The engine’s hum vibrated between Kendis’s thighs as the rush of the wind whipped across their body. Racing on a motor bike was as close as she could get to the exhilaration of riding a broom.

Behind the helmet, Kendis’s mouth split into a wide grin. She pushed down the throttle, pushing for every spare bit of speed. They smoothly bent their body around the curves, darting in and out of traffic.

The neon lights of the city and the skyscrapers melded into one big bright blur but her focus was on the street ahead of her. The next turn would take her back to the finish line, and Kendis had every intention of winning.

In the corner of her eye, she could see a shiny green bike on her tail, but it didn’t worry her in the slightest. Her life might be going straight to hell, but Kendis never doubted her prowess on a bike or a broom.

The posh wanker beside her thought his expensive Ducati Monster 696 was going to give him an edge against her, and she was delighted to show him how wrong he was. And even though her Kawasaki ZX-6R didn’t have any magical modifications, Kendis knew her bike could wipe the floor with him.

Kendis sped down the street and in the distance, she could see the finish line. She leaned forward, pushing her bike as fast as she could.

50 miles

20 miles

10 miles.

The end was coming up fast. The two motor bikes were neck to neck and Kendis could almost feel the other rider’s desperation.

Kendis flew over the finish line and stopped suddenly. She put her hands up as the triumph of her win rushed over her. Kendis took off her helmet as her long braids tumbled down her back.

The man’s bike screeched to a halt beside her. He quickly ripped off his helmet and threw it on the ground.

“You fucking cheated!”

“I didn’t need to cheat,” Kendis snorted. “I beat you fair and square.”

The entitled prick walked up to Kendis and got into their face. “Two out of three.”

“No can do, mate.” Kendis shook her head. “I won, and you lost. Pay up!”

“Bitch,” the man said and raised his hand as if he was going to slap her, but Kendis grabbed his wrist in one smooth move, pivoted to the side, and twisted the wanker’s arm. He cried out in pain as she forced him to the ground.

In the corner of her eye, Kendis saw movement but didn’t move until security showed up.

“We got a problem here?”

The man sagged as Kendis quickly released his hand and stepped back. “Nope, no problem here.”

“Hey!”

Kendis turned to see her friend Richie approach her, pushing his white and blue Suzuki SV650 down the street. He was a white man, who was a bit taller than her petite height, with long curly strawberry blonde hair, and his wide guileless grin gave him a youthful look, even though Kendis knew he was in his mid-thirties.

“That was fucking awesome,” Richie said, as he gave her a high five.

Kendis eyed his blue and white leather jacket and jeans. “You racing tonight?”

“Yep, I need a little extra cash,” Richie said with a shrug.

They lifted an eyebrow. “And you didn’t come to me? You are aces around bikes, and you know that Isiah and I would love to have you.”

Richie gave her a look and then sighed. “I don’t know. I kinda like being freelance.”

Kendis patted him on the back. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

“Jinx!” The two turned as Letty and her girlfriend waved at her. There was a call for the next race, and Richie said goodbye as he made his way to the starting line. Kendis walked over to the group and saw a new guy. He was a young white man, around her age. His appearance was unremarkable—average, with chocolate brown hair combed back, round, dark eyes, a button nose, and a cleanly shaven, sharp jawline. A strange sense of familiarity surrounded him, even though Kendis knew she’d never encountered him before.

“Nice race, Jinx,” Letty said with a grin and gave her a high five. “And you took care of that guy pretty good.”

Kendis laughed. “I hope none of you bet on him.”

Dom shook his head. “The only fool around here is him.” He nodded at her opponent being escorted out by security.

“You got a new member?”

Dom turned to the new guy, who pinged something on Kendis’s radar. “Tin man?” He snorted. “Nah, just someone I know from way back.

“Nice to meet you…” she trailed off as their eyes met, and it clicked. Kendis had been a trained Auror and even though she couldn’t sense any of the usual telltale magical signatures of a disguise charm or polyjuice, she could still tell when someone was wearing someone else’s face.

But even if she doubted her expertise and instincts, Tin Man’s eyes gave him away. Those all too familiar sharp, intelligent brown eyes seemed to pierce her soul with their intensity. There was only one man to date she had met who had eyes like that.

Tony Stark.

“You alright?” Brian asked, frowning.

Kendis backed up, flashed a smile, and then turned to Tony. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

The others exchanged looks with each other but Tony shrugged with a shit-eating grin that made Kendis want to punch him. However, they did their best to keep a lid on their anger.

“Can you watch my bike for a moment?” Kendis asked Letty, who gave her a puzzled look but nodded. She quickly handed Letty her helmet and her bike. Then she spun round, grabbed Tony’s arm, and pulled him through the crowd.

“Hey!” Tony protested, but Kendis shot him a hard glare.

She spotted a huge semi-truck parked nearby and pulled him around it before slamming him against it.

“Hey, if you wanted to get me alone, you could have just asked,” Tony smirked.

Kendis’s fingers itched for her wand, but they were in a public space full of muggles and the last thing she wanted was for MACUSA to come down on her for breaking the statute of secrecy. Luckily for her, she was powerful enough to cast a nonverbal notice-me-not spell.

“What the fuck, Tony?”

“Tony,” He frowned. “I think you have mistaken me for someone else, lady—”

“Anthony Edward Stark,” Kendis hissed as she poked him in the chest. “Don’t even try to play me.”

Kendis intently watched Tony, and it was strange to see those familiar brown eyes staring back at her from such a peculiar face. He sighed, then winced as he did jazz hands. “Uhm, surprise!”

“What are you doing here?” Kendis hissed at him. “You are stalking me now?”

“You call it stalking, and I call it crime intervention.”

Kendis gestured with their hands as if they wanted to wrangle his neck. “This is not funny, nor cute. You violated my privacy after I told you to get lost.”

“And you are obviously in trouble and running from something.”

Kendis froze and then she saw red. Tony winced and yelped as she shoved him hard against the truck again. With magic coursing through her, she yearned to hex the hell out of Tony. Thankfully, Kendis managed to maintain her hard-won control.

“I am a grown-ass adult and don’t need a man to ride on his white horse to save me,” Kendis snarled. “There is a reason why I’m single, Stark.”

“So, what is it?”, Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kendis thought for a bit, as she tried to figure out how to warm Tony, without giving away that she was a wixen. She finally blurted out: “Anyone who gets close to me dies.”

Tony stared at them with his mouth wide open. “Is that a threat or something?”

Kendis closed their eyes and took a deep breath as her anger was suddenly replaced with a deep bone exhaustion. “This is me trying to save your fool life. I signed the annulment papers. Just file them and move on.”

Tony and Kendis were literally from two different worlds. Tony Stark was a spoiled rich muggle with the world at his feet and had no idea who she was or what she had been through. He could never comprehend being forced to lead a war at seventeen. He would never understand how much blood Kendis had on her hands or know about the gut-wrenching pain she had felt witnessing everyone she’d ever loved die because of her.

Tony stared at them for a long beat and then straightened up, squaring his shoulders. “No.”

Kendis eyes widened.

Tony came closer until he was only a few scant inches away from her. “I may have overstepped with all the…” He gestured with his hands. “The surveillance.”

“The stalking,” Kendis corrected him, crossing their arms.

Tony rolled his eyes, and Kendis wondered if slapping him would be as satisfying as kissing him.

“But I’m not the type of man to give up on something I want,” Tony said, reaching out with his hand to caress their cheek. Kendis shivered as those calloused hands brushed against their skin. His thumb wiped across Kendis’s lips, and she tasted smoked amber, metal, and cardamom

“And…” Tony trailed off, and Kendis could tell he was fighting with himself. “I want you.”

Kendis shuddered and bit back a moan at his rough, low tone. She wanted to give in, wanted to lean forward despite all the trouble he had brought into their neatly organized world.

But then a memory of a woman with her lovely hair around her face, and her blank brown eyes staring back at her flashed in her mind. And she realized that though Tony was an asshole, he didn’t deserve her baggage. Didn’t deserve the target on his back that being with someone like Kendis could bring.

Besides, this marriage was a temporary thing. Tony would get bored soon and move on.

Kendis moved back and shook her head. “Just give up.”

His mouth pressed against Kendis’s in an intense and heated kiss. His tongue felt like the best type of sin as Tony’s tongue brushed against Kendis’s in an embrace that felt more like dance than the battle for domination she expected. It felt as though the kiss stretched on endlessly, yet it passed by in an instant.

“Tell me you don’t want me, and I will walk away and never look back,” Tony finally said as they broke apart. She was satisfied to see that Tony looked just as undone as she felt, hair wild, chest heaving for breath.

Kendis opened their mouth to say that, but something lodged in their throat. Tony had stalked them, and he deserved every bit of her wrath, yet there was something inside her that kept her from speaking the words. It was something that drew her to him like a moth to a flame.

And when he touched her, Kendis’s body came alive. She hadn’t necessarily been celibate since Josefa, but sex had largely been an itch she needed to scratch. Tony’s touch was incredibly addictive, awakening her body in ways no one else could.

Kendis would never know for sure who moved first, her or Tony. Their lips met again, her mouth opening to his hot, wet tongue. Kendis groaned as she rocked her hips as their hard erections rubbed against each other.

She was already hard and leaking for him, and Kendis briefly considered unzipping Tony’s fly and demanding that he fuck her against the truck. But then she suddenly remembered where they were. They were outside, in public, and the back of the truck was the only thing keeping people from getting an eye full of Tony and her rutting against each other like animals.

Their only saving grace would be that people wouldn’t recognize that she was getting up and personal with billionaire playboy Tony Stark.

Kendis jerked back, her cheeks flushed warm with embarrassment. “I…I am sorry.”

“What?” Tony spluttered, but Kendis didn’t give him a chance to say anything more before they spun on their heel and ran away as fast as their feet could carry them.