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Thirty-Six

DRAVEN

E lspeth and I lay on the little patch of grass by the pond with the sound of the waterfall in the background. We’d have to leave soon. I needed to get back to the tavern before it got busy and to check in on Georgie.

But I didn’t want to think about any of that right now. All I wanted to think about was this woman in my arms who’d somehow turned my world upside down. I wasn’t even sure when it had happened—maybe the very first day she barged into my tavern.

Either way, now that I’d gotten a taste of her, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to let her go. I just didn’t know how to tell her that without scaring her away. It was clear Elspeth kept everyone at a distance, put up walls. If I came off as too intense, she might run in the opposite direction.

I didn’t know how to be anything but who I was. I’d always been an intense person. But I wasn’t sure I’d ever been as obsessed with anything as I was with Elspeth Moonflower. Every dip and curve of her body. Every mischievous smile. Every glint in her eye. Every argument. I wanted it all, and I wanted it from her .

“I have to get back soon,” she said, her voice full of regret.

I trailed my fingers up and down her spine.

She tilted her head up and kissed me. “But maybe not quite yet.”

I opened my mouth, letting her deepen the kiss, that deep-seated need for her already stirring again as my cock twitched.

She pulled back and rested her head on my chest while her fingers trailed over my chest hair. “Plus,” she said, “you probably don’t want to leave Georgie alone for too long.”

“No,” I agreed, “I don’t. Thank you for watching out for her the other day.”

“It’s what I would’ve wanted someone to do for my sisters.”

I knew that. It was one of the things I admired so much about Elspeth. How protective she was.

“So are you going to tell me what Georgie was actually up to?”

Elspeth sat up, and my gaze dropped to her perfect, perky breasts. She reached for her dress and pulled it over her head, and I glowered at her.

She laughed at my expression. “Wouldn’t you rather Georgie tell you?”

I stretched my hands behind my head. “That’s the problem. Georgie won’t tell me anything. I don’t know how to connect with her, not like you do with your sisters.”

Elspeth studied me for a moment. “Can I tell you something?”

“Anything,” I said without hesitation.

She leaned forward, her curtain of hair falling over her shoulders. “Sometimes I think the reason you let your work consume you is because it’s easier than dealing with the real world. Real people. You’ve been obsessing over this mug spell, and yes, it’s important that you get it right. But is it more important than Georgie?”

I stared up at the green canopies hanging over us, the leaves tinted orange and yellow with the changing season.

“I never thought of it like that.” I swallowed. “But Georgie doesn’t even want to spend time with me. She resents me. For bringing her here.”

“I don’t think so.” Elspeth bit her lip. “I think she’s acting out because she’s trying to get your attention.” She placed a gentle hand on my chest. “Think about it. When do you most pay attention to Georgie?”

I grimaced. “When she’s misbehaving.”

“Exactly.” Elspeth waved her hand. “Auggie does that, too, sometimes. Not so much anymore. But when she was a teenager, she’d throw tantrums, have meltdowns, sneak out of our campsite at night and run away to the nearest village. Eventually, I realized she just wanted to be seen.”

I sighed, scrubbing a hand down my face. “This is what I’m talking about. You just know these things. You know what everyone needs. Georgie likes you. She actually likes you.”

“She likes you too,” Elspeth said. “She admires you so much. You should’ve heard her going on about the amazing spells you’ve created.”

I tilted my head. “Really? She never shows any interest in my spells.”

“Are you sure?” Elspeth asked, a skeptical brow raised.

Maybe not. I supposed Georgie had asked about my mug spell a few times. Had asked if she could help. I swore. She’d been reaching out to me, trying to bond, and I’d shut her down. Chosen my work over her.

“Hey.” Elspeth cupped my face with her hand, forcing me to look at her. “This is a learning experience. I’ve had an entire lifetime of raising my sisters. You just got Georgie a year ago. It’s going to take time to learn her moods, needs, wants. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Draven.”

I couldn’t help it. Georgie deserved better, much better than a brother who couldn’t even put his sister above a stupid mug spell. I sat up and reached for my trousers.

Elspeth stopped me, putting a hand on my arm. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

My cock stirred at the heated look in her gaze. “I thought we had to go?”

She lifted up the skirts of her dress and swung a leg over my waist, straddling me, pressing herself right against the tip of my cock.

“I think we could probably spare a few minutes.”

“A few?” I asked, and she laughed, then rubbed herself against me, a groan escaping me at the feel of her slipping up and down my cock “Fuck.” I gripped her hips with my hands. “You’ve cast a spell on me,” I said .

Something flashed in her eyes, gone so quickly I thought I might have imagined it.

“Maybe,” she said, “but at least it’s a good spell.” She lifted herself up, then slid over my cock, both of us moaning.

“The best,” I rasped out as she started rocking back and forth, and soon all thoughts of the tavern, of Georgie, fled my mind until I could no longer think at all.