Page 3 of Unhinged Magic (Cutters Cove Witches #2)

Wesley

When her blue-green eyes connected with mine, it penetrated walls .

I inched closer until barely an arm’s length separated us, my heart threatening to punch its fist through my ribcage.

Skye. Was. Here.

Her stare widened into two shockingly beautiful pools of turquoise, mixed with what I would normally consider a calming green.

But this green was anything but calm.

My heart stammered. My insides twisted.

“Are you going to say something?” I asked, well aware I was being an asshole.

But. She. Left.

Skye backed away, unblinking.

She stared at me like I held an axe in my hand, ready to slaughter her. If only she knew how much her glare was like an axe to my heart.

I ran my hand over my thigh, trying to figure out my next move. My brows dipped in annoyance.

Time stood still. I didn’t know how to act. What to say.

I was surprised she hadn’t left the party already at my rudeness. But I had every right to act this way.

Her disgruntled stare cut through me as she attempted to stand her ground, her mousy brown hair tousled over one shoulder, eyes ablaze. I hadn’t seen her walk into Ty’s man cave-turned-basement in the house we shared, but the moment I did, recognition dawned on me instantly.

Skye.

My best friend’s sister.

I tried to drag my mind from the gutter it threatened to settle in, but as my gaze ventured south to the place where her top didn’t quite meet her tights, the slice of skin between raised a predatory rumble through me.

Perfect breasts pushed from her white, cropped tee, just enough to fill a hand, and I imagined them soft in my palms, my thumb grazing her nipple. She looked as good as peaches and cream on a sunny day.

Mate.

The word tore through my insides like it was fighting for release. I had to call on every ounce of my restraint to contain myself, knowing if we hadn’t been in a room with my friend who was also her brother , things would have gone differently.

Fuck.

This was the girl I’d spent the first fifteen years of my life with; but, as she stared me down like I had already fucked up somehow, I couldn’t help but think of how much we had to work through.

I’d ventured outside, caution slowing my steps. Because I’d loved Skye my entire life.

Turns out admitting your feelings for someone is really fucking hard, and it doesn’t always go to plan. Because what I thought might happen and what did were worlds apart.

She fucking left.

No goodbye. No explanation.

My heart pounded in my chest, my stomach twisting into a knot. The girl who broke my heart in every way possible was back.

I bundled my hands into the pockets of my jeans, hiding the tremor in my fists. Moving over to the wall, I leaned against it, trying to remain casual. Like her being here didn’t mean everything to me.

“Are we not going to talk about this?” I asked.

She fidgeted with a ring on her thumb. “Talk about...” She left her sentence unfinished, causing the muscles in my neck to tighten.

I shrugged, trying to act like my sensors weren’t about to implode every cell inside me. “Well, there’s no ignoring it,” I countered.

Again, rude as fuck.

A hurricane formed in her irises. “Ignoring it?” she hissed. “How could I?”

Keeping my voice low, I squared her with a hard look. “Deny it as much as you want, but you can’t run from this .”

She threw an arm in the air. “Do you see me running?” She screwed up her nose. “Who even are you now?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to know,” I retorted sharply.

She stared at me but said nothing.

I waited expectantly for her to speak. To say anything .

“Cat got your tongue?” I pushed.

Because she owed me more than silence. She needed to explain why she left. Then we needed to talk about this.

There was no way she could deny the mate bond.

A fated attraction was like a blood oath, and unless you really fucking hated the person and rejected them, only death could break it.

The moon goddess herself had decided our fate.

Gifted us this bond. This was a win-win situation because I could think of no reason for her to hate me.

Eventually we would work through this, but, right now, pain smothered my words.

When she still didn’t speak, I let out an exasperated breath. “Great attitude, Skye. Welcome back.” I pushed off the wall, about to head inside. This was going nowhere.

“I’m not the one with the attitude here.”

I turned to face her again.

She continued. “You act like you’re some gift from above with your brooding eyes and…” She swirled her fingers in the air in a way that meant everything. Which meant she liked what she saw. All of it .

I almost chuckled at her boldness. Her confidence, like kryptonite. It suited her. I chanced a cocky remark, because the alternative was getting us nowhere. “Obviously you like what you see.” I mimicked her swirling finger over myself. “So what’s the problem, Skip?”

She narrowed her glare at the use of the nickname I had called her in our youth, because she had skipped everywhere on our adventures together.

“Don’t call me that,” she seethed, her chest rising and falling repeatedly.

She had always hated the name. I’d called her it anyway. I sighed. “Then tell me, Skye . Why are your panties in a twist?”

I chanced a step in her direction, our connection never wavering as I moved closer, until only three feet separated us. Enough to feel the air between us thin, but far enough to look like a friendly chat to whoever caught sight of our interaction. Like her brother.

I fought the urge to reach out, to caress her cheek to cool her fiery demeanor.

She let out a giant huff, charging past me to the wall, slumping against it. Her irises flared ice blue. Her fire element. Damn, it was hot knowing I could cause such a reaction in her. She dodged my gaze, as if she were thinking the same.

I let my gaze travel over her figure where her petite frame curved in more places than I remembered. The apples of her cheeks were more prominent now that her face had thinned. But those eyes.

She looked at me again, and I forced myself not to break the connection. Stepping closer, the intensity between us caused a tremor inside me. Annoyance flooded my bloodstream, my head and my heart wanting different things.

My insides were on their knees, my senses awash with her. But my head was a fucking mess.

Her irises darted around us, checking we were still alone. “Do you think this is some sort of game?” she demanded.

Moving closer again, I took hold of the open door, effectively blocking her in on three sides, a clear exit on the fourth if she needed it.

Stripping my voice of emotion, I lowered it until barely a whisper left me. “This is no game. You know it, and I know it. Ty will understand eventually.”

She gave me a look as if to say, 'Are you nuts?'

I stepped closer until we were both hidden behind the door. The air between us thickened into something more personal. Skye held in a breath, as if letting go would drop her to the ground.

“Look, I know this is unexpected, and we have... history. It won’t be easy, but I know you feel the mate bond too.”

Her pupils blew out at my comment, her gaze capturing mine, wide, with an inferno burning in the depths of them. I looked down at her pebbled nipples peeking out from beneath her tee. There was no denying the attraction between us.

Her palms slamming into my chest caught me by surprise.

“You’re such a jackass!”

“I beg to differ,” I mused.

She pressed a finger to my chest. “You think you’re so smug, don’t you? Think I’ll fall to my knees like all the other girls that have ignited your huge ego. Well, I hate to cook your goose, Wesley, but that’s not me.”

For the first time in my life, speech evaded me.

She stepped into my space, raw emotion in her gaze. “Never joke about us being fated mates again.”

With that, she stormed off inside, leaving me somewhere between, did that just happen and what the fuck was going on?

I white-knuckled the door. None of this made sense. Skye’s scent lingered in the air, continuing to send my senses into overdrive. Usually I only sensed magic, but she hadn’t even used hers and she was everywhere , invading my mind.

I had to take a moment to control my breathing, push down the urge to stride back into the room, wrap my hand around her arm and march her into my bedroom.

But that wasn’t me. Consent was one thing I never dismissed. It was as important to me as the air we breathed.

When I collected myself enough not to let my senses control my actions, I headed back inside, scanning the room.

Her gaze burned into mine, gouging an awkward path between us.

I approached Reid in the center of the room.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, and, although clearly overheating from his last spar with Ty, he still had his top on.

Reid was never without clothing, because beneath his skin of ink was evidence of the weight of his gift he never showed.

His carefree exterior hid a multitude of mortification from the world, from some of his closest friends, even.

I only knew because it was the art of my hand that had covered such a thing.

As I approached him, I peeled my grey t-shirt from my chest, dropping it to the ground.

A grin curved his lips into a smile. He lifted his cap off his head, throwing it aside. Roughing up his hair, he smirked, and gripped the material on his jeans. “Keen to put your money where your mouth is?”

“I don’t need a bet to flatten your ass,” I chided, even though this would be an even fight.

The two of us were similar in height and build. Reid was slightly bulkier, but not by much, just enough for me to know I had speed on my side, and that speed was the reason I won most of these.

“What if I mess up your hair, pretty boy?” I shot back.

Reid took more pride in his shithouse hairstyle than was necessary, his dark brown hair forever styled in a way that made him look like he didn’t give a shit, but I knew the real Reid. I could knock one out in the time it took him to do his hair.

He flipped me the bird. “You’re on.”

I felt the prickle of Skye’s glare on my back, and I purposely rolled my shoulders, knowing the ripple of movement it would cause.

I didn’t dare look at her. What game was she playing?

Whatever it was, I would play it if that was how she wanted this to go down.

There was no way she could deny the tug of the mate bond that nearly floored me at the mere sight of her, and I looked forward to grating every nerve of her existence until she was writhing beneath me, screaming my name.

I nudged my knuckles against Reid’s.

We put on a good show, a fury of swift movements, fists, blocks, kicks and jabs, until sweat slid over us. Reid’s t-shirt clung to his torso as he circled again.

“Yield. You know you want to,” he bantered, his arms positioned in front of him in defense.

I would never. To yield was not an option.

I smirked. “Filthy words, blood mage,” I retorted.

He lunged at me again, and I ducked as a flash of blue-green met mine from the side of the room.

The single moment was all it took for Reid to take advantage of my distraction, landing my neck in the crook of his arm in a chokehold.

My fingers sank into his forearms, my biceps straining for release. For air.

“Yield, greens,” he goaded.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck .

Skye’s gaze gripped mine, silently screaming for me to yield.

I had never yielded in my life. But those eyes begged me.

My world blurred. “Yield,” I rasped and was immediately granted a full breath.

I doubled over, gripping my knees, my chest heaving with much-needed oxygen.

When I finally stood upright again, I scanned the room, searching for the turquoise depths that had landed me in this situation.

When she was nowhere to be found, I searched the house to confirm it, realization hitting me like a blow to my stomach.

Skye had left. Without so much as saying goodbye.

And that thought stung like a bitch.