Page 36 of Unhinged Magic (Cutters Cove Witches #2)

We carefully made our way back to the house until we stood beneath the overhanging veranda. He motioned to the front door. “You should go inside,” he insisted, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweats.

I hesitated before speaking. He was soaked. I couldn’t let him walk home. “Stay with me. Please?” I whispered.

He stared at me as if trying to find another meaning to my words. Ran a hand through his matted hair. “Are you sure?”

“I need you,” I blurted out without thinking, but it was the truth. I had never needed him more in my life than right now. I wanted him to hold me, but how to ask that of him?

He paused before a faint smile lifted his lips. “Okay,” he replied softly.

I drew in a deep breath, emotions of every sort flitting in my stomach. Twisting the doorknob, it rattled as we entered. I stilled, spotting Scar and Jade staring blatantly at us, having not moved from the couch.

“Maybe I should go,” said Wes, halting his steps.

Jade spoke first. “Stay.” She stared directly at him. “But if you hurt her again, don’t expect a welcoming reception next time.”

I turned my attention to Scar, who nodded in Jade’s direction. “What she said.”

My lips pressed into a line, hiding a smile. I tugged Wes, and he followed me up the stairs. Butterflies roused in my stomach, my head giddy with nerves. When the door closed behind us, we stood facing each other in silence.

Wes wound his gaze around the room until it landed on the armchair. His fist clenched, head jerking back to me suddenly, as if attempting to rid thoughts.

“Do you have a towel?” He shuffled between feet, a hand motioning to the bathroom discretely tucked off to one side of my room.

“Yeah.” The word came out a whisper.

He disappeared inside, returning with a fluffy towel in one hand. Walking toward me, he swallowed, throat bobbing as he spoke. “Let me.”

He looked as nervous as I felt as he walked behind me, stopping when his front was to my back. The pads of his fingers grazed my neck as he brushed my hair from my shoulders, my skin igniting like fireflies at his touch. I wasn’t sure what his intentions were until the towel creased into my hair.

He was drying my hair.

Never had I imagined such a thing could be so intimate. So sensual. I couldn’t help the sigh that fell from my lips as he massaged my scalp through the towel.

His warm breath felt like heaven on my earlobe. “Is that okay?” he said lowly.

“Yeah,” I breathed, holding back a whimper. It felt so good to have him take care of me this way.

Once satisfied with his efforts, he replaced the towel with his hands, applying pressure to my neck in circles with his thumbs. I melted against his front, my neck in the crook of his own as he massaged the tension from my muscles.

He turned me around, staring down at me. “Let’s get out of these clothes and climb into bed.”

He was right; our clothes clung to us, sodden. We should have taken them off already, but it hadn’t crossed my mind as he set upon my hair.

He strode across to my drawers, pulling one open and finding my bedtime tee. He quirked a brow. “Do you wear underwear with…” Color flamed his cheeks as he found himself unable to finish his sentence.

I pressed a hand to my mouth, nodding as I suppressed a smile.

He riffled through my drawer, selecting a pair of underwear, handing me the bundle.

I rid myself of my wet clothes, slipping on the white cotton briefs, silently thanking him for choosing comfort over couture.

The intensity of his gaze buzzed my skin, even as he tried to avert his eyes.

But as I freed my breasts and air gathered around them, I felt his gaze like a branding once more.

“Sorry.” His intense gaze slid over my chest, zoning in on my nipples that were already hard from the cold, before he glanced away.

The two of us were acting like we had never spoken to one another before. I knew this would be awkward, but shit. I slid the top over my head, and it hung just low enough to cover my butt.

I swallowed a thick wad of air. “Your turn.” Padding over to the bed, I threw back the covers enough to slide in, pulling my knees to my chest.

He eyed me warily, watching my every movement before making his way to the opposite side of the bed.

I tried not to stare at his top clinging to the ridges of his chest. The dips and hollows stealing my attention.

His hands lifted to the nape of his neck, causing the soaked top he wore to ride up.

I caught a glimpse of the fine hair trailing from his belly button to where I knew they ended, my cheeks flushing at the thought.

This was crazy. I shouldn’t feel this nervous about seeing him undress.

But, as he pulled his top over his head, he looked like something I would imagine out of a smutty romance novel.

All abs and dips and everything leading south.

A giggle left me at the thought, and I clamped my hand over my mouth to hide it.

His hand stilled on the waist of his sweats, hilarity flashing in his eyes. “Something amusing you?” The corner of his mouth peaked as he slid his pants to his ankles, stepping out of them.

Words failed me as I devoured the contours of him until something caught my eye.

Under his ribs on his side was a tattoo. Wings of a dove.

I scooted across the bed for a closer look, my hand reaching out before stopping. “You got a tattoo,” I said.

“Yeah.”

Scar had mentioned Wes never marked his own skin, so why now? “Do you mind?” I gestured to take a closer look.

A swift nod and I moved closer, my fingers tracing the outline of the dove. He inhaled sharply at my touch, and I drew back quickly. “Does it hurt?”

He shook his head. “No, just, your touch…” He looked away before looking down at me again. “The mate bond. It’s still very much there for me. Your touch is…” He dragged a hand through the back of his hair. “It’s intense.”

Right. I had to keep reminding myself that what I felt was nothing compared to him. His sensors alone magnified everything, the mate bond on another scale of intensity entirely. “Sorry.” I suddenly felt awkward, like touching him was more like a form of torture.

A half smile, and the corner of his eyes creased.

“It’s ok. You can touch me any time you like.

” In no way did he mean it as an invitation at this moment.

There was something more sincere about his words.

I wanted to touch him, all of him. But another part of me wasn’t ready for that again.

His gaze softened. “I didn’t mean it like that.

” He made to climb into bed, the outline of his arousal tightening his boxer briefs.

“I know what I’m about to say doesn’t match what my body wants right now.

” He gestured to the obvious I desperately tried to ignore.

“But tonight I just need to have you in my arms.” He cupped my cheeks, and I splintered.

Tears blurred my vision as he kissed my forehead, the look between us seeming to be all we needed without speaking.

We slipped under the covers, and he scooted closer until his chest warmed my back.

The feeling of his breath against my neck was something I couldn’t be sure I would ever feel again, but as he moved my top to the side, his soft lips pressed against my shoulder, and I knew this was it for me.

For us. When he was gone, I had missed him.

His smile, the cheeky look that had undoubtedly stolen my heart even when I had not wanted to accept it.

Who had I been kidding? I craved his touch, his energy. I needed to have him near me, to feel his presence breathing the same air. I was addicted to this man in every way possible.

“Skip?” His voice skirted against my skin, the heat of his breath causing my insides to flutter.

“Yeah?”

“I love this.” His voice had deepened, as if sleep were taking hold of him. “I love that I get to hold you like this.”

His words warmed my chest. Hearts were strange like that.

They had an uncanny sense of awareness we couldn’t control.

They soared at a familiar set of eyes, a certain look or unexpected proximity.

I wondered how many hearts had beat like this for me in my lifetime.

To hear the erratic cacophony of another’s excitement would be enthralling.

Intimate. I hoped his heart beat just as mine did at this moment.

Pulling the bed covers up higher, I sank into the warmth of his chest. “I love this too.”

He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer. When his breath became a regular melody in my ear, I slowly drifted off to sleep.