Page 50 of WitchBorn

“I was sick a lot as a kid.” He lifted me to sit upright against a solid surface. “I can see the cake. But can’t reach it.”

“Cake?”

He pointed and I realized we’d found our way back to the cabin. The rubble a sprawl of charred wood. We sat near the edge of where the door had been, and a narrow tunnel glowed with light. The slice of cake sitting untouched on the plate inside.

I stared at it, half dreaming I could reach it, but must have fallen asleep again because Finn shook me awake. “Wesley, please.”

Tears dripped down his face, and I reached up to trace my fingers through his warm tears. “Why are you crying?”

“You said it’s okay that I cry.”

“I mean, are you hurt?” My lungs ached. I stared at him with a sleepy gaze thinking he was handsome in a lot of ways, and very young in others. “Your face kind of grows on a person.”

“Uh, thanks, I think. I like yours, too.”

I wiped at his tears. “Did the wolf hurt you?” Had I missed another attack?

“Not me. You. I need you to get to the cake, Wesley. Can you do that for me?”

“Are you hungry?” I asked wondering why I wasn’t.

“Starving.”

“Oh.”

“Can you get the cake for me, Wes? Please, love.”

Love. That was nice. No one had ever called me that. I hauled myself over to lie on my stomach and stare at the slice ofcake buried beneath some miniscule protective barrier less than two meters away. Finn leaned over me and kissed my shoulder blades one at a time and then down my back.

“That’s right, love. You can do it.”

“Keep that up and there will be ass instead of cake,” I grumbled at him.

Finn laughed, his lips brushing my skin. “Get the cake and I’ll spend days making you come in a thousand ways.”

“And kisses. I like your kisses.”

“I like your kisses, too. We can kiss and cuddle all you want.”

I worm crawled toward the cake. “Better not be lying to me.”

“Never,” Finn said.

“This useless form should be for something other than sex.”

“And fitting through narrow spaces,” Finn said. “I don’t think it’s useless. You’re adorable. Like a spicy kitten.”

I glanced back to glare at him, but wound up looking over my bare ass, which he had full moon glory of, to see he was still crying, despite the teasing. “Finn?”

“Get the cake, please,” he begged.

I turned back, crawled a few more inches and had to pause. A low hanging beam left too little space, I stretched for the plate. It sat just at the edge of my fingertips. “I can’t reach it.”

“Please try, baby. You can do it,” Finn said. “I believe in you.”

I wriggled and ended up on my back, pulling myself through an opening so narrow I got stuck for a half second, fearing my ass was too big to fit. But I slipped into a tiny dome between broken and burnt boards and scooped up the cake, triumphant.

“I got it!” I cried, sucking in air like breathing through a straw. I leaned down to peer through the opening, ready to shove the cake toward Finn, but a shadow overtook the light of day. Finn’s sad face still sat beyond the tiny tunnel. Behind him loomed the dragon. “Finn?”