Page 38 of The Witch’s Spell (Season of the Witch #4)

Aurora

SITTING AGAINST THE WALL, THE couch beckons, and I tug Thorne toward it. He offers no resistance. And when I turn us around so I can push him down onto the plush cushions, his mouth turns up into a smile.

“Think you could—” I start to ask, glancing toward the candles lining the many shelves throughout the room.

But they flicker to life before I can even get the words out, and Thorne needed not even turn away from me, didn’t have to lift even a finger.

I’m reminded again and again of his power, of the magic that bested even two ferocious shifters. And yet when I sink onto his lap, legs spread along either side of his hips, I see a gentleness in him, feel it in the way he reaches up to cup my face in his hands.

“Aurora,” he whispers, voice like wind through trees. If I close my eyes, it’s easy to lose track of what he says, to be convinced I’m standing amongst the boughs of an oak and it’s whispering sweet secrets into my ear .

“Thorne,” I say back.

He smiles. “I like when you say my name.”

“Thorne,” I whisper again, drawing the word out slowly.

He lets out a quiet sigh.

My fingers reach for the clasp of his cloak, a polished silver button nestled at the base of his throat. It comes away easily, fabric rustling softly while falling around us on the couch.

In response, Thorne frees the loop holding my cloak about my shoulders, then takes hold of it and lowers it to the floor at his feet. The cold air kisses my neck, making goose bumps rise along my skin.

Immediately, a fire roars to life in the hearth in the corner, tossing firelight across Thorne’s beautifully dangerous face.

In this light, and with the hunger in his eyes, he looks more like a predator than Faolan does. I almost reach for his lips just to pull them back and search for fangs. I’d not be surprised to find them.

“Come,” Thorne says gently, one elegant hand reaching out to wrap around the back of my head. “I wish to kiss you again.”

The pressure at the back of my head draws me forward. My eyes close as our lips meet. And I kiss him as longingly as he kisses me, as if each touch is somehow scorching and soothing at the same time.

Grasping for the hem of his tunic, I take hold of the fabric and begin to lift it over his head. He breaks our kiss at the last moment, and finally, I get to see his silvery skin in the light of the flames, get to trail my fingertips across his collarbones and watch his skin pebble in response .

I lean forward then, pressing my ear to Thorne’s chest. His heart is beating quickly, not unlike mine.

“What are you doing?” he asks, his voice a rumble in my ear.

Sitting up, I reach for his hand, then press it to my chest. His fingers brush my breasts through my thick winter dress, and between my spread legs, I feel his cock jump.

“Your heart,” I say, pressing his fingers more firmly into my chest. “It’s beating as fast as mine.”

“Ah.” He pulls his hand away from mine to trail his fingers across my breast, making my breath catch.

“Well, that’s because”—Thorne sits forward and slips his arms around me, fingers finding the laces on my dress and loosening them so the fabric softens across my body—“I’ve wanted to touch you for days.

Have had to touch myself and pretend it was your hand on my skin. ”

At his confession, my cheeks blossom with heat.

“You . . . touched yourself? While thinking of me?”

Slowly, he eases my dress off one shoulder, gentle hands helping me to remove my arm from the long sleeve. The fabric droops, and he pulls it down just enough to free one breast. My nipple puckers in the chill air, then hardens further when Thorne leans forward and captures it between his lips.

“Mm-hmm,” he murmurs, not ceasing his exploration of me with his tongue.

His hand comes up to cup my other breast, and he rubs my nipple through the thick fabric.

I moan softly, barely audible over the crackling flames.

Smiling, Thorne pulls away. “How else was I to survive having to listen to all of them fuck you while I lay in the dark, wishing it were me inside you instead? ”

His words make me so wet I’m certain he feels it through his strained trousers. “You want to be inside me?”

Abandoning my breasts, he reaches down and lifts the hem of my long dress without breaking eye contact. The touch of his fingers along my bare thighs makes me tremble. And when he slips a hand between my spread legs and dips one finger into the wetness there, I whimper.

“More than anything,” he whispers.

“Then take me.” My body is trembling harder now. He uses a single finger to touch me, to tease me with featherlight strokes. “Please.”

The smile he’s been wearing slips from his lips. He regards me now with absolute focus, holding eye contact unflinchingly as he pushes one finger deep inside me, making me moan. “Very well, my lady.”

With strength I didn’t know he had, he lifts me in one arm and twists to lay me gently upon the couch, my hair spreading out all around us as I sink into the soft cushions. Then he rises up above me and frees the cord on his trousers, pushing them down smoothly to let me finally see his length.

He’s hard and glistening wet, already dripping for me before he’s even slipped inside.

I sit up on the couch and reach for him, needing to finally know what he feels like, even against my palm.

When my fingers wrap around his cock, he tips his head back and groans.

He’s as long as Alden, though not as wide, and I feel my pussy fluttering as I stroke him, working him from base to tip.

He grows harder beneath my touch. But he doesn’t allow me to play with him for long .

A moment later, he’s bunching up my loose dress and pulling it off over my head, leaving me naked upon the couch, heart beating so hard I’m sure he can hear it over the popping of the wood in the hearth.

Briefly, he lingers there, staring down at me.

My bare skin tingles beneath his careful gaze as his eyes move from the top of my head all the way to my toes, which are curling into the couch and Thorne’s soft brown cloak.

Even his gaze upon me feels heated, like a brush of summer kissing me everywhere his crystal eyes leave a trace.

“You’re... beautiful,” he says at long last. As the words leave his lips, a gentle breeze dances through the tiny back room, rustling my hair and making the candles flicker upon their shelves.

And for a moment, I almost think I can taste his magic in the air—I can most certainly see that subtle glimmer from the corner of my eye, the sparkle his silvery skin has in the low orange light.

With a smooth movement, Thorne leans over, using his hips to push my legs apart as he braces his hands on either side of me. The head of his cock brushes my clit, making me whimper.

“Thorne,” I gasp, as if there’s not enough air in this room. “Don’t tease me.”

“Tease you?” he whispers. “I would never.”

Finally, he pushes his dick against me, and my folds part around him as I capture my bottom lip with my teeth and moan. His mouth is there a moment later, his tongue against my lips, begging to be let in .

And I let him. I let him plunge himself as deeply inside of me as he can go. My hands wrap around the back of his neck, fingers grasping at his silken white hair.

He thrusts slowly, as if he wants to feel every touch, every inch of his skin gliding against mine.

Our bodies writhe as one, the cushions cradling us, softening every movement as we sigh and gasp and moan into the quiet of the shop.

Thorne’s mouth dances across my cheek to my neck, and he nibbles my soft flesh before tracing the shell of my ear.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I breathe as he pulls out of me. “Don’t stop—”

Taking hold of himself, he pushes the head of his cock along my pussy lips until he finds my clit, making me gasp.

“I’m not stopping,” he whispers. He continues to rock his hips, rubbing himself against my clit, making me grasp at the cushions for purchase. “See?”

Now the fingers of his free hand slip inside of me, occupying the space he left empty. They curl, making me arch my back and open my mouth with a silent gasp.

“K-keep going.” I close my eyes, feeling pressure swelling in my low belly. It builds as he pushes his wet dick through my folds, fingers working inside of me. And then his magic touches my skin, a warm breeze dancing across my nipples and along my neck.

With my eyes closed, I can almost imagine it’s his mouth pressing kisses to my flushed flesh. It makes me shiver pleasantly, the sensation causing my toes to curl upon the couch cushions as goose bumps dance across every inch of my bare skin .

“When you cum,” Thorne says, “I want you looking right at me. I want to see your eyes.”

I’m almost there. He uses the head of his dick to circle my clit. My breath hitches in my chest. And I force my eyes open.

His silvery figure is limned in golden firelight, his body lean and strong as he sits over me, one hand working my pussy while the other guides his dick.

And though a touch of embarrassment warms my cheeks, I look right at Thorne and hold his crystalline gaze as I hit my peak and surrender to the pulsing waves of heat and pleasure.

He watches me intently, gaze never leaving my face, even as he readjusts to sink his length into my still-throbbing pussy.

I take him, even inch of him, relishing his firmness as he presses deep inside me.

Gently, he lifts my legs, guiding them up so my knees are draped over his shoulders.

He leans in close, careful not to put any pressure on my belly.

My chest heaves with heavy breaths, nipples hard in the dim light.

When Thorne’s mouth finds mine again, I suck his bottom lip in, nibble it as he groans against me. Then he pulls back and looks into my eyes, still thrusting slowly.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he says.

My pleasure-sleepy brain has a hard time understanding him. “About what?”

There’s a different expression on his face now. I’m not sure what it means, but it looks... almost pained. Or confused. With a soft look in his eyes, he reaches for a strand of hair that has found its way across my cheek and tucks it behind my ear. “About you.”

I capture his hand before he can retract it and press a kiss to his palm.

Then I suck his thumb into my mouth, run my tongue over the soft pad of his finger.

His dick hardens inside me, and a vein along the side of his neck throbs.

I give him a little smile and whisper, “For now, you can finish in me.”

The vein along his neck throbs again, along with his dick. His jaw muscles flex beneath his skin. Then he steals his hand back from my mouth, braces his palms on my thighs, and drives himself into me so hard I cry out.

Heat spills out of him and into me. In the hearth behind him, the fire roars, but he doesn’t even seem to notice it.

His cock pulses inside me, and he grunts with every release, his face tipped to the ceiling, where some of Niamh’s plants creep along the wood like curious eavesdroppers, seeming drawn to us by his magic.

I don’t care. Even if these walls could talk, could tell Niamh what we’ve done, I wouldn’t mind.

If he makes love to me like that, he can take me anywhere.

After draining his last drop, Thorne leans over me and presses a tired kiss to my lips. My hands find his face, hold him close. And I think it surprises us both when a tear streaks down my cheek before dripping onto the cushion beneath my head.

“Aurora...” He pulls away, thumb finding the moisture lingering on my cheek. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Shaking my head, I say with a breathy laugh, “No, you didn’t. Not that I don’t enjoy a little bit of pain too.”

His brows rise. “Then what is it?”

Thorne slips his dick out of me, and it’s soaking wet, both from him and from me. The couch is wide enough that he’s able to ease onto the cushions behind me and pull me into his chest, so his naked skin is pressed to my back.

“Aurora?” His breath tickles the nape of my neck.

How do I tell him that I’m afraid he’s going to leave?

That we’re going to clear the fog and then he’s going to disappear back into Fairyland forever?

He’s told me how much he enjoys traveling, how it’s not uncommon for him to be gone for weeks at a time.

I can’t ask him to give that up for me. I’m just a pregnant witch with three other men crammed into a tiny cottage.

Why would he give up traveling the realms just to stay with me ?

Maybe this is normal for him. Maybe he finds a new woman every place he travels and makes her gasp his name into the dark, only to leave the next day, gone with a whisper of wind and one last glance with his crystal-quartz eyes, vanishing like spring into summer.

Another tear streaks down my cheek, but I wipe it away before it can drip onto his arm. I don’t want to talk about this right now, or maybe ever. For now, I just want to enjoy the candles burning in this dimly lit room with Thorne’s arm wrapped around me, his heart beating against my back.

“I’m okay,” I whisper. “Just tired now. Will you sleep with me? Even for a short while?”

Behind me, his body softens, and he tugs me a bit closer so that he can rest his chin in the space between my shoulder and neck. “Of course. For as long as you like.”