Page 91 of How to Flirt with a Witch

But how can I be happy about that when Natalie looks like I’ve slapped her in the face?

I shut the door, plunging us into silence. Dread builds over what she’s going to say. How much have I hurt her?

“I’m sorry I went behind your back,” I say, my throat tightening around the apology. “I know you just want to keep me safe.”

“Exactly.”

“And I promise I’m fine,” I say, trying to sound gentle. “Sky came to the rescue, and we succeeded. Now no one else will stumble on the curse, including the Madsens. This is precisely why I can be useful.”

Natalie paces my room, running her fingers through her hair. “Katie, I don’t want this for you.”

I cross my arms. “Whatdoyou want for me? To drop me off at my basement suite and never see me again?”

She stops pacing, turning toward me with slumped shoulders.

I stay still, waiting. It’s time for her to make a choice. She can continue fighting, or she can accept where I’ve ended up.

She rubs her hands down her face and lets out a frustrated growl. “I don’t know.”

The silence stretches on. She really can’t figure it out.

“You keep telling me I don’t want to be involved in all this,” I say quietly. “But you don’t get to make that decision for me. I feel like I belong here, which I never thought I’d hear myself say about anywhere but home. So, my choice is to stay and use my ability to help find curses. What’s yours? Are you going to keep trying to stop me from following this path, or are you going to accept that I’ve been offered a job and a room in CSAMM?”

Her fists are clenched at her sides. Her chest rises and falls as she stares at me, her anger flickering like a dying candle.

Something else takes its place—something more intense, so blazing hot that I feel it sizzle in my lips, my neck, my core.

She walks forward, her long strides closing the distance between us.

My breath hitches as her warm hands slide around my waist and into the small of my back. I incline my head, and in the next beat of my heart, her lips crash into mine.

Sparks skitter across my skin. A molten rush of pleasure swells inside me. Her taste is so sweet that I let out a moan, melting into her strong body. I cup her face, her soft hair tickling my fingers, her ears cool against my palms, her cheeks smooth beneath the heels of my hands.

My reaction seems to charge her, and she presses into me so I’m forced back a step. Her lips move urgently, parting mine. Her hands are unyielding, holding me against her.

I arch into her, wanting to feel her against every part of me. Each shift and flex of her toned body sizzles through my belly. Her intoxicating scent fills me, making me open my mouth to taste more of her.

She guides me backward, and I’m too dazed to track where we’re going. Everything around us dissolves until the world is nothing but her soft lips and tongue, her warm hands, the curves of her body.

The wild sensations coursing through me reach my brain, and my inner voice screams in victory.

She’s kissing me. Natalie – is – kissing me!

My back hits the door, and I exhale sharply into her mouth.

A groan rumbles through her, making me quiver. She runs her palms down either side of my waist, tugging my shirt up so she’s touching bare skin. The cool air raises goosebumps over my abdomen.

Oh-God-oh-God…

It’s like I’m rolling down a grassy hill, dizzy, out of control, my body reacting without my conscious decision. Pinned between her and the door, I lift my knee up, using my leg to pull her hips against me.

She hisses out a breath and laces her fingers through mine. The backs of my hands press against the cool door by my head, her palms hot, our fingers interlocked.

Our lips and breaths grow frantic, her body pressing harder against me. Her breasts, her hips, her thighs… I close my grip, my fingertips brushing her knuckles.

“Katie—” She pulls back and rests her forehead on mine, breathing hard. “I want you to stay here. Of course I do. But you’re making it impossible for me to resist you.”

“Then stop resisting.”