Page 23 of Bewitched By the Siren (The Bewitching Hour #1)
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Brendan
Holding Hali like this, in the middle of the day and without reservations, makes me feel like everything is right in the world.
Those negative thoughts about how I shouldn’t be doing this have faded into the background, and every time my mind tries to rebel, to tell me she is a potential client, Hali must feel the tension rise inside of me, because she snuggles closer, chasing the worry away.
Right here, in this moment, she isn’t Hali Weston––future superstar. She’s just Hali, a girl I like. A woman who makes me feel like this is exactly where I belong.
“What are you thinking about?” she murmurs, her voice thick with relaxation and comfort.
“Nothing,” I say quickly, then sigh. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d sing for me.”
The stiffening of her body is immediate, and I try to backpedal. I shake my head and tighten the grip of my arm around her body.
“Never mind. It was stupid. Forget it.”
Her muscles relax, and she turns her head to press a light kiss to my chest. “No, it’s okay. I don’t mind.”
She starts to hum a tune I don’t recognize, then starts into the first verse in a quiet, gentle tone. The lyrics are gray and gloomy, telling a story of a person all alone in the world. Of a great, dark loneliness that sets the tone for everything they do and everything they say.
My chest hollows at the emotion her words and tone evoke inside me, and I try to focus on the technical aspects of her talent.
Her voice is perfect and beautiful, but just like in the car yesterday, I notice I don’t feel that surge of desperation and awe I felt at Memaw’s the first time I heard her sing. It’s weird.
My thoughts scatter when she bridges into the chorus, the rhythm picking up into something hopeful and exciting as she sings about meeting someone who steals into her world.
That though uninvited, she can’t help but welcome them in after they worked so hard to crack the shell around her resolve to stay separate.
The change in her tone elicits a change in me, making my emotions soar and my heart pound. And that right there, the way her impromptu performance has affected me, is why this woman needs to be a star.
The world my not deserve her, but it needs her.
Not because Julius wants her on his roster. Not because I need her to save my job. None of that matters.
All that matters is the way Hali is sure to change people’s lives with her music.
Her voice trails off after the chorus, and she snuggles closer with a near-silent sigh before saying, “That’s as far as I’ve gotten with that one.”
“You wrote that?” I ask, awe tingeing the words.
She nods against my chest. “I’ve been working on it for a few weeks, but all I’d written was the first verse until this week.”
I hear the words she’s not saying. That meeting me opened her mind and allowed her to feel that hope that was laced through the words and melody of the chorus. Wonderment swells in my chest, and I tilt my head down to press a kiss to the top of her head.
“You’re the real deal, Hali Weston,” I murmur.
She mumbles a quiet thanks against my skin, then rolls atop me.
Dropping her knees to the mattress so she’s straddling my hips, she braces her hands against my shoulders and stares down at me.
The ends of her hair brush against my nipples, sending sparks rolling beneath my skin, and her shell pendant dangles just above my chin.
“Thank you for being you ,” she whispers, and before I can respond, she dips her head to seal her mouth over mine.
My hands find her hips, kneading her flesh as she rocks against my growing erection.
She breaks off our kiss with a groan, then leans over to yank open the drawer on my nightstand.
Fishing out a condom, she rips the wrapper open with her teeth before plucking out the condom and pushing herself up so she can reach between us.
My eyes squeeze shut with sweet ecstasy as she strokes me a few times, then rolls the condom on before lining me up with her entrance. My breaths come in short bursts as she lowers herself slowly, her inner walls squeezing and pulling me deeper and deeper with each second that passes.
When she’s fully seated and rocking back and forth gently, I reach up to cup her cheek, saying, “You’re so fucking beautiful, Hali. In every way.”
“So are you,” she breathes, then rolls her hips, making me groan with how amazing she feels.
We move together, chasing that ultimate high, and the only thoughts swirling through my head are about how this is right where I want to be. Of how I never want to leave this bed. How perfect everything is in this moment, a perfection I’ve never felt and never dreamed of actually experiencing.
Hali moans as her inner walls clench down around me, and her orgasm sets off my own release without any forewarning. My grip on her hips tightens as I grind her down against me, letting her pussy milk my cock until it’s relieved me of every last drop.
When she collapses against my chest, I wrap my arms around her and hold on tight. I don’t want to let her go.
Ever.