Page 24

Chapter

Twenty-Three

“ W here’s Cecil?”

Fennel took a step to the left, revealing Cecil behind him, sound asleep in his string-of-pearls plant, toes curled around the gilded edges of the mother-of-pearl planter.

“And the witches?”

He jerked his tail, indicating my house.

“Did Floyd show up again last night?”

“ Meow .” No.

“Mason Hartman? Some of the pack?”

“ Meow . Meow .” Yes. Yes.

“Did they try to get in?”

“ Meow .” Yes.

“Evidently without success as Ronan is still here and so am I.” I zeroed in on the empty spot beside Cecil’s workstation. “Wait a sec. Where’s Cecil’s knapsack? It was hanging on that hook last night.”

Fennel’s mouth widened into a cartoonish Cheshire grin.

“What did you guys do?” I gave the gnome a closer look. Singed white beard. Sooty fingers.

Hell.

Ah well, as long as the wolves didn’t get in, I’d worry about the property damage later.

“I’m going in the house. Keep an eye on things out here, okay?”

Fennel nodded. He nudged the sleepy kitten into his bed and got in behind her. It was a snug but cozy arrangement.

“We’ll get Autry her own bed when everything settles down.” Because we were definitely keeping her. I didn’t see how Cecil would allow anything else—or Fennel, for that matter.

I left the garden room and veered left to check on Red’s sprout—which now was an astonishing foot tall—and ran my fingers through the soil, relishing the zing of magic in every organic molecule.

Thank you.

Ronan was alive and so was Bronwyn. Neither would’ve been without the magic here. I stood beneath the morning sun and said a little prayer of thanks to the goddesses, to the earth mother, and to the soil itself.

Then I went into my house and headed straight for the shower.

I’d soaped up and begun washing my hair when something hit the bathroom door.

BUMP.

“ Hey ,” I yelled, “I’m in here. If it’s an emergency, head over to Ida’s. She’s got two bathrooms.”

BUMP. BUMP. BUMP !

I wrapped a towel around myself and threw open the door. Poked my head out and yelled, “What’s the damned emergen— Ronan ?”

“This guy broke down the front door,” Ida said. “Guess he doesn’t want to be separated from you.”

I looked from her to the enormous wolf who was seated almost primly in front of the bathroom door, tail gently swishing back and forth, a sprig of lavender in his mouth.

“When did you get here?” The question was directed at Ida .

“About an hour ago,” she replied. “You strolled right past me when you came in, didn’t say a word.”

“I was a little distracted.” I accepted the lavender from Ronan’s wolf and held it to my nose. “Thank you for the gift—you’re definitely paying for the door, though.”

“I bet you were distracted,” Ida said. “Earlier, I poked my head into the garden room and saw you laid out on the floor with the wolf, naked as a jaybird, and decided it was none of my business.”

“Nothing happened. I mean, except that I healed him.”

“Right.” She winked. “There are buttered biscuits warming in the oven—though it sounds like maybe your biscuit got buttered last night, and yay for you, because I know it’s been a while?—”

“Ida, damn it.”

She laughed. “Brought over a new jar of Trini’s blackberry jam, too. Do you want me to call the lumber place outside La Paloma and see if we can have a new door delivered?”

“Hold off on that. I don’t want anyone non-essential on the property right now. I’ve got some supplies in the back closet of the garden room. When Ronan comes back to himself, he can get to work fixing it.” I glared down at the wolf, who was now refusing to meet my gaze. “Knock, next time,” I told him.

“To be fair, he did knock. Just with his head. Real hard.” Ida stared down at Ronan when he snuffled her hand. “You want a biscuit? Come into the kitchen, and I’ll get you some breakfast.”

He shook his head and gazed up at me with puppy-dog eyes.

“Guess he prefers your biscuits,” Ida said with a wink and a grin. She strode toward the door, calling over her shoulder, “See you later. I need to check on Meredith. She gets cranky if I’m gone too long.”

I stepped out of the bathroom, knotting my towel a little tighter. “Wait. Where are Margaux, Bronwyn, and Maya?”

“They left early this morning. There’s a note on the kitchen table. Something about needing to check on things. They seemed to think they’d be okay, since that ex-husband of hers is pushing up daisies now. ”

“I guess they’re safe, relatively speaking. Since it seems Mason Hartman owes the witches for something or other—that stays between us three, by the way.”

“I’m not telling anyone anything. You know me.” She made a zipping gesture over her mouth. “I’m the picture of discretion.”

“That was a doozy of a lie, Ida Summer. You better hope there aren’t any storm clouds in the sky right now. You might get struck.”

She laughed and walked out, shutting what was left of my mangled front door.

I looked at the bathroom then at Ronan’s wolf. “Come on,” I said. “I’ve still got shampoo in my hair. I’ll feed you some biscuits after I finish my shower—Ida’s biscuits, not mine.”

He huffed out a growly grunt and followed me into the small room, plopping down on the rug in front of my sink.

“Shift back to human and maybe I’ll give you some of mine, too.”

What was it about the scent of coffee that just made everything feel like it was going to be all right?

I couldn’t say for sure, but I was indebted to Ida for starting a pot.

A slightly damp wolf padded into the kitchen behind me and sat on the floor near the warm oven. Ida had turned on the heat just enough to keep the biscuits from getting cold.

“Told you not to poke your head around the shower curtain.” I’d finished my shower and weaved my hair into two long, loose braids, the ends of which had made damp spots on my shirt right above my breasts. “It’s opaque for a reason, perv.”

The wolf blinked. A droplet of water dribbled down his muzzle.

I grabbed a dish towel and dabbed it away. “I appreciate the concern for my safety, but you’re going to have to chill. No more breaking down doors.”

He whimpered .

An apology?

“Really wish I had the ability to repair wood.” I placed three fat buttermilk biscuits on a plate and set it on the floor in front of him. “Some earth witches do, you know. They’re born with an affinity for trees, not soil.”

I tossed the dish towel into a basket in the corner and picked up a biscuit for myself.

“Knew a Swedish sculptor like that once upon a time. Aksel was so talented. We dated for a while. Nothing serious. I was just passing through, and he wasn’t the type to want more than that. It was fun but a little hollow.” I waggled my brows at him. “Get it? A little hollow? Like a tree?”

Ronan’s muzzle pulled back to show his teeth. A grimace, not a smile.

“Tough crowd,” I muttered.

He huffed and sat on his haunches.

“Hey, it’s not easy keeping up a one-sided conversation. You’d think I’d be better at it since my partners are largely non-verbal— except for Ida —but even Fennel meows and Cecil chitters. You just stare at me and grumble once in a while.”

Being the smart-ass he was, he grumbled at me then showed me his teeth again.

“Ha ha,” I said flatly. “Sorry the meal’s so carb-heavy. I didn’t expect carnivore company, and I’m fresh out of everything. If Ida hadn’t brought us these, we’d have been gnawing on granola bars.”

He shrugged, dropped his head to the plate, and snarfed down the biscuits.

“Gods bless Ida, am I right?” I buttered my own biscuit and added a healthy dollop of Trini’s jam then poured a mug of coffee. I placed a bowl of water on the floor for him.

We polished off the biscuits, one more for me and seven more for him. He slurped up the water then clenched his teeth gently around the glass bowl and set it in the sink .

“That’s nice. I do love a man who isn’t afraid to get his paws soapy.”

My eyelids were leaden, and I couldn’t stop yawning. Although I’d slept for hours after healing him, I was still exhausted. The floor had been chilly enough to make my joints hurt, and I’d depleted my magic to the point where my sleep had been less a rest and more a shallow coma.

Even the coffee had little effect, and Ida’s joe was like Popeye’s spinach. It usually powered me right up. Today, it barely made a dent in my weariness.

I set my empty cup in the sink and picked up the pot of thyme sprouting in the window. My other pot, which hadn’t sprouted, had burned up in my trailer. I could’ve put this one in the garden room, where it surely would’ve flourished, but I wouldn’t have known if Cecil had hastened it along. I wanted to grow it on my own.

I poked my fingers into the pot. Perfect water level and excellent balance of gritty sand and loamy soil. I sent a little magic into the pot, ensuring the pH level was ideal for the tiny seedlings before setting it into the window. Thyme wasn’t usually hard to grow, but the herb acted like it had a personal vendetta against me. I was determined to win it over.

“Grow, little one. Please.”

The wolf whined.

“It’s okay, I’m not sad. I was just testing out my magic. Making sure I was back in fighting form.”

He snuffled beneath the hem of the oversized T-shirt I wore as a nightgown, pressed his muzzle to my knee, and sighed.

“Want to take a nap?”

He apparently did, because when I drew the bedroom blinds and shut and locked the door, he leapt onto my bed, turned three times, and hunkered down.

“You’ve twisted the comforter.” I wrenched the balled-up section out from under him. It moved a literal inch until he got up and let me pull more. “Human Ronan is a cover hog, too. At least, you were the one time we slept together.”

I slid under the sheets and let out a sigh from the depths of my soul. My body practically melted into the comfortable mattress.

Ronan resettled, resting his head on my upper thigh.

“We should’ve made love that night. I think we didn’t because we’re both so hellbent on creating this perfect moment, but our lives don’t lend themselves to perfect circumstances. If we keep waiting for the right time, we’ll be ten years into retirement before we get to second base.”

The wolf made a low growly sound that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

“You understand way more in that form than you let on sometimes.” I rolled over, pulled the covers up to my shoulder, and immediately fell asleep.

“ Betty ? Are you okay?”

I jerked up in the bed with a gasp. The bedroom door was shut, blinds were drawn tight, and music was playing—“Suddenly” by Olivia Newton John and Cliff Richard.

Someone was in my room.

Male. Close.

The light dusting of thyme soil on my fingertips blazed to life. I grabbed the hand reaching for me.

“ Ouch ! Put your fingers out, they sting.” He blew on his fingertips. “It’s like touching the wrong side of a July Fourth sparkler.”

“Ronan?” I let go of him, willed my magic to die down. “You’re back.”

“Yep. Cleaned up and human.” He lounged on the pillow beside mine, those hazel eyes sparkling, a slow grin moving over his lips. His hair was shower-damp, and there was a relieved, yet haunted look in his eyes. “The wolf finally let me shift.”

“He can do that? Keep you from shifting back to human?”

“The easy answer to that is no, but it’s not quite that simple. If he thinks I’m in danger, he can refuse to let go. I could fight him, but most shifters would only do something like that if it was a life-or-death situation, and they’d probably be in animal form anyway.” He studied his fingers.

“He felt you were in danger?”

“More like he felt I needed more recovery time. Good call on his part.” He held up his hand; the burn marks I’d left had already healed. “Plus, he wanted to protect you and didn’t trust my strength.”

I flopped back down on my pillow, facing him. “He kept me warm last night.”

“It’s his specialty. You can imagine how fun it is to run around in that fur coat during a hundred-fifteen-degree Smokethorn summer.”

“Maybe you guys should get a crew cut.”

He laughed and took my hand again, this time weaving his fingers through mine. “Can you imagine? He’d probably gnaw our paw off if I picked up a pair of clippers. He’s very proud of his fur.”

“He should be. It’s beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful,” he replied, a little too fast. He tried to smile but didn’t quite make it. “Damn, Betty. What you did for me … I don’t know what to say. How can I thank you for saving my life?”

I snuggled closer. “Pay my bill at El Rancho Grande?”

He ran the edge of our entwined hands down the side of my face. “Doesn’t seem like enough.”

“You haven’t seen my tab.”

“Still doesn’t seem like enough for what you did for— Hang on a sec. You have a tab going at the taco shop?”

“I really like their tacos.”

He scowled. “So do I, but they don’t let me run a damned tab.”

“Guess management likes me more than they like you.”

“Perfectly understandable. You’re very likable.” He rested his forehead against mine. “You saved my godsdamned life.”

“You mentioned that.”

“It’s a big deal. Pretty sure I’m going to continue mentioning it from now until forever. I owe you that much. ”

“Unnecessary. I heard you the first time.” I squinted up at him. “Wait a minute … are you trying to weasel out of paying my taco tab?”

“Depends. How much are we talking, exactly? Four figures? Five?”

“Can we really put a price on heroism?” I asked.

“Definitely not five and probably not four.” He tapped his chin. “No way they’d allow you to rack it up that high. Those bobcats are shrewd. How did you manage to get them to give you a tab?”

“I did a favor for one of the owners a few years ago. One of their cooks got himself hexed by an ex-boyfriend. I took care of it.”

“Figured it was something like that,” he said. “So, how much then?”

“My bill’s in the low two figures, but I can and will drive that sucker up once I know you’re paying. I’ll fill up my bathtub with tacos—no, a jacuzzi. I’ll float naked on a swimming pool of tacos de papa—salsa on the side, because, well, naked.”

“You say the sexiest things.”

The song “Suddenly” faded into “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” by Elvin Bishop.

“You brought the kitchen radio into my bedroom,” I said.

“Noticed that, did you?”

“As if I wouldn’t.”

“Like it?” He kissed me again, this time brushing his lips over my chin.

“The music or the kissing?”

“Both.”

“Yes, and yes. Except you keep missing my mouth,” I said.

“Just taking it slow.”

“Don’t you think we’ve done that enough? We took it so slow we almost missed our opportunity. We’re due for a sexual hastening.”

“Good point.” He yanked back the covers and pulled me into his arms. “You’re really okay?”

“Yes,” I said. “Why do you keep asking that? ”

“You were crying in your sleep just now.” He touched the tip of his finger to my eyelash and held up a tear.

Crying? What had I been dreaming about?

Old memories, maybe? New horrors? A little of both?

“I’m not feeling sad now.” I slid my hands up his chest and around his neck. He was shirtless, and my fingertips traced the muscles in his shoulders and upper back. As he moved they moved—flex, release, flex…

He slid his fingertips up my thighs and under the sleep shirt, dancing up my hip. I immediately shimmied out of it and chucked it across the room.

Ronan laughed, low and growly. “Betty, stop playing so hard to get. It’s off-putting.”

“Didn’t want you to feel left out without a shirt on.” I climbed atop him, my breasts pressing into his chest and earning me a groan of pleasure. “Neither of us are kids, Ronan Pallás. There’s no need for games, and frankly, no time for them.” I raked my hands through his hair and kissed his jawline.

“Betty,” he murmured.

“I almost lost you.”

“We almost lost each other.” He dipped his head down to meet my lips. “That was too close. Seems like it’s all too close lately.”

I didn’t respond. It wasn’t the moment to talk about regrets and revenge, and I sure as hell didn’t want to think about our shared enemy. This was our moment, just ours, and I was going to make the best of it.

Ronan tossed me onto my back and kissed me into my pillow. It was as if a switch had flipped, and he’d finally had enough of waiting. Enough of the small talk. Enough of not having me.

He wriggled his hips into the hollow of my thighs and let out a rumbling chuckle when he saw that I was still wearing panties.

“On a scale of one to ten, how attached are you to these?”

“Ten. I just bought them. They’re my nicest pair. If you think my taco tab is something to worry about, you should see my lingerie bill.” I gave him the sternest of looks. “Don’t even think about it, Ronan.”

“Could I get you down to a one if I offered to buy you three more pairs?”

“Make it five, and I’ll be down to a two and a half. Eight pairs, and I’ll get the scissors and do it myself.”

“That’s a bill I don’t mind paying,” he replied, then shifted only the tips of his fingers, tucked a scythe-like claw under the ribbons holding the tiny bits of lace together and ripped them away.

He bent down and tore away the remaining fabric with his teeth, scraping my skin without hurting me.

“You didn’t even ask how much they cost. They were pricey, Pallás.”

“I don’t care.” He pressed his lips to my inner thigh. “You liked it, didn’t you, bonita?”

“Yes. I have another pair if you want to do it again.”

“Oh, I do want to. Over and over.” His tongue flicked out, and I caught my breath. “And over.”

“Sharing the Night Together” by Dr. Hook followed the Elvin Bishop song.

“Perfect timing.” Ronan gazed at me from between my thighs and waggled his brows. “Looks like this is our song now, so get used to hearing it.” He nipped at my inner thigh. “And dancing to it in the kitchen at midnight whenever I’m feeling randy.”

“Just you?”

“You can feel randy, too. Anytime you like.” He nipped at my inner thigh again. “In fact, I encourage it.”

I gasp-giggled. “I knew it would be like this with you.”

“Like what?”

“Hot and fun and just … everything.”

“Betty,” he spoke my name into the softest part of me, “how could it be anything else? I’ve lain in bed for months thinking about all the things I want to do to you. Since the day we met, if I’m being honest.” He flicked his tongue out again. “You taste even better than I imagined.”

My hips bucked as he slowly slid a finger into me. “Better watch it. It’s been a while. I might p-put your eye out with my hip— Ronan , oh my glorious goddess…”

“If I have to go full-on Odin, I can’t think of a more pleasurable way to do it.”

He threw my legs over his shoulders and kissed, licked, and sucked me straight into the best orgasm I’d had in years. Maybe the best I’d ever had. When he was between my thighs, I couldn’t seem to recall anyone but him.

After wringing every last shudder from me, he slid back up my body, keeping my legs over his shoulders. He grabbed a condom from a box on the top of my nightstand. I hadn’t set it out.

“You had plans,” I said, my voice drunk with pleasure.

“I found it in your nightstand. A brand-new, unopened box.” An untamed sort of happiness burst in me at his self-satisfied grin. In anyone else, I would’ve been annoyed at the arrogance, but I found myself wanting to come up with new and inventive ways to put that look in his face.

“I picked them up after our make-out session in the park. It’s not as if we didn’t both know what was going to happen,” I said.

He tore open the condom and expertly sheathed himself. “That was one of the best days of my life.”

“So far,” I said.

“So far.” He let my legs drop, catching them on his forearms. “Look at me, Lilibet Lennox. Stay with me. Don’t lower your eyes for a single second.”

It was a corny line. Something out of an old paperback romance. But the way Ronan said it, with his wolf in his eyes and his voice, it was the sexiest, most beautiful thing I’d ever heard.

He rose above me and gently nudged, as if he were testing, waiting for any indication that I wasn’t ready, even now when my readiness was all over his hands. He stared into my eyes with a look so raw and real it was as if he was burrowing into my soul. And maybe he was.

When he slid inside me, it didn’t feel new or risky or foreign. It felt as if I’d been missing a piece of myself and now it was home.

And then he started to move, and all soft introspection ceased. My flesh flowed against his like the soil did when my magic came to life. It was real, it was powerful, and it was almost too hot to take.

When it was over and we lay entangled in the covers, damp and panting and happy, he reached for my hand and tucked me against the line of his body.

He rolled me under him and brushed his lips over my face, the contours of my throat, and the slopes of my breasts. The muscles in his forearms tensed as he turned me this way and that, sliding his tongue over my hip then back up the way he’d come, taking his sweet damn time when he reached my breasts—kissing, tugging, licking—until I was breathless and shaking.

Until now, I’d let him, lying limp and satiated as he moved me where he wanted. But his beautiful mouth soon drained every drop of passivity out of me. I grasped for the box on the nightstand. Ronan followed me, his teeth raking the soft skin under my breasts. I ripped one of the squares open, and he sheathed his erection for the second time. His refractory period was insanely short, and mine was non-existent.

We rolled again, putting me on top. As I sank down, I whispered, “Stay with me, Ronan. Don’t lower your eyes for a single second.”

I’d expected a smile. What I got was something better.

“I’m not going anywhere, Betty. Not now, not ever. And neither are you.” It wasn’t phrased as a question, but I heard a rise in his inflection and knew he meant it as one.

“Not now.” I twitched my hips, and he let out an erotic groan. “Not ever .”