Page 12 of Unhinged Magic (Cutters Cove Witches #2)

But as she sat there, arms wrapped around her legs, her gaze held mine, curious and wide. Twisting the lines of childhood friends into something else entirely.

“Okay?” I asked, to be doubly sure.

Her head bobbed slightly. “Okay.”

She breathed so softly that I barely heard it. But I did. There was no mistaking her shallow breaths.

Frightened she would change her mind, I moved closer. She lowered her legs to the bed, and I moved over them, hovering, frightened to push my luck.

My hand skirted over her jawline, curled into her hair. Desire unfurled deep inside me.

Inches from her lips, our breath coasted in the air between us, until I closed the gap, sealing us together. The connection was instant, spreading throughout me as if she were some languid fever taking hold, gripping me tightly.

I kissed her slowly, cautiously. Knowing any second, she could call it, and I would need to back off.

My lips moved against hers, and as my tongue captured her own with a gentle caress, a whimper escaped from her.

It was all I needed to deepen the kiss, and I devoured her mouth with intent this time.

She tasted sweet, like fresh honeydew, and I knew that, even if I never got to kiss her again, I would forever remember her taste.

A groan moved from deep within me as her hands sank into my sides, delicate touches turning into something more brazen.

Her hands crawled underneath my hoodie, under my tee, until she found flesh, branding my skin.

I sank over either side of her legs, easing her backward until she lay beneath me, my dick straining in my pants between us.

It was everything I had ever wanted and more. I couldn’t stop tasting her.

When I begrudgingly pulled away, I swept her hair behind her ear, staring down at her. Drowning in the intensity of her, I felt like a boy after his first kiss.

“Tell me you don’t feel this,” I rasped, my thumb brushing a line across her bottom lip. “Tell me you don’t like how I kiss you.”

I was skating on thin ice, not sure if I was about to fall right through.

As if she sensed my need for reassurance, she arched against me, and it was all I needed. I crushed my mouth against hers as she wound her arms around my neck, pulling me closer. Relief flooded through me, absorbing into every part of me. Her kiss was like nectar.

Coaxing her mouth open, our tongues met, each stroke matching mine like an unspoken secret. It was no ordinary kiss. I felt it strip me like worn paint, each kiss exposing another layer. How she did that, I would never know.

This is what I wanted. What I needed so badly. To feel her lips hungry for mine.

When we finally pulled apart, our chests heaved.

“Wes,” she whispered, all breathy.

“Tell me what you need,” I said, pressing into her, making it clear what she did to me. I’d never been this hard in my life, the intensity between us like nothing I had felt before.

A sigh slipped from her lips. “Wes, I feel…”

My hand skimmed her waist, molding to the curve of her hip. Waiting.

She sat up, resting on one elbow, the other diving into my hair, nails caressing my scalp. I welcomed her touch, one I had only ever imagined I would get.

“What is it? Skip, tell me what you need, and I’ll do it. Anything.”

She stared at me as if she looked deep enough, she would find what she was looking for.

What was she looking for?

She looked away nervously. “I do want you,” she said, caution smudging her words into a shaky sentence. “But it’s not the mate bond, it never has been.”

This again?

“What do you mean? You kissed me back.” I pulled away, sitting upright, as did she. She pulled her legs to her chest again, shutting down.

No. Don’t do this to me.

I hated seeing her pull away from me again.

“I know, but…” She paused, as if not sure to continue. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m attracted to you. But it’s not like that , like the bond, I mean.”

Color drained from my face. She really couldn’t feel what I did. The unhinged hunger ravaging my insides every second of every day. Clawing to be with her.

My gut almost emptied. “I don’t get it. How could you not? I don’t understand?”

“I don’t know what to believe right now.” She couldn’t look at me.

My heart sank.

I broke my rule, because fuck, I was desperate and almost on my fucking knees for this woman.

I rested my hands on her forearms, our connection bending my self-restraint to breaking point.

“Tell me what I need to do to prove it to you. Because if you can’t feel this too, then something is very wrong here. ”

She dropped her head, eyes closing momentarily. I knew my touch was having some effect on her. When she looked up again, she focused on my thumbs gingerly stroking the delicate skin above her wrists. So soft, so smooth. I wanted my lips there.

She didn’t argue, nor shy away. Just consumed me with her energy. I noted the moment it shifted: a bright, shining star suddenly dimmed.

“If you truly believe you feel this bond, then what’s wrong with me?” she said shakily, blinking back tears.

I opened my mouth to speak when her attention suddenly drifted over my shoulder.

I pulled back, finding her flushed cheeks now pale, her panicked stare fixed on the chair I had sat in only minutes ago. Her body went rigid as steel. Something wasn’t right.

I followed her eyeline and saw nothing but the dove-covered armchair.

“Skip?” I frowned, turning to the chair again. “What is it? Can you see something there?”

Whatever held her attention had it on a tight leash.

When she spoke, fear nestled in her icy tone. “Wes, I think you need to go,” she whispered, turning deathly pale. “Now.”

I shook my head. “Absolutely not. I’m not leaving you like this.”

“Wes, please, ” she pleaded, turning to me for a split second.

I shook my head swiftly. “No,” I insisted. “I’m not leaving you here with whatever has done this to you. Is it a spirit? What is it? Skip, tell me.”

I wanted to grab her by the arms and shake her, untangle her from this disturbing daze.

I barely heard the word leave her. Quiet, like she was both afraid to speak it and let me hear it. But, as it ghosted from her lips to my ears, every hair on my body raised in awareness.

Her eyes found mine in a haunting glance.

“You.”