfectly into a body.

"I felt you thinking about me," he continued. "Before you turned around."

I froze.

He said that with a straight face.

"You.. what.. no. You definitely didn't.. why would I?.. I mean.."

"You pictured me holding you," he murmured.

My heart exploded against my ribs.

"You pictured my chest against your back."

I shook my head vigorously. "I didn't.. What are you talking about?"

"And kissing the mark."

I opened my mouth..

And nothing came out.

Because the annoying bastard was right.

Not a single lie in the accusation.

My face felt like it was on fire.

"I wasn't thinking that," I forced out, sounding exactly like someone who was absolutely thinking that.

He stared at me like my denial was a losing battle.

"Selena," he whispered, and my stomach flipped violently, "I could feel it."

I waded backward, water gliding against my thighs. "Stop it.. Just Stop."

He followed.

"Stop what?"

"That tone."

"I haven't said anything."

"It's your face then!"

A slow smirk appeared.

"Want to come closer and change it for me?"

I nearly drowned.

"Don't talk to me like that damn it ," I hissed.

"Then stop thinking that loudly."

Oh goddess.

I wanted the ground, or water, or sky to swallow me.

Instead I crossed my arms, turning away.. big mistake..because his scent hit again:

rain, pine, male heat.

"You shouldn't be here," he said finally.

"No," I snapped, "you shouldn't be here. You left me in the forest like a dropped lost discarded grocery bag."

"I was following the smell."

"A hallucination..."

"No..magic," he corrected calmly. "I smelled magic and it landed me here don't you have eyes to see it."

I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly saw my brain. "You smelled magic oh wow."

"Yes."

"And you followed it like scents have GPS."

"Yes."

I blinked at him.

He blinked back.

There was no winning this conversation.

The water glowed gently beneath me, swirling at my waist, almost caressing.. like silk still moving.

Adrian's voice softened, strangely gentle.

"This lake... it isn't normal, hence my theory. When I first stepped into it, it felt cool and safe at first then all of a sudden I couldn't think clearly. My head went quiet.. Then all I could feel was.. "

He stopped.

His jaw locked.

"Was what?" I asked but he didn't answer.

Instead he looked at me.

Like I was the thing that shut down his mind.

The moment stretched, heavy, breathless.

"Just... stay farther away from me," he finally muttered, stepping back. "The more distance, the more control we get."

That made sense.

Distance.

Logic.

Self-preservation.

I nodded, took a step back...

But the lake pulled me forward.

Literally pulled.

Like a small current wrapping around my hips and tugging.

"What the.." I gasped.

Adrian muttered, "That's the part I didn't mention."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't think you can leave the lake easily when you're thinking about someone inside it."

I froze again.

"You mean.. if I think about you, the water won't let me move?"

"Yes."

"And if you think about me?"

"The same."

"So basically you're telling me this water is a horny prison?."

He stared, blinked once.

"That's actually... accurate. The most logical thing you've actually said all night."

I dragged a hand down my face.

"This lake is a sexual kidnapper."

"No one asked it to be."

I pointed at him. "You're too calm."

"It's either that or I panic and whine like an old gold digger of a woman."

I hated how logical that sounded.

The glow brightened again.. clearly mocking me.. and when I tried stepping farther, it dragged me again.

"STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM," I yelled at myself mentally.

It didn't work.

Fantastic.

Issa calmly responded ' how can I not think about him when I can literally feel his heat from over here'

'Not now Issa'

Meanwhile Adrian, unbothered and majestic as always, managed to step one foot onto the grass.. but not the other.

He moved again.

Nothing.

His eyes widened.

"There it is," I muttered smugly. "Horny lake logic applying to you too."

He glared. I smirked.

Victory tasted sweet.

Until he stepped forward again.. effortlessly disengaging.

Oh.

"H-how.." I sputtered.

"I wasn't thinking about you.. I mean why would I?," he spoke dryly.

Rude.

"You want an applause?" I snapped.

"No," he muttered. "Just distance. Now move.. slowly."

He reached out his hand.. like an offering.

I shouldn't take it.

But the lake tugged, and my pride was already drowning the same way I felt my legs getting cold and numb.

So I placed my hand in his.

Mistake.

Huge mistake.

Electricity shot through my arm.

He felt it too.. his jaw clenched.

"We are not reacting to this," he said.

"I'm not reacting to anything," I said.

Both lies.

He guided me toward the shore and the moment my toes touched ground, a wind rushed past.. cold, sudden.

A shadow moved across the trees.

My heartbeat stalled.

"Adrian... did you see that" I whispered.

He already saw it.

His posture changed.. and I knew it was his Alpha mode activating.

He stepped in front of me, shielding me from something unseen.

The trees rustled, branches shifting though nothing touched them.

A shape moved again.. a darkened outline..

Then it vanished.

Just like that but it didn't feel like anything had seen. It was not a wolf.

Not human.

Not normal.

Adrian's voice dropped to a whisper.

"We're not alone."

The lake glowed behind us, humming like something ancient had awakened.

"Someone was watching you," he said, eyes narrowed.

"Don't you mean watching you," I corrected breathlessly.

His muscles tightened.

"No," he murmured in a cold, dangerous, lethal way. "They were watching you.. I would they be watching me?."

"Oh I don't know.. maybe because you gave us chocolate cake in a bid to catch the traitor and it didn't work" I muttered to myself as I rolled my eyes and wore my dress.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing"

Moonlight sharpened along his jaw.

And with that soft glow, I realized something terrifying:

Whoever.. or whatever saw us in the lake...

Didn't just witness intimacy.

They witnessed vulnerability.

Magic.

Desire.

A connection neither of us understood.

Adrian stepped closer, voice barely a growl.

"We leave. Now."

And with his fingers tightening around mine again in an uncontrolled, desperate and instinctive way.. He pulled me away from the glowing water...

As if that lake had marked us.

And whatever watched from the darkness...

Was waiting to strike.