Page 22 of Untraced Magic (Cutters Cove Witches #1)

A tightness bobbed in my throat as my knees left the ground again, turning on my heel.

Returning to Morgan, she held out her hand, and I let her warmth press into my palm.

“Was that her grave?” she asked, her free hand breezing up my forearm.

I offered a tight smile. “Yeah, I haven’t been back since the funeral. I hope you don’t mind.”

Her palm squeezed mine, that same calm spreading through me again. “I don’t mind at all,” she said without hesitation, locking her gaze to mine.

We walked in comfortable silence, back along the dirt track until we hit the footpath. Rain dampened the ground creating that smell I had loved since I was a kid.

I inhaled a deep breath. “I love that smell… When rain first hits the ground, I mean.”

“I think you either love it or hate it.” Morgan shrugged beside me.

I gave her a sidelong look. “And your verdict is?”

She crinkled her nose. “Not a fan.”

I playfully scoffed, kicking aside some leaves in our path. “Oh, come on, how could you not? It’s nature, something that could never be replicated if you tried.”

“Very true,” she mused, giving me a nudge. “Still not a fan.”

I laughed, loving how honest she was, not afraid to voice her own opinion.

“What do you think I should call her?” She turned her head to mine. “Betty? Gran? Maybe it’s too soon.”

I shrugged, a smile on my face. “Call her whatever you feel comfortable with, I guess. I can’t imagine she would be displeased with Gran, though.”

“Hmmm,” she agreed, seeming lost in thought.

When we entered the house, there was a silence I didn’t expect. Morgan moved to the kitchen counter where a note lay and she picked it up, walking over to the couch. She unfolded it and read aloud.

“Dearest Morgan. This is a lot for you to take in, so I’ve left for the evening. Catch up soon. Betty.” Her shoulders dropped, a sadness spoiling her irises.

I could tell she was disappointed, and I longed to see her smile again. Sitting beside her, I turned my body to hers, giving her my full attention.

“Maybe a night’s rest to take everything in might not be a bad thing,” I offered.

She sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s been an emotional day for both of us.” She covered my hand with hers.

I glanced down to where our skin made contact, gathering a breath. “I’m really sorry about before. I never wanted you to see me like that.”

Until now, when it came to talking about Ava’s death, I’d been a closed book. No one had managed to crack me at the spine. But here was Morgan, sitting in front of me, having witnessed parts of me no one else had. She had become my strength in ways she would never know.

She angled her body toward me, her eyes searching mine with a vulnerability that scared me, stripping me bare. “Tyler, it’s okay. We all have our moments. Hell, I’ve had plenty.” Her thumb stroked a soft line over the top of my hand.

I steadied a full breath. “I just mean I would have told you in my own time.”

Morgan nodded. “I understand. Really, I do. You’ve been through so much. We both have. Don’t be sorry. Whatever this is…” Her free hand motioned between us. “If it’s not feeling right,” she faltered, “or you need more time…”

There was a vulnerability to her words, my heart pulsing proudly to see her so unguarded, so trusting of me.

Haunted by Ava’s death for years now, I hadn’t let myself get this close to anyone, but I knew it was time I opened my heart to someone else, and I was certain if souls did go somewhere after death that Ava would want me to be happy.

I was done with stolen glances and guilty kisses.

“I don’t need more time,” I said finally, my fire element simmering beneath my skin.

Her doe eyes filled with embers as they held mine, and moving closer, my palm caressed her jaw, her eyelids flicking shut.

When I covered her mouth with mine, desire burned through me, searing my insides as it swept a path through every fiber, every nerve within. A mewl escaped her lips as I drew her mouth apart, cautious as her hand stiffened on my thigh.

Morgan’s hesitancy bristled my skin for only a moment before her fingers dug into me, like she was afraid to let go. It felt so right, a knowing deep inside that would no longer be buried or ignored.

I pulled away, our foreheads resting together. Steel gray chasing chocolate brown, our breathing synching.

“Come here,” I ordered, pulling her into my lap and kissing her once more. No holding back.

I slid my tongue between her lips, commanding her to open up for me, and we met in a delicate tease, slipping our mark on the other. She rocked her hips into mine, deepening our kiss, and my hands fisted her ass, drawing her closer until she pressed firm against me.

Her hands clawed at the nape of my neck, sweeping through my hair, and I matched her urgency, kissing her with a passion we had denied ourselves for too long.

I smiled against her lips. “You’re borderline addictive, you know that?”

A sound came from her, a giggle on a smile as she teased my bottom lip, nipping it.

A feeling so unknown to me pulsed within. To feel this way about a woman was a possessive, frightening thing.

Silky curves swallowed my palms as they glided beneath her top, her back curling against me, forcing her closer. Her reaction to my slightest touch hardened my dick against my zipper, the ache for her touch turning desire into desperate need as I kissed her again .

My name fell from her lips with a shudder. “Ty,” she whispered against my mouth.

I feathered her hair through my fingers, breathing into her ear. “Where’s your room?” I murmured.

She motioned down the hallway. “That way.”

Before I got the chance to stand, her hand palmed the front of my jeans, my dick throbbing under her touch as it pushed against denim. She hungrily undid my fly, and a groan ripped from me as her hand worked over me through the material of my tight boxers.

I inhaled a quick breath at her touch. “What are you doing to me?” I murmured between kisses, sinking back into the couch in utter bliss.

Her touch sent my skin on fire, our hushed breaths filling the air.

“You like that?” she breathed against my cheek.

“Gods damn, yes.” I hissed, not wanting her to stop.

Her hands moved over me through the fabric, and I drank in her scent, burying my face into her neck.

Vanilla and musk stained her skin, my senses drinking in every drop of her.

Thoughts of my naked flesh in her hands consumed my mind, my dick throbbing as she wound me further, a coil close to its breaking point.

I lifted her from beneath and she gasped in surprise, her hands wrapping around my neck, legs circling my waist as I took us down the hall in search of her bedroom. My mouth never left hers as we stumbled into a wall, a giggle sliding from her lips into mine.

“This one?” I raised an eyebrow at her, backing her into the wall.

She laughed again. “Yes,” she said, staring at me with playful eyes .

Twisting the handle, I nudged it open with my knee, loosening my hold on her until she slid down my front to the floor. I walked her backwards, further into the room, and cupped her face in my hands, kissing her again, deeply, as if I could get lost in her.

Pulling away, my thumbs caressed her cheeks. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted this? To be with you and not feel like I shouldn’t?”

I ran my thumb over her bottom lip.

“To kiss you.”

I cupped her breast, her lids fluttered shut.

“To touch you?”

I trailed my finger down her midriff.

“To taste you?”

Her eyes flew wide, cheeks flushed, and I dragged my mouth over hers again. She drew in a quick breath at my dick digging into her stomach and pulling away, she stared up at me. I drank in her lust-filled irises, heavy lids, and long lashes.

She was so damn beautiful. And she was mine .

“I’ve wanted this from the moment I saw you,” I admitted, the truth hammering into me unexpectedly.

Morgan nipped at my neck, her fingers skimming the nape of my hairline. “I’ve wanted this too,” she breathed.

My drowned as she stilled. Two dark storms, begging for release.

My heart ached.

My dick throbbed.

Morgan had consumed me entirely.

Right then, those doe eyes stole my heart. Something inside me clawed to get to her.

Our mouths crashed together, and everything but her faded to black. We could have been anywhere; I didn’t care. I kissed her like there was no tomorrow, like this would be our first and last, giving her all of me.

I edged her back until her legs hit the foot of the bed and she fell back onto it without breaking eye contact.

“Look at you…” I praised, admiring her from above as I moved over her.

Her gaze flooded with desire, commanding what she needed without speaking a damn syllable. I slid my arm beneath her back, hoisting her further up the bed as her hands clawed at my top, finding naked skin underneath.

Her touch sent me into a wildfire, and I slid my tongue into her mouth, heat exploding inside me. Gods, the way we molded together.

Pressing my body into hers, I ground against her, and she moaned lightly beneath me. My hand slid underneath her top, up silky skin, and she helped me pull it over her head, exposing white cotton etched with a trim of lace covering her breasts.

I groaned with approval. So fresh and unexpected. Like my naughty little secret. I’d expected black, only because it seemed to be her color of choice.

The fabric danced over my fingertips until I unclasped it beneath her, taking in her beauty from above. I lowered my mouth, lapping at a pert nipple with my tongue. Morgan hummed her appreciation beneath me, her hips mindlessly rising and falling against mine.

“Kiss me,” she whispered, tugging at my shoulders, and our mouths connected once more. Our tongues danced, teasing and tasting what we thought we never could.

I spread kisses over her collarbone. “You’re going to be the absolute end of me,” I murmured, moving back to her mouth.

She smiled against my lips, palming my dick through my pants. “You’re welcome.”