Page 12 of Sugar, Spice, and Magical Moonlight (Midlife Menace #2)

I woke feeling like a gnome was pounding a nail inside my skull.

Rolling over with a groan, I reached for a juice on the nightstand.

I hadn’t remembered it being there before, but I wasn’t complaining about the delicious orange/mango concoction that had the perfect amount of soda bubbles.

After finishing it in a few long swallows, I whispered a thanks to the ghosts.

I still felt rotten, likely due to my crying episode, or especially my guilt for how I’d treated Ric yesterday.

Setting the glass back down, I cast a forlorn look at Ric’s empty side of the bed.

I missed my lion, especially his warmth and heady pheromones.

And now he was sleeping in some other room, and I might have blown our relationship with that stupid stun spell.

As if summoned by my longing, the door rattled, then opened, and he popped his head inside.

His robe was askew, and his hair had fallen out of its queue, fanning around his shoulders in an incredibly sexy, messy mop.

“Good morning.” He stepped inside the room, two caffès, in hand, and kicked the door shut behind him.

My heart did somersaults and the moisture evaporated from my mouth when he flashed a sheepish smile. Goddess, I’d missed him.

He advanced toward me like a lion sneaking up on a gazelle, then paused while casting a look of longing at the bed. “How did you sleep?”

“Okay.” I didn’t know why I lied. The ghosts probably told him I’d been crying. I scooted over, patting the bed beside me. “You?”

“Terrible.” He set the caffès down and sat on the edge of the bed.

I reached for the steaming cup and took a frothy sip, cinnamon, vanilla, and toasted marshmallow exploding on my tongue.

I swear I felt my soul leave my body. It wasn’t fair that such a rude barista made such good coffee.

I was almost certain he’d spellcast the grounds, for his beverages were magically addictive.

Speaking of rude baristas. I turned over the cup in my hand, trying to decipher the Italian. “Do I want to know what it says?”

Ric took the cup from me, his expression sympathetic. “It means ‘cries like a sick cow.’”

“Oh.” Well, that was embarrassing. Now Ric knew how I’d spent my night. It also answered my question about whether Ric’s ghost friends had been listening. “What does yours say?” I asked, then tensed, afraid of the answer.

He flashed a sheepish grin as he set my cup on the nightstand. “Loosely translated in Italian, it means ‘unresolved boner.’”

I secretly hoped we’d make up, so I could resolve it, but then I noticed the deep circles beneath his eyes.

I cupped his cheek, tracing beneath his eye with the pad of my thumb, rewarded when he turned into my hand and kissed my palm.

Just that one little kiss sent a zing straight to my lady parts, and I got the feeling that boner wouldn’t be unresolved for long.

“I’m sorry.” He eclipsed my hands in his big, warm grip. “I should have told you where we were going and spoken to you before promising to take Des to a game.”

Was he really apologizing first after I’d hit him with a stun spell? Who was this amazing sphinx, and what had I done to deserve him? Heat coursed through my veins as I squeezed his hands. “I’m sorry I stunned you and made that video.”

He flashed a half smile and tugged me toward him. “Come here.”

I fell into his arms while doing my best to hold back my tears.

My head still ached from crying last night, and I didn’t want to start up again.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I snuggled closer against him, inhaling his heady blend of feline musk and spice.

I sighed in contentment when he pulled me into his lap.

When he pressed his lips to my forehead, I just about melted.

I’d completely forgotten why we’d fought.

Whatever the argument had been about, it must’ve been incredibly stupid.

“What do we do now?” I asked while tracing a line down his chest and admiring his thick, taut neck and all those hard, tanned muscles.

His lips lingered on my forehead before traveling to my nose and finally my lips.

I opened to his tongue’s invasion with a groan, digging my hands into his scalp while praying that juice had chased away my morning breath, or at least masked it.

By the time he broke the kiss, I was putty in his arms, and the dial on my horny-ometer had turned up several notches, causing a slow drip in my underwear.

I peered up at him through hooded lids. “How about we make up?”

“Mm.” A shiver rolled through me when he traced kisses down my neck. He looked at me with glowing golden eyes that turned that dial all the way up. That slow trickle turned into an uncontrolled gush.

“Good idea, mi amor .” His voice deepened and his nostrils flared, and I knew he scented my desire, which only made me gush more.

He rolled me onto my back with a growl, making quick work of my panties and nightgown while I stripped off his robe.

By the time he fell between my legs, I was a hot mess of flaming hormones, and only his hose could put out the fire.

And, yeah, that sounded all kinds of corny, but I didn’t care.

All that mattered was my boyfriend inside me, relieving me of this tension coiled around every nerve ending in my body.

Wrapping my legs around his waist, I crossed my ankles and dug my fingers into the round globes of his buttocks, raising my hips to his as he thrust into me.

My eyes rolled into the back of my head when he filled me completely, his thick cockhead hitting that spot that made me believe in a whole new kind of magic. A groan escaped me when he pulled out and slammed into me again.

Dear Goddess.

He let out a low rumble as he picked up tempo with each powerful thrust. He was going to split me open, and I didn’t care.

I dragged my fingernails down his back, more than ready to be wrecked.

I clung to his shoulders when he pounded me faster, harder.

His hair fell down around his face, his golden eyes glowing like twin suns as his deep purr rattled my bones and sent me spiraling into a climax that crested over me like a tsunami.

I held tightly to him when he stilled with a groan, pouring his seed into me while my sex continued to spasm.

He collapsed on top of me, then rolled me over in his arms, his thick cock still buried deep inside me.

Never one to let a nice, hard cock go to waste, I straddled my lion, riding him until another orgasm rolled through me and he groaned his release.

We snuggled in each other’s arms for several minutes until our labored breathing slowed and my eyelids felt heavy. How badly I wanted to fall asleep with my shifter impaling me, but the sticky mess between my legs was too distracting, and I needed to pee.

We reluctantly parted, then fooled around a bit more in the shower. He had the libido of a rabbit on crack, though I wasn’t complaining about being hoisted in strong arms while pressed against a slick shower wall. If sex was this amazing after arguing, we’d need to fight more often.

MY LEGS WERE LIMP NOODLES by the time we stumbled out of the shower.

Ric was so attentive, drying off my legs and back, then spending a little too much time focused on my breasts.

After we dressed in our robes, I was more than ready for a delicious cappuccino from the world’s rudest barista.

Imagine my outrage when we exited the bathroom to find my empty caffè cup on the carpet beside the bed.

“My cappuccino!”

Ric picked it up with a curse. “The gnomes got it.”

I took it from him, frowning into the cup. “I need a new cappuccino. There’s nothing but coffee grounds in this one.” I wrinkled my nose as I smelled the cup. Had the grounds gone rancid?

“Those aren’t coffee grounds.”

“Gross!” I shrieked, holding the cup away from me like it was on fire. “They turded in my cup! Ohh, those little shits have gone too far!”

Ric let out a whistle, and a ghost took the turd cup away, floating it out of the room. I sure hoped they didn’t spill it on anyone on the way down the stairs.

“Calm down, darling.” Ric rubbed my shoulders, his mouth hitching up in a devious grin. “I’ll get you another, but it will cost you.”

“Oh, really?” I arched a brow. “What’s the price?”

He pulled me into a warm hug, his sensual lips a mere breath away from mine. “Kisses.”

“How many?” I breathed, my eyes fluttering when he cupped my chin.

“I’ll let you know when I’ve had enough,” he teased, and then brushed his lips across mine in the most heavenly kiss imaginable.

“Luci!” Ethyl’s shrill shriek was like a dying cat had crawled into my earlobe.

“Hang on.” I tightened my hold on Ric’s shoulders, trying to get him to deepen the kiss.

Much to my chagrin, he pulled away, asking, “What’s wrong?”

My pint-sized friend fluttered into the room, her rainbow-hued wings buzzing in a blur of color, her brow creased, and her eyes an alarming shade of violet as she jutted her phone in my face. “You need to see this.”

Ric took the phone from her. “What is it?”

“It was posted last night.” Ethyl twisted her fingers together while she erratically hovered over us like a helicopter with a bent propeller. “It’s already had thousands of shares.”

Ric swiped the phone, and I choked back bile when I saw Aunt Serena’s snarling face on the screen.

That same hamster/troll reporter, Hazel Humpback, held the fuzzy microphone in her face. “Why do you think your niece refuses to help the Insurgi destroy the demons that threaten the magical world?”