Page 10 of Charmed, I’m Sure (Witches of Bellevue #1)

Yeah right. Shaking my head, I took a large swig from the cup, grimacing as I turned my eyes toward the dance floor where Addy and Colin had disappeared into the crowd.

Bodies moved in all directions, some in time with the music, others… not so much. With a sigh, I found a blank spot on the wall and leaned against it, regret settling in my stomach as something wet and sticky seeped through the fabric of my shirt. Gross.

As the night wore on, we hopped from bar to bar, Addy and Colin taking full advantage of the specials at each one while I nursed the drinks they pushed into my hands.

By the time midnight rolled around, I was over it.

I was hot. Sweaty. And Addy kept insisting I keep the mask on my face because “It would ruin the costume” if I took it off, regardless of the fact that it was annoying and itched.

I’m pretty sure everyone thought I was Zorro, but she assured me that I was Westley from The Princess Bride and the right girl would get it.

I had no clue how she thought I would find the right girl in the middle of a sea of drunken bodies, but she sure was adamant about it.

The right girl, the only one who infiltrated my mind at all hours, was probably back in Bellevue doing god knows what with lord knows who.

“Can you get me another drink?” Addy shouted as her body moved to the music, her arms swaying above her head.

“How about some water?”

“Tay Tay,” she whined, her bottom lip poking out at me in the most pathetic attempt at a pout she could muster.

“Water first. Then I will get you another drink. Deal?”

With a huff, she nodded her head and headed back out onto the dance floor, where Colin threw an imaginary fishing line to reel her in. My body shuddered at the cringe move. I was happy for my sister, truly, I was. But they could be downright nauseating—cute, but nauseating.

Pushing my way through the throng of people, I finally made it to the bar at the back of the house. The bartenders had smiles on their faces, their painted-on makeup still perfectly in place, despite the sweltering heat inside, as they chatted with each of their patrons.

As I leaned against the bar top and waited for them to come down to my end, a familiar voice cut through the noise and pulled my attention.

“Dude, I said no. Back off.”

My eyes locked onto pink and blue tresses piled into a messy bun above iridescent fairy wings.

How I’d missed her in the crowd, I had no idea.

Maybe it was because most everyone was in wigs, or perhaps it was because I never expected to find her on Bourbon Street.

But out of all the bars in Louisiana, somehow, Magnolia Bellevue was standing a few people away.

Her irritation was palpable as she shoved the man away when he reached for her.

“Come on, princess. Dance with me. I know you want to,” the swarmy guy crooned, his hands reaching for her waist once more.

Pushing away from my spot, I closed the distance and stepped between them. “I believe the lady said no.”

“Who the fuck are you?” drunk guy slurred, puffing his chest out in an attempt to look intimidating.

My eyes met Magnolia’s, her crystalline blues shining brightly beneath darkened lashes as she stared up at me.

God, she was breathtaking. Gauzy white fabric draped down her arms and wrapped around her torso before fanning out at her hips into a delicate skirt that barely covered the tattoos on her thigh.

Iridescent glitter covered every inch of her exposed skin, from her cheeks to her chest and everywhere in between.

She looked like she’d just stepped out of a fairytale.

“Hey, I asked you a question, asshole!” the guy spat as he shoved my shoulder.

Peeling my gaze from Magnolia’s, I glared back at him. “It shouldn’t matter who I am. The lady said no. And last time I checked, no was a complete sentence.”

“Fuck this shit.” Throwing back the rest of his drink, the man slammed his cup down onto the bar and stumbled away.

When I was sure he wouldn’t come back, only then did I turn my gaze back to the ethereal woman next to me. “Sorry about that. I was down at the other end of the bar and heard you tell him no, and—”

“You wanna dance?” she asked, abruptly cutting off my rambling. Her eyes sparkled as they searched my face, a small smile tugging on the corners of her lips as her hand met my chest.

“As you wish,” I replied, leaning into the insufferable costume that I was wearing.

Her smile broadened, fingers twining with mine as she began to pull me onto the dance floor. “Okay, Westley. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

I was lost. Lost in the music. Lost in the feel of her hips beneath my hands as she swayed with and against me.

With the way her hands played with the hair at the nape of my neck just below the tie of my mask.

The way the lights reflected off the glitter coating her body as she threw her head back in unabashed bliss.

One song shifted to another and then another, each one bringing our bodies closer together. I couldn’t believe she was dancing with me. Of all the guys in this bar, she’d chosen me. The guy she continuously tried to light on fire with her eyes anytime she saw me.

“Air!” The huskiness in her tone pulled me from my thoughts, her eyes glowing as they met mine.

I nodded, but when I let her go, she wrapped her hand around mine, a sly smirk on her lips as she tilted her head toward the back patio and began to pull me with her.

As we turned down the hall, the crisp outside air kissed my cheeks and chilled the sweat on my skin.

Good lord, I hadn’t realized just how hot I was until I’d finally started to cool off.

We were just about to the door that led outside when someone yelled, “Out of the way,” as they came barreling down the hall with a tub full of glasses.

Yanking Magnolia to the side, I pressed her body against the wall with my own, my hands braced on either side of her head.

“Well, hi there,” she breathed, her chest heaving against my own as her eyes met mine.

“Hi, yourself.” Her perfume penetrated my senses this close and without a bunch of gyrating bodies around us. She smelled like sex and sin and every man’s dream. Spicy with the faintest hint of floral and something sweet.

Neither of us moved away, her hands slowly sliding up my chest as her eyes flicked over my face before landing back on mine.

“So, what now?” she asked breathlessly.

“What do you want to happen?” I pressed my hips into hers, relishing in the slightest hitch in her breath.

Her fingers wrapped around the edges of the opening in my shirt, slowly pulling my face closer to hers as she arched her hips into mine. With a slight shrug, she said, “I guess we could start here.”

Within the next instant, her lips were on mine. Soft and pliant with an edge of need as they moved against my own.

I had a feeling I was toast the moment I walked back into her life. But now? With her melting beneath me, her kiss growing more demanding as each second ticked by, I knew without a doubt in my mind that I was, indeed, completely and utterly screwed.

A groan slipped up my throat the moment her tongue slid across the seam of my lips, begging for entrance.

I opened for her, my tongue sliding against hers in a battle of wills as her hold on me tightened.

Pressing my hips back into hers, I pinned her to the wall and slid my hands down until I could untangle hers from my shirt.

Pushing them above her head, I held them there as I trailed languid kisses down her neck. Fuck, she even tasted good.

“You taste like cotton candy,” I said against her skin, the irony of that statement not lost on me as I kissed my way across her collarbone.

“It’s the body glitter. Less talky. I need more,” she mewled, her hips grinding against my thigh.

I was the furthest thing from an exhibitionist, but the needy tone in her voice lit my blood on fire. Moving my other hand from her waist, I hiked her leg over my hip and slipped it beneath the hem of her skirt. “What do you need?” I asked as my hand skimmed further up her thigh.

“Oh my god,” she panted, her head falling back against the wall.

“God’s not here right now, sweetheart. Just us sinners.” My lips found hers once more as my fingers coasted over her center. Fuck, she was already drenched, and the feeling of it had my cock throbbing behind my zipper.

Her kiss turned demanding, her hips rocking against my fingers.

As soon as I released my hold on her wrists, her hands flew to my head.

Fingers twisting into the only hair she could find as I lifted her behind her knees.

Her moans vibrated against my lips, but just as I was about to push aside her panties, someone yelled down the hall.

“Hey, Mag—oh, okay. Whenever you’re done, girlie pop.”

Magnolia’s head fell back as a laugh tumbled from her throat, and she gently tapped my shoulder. As I set her back on her feet, lust-filled eyes met mine. “See you later, Westley.”

Westley? Oh, fuck this costume.

Patting my chest as she passed, I gripped her wrist before she could get too far. “You’re leaving?”

With a shrug and a wink, she pulled her hand from my grasp and fluttered down the hall like the fairy she was dressed as. By the time I got my head out of my ass and followed, she was gone.

Ripping the insufferable mask from my head, I wove through the throng of people that crowded the bar, searching for Addy and Colin.

When I finally found them, my sister’s eyes were as wide as a saucer as they raked across my face, an amused smile gracing her lips as she asked, “Why are you covered in glitter? Did you have an unfortunate encounter with a Cullen?”