Page 16 of Unhinged Magic (Cutters Cove Witches #2)

Skye

Hesitancy lingered in Wesley’s features.

His shoulders appeared stiff, crowding his every movement, jaw tight as if holding back.

I could tell he was nervous, even if he chose not to voice it.

I knew he was doing this for us, and that meant more to me than I wished to admit to myself, let alone him.

The more time I spent with Wesley, the more he got on my nerves.

The right ones. The ones that burned deep inside every time he looked at me like that .

His eyes had softened, sharing with me a vulnerability he usually kept to himself. The real Wesley.

The crack of his knuckles sounded. “Tell me what to do.”

“Now we sit.” I beckoned for him to join me, and he moved closer.

His fingers threaded through mine as I led him to the center of the circle, where we lowered to the ground.

We stared at our hands between us, a shiver extending the hairs on my arms to their full height. It moved over me in a warm, subtle gust.

Wesley’s thumb grazed my skin, his hopeful stare penetrating mine. “Please tell me you feel that.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I do,” I whispered.

An enormous smile lit up his face in a way that was spellbinding. It was the first genuine smile I had seen from him since returning to Cutters Cove, and the fact it was directed at me had my heart swimming in delight.

He lightly squeezed my hands in his own, his large fingers pressed into my skin. “I feel like the more time we spend together, the more the mate bond tries to connect us.”

“I think you might be right. But I still believe we need to bring Landon forward, I think he’s the answer to fixing this mess.”

“Let’s do it,” he agreed, gathering my hands closer and pressing his lips against them.

They were soft, warm, and I remembered how they felt against my mouth when I had kissed him, wondered how they would feel on other parts of me.

Heat warmed my cheeks, and I imagined the color flaming my skin would not go unnoticed.

His breath warmed my knuckles, his mouth pulling to a wry smile. “What is it?”

I tried to steady the breath currently pulling inside my chest, faster with each passing moment.

“It’s just…” I shook my head, my voice trailing off.

Now was not the time to tell him of thoughts I was having about his mouth.

There was something else more pressing we needed to talk about. A conversation I had been avoiding.

“I need to tell you something,” I said, barely a whisper.

He cocked his head to the side. “Okay…”

I paused, scrambling for words, physically not sure how to say it. “First, promise you won’t get mad.”

“Skip, what is it?” A frown pursed his brows together, a mixture of uncertainty and interest in his tone.

“I mean it,” I affirmed. If I was going to have this conversation with him, which I needed to do before we summoned Landon, I needed to know he was in the right headspace. Ready to deal with what I said next. “Promise.”

He let go of a long breath and nodded firmly. “Okay. I promise.”

I curled my fingers through his, feeling the reciprocal squeeze back.

“I think Landon whispered ‘mate’ in my ear the other night.”

Wesley’s already-chiseled jaw knotted, but, apart from that, his expression remained impassive. If it wasn’t for his pupils blowing wide, I would have believed he was unaffected by this information. He was holding it together. Just.

I continued. “I thought I imagined it, but now, I think I may have been wrong.”

I braced myself for what would come next, expecting Wesley to fly off the handle. Instead, his grip released mine, his fingers white-knuckling the fabric over his knees. His eyes slid shut.

“What does this mean?” he said lowly, his nostrils flared, an unfamiliar edge in his tone. “He’s dead, I’m not. How can this be possible?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t get it either. But before we do this, I just wanted you to know.”

Long moments of silence passed, and I held my breath.

His lips pressed into a line, hands flattening against his thighs. His eyes shifted back to mine with new determination in them. “Let’s just do this.”