Page 26 of Witches and Wine (The Mythical Mates of Arcane Cove #1)
I’d wished for nothing more than Dion to be here at that precise moment, and here he was.
It did nothing for my fear that my magic was controlling him somehow.
Riley leaped from my lap, circling Dion’s body until he landed on his shoulder, those tiny paws pressing to his cheek.
It was enough to make me wonder—Riley was my familiar, my bonded animal, so why was he so attuned to Dionysus?
“What do we have to talk about, Dion?” I forced my gaze away from him despite the urge to gaze at his handsome features.
Dion shook his head and scratched Riley’s back. “Nuh-uh. You’re not doing that again, Red. You’re going to tell me why you’re avoiding me, and we’re going to talk this shit out this time instead of playing a game of who’s going to cave first like we did for months.”
This commanding side of Dion definitely did something for me.
“Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?” I stood with my arms crossed.
Dion gently moved my ferret from his arm to mine. The lightest brush of his skin through my shirt had my flesh sizzling at his touch. “It’s not all of a sudden. I’ve felt like this about you for a long time. I didn’t know what to do with it or what it was. Now I know.”
My heart pounded in my chest, and I found myself taking a step toward him. “Know what?”
Dion bent forward like he was about to kiss me. His finger bopped me on the nose instead. “Why aren’t you talking to me, Chels? You haven’t even been able to look at me. Why ?”
An overwhelming bout of nerves bubbled in my stomach, and I turned away from him only to have his strong arms coax me back to face him as he’d asked. “I think—” The words started but faded soon after from my throat tightening.
“You think what?” Dion rubbed my shoulders while Riley nuzzled at the crook of my chin.
“I think my magic is messing with your mind somehow.”
Dion blanched, his gaze turning away for a beat. “Messing with it, how?”
And this was the part I’d dreaded confessing. It would be so embarrassing for him to know what he’s been doing, how he’s been acting, was all because of me and my unruly magic.
“Making you feel things you don’t really feel, or acting on impulse because I wished it.” Sighing, I let my head droop, my eyes focusing on my bare feet. “I’ve seduced you with my magic, Dion.”
Dion let out a girthy chuckle, my body jostling from his hands still resting on my shoulders. “You have seduced me, Chelsea. But it has nothing to do with your magic. I’ve let myself be seduced because I wanted to be.”
His laughter stung at first, but then what he said sparked confusion and hope. “What do you mean?”
Dion gripped my chin between two fingers. “I like you, Chels. And not because you told me to. Me. I do. And my beast is feral for you.”
The way he wrapped the word “feral” in a growl had my knees buckling. “I like you too. But it doesn’t make any sense. How do you know it’s not partly my magic that brought us together?”
“Two reasons.” Dion smiled and pulled me closer, holding me in a calming embrace. “There are very few beings that can fiddle with a god’s mind. Witches are not among them. Not even Hekate could mess with me despite her trying several times when we were kids.”
Peeling back, I pressed my hands to his chest. “What about Aphrodite?”
Dion frowned at that and uncomfortably rolled his shoulders. “ Are you Aphrodite?”
“No,” I responded, suspiciously dragging out the ‘o’.
“Then, there you have it.” Dion shrugged as if he’d just solved all of our problems.
Busying myself with combing my fingers through his beard, I stared at the small scar on the right side of his chin hidden behind that mass of dark hair. “You said there were two reasons.”
Dion cleared his throat and motioned for the couch. “We better sit down for this one.”
It wasn’t often that anything frazzled the god of wine. Considering the way he scratched the back of his head and avoided eye contact with me, he was about to lay out something big.
Slowly, I sank to the couch, Riley scurrying to my lap, sitting back at attention for whatever Dion was about to say. “I’m all ears.”
“You and I—” Dion referenced between us after sitting next to me but not lounging back. “—what I mean to say is—” He blew out a breath and fisted his hair. “Fuck. Why is this so hard?”
Reaching a hand to his shaking knee, I stilled it and squeezed. “Talk to me, Dion. That goes both ways.”
Dion tensed his shoulders. “We’re mates.”
A breath hitched in my throat. My magic hovered over my skin, shimmering, spiraling, and I could’ve sworn even—singing? It was as if I’d already known this somewhere deep in my soul but couldn’t ever make sense of it.
“Mates,” I repeated, trying to understand it. “Like—soulmates?”
Dion let out a breath like he’d been holding it until I reacted to him. “Not exactly. Every species refers to it as something different and has different customs, but in theory, it’s about the same, yes.”
I scooted to the edge of my seat and took Dion’s hands in mine. “But my sister and her husband are gods like you, and they’re soulmates. What’s the difference?”
“Well, you, for one, my wicked witch,” Dion started, sliding a hand to the back of my neck and rubbing my skin there.
“You are not a goddess, and since I have my beast, it makes this mating thing more—” He paused, tilting his head from left to right as if trying to produce the perfect word. “—carnal.”
My stomach flipped over itself, and an instant wetness pooled between my thighs.
“How does it work?” It came out in a breathy, sultry whisper, my gaze roaming his forehead where the horns were hidden.
Dion must’ve caught sight of my longing stare because those same horns slowly began to make an appearance until they were fully poised on each side of his skull. “If we accept it, we’ll share a bond.”
I reached for one horn, acting on impulse, fingers gliding over the grooved ridges. I wanted to hold them while he fucked me sunken between my legs, from behind as we lay on our sides and any other way I could get my greedy hands on them. “That’s it? We only need to accept it?”
Dion’s gaze darkened, the amber in his eyes growing iridescent, and he yanked me to him, encouraging my legs to wrap around his torso. My core pushed against his stomach, and he snarled. “You’re so fucking hot down there. What exactly are you thinking about, witch?”
Grabbing both horns, I pulled his mouth to mine, planting a quick kiss. “Tell me. There has to be more to it.”
Dion squeezed my ass. “I love the way you take command of my horns, Chelsea.” He lowered his nose to my neck, inhaling me and grazing his canines across my skin. “I’d claim you. Bite you. Leave my mark on you.”
The idea of being claimed by anyone might have rubbed me the wrong way years ago. It might have scared me or downright disgusted me. But Dion wasn’t just anyone. He was my frenzy god. My horned beast. My mate .
I might regret what I was about to ask later, but I had to be sure. “And you’re positive this isn’t my magic talking?”
Dion let his head fall before peeling back. “Why did such a thought ever cross your mind, anyway, Chels?”
Curling my hands behind his neck, I nervously flicked my fingernails together. “The Crone.”
“The High Priestess? She told you your magic was messing with my mind?” Dion’s eyes searched mine.
“Yes. She said I didn’t know how to control it, and because I desired you, I was reeling you in with my power.”
Dion’s fingers drummed against my ass. “Did she say anything else?”
I rubbed my lips together, contemplating if it was worth saying.
“Chelsea,” Dion beckoned.
“She warned me about you. That you’re likely to stray if something did happen between us.” I couldn’t help but look away now, the very idea of it striking a painful chord in my stomach.
Dion turned my attention back to him with a single finger pressed to my cheek. “Do you think I would? The woman who has turned my life upside down, driven me mad with desire, and has consumed my thoughts since the day I met her?”
Tears stung my sinuses, and a grateful smile curved my lips. “When you put it that way?—”
“Come here, mate ,” Dion snarled, using the back of my head to pull me toward him, fusing our mouths and devouring me with a sizzling, ferocious kiss.
Mate. I loved the sound of it and would make him repeat it until the label etched itself into my brain.
“Something’s bothering me, though,” Dion whispered once we’d pulled away.
“What is it?”
Riley squeaked and rose on his hind legs as if he agreed with Dion.
“That doesn’t sound like the Priestess I know.” Dion clenched his jaw and stared off into the distance.
“Do you think someone is posing as her?”
“In Arcane Cove, Chelsea, you’ll quickly learn anything is possible here.” Dion stood and held out his hand for me to take.
Riley bounded from his tower, hurrying up my body in frantic swirls before resting on my shoulder.
“Are we paying the Crone a visit then?” Slipping my hand into his, our palms buzzing once they made contact, I grinned at him, ready to take on the Crone, the world, and damn near anything else life tossed at us.
“You’re damn right we are.”