Page 30 of When the Witch Met the Minotaur
“Who did you lose?” I ask gently.
She turns toward the window. “My grandwitch. She raised me. I knew she was on her way out, but it still shocked me. I couldn’t work magic for almost a year. Do you know what that does to a magical creature?”
I don’t think she wants me to answer that. She wants an ear to listen.
Her hands fist at her sides as she gazes at the glistening river in the view beyond the window glass. “Humans call the experiencedepression.”
“I’ve heard of it. I think that’s what my mother is dealing with.”
“Laini helped me climb out. That’s why I take care of her when she needs it.”
“Good friends are worth more than gold.”
She nods and looks at me again. “Not to sound accusatory, but why did you leave your mother?”
“Because we’re out of money. Our land manager is there, caring for my mother. The king is holding our estate for two more months as a favor to my father’s memory.”
“So you have two months to do what exactly?”
“To earn enough to pay off our debt. When father first grew sick last winter, his management skills weakened. We were completely unaware that he had failed to order the seed for the next season. He bounced back for a while, but then the fever arrived again and latched its claws deeply. He’d never been good at delegating responsibilities, so no one else knew what to do when. And the farmers tried to talk to mother and me, but we were in over our heads. I was an idiot. I tried ignoring it all. I was gambling. Spending weeks away in frivolous travel. I was everything you probably hate in a noble. Spoiled. Selfish. Thoroughly unhelpful to the community. Living on other people’s coin.”
She tilts her head and looks me up and down. “The fact that you can admit that so freely means you aren’t like that anymore.”
I shut my eyes briefly, soaking in her words like the cure I’ve been searching for.
She touches my arm for a moment, pulling back like she hadn’t meant to rest her fingers on my forearm. “We will get you that money. Somehow.”
“But I’m your rival.”
She sighs. “Laini’s and Rustion’s good hearts have rubbed off on me, I guess because I don’t think I’ll enjoy smashing your business into oblivion now that I know you’re not who I thought you were.”
Her dark green gaze pulls me under. I feel like I’m drowning and couldn’t be happier. I can’t seem to move, but blood rushes through my veins like I’m sprinting. Her lips part.
Chapter 14
Tully
The moment stretches out in a strange sort of quiet. Like we are waiting for something big. Something life-altering. Argos’s breath is loud and uneven. His pupils widen, threatening to swallow his irises. He is taking his sweet time examining my neck, the swell of my chest, and the exposed lower half of my legs. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears, oddly loud, and I can smell only him. A touch of salty sweat, fire smoke, and sandalwood. His hands are lifted, fingers slightly curled. The light brown hair on his forearms rises like lightning is about to strike.
“Tully, I…”
His voice is hoarse, and the heat in his stare has my stomach flipping.
“Yes?” My voice doesn’t sound much better.
My body hums and I can’t break the eye contact.
Suddenly, we are kissing.
But not like usual kissing. This is violent. Arms wrapped like rope around muscles and lungs and bones. Teeth biting on lips and soft skin. I want to breathe him in, to eat him whole, to absorb him somehow. I’m smashed against his massive body and I’m still not close enough.
“Gods, Tull…” he grunts out as he slams me against the wall near the door.
I drive my tongue into his mouth and he returns the favor, his tongue much larger and longer. The heat of his mouth on mine has sweat beading on my lower back. His big hands slide down my body to cup my arse. He presses tightly against me and moans my name.
I tug my neckline down to expose my chest. I grab his head to direct that mouth to my nipple. He curses against my skin and nips at my breast. My core is molten.
“I still hate you,” I say, my breathy voice a betrayal to myself.