by June Leung
Lia chuckled, hugging Helen back. Adrian blushed slightly, clearing his throat.
“I wonder what you’ve got here.” Adrian nodded at the control panel.
“Let’s see what you’ve got instead.” Lia pulled him into the field, making him stay there while she and Helen hurried to the machine.
“Great, this is starting to feel like a trap.” He rolled his eyes as the glass walls rose around him. The first virtual monster appeared at the corner of the field. At the same time, a few more appeared from all sides. He launched an ice blast at one of them while diving to the back of another. He grabbed its neck, freezing the whole monster into a block of ice within seconds. Lia’s eyes widened, estimating the power needed for that, a lot. She kept staring at him, his face solemn, his eyes narrowed as he focused on the targets in front.
He’s so attractive when he’s in action.
Adrian threw the iced monster to the two others coming at him. He glanced to his side, wielding an ice wall on his right to block a fire ball. He slayed the monster, squinting at Lia and Helen, who were slamming at the buttons, summoning more monsters. With a low growl, his eyes turned red, smirking. “C’mon you two. The buttons are there but you don’t have to smash them all.”
Lia rolled her eyes, she reached out to push the next button, but her hands couldn’t move despite her effort; something was stopping her. She tried turning to Helen, but her neck was also locked up. “Hey, that’s cheating. Focus on the monsters!”
“I am!” Adrian jumped at another werewolf, breaking its spine. Clearing the last one, he looked at Lia and Helen behind the machine with a wolfish grin. “How about you two do a better job?”
Lia found her hand moving to the ‘End’ button. She fought herself, but her hand was still moving as if pulled by an invisible force. “Helen! Some help?”
“I wish I could. This is strong…” Helen was wincing, also trying to fight Adrian’s hold, but remained frozen in her spot.
Lia closed her eyes, channelling all her power, trying to fight off Adrian’s hold, her hand shook slightly.
“Don’t fight me, rookie. I don’t want to hurt you.” Adrian gritted his teeth, sneering. Lia found herself slowly getting the upper hand. Something inside her snapped, like getting hit by a car. Her hand slammed down on the button. She fell back a few steps. Helen quickly grabbed her before she dropped to the ground. Lia winced in pain, gasping for air, her heart racing.
“Lia, are you OK?” Helen carefully laid her down by the wall. She kneeled beside her, her eyes filled with concern. Lia squirmed around, her eyes closing to keep the pain in her head from chewing on her.
“Lia…” Adrian appeared at the balcony. Helen glared at him. She leaped over Lia, ramming into him as they both fell to the floor. Helen pressed her knee into his abdomen, digging in until he groaned. Her hand wrapped around his throat, squeezing. “What have you done to her? How about you learn to ask nicely?”
“How about you step away and let me check on her?” He rolled his eyes, reaching to Helen’s hand around his neck, peeling them off him.
“You better, or else!” Helen pursed her lips, releasing him. As he stood, she kicked him in the butt. He stumbled, glaring back at her, he soon turned to Lia instead.
Finally, they have time for me?
Adrian gathered Lia in his arms. The touch was comforting, but it sent another jolt of pain in Lia. She winced as a moan escaped her. He sighed, rubbing her shoulder. “Hey, rookie, refocus. Channel everything back to your head. Help yourself, OK?”
Lia struggled, picking up bits and parts of her power that had been crushed by him, pulling back her focus. It felt like a truck ran through her mind; it was shattered into pieces. Luckily, it wasn’t a tricky puzzle. When she focused, it slowly came back together like she was coming out of a daydream. But it was hard when all she could think of was being in Adrian’s arms, feeling his chest pressing onto her. She shook her head slightly, pulling herself out of his spell.
Slowly, she felt better. She wriggled her fingers, her body finally in her control. When she opened her eyes, Adrian was inches from her face. His eyes stormy, filled with concern and some guilt. She planted a kiss on his nose, sitting up straight. Puffing her cheeks, she rubbed her temple.
Adrian gulped and pulled her close, trailing kisses from her ears down to her collar bone. The kisses lit a fire along their path. “I’m sorry, Lia. I did push a bit further. But you did well. I’m so proud of you. I’ll consider that a pass.” He rested his forehead on hers, caressing her cheek with his thumb.
“You mean that’s another part of my training?”
“I didn’t plan it beforehand, but I saw it as a chance to push you, to see how you would react. You did well without any hints. If you backed off when I threatened, I would have been disappointed.” He smirked, planting another kiss on her lips.
“So, if I get stronger, I will be able to push you off?”
“Don’t let it get to your head. You have a long road; that’s if I do nothing.” He nibbled on her earlobe. She moaned softly.
“Can you two do me a favor?” Helen side-eyed them, clearing her throat loudly. The two broke away, blushing bright red. “Adrian, I would expect that Lia’s perfectly fine?” She raised her brows.
“C’mon, I know what I’m doing. You really think I’m going to hurt my girl?”
“I don’t know, normal people won’t. But you, I’m worried. Who’s to say you won’t hurt your own girl?” Helen tilted her head, staring at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “And I mean it, Adrian. If anything happens to her, I’ll make you regret it.”
Adrian’s face fell, he tensed. He was almost growling when he spit out the words, “Lia will be great with me. Thank you for your concern.” He took a step forward as if launching towards Helen. Lia hurried to wrap her arms around him.
Crap! Why must Helen bring this up?
“C’mon, Helen! I am fine. Adrian would never hurt me.” Lia rubbed his back, willing him to let it slide.
Her heart racing as his husky breath weighed on her. Helen was joking, but it could come off as something else to him. She focused her power, willing in her mind to him. Helen is just making fun of you, all good intention. She doesn’t know a thing about Ariel. I swear she is not referring to that. Chill.
Adrian flicked his eyes to Lia, the fire in them seemed to die down. Right… She knows nothing. You and your friend will never stop bringing me trouble, I guess.
Well, you choose to let troubles stay with you. Unconditional return expired long ago. Lia smiled warmly at him, her heart racing. The tension in his body slowly eased. He blinked, patting her hand on his back. She reluctantly pulled away, turning back to Helen.
Helen was frowning deeply, she seemed to smell something wrong. She cleared her throat. “Um… It seems I said something wrong. I’m sorry. I was just trying to make a joke.”
Adrian shrugged. “Whatever. Lia will be very safe with me.” Lia’s heart skipped a beat; hopefully Adrian was really OK with it.
Lia flicked her eyes between the two. “You two play nice with each other, OK? You’ll upset me if you fight since I don’t know whose side I should be on.”
“Wait, Lia. Are you taking his side against me?” Helen’s eyes widened, animatedly putting her hand on her chest.
“I won’t let you leave me, rookie. Don’t you dare leave me.” Adrian stared into Lia’s eyes with a pleading look.
“Can the two of you just chill?” Lia rolled her eyes with her arms folded. “If you don’t fight, everything will be fine, OK?” Adrian and Helen exchanged a glance, nodding towards each other.
Chapter 46
Lia
After having dinner together, Lia and Adrian went back to her place. Entering the apartment, she sighed, looking around. Adrian closed the door behind them. He hugged Lia from behind. “What’s on your mind?”
“I… It has been so long since I was here. Do you think my apartment will miss me?” His breath warm
on her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. She leaned back into his arms.
“Probably not as much as I missed you,” he whispered into her ear, burying his head into her hair, his nose tickling her neck. He gently rubbed her side.
Lia giggled. “Didn’t realize you are such a sweet talker, huh? We spent the whole day together.”
“One half with the two dummies around, and another half with Helen around.” He pulled her closer, pressing her against his body, his hands roaming her.
“C’mon, can I get changed first? How about you keep your hands off me for a minute?”
“I won’t mind helping you with that.” He sprung her around to face him, a wolfish grin on his face. Lia playfully shoved him in the chest. He grabbed her wrist. “It seems someone needs to learn some respect.”
She leaned in, kissing him tenderly on the lips. “Right back at you. I can do it myself perfectly.” She rolled her eyes, walking to her room with Adrian following her.
“You sit there and don’t move.” She pointed at the bed, pushing Adrian away from her. He sat, crossing his legs as his eyes travelled up and down her curves.
She set aside her phone on the bedside table. She gulped at his intense gaze, making a show as she changed out of her clothes. Adrian growled, hissing, “The things I want to do to you…”
“C’mon, big boy. Have some patience.” She slowly removed her clothes piece by piece, revealing her body, enjoying the lustful look from him. His fiery gaze sent a shiver down her spine, making her body burn. After she got done with her clothes, she slowly leaned closer to him, pushing his shoulders until he was lying on the bed. His arms reached up to her back, but she smacked him off.
“I said have some patience.” Lia caressed his cheek with her thumb, trailing kisses along his neck. “This is not the appropriate dress code here.” Lia tugged on his shirt.
“Oh, yeah. What are you going to do about it?” He grinned, his eyes stormy. With a low growl, he grabbed Lia’s shoulder, pushing her to his side, onto the bed. He rolled over, straddling her. “You are paying for it, you dare make me wait?” He kissed her forcefully, sending sparks through her body. She smacked him on the chest, laughing loudly. He kissed her again under her jaw, nibbling lightly on her throat. She tilted her head back, squirming beneath him as her hand fumbled with the buttons on his shirt.
Later, Lia cuddled close to Adrian, his arms wrapping around her. They stared into each other’s eyes, enjoying each other. Something went through Lia’s mind, she tensed. He raised his brows.
She frowned, fighting to slow her breath. “What is out there? After tonight? I’m getting nervous.”
Adrian tenderly kissed the wrinkles from her knitted brows on her forehead, rubbing her arm. “I wish I knew. With everything going on, I don’t know. We’ll have to tackle things step by step. I only know one thing. I am doing everything to keep you safe. I doubt I can live another day without you.”
“Hopefully it doesn’t include locking me up in the dungeon.” Lia’s hand trailed down his naked chest, feeling the warmth from his body and his strong heartbeat.
“That’s not something I wanted. It didn’t yield the desired effect at all.” He ran his fingers through her hair, resting his forehead on hers.
Lia smiled warmly, kissing him again, slowly, with passion. They remained wrapped in each other’s warmth until they drifted into slumber. Whatever was on the horizon was a problem for the next day.
Thanks for reading, I hope you’ve enjoyed it!
I have a bonus short story for you to download!
Wondering what happens for Lia and Adrian next? Continue reading The Hidden Order of Magic: Shaken series today with book 4, The Alliance! Click here
to see what happens in this urban fantasy story when Lia would need more than her magic for what was coming for her…
THE DUNGEON
Book 3 in The Hidden Order of Magic: Shaken series by June Leung
Copyright © 2021 by June Leung
Location of Publication: Hong Kong
All Rights Reserved
* * *
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
* * *
No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.
* * *
ISBN: 978-988-75426-4-3 (epub ebook)
ISBN: 978-988-75426-5-0 (paperback)
