Library

Chapter 18

Marlowe

“Why?” Kate asks, just before I kiss her.

I don’t know how to respond with words, so I use my mouth instead. I push her lips open with my tongue at the same time that I shuffle forward, my boots on either side of her feet. She’s trapped there with my legs bracketing hers, my hand on her chin, my tongue deep inside her mouth.

How do I explain my feelings? Under normal circumstances, I’d say they were irrational. I shouldn’t like this woman this much this fast. We met two weeks ago. That’s it. Call it trauma bonding or something, but I have this gnawing obsession in my chest that makes it hard to think about anything else.

All I want to do is look at her, touch her, spend time with her. Mow her lawn. Pet her pussy (cat). Tell her shit about me and Miriam and Dennis. Take her to meet my parents. Fuck, my parents. I don’t want to think about that shitshow just yet, so I brace my other hand on the side of Kate’s neck and I take her mouth the way I want to take her heart and her cunt and every second of her day.

I want to consume her the way she’s consuming me.

I want to be the only thing she thinks about.

I want to be her unholy husband. Desperately. Frantically. Obsessively.

“Turn around and put your knees on the lid,” I growl, tightening my fingers against the side of her neck and drawing a groan from her lips in response. My thumb strokes her pulse point as I trace her mouth with my tongue. “I’m going to teach you to memorize my cock, so that you never mistake me for another man for as long as you live.”

“Taking lessons from Tanner?” she teases back, and I clench my teeth. I don’t want to hear Tanner’s name. I don’t even like the idea of Tanner fucking her. I get that we’re going to do what we have to do, but ugh. I hate that man.

What if Kate hates you as much as you hate Tanner? You did exactly the same thing to her as he did to you. Where he used violence, you used violation. Which is worse? You’re a monster, too, Marlowe.

I know that I am, but I can’t help it.

I turn Kate around when she doesn’t do it quickly enough, yanking the straps of her sundress down her shoulders and baring the lace of her bra. I jerk that over her breasts, too, trapping them above the neckline of the dress in a very obscene way, one that maximizes her femininity and sex appeal.

Was she this pretty when she came into the woods? She was changed after the ritual. We all were. But that’s her hair and her eyes and the ink on her skin. This face of hers? These tits?

I bite the side of her neck as I snatch both of those pale orbs in my hands, kneading the flesh and digging my fingers deep. Kate tries to suppress her moans, but they slip out anyway, echoing off the tiled walls of the bathroom. Doesn’t matter. Brooks and Tanner won’t let anyone else in here for the time being.

They might be pissed when we come out—jealous, for sure—but they won’t allow anyone else to get near Kate in this state. She’s aroused, tender and pliant under my hands, yielding.

Shit, shit, shit.

I shove my pants down, taking my cock in hand and giving it a few, hard strokes before I spit on my palm for lube.

“Knees up, Kate.”

She’s boneless, my right arm wrapped around her waist and holding her in place. She doesn’t move nearly fast enough for my liking, so I lift her up and put her where I want her. Still not high enough, but it’ll do. I honestly don’t give a fuck about locale or semantics. I need to fuck her, right here and right now. Nothing else matters but touching her, feeling her, making her come on my dick over and over again.

The hell is wrong with you, Marlowe Waverley?

I’m into Katelynn Poppy, that’s what. This weird girl that I wouldn’t have associated with back before I entered the Witchwoods. She was only a baby when you disappeared, dumbass. I don’t think about that either. For all that it matters, we’re basically the same age.

Kate braces her hands on the tank behind the toilet, tits out and nipples hard, a bead of sweat trailing down the back of her neck. I lick it off and then press my nose against the side of her hat, breathing in her scent. These hats are made from the skin of some monster-beast that took all three of us to kill. They absorb a person’s natural power, and they smell like that person, too.

I can’t place Kate’s natural scent, but I like it. Just a single inhale is enough to send my pulse rocketing, to pump blood to my dick. My sack feels swollen and painful, like if I don’t blow a load in this woman, I’ll lose my mind.

She’s slick, tight, hot, yielding. Kate presses her ass back against me, rubbing on me as I’m pounding into her. I can hear the water inside the toilet tank bubbling as it heats up, an accidental overdose of power that I can’t control. Kate, either, for that matter. Ferns sprout through the tile walls, cracking the white grout and sending it crumbling to the ground.

The air is perfumed with salt and soft, fertile growing things. It’s a sharp contrast to the feral sweetness of our joined bodies. Oh, God. Fuck. I let my head fall back, hands tight on her hips, and try to remember what it means to breathe.

“Marlowe,” she whispers as I drop my chin to look at her. Kate is peering at me over her shoulder, her right hand clutched around the brim of her too big hat. Our shadows are on the wall, writhing together like unsavory, wanton things. They’re committing all manner of sin that I’d love to replicate with Kate.

“I want you in every hole, everywhere, all the time,” I pant out, and her cheeks turn a brilliant red color. Not embarrassment though—lust. Kate is lusting after me hard , and all I can do is return the favor tenfold. I use my left arm to keep her waist snatched, utilizing my right hand to squeeze her breast, thumb flicking over her nipple. My teeth find her neck, and I bite a little harder than I should. I’m having a hell of a time controlling myself.

As my shadow comes unraveled on the wall, so do I.

My back muscles ache, like the wings in my silhouette are digging at my skin, threatening to break free. And Kate … her hat tilts to one side, like she’s got horns underneath. The room darkens, every line and curve and shape sharpening. Kate pulls her witch hat down over her face, muffling a scream inside of it.

Her teeth dig into the fabric, pointy and otherworldly. My nails, too, sharp points that prick her tender skin and draw fine beads of red blood.

I’m wild for her then, dragging her from the toilet seat and dropping us to a floor that’s now blanketed with fresh fern shoots. It’s hard to tell that we’re in a bathroom anymore. Might as well be in the Witchwoods.

Mushrooms glitter and sparkle from the walls and ceiling, and I swear, Kate’s hat tries to bite me. I slap it away, dropping my mouth to hers as my shadow ravages her on the walls and ceiling. Kate snatches at my hat like it’s my dick, like there’s something intimate in the act of touching it.

There is. That’s why I wouldn’t let her touch my hat before, on that first night. I wasn’t ready for intimacy, could barely handle sex with her.

I’m ashamed of that now, like I disrespected our dark vows by pushing her away.

It felt like I had unsettled business with Miriam. Heh. Not anymore. Not at all.

I’m overcome with this feral need to be as close to Kate as I can get, slamming my body into hers and finally drawing a sound from her throat that she can’t hold back. She uses my hat to control my head, forcing my mouth on hers when I’d otherwise be biting her neck and her tits.

We’re both loud as hell, but there’s something about the Witchwoods that makes a person not give a fuck about anything else. I’m glad to be back in this world, but I also don’t give a shit about its rules or restraints anymore. I’m something other. Kate is something other.

Witches, and not humans. Pretty sure it’s more a state-of-mind thing than a magic thing.

The Witchwoods doesn’t care about made-up human rules. What other people think doesn’t matter there. Nature rules as both king and queen, and there’s no amount of posturing or belief that can change reality.

So, if Kate and I feel the need to fuck? If our bodies call to one another? Yeah, we’re gonna fuck.

“Harder, Lo,” she mewls, throwing her head back and arching her spine. My lips twitch as I brace myself with one palm on the floor, using the other to hold her in place. My fingers are tight on her pelvic bone, keeping that wiggling body of hers right where I want it. “Harder, faster.”

She grabs my hand and drags it up her body, over her breast, and right to her neck.

I flick my tongue against the corner of my lips, tasting Kate’s sweetness on my mouth. I cage her neck and hold her in place, let her know with a firm grip that this is where she’s staying until she’s wrung-out and properly fucked, until I’m spent and emptied inside her.

“You’re such a good little wife for me, aren’t you, Kate?” I ask, and she cries out, her body tightening on mine, gripping me and massaging me. Hell, her cunt is practically begging for my seed, and I want nothing more than to give it to her.

There’s a stream carved through the floor on my left, a feature that definitely wasn’t there a few minutes ago. It flows hard and fast, just like my orgasm. I can feel it in my lower stomach, this urgency in my balls that makes me go deep and wild, sending Kate completely over the edge and into a violent climax.

She squeezes her own tits as I grip her throat with a commanding hand, finishing myself off with a moan that can probably be heard from the pier to the beach. Fine by me. If the whole world knows what Kate and I are up to, so be it. They could only be so lucky. It’s what everybody wants, even if they won’t admit it—to fuck hard or to be fucked hard.

Kate collapses underneath me, boneless and shivering, hat askew, legs wide. The aftershocks of her pussy are almost too much for me, so I pull out. The sight of her on her back, tender thighs spread, cum dripping out of her with each contraction … I make a noise that I’ve never made before and climb over her again, taking my spent cock in my hand and rubbing the head against her, pushing it in and kissing her at the same time.

She throws her arms around my neck which surprises me.

Surprises us both, I guess.

Before I know what’s happening, Kate is scrambling out from underneath me and putting her back to the wall. I look up at her, my hat dripping into my face and trailing stardust or magic or whatever this gold glitter shit is all over the floor.

The ferns sparkle, and the stream I accidentally created has put a hole through the wall on its way to the sea.

Kate hurriedly drags her straps up her shoulders and tucks her tits back into her dress. She won’t look at me now, which I don’t like. I sit back on my haunches, working my jaw as I study her.

“How long does that contraceptive draught last?” she asks casually, like it’s no big thing. Like we haven’t completely spell-fucked this bathroom into oblivion. Like we didn’t just go at each other like old lovers instead of grudging frenemies.

We just had sex for the sake of having sex.

Not for a spell. Not over that horrible Numa Numa song. Not because I’m upset over Miriam and Dennis. Not when she doesn’t goddamn know that it’s me.

We fucked because we wanted to fuck, and that’s it.

“Contraceptive draught?” I’m a little disoriented. Why is she putting herself together like she wants to make a run for it? I want to pin her to the wall and nuzzle her neck, bite her a little bit, make her squirm. I want her arms around my neck again, and I want her nuzzling me right back, clinging to me, begging for my attention and whispering sweet shit into my ear.

“I dunno. A day or two?” If I sound distracted, it’s because I am. Very much so. More so than I’ve ever been in my life. With Miriam, sex was sort of like masturbating. A way to get off and get some relief from an itch.

With Kate … it’s an obsession.

She just stares at me.

“A day or two ?” she repeats, her voice rising several octaves. “You’re kidding me, right?”

I stare back at her.

Ah. Yeah. We didn’t use a condom.

“Would you care if we had a baby? I’ll admit: the idea of breeding you is so fucking appealing that I could come in my pants just thinking about it.”

Kate blanches, and then she uses my confusion to stand up and dart out of the stall, throwing herself into the next one over. I assume she’s cleaning up, but I’m annoyed. I fix my pants and then pace outside the stall, cracking my knuckles, trying to figure out what’s going on.

Get it together, Lo. You shouldn’t have said that. What the hell is wrong with you? That was unhinged. That was goddamn deranged.

And it was.

And I don’t care.

“I’m not having a baby,” she tells me when she comes out of the stall. Her expression is set, resolute. “Not now, that’s for damn sure. Maybe later. Much, much, much later. I don’t even know you.”

“We’re a coven, ” I breathe, and I sound an awful lot like Tanner or Brooks, and I don’t give a shit. “You’ll get to know me eventually.”

Kate ducks past me and out the bathroom door, leaving me in there with broken tiles and ferns and a stream in the floor. We can’t really fix it, so there’s not much choice but to leave it.

I step out into the sun after her, raking my fingers through my hair.

Kate doesn’t wait for me, hauling ass across the parking lot to the truck. I’m so stunned that I’ve managed to lose the keys to her. Again. My eyes narrow as I notice Brooks and Tanner waiting for me on the other side of the metal railing. Probably best that there’s a physical barrier between us right now.

Brooks looks like he’s this close to giving me a lecture—a thing which I hate as much as I hate the Hag or the Witchwoods or even … No, wait, not as much as I hate Tanner. That asshole is smiling, but what’s new. He’s been smiling a lot since Kate showed up.

“Seriously?” Brooks asks, like we’ve done anything wrong. I scowl at him. I wasn’t meant to sit at the bottom of a vicious pack like this. Did I ask for this? Did I sign up for it? I’d love nothing more than to put both Brooks and Tanner in their places, but it’s much easier said than done. “How irresponsible.”

“Which part?” I quip as a woman scoots by me and steps into the bathroom. I can hear her feet splashing through the stream, but even though she curses and stops to examine her pant legs, that’s all that comes of it. She can feel the water, but she can’t see anything.

Only those who’ve been in the woods can see magic.

The door swings shut, blocking the random woman from view, and I turn to the others, cocking a brow.

“Which part?” I repeat, but Tanner is already gone, strolling across the parking lot with his hands in his pockets. He might be smiling, but he’s mad. Good. Seethe, asshole. Seethe.

Brooks just shakes his head, like I should know better. Technically, he hasn’t aged much since 1955, but holy fuck if he doesn’t act like a seventy-year-old hard-ass grandpa.

“I’m not going to waste my breath answering that question. Grow up, Marlowe.” Brooks turns and walks away as I clench my jaw against the vitriol that’s desperate to spill from my mouth. He’s not going to waste his breath? Right. He’s just going to use all of that breath to continue bitching.

With a sigh, I let my head drop back and close my eyes, listening to the sound of the sea. The sunshine feels good on my skin, a luxury we didn’t have much of in the woods. Too dark. Too dense. Nowhere to go to escape the layered canopy above our heads.

Once, I tried to climb a tree, just to see the sky.

The Hag knocked me right out of the branches, and I’m lucky that all I did was break my leg.

I tilt my head to the left, cracking my gaze to stare out at the beach and the white-tipped waves. Families crowd the sand, laughing and playing in a way that looks foreign to me now. Heh. I used to come out here all the time with Miriam and Dennis, make little bonfires and smoke weed.

That Marlowe and this Marlowe … worlds apart.

I drop my chin and swipe a hand over my face, heading to the truck and climbing into the back. Kate is driving, so I can’t see her face, but I can feel this weird tension between us.

“ I’ll admit: the idea of breeding you is so fucking appealing that I could come in my pants just thinking about it.”

Fuck. Why the fucking fuck did I just fucking say that?! I’ve never said anything like that in my fucking life. Not ever. So why did I say that? Why? Why, Marlowe, why?

I can tell that Kate’s uncomfortable, purposely avoiding the rearview mirror as she starts the truck and backs out of the space. She almost hits someone, that’s how determined she is to not look at me. Christ. And we have forty-five minutes to get to Fern Canyon?

“So,” Kate says, chipper and cheerful. Bet my cum’s still dripping out of her. I work my jaw, folding my hands in my lap and doing my best to ignore Brooks. He’s seated in the back with me which is at least better than having Tanner here. “What exactly are we gathering in Fern Canyon? You said anything is fine, right Brooks? Rocks or ferns or … whatever.” Kate forces a laugh, clearly trying to fill the space and avoid any discussion about what just happened between us. “Probably all illegal, but we’ll just make sure there aren’t any park rangers around when we pillage such a sacred spot.”

“We need items from a place of awe,” Brooks explains, folding his massive arms. He gives me a look that I purposely ignore. “Then we need items from a place of lust. Then items from a place of sorrow.”

“Cool, cool,” Kate says, awkward and spiraling. She’s not making this any easier on herself. We’re all thinking about sex right now. “What did you use as a place of awe in the Witchwoods?”

“That fuckin’ tree,” Tanner says with a snort. “There’s enough awe—and fear—stored in and around that tree to last for seven centuries.”

“And … how about lust?” Kate asks, trying to keep it casual. She fails yet again, and I clench my hand in the front of my shirt. I’m having more than just a physical reaction to her. I … I think I like her. A lot. Who knew she’d have such a pleasant personality? What are the odds?

“Snake knot.” I’m the one that answers this question. Can’t help myself. I put my hand on Kate’s seat and lean forward, putting my mouth close enough to her ear that she swerves. Maybe not a great idea since we’re on the road next to the cliff right now. “You know, when a bunch of snakes gather in one place and get all tangled up while they mate each other?”

“Wasn’t aware that was a thing.” Kate’s words are breezy and dismissive, but I can see her hands tightening around the steering wheel. “Is that why you guys asked to go to the hot tub place later?” She sounds almost disappointed, which I like.

“Are you upset that we have ulterior motives?” I breathe, leaning even farther forward. My breath stirs Kate’s hair, and her palms squeak on the wheel. “Thought we were just headed to the spa to fuck you?”

“I mean, that’s why I agreed to go to the spa,” Tanner says, but I ignore him.

“We’ll have time for dates and public sex after we seal the Witchwoods gate.” Brooks is annoyed, but not because he means what he says. Pretty sure he’s jealous. He wants to bend Kate over in a bathroom stall just as much as I did.

“Fine. Mocha Spa tonight so we can rent a hot tub by the hour and, what, collect some water in a jar? That’ll satisfy the whole a€?item from a place of lust’ requirement?” Kate puts us back on the highway, and I’m surprised to see that she’s a bit of a lead foot. Didn’t see that coming. My lips twitch. “What about a place of sorrow?”

“Quick visit to my family’s graves should do it.” Brooks stares out the window, and the truck goes silent. “We’ll grab some grave dirt for the ghost exorcism while we’re at it, kill two birds with one stone.”

Uhh.

Two birds, one stone. Kate and I lock eyes in the rearview mirror, but this time, I’m the first to look away. Shit.

Nobody talks after that, not until we get to the kiosk that blocks the road to Fern Canyon.

“Do you have an online reservation?” the girl in the booth asks, leaning out the window to peer at us with narrowed eyes.

“Err, no?” Kate replies, like she’s confused. “I wasn’t aware that we needed—”

“Mm. Well. We can make space for you today, but next time you should really consider reserving online.”

The girl takes the money from Kate’s hand, passes over a receipt to stick on the dash, and off we go, trundling down a dirt and gravel road through the woods. There’s a cliff wall on one side, also topped with trees and, when I roll the window down, I can hear the sea again.

“An online reservation to visit a state park?” I echo. “Why?”

“Sure you don’t want to move back to the woods?” Tanner asks with a laugh. He’s at least half-serious, maybe more.

“Don’t even pretend you understand what online reservation means,” I growl at him, but he just grins at me.

“I’m all over the internet now, sweetheart. Don’t you worry your pretty head about that. I’ve been stealing Kate’s headphones and listening to all the music I missed.” He gives me a look over his shoulder, the word sweetheart hanging in the air like violence.

“We’re here!” Kate calls cheerfully, pulling the truck into a parking space on a lot made of sand. The spaces are delineated by big chunks of wood. To our left, there’s a public restroom but Kate goes out of her way to look at anything but that building.

She leads the way down the trail to Fern Canyon, past old redwoods and green ferns. It’s impossible—even for me—to remain unaffected when we round the corner and the space opens up in front of us.

Just like the name says: a canyon opens up with a beautiful freshwater stream down the middle. The walls are covered in ferns and small waterfalls, felled trees gnarled and twisted and tangled up like art pieces in the water. There are people taking photographs while others stroll through the stream with their pant legs rolled up.

Kate kicks off her shoes and leaves them on the rocks, bouncing off into the water and laughing as she scoops up a handful and tosses it into the air. It sparkles as the sun hits it, splashing onto the brim of her witch hat as her sundress flows around her like the petals of a flower.

My heart thumps painfully, and I clench my hand in my shirt again, scowling.

What’s happening to me? I wonder as Kate leans down, her long braid slithering over one shoulder and hitting the water. She snorts and flicks it back, turning her dress translucent when the water from her hair soaks into it.

I can see her lacy bra through the fabric, and I’m not the only one. Brooks and Tanner are watching with hawk eyes from beside me.

“What did you say to her to make her so uncomfortable?” Tanner asks, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans. I debate telling them, but who the hell else am I going to talk to? There’s nobody left in this world for me—not even my friends. I still can’t believe Miriam tried to kiss me, and Dennis tried to beat me up. The fuck is wrong with them?

“I told her I wanted to put a baby in her.” I admit it, no shame. Would I mind having a kid with Kate? Honestly, no. I think I’d like it.

Tanner doubles over with laughter, and I grit my teeth.

“Goddamn, you’re dumb.” That’s how Brooks responds, casting me a judgmental look, as if he’s some sort of ancient guru and keeper of wisdom. If it weren’t for him, we’d have all lived normal lives. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be with Kate. I can’t seem to find it in myself to give him any credit for that. He’s a self-righteous prick, and even Kate is picking up on that.

Tanner stands up straight, swiping tears from the corners of his eyes. He pats me on the shoulder which makes me feel homicidal. When Tanner touches me, I remember the look on his face when he appeared in front of me in the Witchwoods.

I remember our forty-minute brawl and the damage I took. The crunch of his fist on my face. The sound of my voice cursing him out. Most especially it reminds me of the way he grinned at me with bloodied teeth and held out his hand to help me up from the forest floor when it was all over. How I continued to fight like hell, even after breaking the rule of the woods and opening my big mouth. He and Brooks dragged me back to the cottage and forced healing salve on me, barred the door, wouldn’t let me leave.

I hate being touched by Brooks, but I can’t stand being touched by Tanner.

Fortunately, he takes his hand away before I get a chance to react. Might also help that my attention is still on Kate as she stands in front of the cliff, populated entirely with green ferns so that the rock wall behind it is invisible. She closes her eyes and tilts her head up to the droplets of water cascading over the top like diamonds.

Wham. Slam. My heart hurts . Holy shit. What is happening to me? Miriam never made me feel like I was on the verge of having a heart attack. But this shit? I genuinely like this girl, don’t I?

Tanner bites his lower lip as he studies Kate, tilting his head to one side like the hunter that he is. Even with Kate, he’s stalking. Biding his time. Waiting for the right moment to strike. God, I hate him.

“Man, if I’d put a list together of the perfect woman, it would’ve been nothing at all like Kate and completely wrong. She’s everything I never knew I wanted and everything I need.” Tanner exhales and then runs both hands over his hair, like he’s as surprised as I am. Neither of us would’ve picked her out of a crowd, I guess. I hate that we have that in common. “Imagine all the Norths who could’ve ended up in the woods, and we got her.” Tanner throws his arms around both our shoulders, and I clench my jaw. “We’re lucky men, aren’t we, my friends?”

“Don’t fucking touch me.” I shove his arm off with a huff but, as usual, he’s completely undeterred by the rejection. If he were less cheerful, I could probably put up with him better. All of that smiling and shit that he does? While always on the lookout, always on the hunt? Can’t stand it.

“Hey,” Tanner begins, hooking his thumbs on the waistband of his jeans. He turns to Brooks and raises a brow. “I completely understand Lo’s need to bend Kate over in the bathroom. She’s tough to resist. But you? The hell did you say to our girl to make her so standoffish?”

Our.

Shit.

I rub a hand over my jaw as I watch Kate trip on a rock, unconsciously using my magic to turn the water of the stream into a giant hand. I catch her with it before she can fall, setting her on her feet and then using my magic to drain the water from her dress until it’s no longer translucent.

She gapes at me over her shoulder, but everyone else has disappeared down the canyon and we’re alone for the time being. Kate grips the brim of her hat with two hands and turns away from me, walking through the stream and not caring even when it hits her at mid-thigh and soaks her dress all over again.

“What did you say to her?” I repeat, giving Brooks a nasty look.

“Don’t fuck this up for us,” Tanner warns him, pointing. Brooks slaps his hand away. “Don’t you ruin this for me and Marlowe.”

“I didn’t do anything to that woman. She told me that she doesn’t like to be fucked by us.” Brooks bends down, drawing out a cloth sack that he had tucked into his belt. It’s made of leather and stitched with sinew. Definitely something he brought from the woods. He gathers rocks into it while trying to look like he isn’t pissed off. “Unless it’s for a spell, I have no desire to touch her.”

Translation: he’s butt-hurt.

Sure as hell seemed like Kate was into it earlier. Wouldn’t she have said something if she wasn’t? My heart clangs noisily behind my ribs, and I rub my palm against my t-shirt to calm it down a little.

“Huh?” Tanner scratches absently at his throat and then adjusts his hat. “That can’t be right.” A confident smile takes over his mouth. “Maybe it’s just you, South? You’re a little hard to like, you understand that.”

“Fucking rich coming from you,” I reply, but I know that Tanner is, arguably and objectively, a pretty nice guy. I just hate him because I’ve been on the receiving end of his brutality. I … hate him in the same way that Kate could hate me?

My gaze shifts to her.

She’s at the edge of a comfortable range for us, getting a little too far away.

I hate when Tanner touches me, but I let him do it. Brooks says Kate doesn’t like to be fucked by us? She just lets us do it? What the hell am I even doing here? My mom would be so disappointed in me. Could still be, if I ever get the balls to go and see her.

“She said she’d do it whether she liked it or not. I don’t know how you guys want to interpret that, but I’m not forcing myself on Kate. Spellwork is different, but we don’t have to have sex outside of that.” Brooks stands up and ties the top of the sack, tossing the rocks to the side for the time being. “Gather a bouquet of ferns. Some animals. Don’t care what kind—lizards, flies, whatever.”

Kate stops in the center of the canyon, the cool water up to mid-thigh, her hands on either side of her hat, tugging the brim down slightly. The charms on the cone sway and jangle in the breeze. My insides twist up, like I’ve been eviscerated and scrambled by the Hag’s claws.

I’m walking before I even realize it, boots splashing in the water as I carve a path straight to Kate. The ferns on either side of the canyon walls stretch toward her, reaching for that earthy, pungent magic in her veins.

“Hey, Kate.” I catch her by the arm and she turns to look at me, beautiful mouth in a small moue of surprise. Her hazel eyes drop to the small span of space where the bare skin of my fingers touches the naked skin of her upper arm.

I release her, and only then does she turn around.

The wind slithers down the canyon, ruffling the ferns and causing my hat to shift. It slides forward and covers my left eye. Kate’s skirt billows like she’s Marilyn Monroe or something, and she gasps, slapping one hand down to hide her panties. She uses the other to snag her hat, the teeth on the brim catching the light.

Fucking Tanner and his fucking air magic. I reach up and push my hat back from my face, wanting to look at Kate fully when I say this.

It’s not easy.

I’m a stubborn dick on a good day.

Finding myself lost in those woods, knowing that my friends left me there … it broke something in me. I didn’t just become a witch beneath that dark canopy; I became a different person. When you’ve held someone else’s head underwater just to take your next breath, you realize that very few of us are as self-sacrificial and brave as we pretend to be.

Brooks held Tanner’s head under. Tanner held my head under. I held Kate’s head under.

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry.” My words sound strange, like the ferns on either side of us or the trees on the small cliffs above are absorbing all of the sound. The water is cool on my legs, wicking into my pants. I could push it back, but I don’t. I like the way it feels.

Kate’s face twists with confusion, like she has no idea what I’m talking about.

“For what?” she asks, slapping at her hat as it tries to lick me with a forked tongue. My heartbeat stutters again. I swallow hard and think about how to phrase it when she beats me to it. “For this morning? For coming inside of me without a contraceptive?”

Err. Shit. I wasn’t about to say that.

I scrub at the back of my head, knocking my hat into my eyes again.

“Yeah,” I say, but then sigh when I realize I can’t avoid this any longer. “Well, that’s not what I was thinking, but that, too. Don’t stress too much. Tanner can cook up another contraceptive draught.” I pluck a blueberry off my hat and eat it, chewing thoughtfully. I wouldn’t mind a kid, but now would be a bad time, wouldn’t it?

There are rainbow fish sparkling in the water around us, dazzling mushrooms sprouting between the ferns, and an odd long-necked sort of deer prancing around near a fallen log. One-hundred-and-ten-percent that it’s from the Witchwoods. It’s got a rack of antlers that’s bigger than its own head, and they’re dripping with moss and crystals.

“I’m not ready for a baby, but I, um, don’t really mind the breeding kink thing to play around with …” Kate trails off, clasping her hands together behind her back. She peers up at me from under her enormous hat, an iridescent Witchwoods bird landing on the brim.

I want to respond to her, but I’m having trouble with rational thought.

What did she just say? She wants to … she likes … breeding kink? My entire body is hot, and my clothes are this restrictive net that I want to cast off. I could take Kate right here on the ground with the stream spilling around us. The opinions of other people don’t matter. We have magic. We have power. I want to fuck.

I grab my crotch to adjust myself, and Kate makes this little noise that tells me she’s aware of my thoughts. That she shares them. That she’s not averse to the idea of screwing me the way Brooks claimed.

“Brooks thinks you don’t want to fuck him—or any of us, I guess.” I shrug, releasing the heavy, wanting bulge and cursing myself for even touching it at all. Shoulda left it alone.

Now, I’m staring down at Kate and thinking that it’s a divine blessing that she’s got such a fun personality and a body that fits perfectly with mine. I lick my lips, and she shifts, splashing me with more of the cool water. Doesn’t help. I could come just by looking at the neckline of her dress.

“Why would he … oh, because he’s a stuck-up jerk who doesn’t know how to handle conflict? Is that why? He doesn’t know anything about me, has no clue what I want.” Kate huffs, nostrils flared, and then she closes her eyes, like she’s grounding herself.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her again, finding the words a little easier when she’s not looking at me. “For what I did to you in the woods.” I force myself to take slow breaths. “For trapping you there.” I put my hands on Kate’s waist just as her eyes start to open. Her lashes flutter at the contact, but she puts her own hands on my wrists, like she might push me off. “For … forcing myself on you.”

“What are you doing?” she asks, and I narrow my eyes.

“I’m basically your husband, right? I’m acting like a husband. You don’t like it?” I sound pissy, like I’m close to a fit. I’m not, but goddamn, my emotions are wild. Just one small thing sets me off. Also, pretty sure that I’m insecure, and I hate that, too. Nothing is hotter in a partner than confidence.

I’m traumatized for sure, but I’m done with that. I’m out. I have Kate. It might all have been worth it for Kate, huh? I refuse to answer that unasked question.

My hands settle more firmly on her waist. She isn’t small necessarily, but she fits well inside the circle of my hands, long fingers splayed against the thin, wet cotton of her sundress. The heat of her body seeps into my palms, warming not only my hands but my dick … my … gag … shit … my …

Heart.

I do have a heart.

I thought I’d lost it in those horrid woods, but there it is, pounding away like I’m sixteen years old and confessing to my first crush.

Kate moves her hands from my wrists to my neck, one palm on either side of my throat.

“I’m sorry,” I repeat, because I need her to understand how serious I am right now.

Kate shakes her head at me, braid flopping over her shoulder.

“Don’t apologize if you’d make the same choice all over again,” she tells me, not like she’s angry, just like she doesn’t want to hear empty words.

I wait until she’s looking right at me again before I tell her the truth. My awful, frigid, bruised and bleeding heart goes … thump … thump … thump …

“I don’t think I would,” I tell her honestly, “if it was you.”

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.