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Luna

T he task was finished, the room and blood magic cleansed by the water magic that flowed through me under the moon’s light.

I wanted to crumple.

My body swayed as if it might, but the scent of mint and leather hit my nose, and those strong arms that encircled me when I flung free of the memory still held me tightly—still held me up when I was ready to fall.

Vincent was still with me.

“Mom used blood magic on the inn,” I said, falling farther into his waiting arms, knowing he’d bear whatever burdens I gave him.

I wasn’t used to wielding magic, at least not with such intention.

It hadn’t been enough to know Mom had used blood magic.

I’d needed to fix it.

I’d needed to cleanse, to undo everything she’d done to keep me from my fae heritage.

Resting more fully against Vincent, I let my magic wander the room a final time.

His hands trailed down my arms in reassurance.

The blood magic was gone.

I still couldn’t believe she’d done it.

No matter Mom’s intention, she’d taken things from me, taken a relationship with my father, and I was having a hard time reconciling that with the woman I had known.

I wished she was here to ask.

From the memory, I knew she’d been trying to protect me.

I could feel that as firmly as I was sure she’d felt it the day it happened, but just because Darius had let her down didn’t mean he would let the same thing happen to me.

“Darius tried to give the inn to me. I could have come here more regularly and had a job when I was ready to move to Sandrin.” I swiped a tear from my face.

“She thought he would use it to control me.”

Vincent squeezed my shoulders again.

“You cleansed it? Do you need to do anything else here?”

I was dead on my feet, and I so badly wanted to lie down.

Cleaning up this mess left by my parents’ relationship was exhausting.

Before my chin fully dipped in a nod, wind swooped me into Vincent’s arms, and he carried me down the staircase.

“I can walk,” I said half-heartedly.

It must have been unconvincing because my head was leaning against his chest.

He pulled me closer to him.

Collapsing against him shouldn’t have felt so good, but cradled in his arms, I felt safe.

“I know you can, but you don’t have to,” he whispered.

My heart melted, and I nuzzled in farther, taking pleasure from the increasing beats of his heart.

The moon’s light was still bright.

His wind slipped away, unfurling from its place around me as we entered the forested part of the property.

When we were at my cottage door, the wind returned, wrapping around me again as it pushed the door open and handed me a moonflower.

I smiled, smelling the flower, until Vincent set me on the couch and turned away.

“Vincent.” I sat up immediately and tracked his movement.

He went to the kitchen instead of the door.

I was so afraid he would leave in some misplaced attempt to give me space, leave me alone with my thoughts.

I’d need to process them, that was true, but they were not my immediate concern.

There was nothing I could do about Mom’s choices.

And I’d already taken steps to reconcile with Darius.

I’d made decisions with the new information presented.

I’d continue to do so in the future.

All of that would take time.

The one thing I hadn’t done was discuss my feelings with Vincent.

He’d taken off his jacket, hanging it by the door.

“I’m here,” he said, rolling up the sleeves on his shirt and exposing his forearms.

“You look like you could use some tea. Did you say you make your own moonflower blend?” Wind swept around the flower stem in my hand, and I smiled down at it.

“There is some in the cupboard.” Now that I knew he wasn’t leaving, I slumped across the back of the couch, watching him.

“They were such a mess—my parents.”

Vincent smiled softly as he continued his work, boiling water and searching my cupboards for the promised tea.

His silent acknowledgment urged me to continue.

“I knew Mom didn’t like Darius, but this seemed excessive. She was so ready to see him as the villain of my story. It was a role already cast for him since he’d turned into the villain in hers.”

“He did say he didn’t protect her from the fae. I know you’ve only had glimpses of what that can be like, but imagine how my parents treated you at the restaurant…but even more direct, every day.”

I considered this.

“I know she was trying to protect me, but I can’t help but wonder if she ever would have come clean about his intent. When would she have let me decide if I wanted to have a relationship with him? Now she’s gone, and I’ll never know. ”

“As you said, I don’t think we can know, but it felt like you fixed whatever she did?”

“I think so.” I shrugged.

“It’s also good to finally know what triggers my magic.”

He smiled.

“It makes perfect sense that it was moonlight. When I saw you standing in the moat at Parkside Tavern, I thought you were a goddess of some unknown moon court. It was like the moonlight was drawn to you. I should have known then.”

My cheeks heated.

“You were too confused about whether to be taken with me or angry at me to be responsible for such details.”

“You have no idea,” he replied.

The water boiled, and he poured it into two mugs, adding the moonflower tea.

He handed me a mug and sat with his on the other side of the couch.

“Then it seems like we’re ready to feature the inn,” he said.

“Which is good because Long Night is in two weeks.”

“I don’t think Darius’s deadline was real,” I said.

“I think he was trying to motivate me to figure out my magic in his own way.”

He laughed.

“Yes, well. Doesn’t mean we can’t still accomplish our original goal.”

I scooted closer to him on the couch.

“I don’t want to use you for the thing everyone else seems to. You’re worth more to me than promoting the inn.”

He reached for my moon-touched strand of blond hair, twisting it around his finger.

“I know. That’s why I want to do it for you anyway.”

I took a sip of the tea.

“What about your end of our bargain?” It seems I’d been granted everything I wanted, but the opposite could be said for Vincent.

“The tip is obviously false. I’ll find another story to get into feature work. ”

I pursed my lips.

“Darius did say someone was doing what that tip accused him of, it just wasn’t him.”

“I noticed that, too. I’ll search more and see if there is anything else in the documents my editor gave me.” He shrugged, and his dark gaze held mine.

“It’s not what’s most important to me right now.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

He smirked.

“Sorry that your father wasn’t bribing the governor to stop the magic school’s development?”

“Well, no.” I laughed and placed my hand on his forearm.

They were very nice forearms.

A muscle flexed beneath my touch.

“I’m sorry we didn’t find the story you wanted.”

“That wasn’t precisely our bargain, was it? You needed to help me access Darius, which you did well beyond the requirement.”

“So our bargain is complete?” I asked a bit cheekily.

“I’m not sure our bargain was worth the paper it was written on.”

“We didn’t write it down, Vincent.”

“Exactly.”

I leaned forward, setting my cup on the low table next to the couch.

“I want you to stay.” I wanted a lot more, but I figured I’d start with this.

He set his cup down, and I crawled into his lap as he did so.

“All I want is to be here for you, Luna. I won’t leave unless you ask me to.”

My face was inches from his, and I was finding it difficult to concentrate on his words.

His wind was already slipping around my wrist and across my arms.

“I can sleep here, though.” He motioned to the couch.

The wind paused the progress across my skin with his words.

“I can imagine you’ve had a trying day.”

I bit the inside of my cheek.

“I have, but the decisions they made on my behalf are past. I can only choose the future I want.” I cleared my throat, suddenly nervous, though I wasn’t sure why.

“Before I learned any of this, I was sure of the future I wanted with you. I still am.”

His brown gaze devoured me before he moved.

I saw the moment his resolve snapped.

His wind rushed forward, and he kissed me like every second he kept his lips from mine was a disservice to us both.

I’d felt the touch of his lips multiple times already.

This was different—this was more than mutual attraction and sweet stolen moments.

His kiss was chasing, grasping, claiming all in one.

The two of us, reaching for the future we wanted—together.

He pulled me to him, erasing any distance between us.

I purred in satisfaction as my chest pressed to his.

My hands rested on his shoulders and slid around his neck as I sank into the kiss.

I went for his hair first.

My nails scraped his scalp as they freely perused the thick locks I loved.

I resolved to run my hands through them every day I could.

“Luna,” he breathed, pausing as if unable to say more.

“Bedroom. Now,” I replied as I regretfully removed my hands from his hair.

A squeal of delight slipped from my lips as his wind responded to my command.

It lifted us both and swept us toward the bedroom.

We didn’t even have to untangle.

“I’ve never lifted two people before,” he said curiously as we landed on the bed in a mess of limbs.

My lips were on his neck, and his words jumbled together.

“Maybe worry about that later.” I ran my hands over every inch of him I could find.

His wind swirled around the hem of my blouse as if asking permission.

I raised my arms in response, and it pulled the shirt over my head, tossing it to the floor.

Vincent was there as it fell away.

His hands slid up the sides of my body, heating every part of me that he touched.

He tugged at the band around my chest, loosening it and banishing it to the corner of the room with my top.

His hands cupped my breasts.

I gasped as he bent forward, his mouth following his hands.

When his lips closed around the peak, he hummed in satisfaction at my moan.

My body burned, even as his wind swirled around us, pressing us together.

“I need this off,” I said, between breathless pants, pulling at his shirt.

He obliged, revealing a lean frame and honed, wiry muscle.

His forearms had only been the appetizer.

I wanted to lick him from head to toe.

He must have seen as much in my gaze.

His smile was sinful as he said, “You’ll have to wait your turn,” and then bit down on my nipple.

I could feel his smile against my skin as I moaned.

His tongue followed the bite, lavishing attention as his hands roamed my skin.

We fumbled out of the rest of our clothes, eager to have nothing between us.

Finally, we fell back together onto the bed.

I straddled him.

His hands reached up behind my neck, pulling me down to him as he drank in his fill.

“You’re perfect.”

His kiss was molten, and his tongue slipped into my mouth with familiarity.

I could easily imagine we’d been doing this for years instead of only a few stolen kisses.

“I don’t deserve you.” His hand cupped my cheek, and I turned my head to nip at his finger.

“But I won’t continue to question why you seem so willing to have me.” He chuckled as he flipped us over.

His wind lifted me higher than necessary for the motion and shot butterflies through my stomach.

“More than willing.” I stared up at him from where I now lay on the bed.

“Demanding.”

He growled in pure male satisfaction, a sound so at odds with the persona he presented to the city.

I loved this wild part of him that felt like it was just for me.

I ran my hands up his chest, twisting my fingers in the hair at the back of his neck.

“Your obsession with my hair is intoxicating,” he breathed, letting my hands rake through it .

“It’s not only your hair I’m obsessed with.” I attempted to pull him toward me again, urging him to satisfy the need that had been growing since the day we met.

He smirked, gently resisting my pull.

He tilted his head in consideration.

“I never expected you to be impatient.”

Heat spun inside me, shooting straight to my core.

I was beyond impatient.

He seemed to realize as his hand dipped lower.

Anticipation flared with each caress of his fingers over my stomach, my thigh, and finally, where I needed him most.

He expertly stroked my center, circling my clit.

His attention was rapt as he worked, like he sought to memorize each sound I made and each movement that brought them forth.

A finger slipped inside me, stealing a gasp from my lungs.

Another followed, plunging into the heat of my core, curling and building my pleasure.

“Vincent,” I rasped.

His name on my lips was the only reason I could cling to.

My mind spun in all directions, my hands gripping his chest, the sheets, his hair, anything to hold me to this moment.

I didn’t want to let it go.

“I’ve got you. Always.” His strokes didn’t slow, and his words stoked something else inside me.

The image of a partner with whom to share my burdens.

A friend with whom to share my joys.

And a lover with whom to share my heart.

My release crashed through me like a wave of power.

My eyes closed, and my limbs liquefied with the future his words promised.

I knew he was right.

He had me.

He wouldn’t let me go.

He leaned forward to press another kiss to my lips.

I chased him as he pulled back.

His laugh was a light on the darkest night, like the moon’s light for my soul.

“My turn.” I reached for him.

His length was hard and ready between us.

I pumped him, lining him up with my entrance.

“Luna,” he spoke through hitched breaths as I worked him.

“Kiss me. ”

He granted my request, leaning down into another scorching kiss.

As he did, I guided him to where I needed him.

A gasp slipped from my lips as our bodies connected—a rightness filling me as I stretched to accommodate him.

My head fell back against the pillow.

“Are you alright?” Worry laced his voice.

“I’m fine. Just let me enjoy this for a minute.”

Somehow, I could hear the smirk curve his lips through his chuckle, though I refused to lift my head to confirm it.

“Take all the time you need.” I clenched around him, and his lips were on mine again.

My hands reclaimed their place in his hair.

“I’m going to start believing you only want me for my hair,” he said between kisses.

“It’s quite perfect. I’m not sure how you manage it.” His wind slid over my clit, stealing my breath as he started to move.

“Wind-assisted perfection,” he replied, as his wind assisted in ways that had nothing to do with his hair.

It stoked the building heat as he thrust deeper and deeper inside me.

“I could get used to this,” I breathed.

“Good.” His lips were on mine again, and there was no more space for words as our bodies united in building pleasure.

His hand was on my breast, mine in his hair.

Our tongues slid against each other at every opportunity.

I was at the cliff’s edge again, looking over, and this time, I knew Vincent was with me.

We may have started this relationship with our own goals and desires, but they’d merged somewhere along the way.

A joint desire to stand with each other.

To support each other.

To partner together through whatever life brought.

It was intoxicating to know someone was as focused on my pleasure as I was on theirs.

Before I finished the thought, the warmth of his wind applied perfect pressure, sending me barreling over the cliff.

He followed, his wind circling us as we fell together.