Page 57 of Waltzing With Witches

“I’ve been better,” she murmurs, tipping her chin up to look at me.

“How can I help?” I stroke the backs of my fingers along her jawline to her ear, then down her throat before realizing I shouldn’t touch her. We’re on shaky ground. The attraction’s there between us, so intense I can barely breathe around it. But everything else is tender and tense.

Gray eyes lock onto mine. “Moira has theories about why this hasn’t already killed you when it should have. I assume you know her theory. Do you agree with her?”

I grit my jaw.

“She says it’s our connection, how deep it is.” Morgan’s voice is soft, curious, maybe even a little afraid.

“I agree with her assessment,” I bite out. I feel like a man standing in his doorway, watching a tornado swirl toward his home. Like if I agree and open the doors to something with Morgan, I’ll spin her up into myself and destroy her.

“Morgan,” I murmur. “I’m terrified you’ll get hurt.”

“And I’m terrified to be hurt,” she says. “But I’m already hurting, Abe. I’ve had so much hurt in the last six months, and I don’t want any more. Living with you and Ben has been fascinating and infuriating and fun. I want that.”

I choke down a sob. “I don’t know how long we’ll have it.”

She makes a strangled sound, wrapping her fingers around my wrist. “However long we have it, I want it,” she whispers. “I’ll never give up trying to find a way to make this better. Unless trying together isn’t something you want?”

My mind spins around the implications of what she’s suggesting and the ways I might support her in the decision. “I’ll introduce you to Arkan and Hana tomorrow, if you like. Actually, Arkan’s father is here as well. He’s a well-known researcher regarding dark magic. Perhaps you’d like to speak with him.”

Morgan’s brows lift. “You’d let me speak to others about this?”

I nod. “I formally relinquish control of my secret to you, witch. Do with it what you will.”

She smiles. “That’s a gift, Abe, thank you.”

I want to tell her to call me mate, because nothing would be better than that. But it’s too soon, too fast.

“I want to try too,” I whisper. “I thought I could build walls up between us to keep you safe, but I can’t do it anymore. I don’t want to. But I want you to set the pace, Morgan. I don’t want to take more than what you’re willing to give. Agreed?”

I slide my hand up her throat, bringing the pad of my thumb to her lower lip. Rubbing it, I revel in how soft and plump it is. I kissed this mouth today for the first time in almost a century.

She cocks her head to the side, closing her lips around my thumb and sucking.

Heat explodes throughout my body, blood rushing to my groin, where everything tenses and tightens.

“Morgan,” I growl, fangs elongating. “What are you doing?”

She gives me a saucy look and sucks my thumb deep into her mouth. She’s hot and soft and wet, and her tongue makes a tantalizing pass over the pad of my finger. She releases it with a pop and smirks at me.

“Sounds like we’re in agreement, although I’m sure this is the first of many conversations. I’ve never had a chance to tease you, and the reality is that I’m a huge flirt. I think it might be kind of fun if we put our past aside for a little while and start from scratch. What do you think?”

I shove my body against her, pressing her to the tree. Her curves hug my frame, her breasts crushed to my upper stomach. “Let’s be clear. Are you proposing to date me? What’s off-limits?”

“Date you. Play with you. Touch you,” she murmurs. “I want to try all of it. I don’t want limits right now.”

Pleasure laces with reluctance as I debate the intelligence of this plan. Because when it comes to her, I’ve been lost from the moment we met. Lost deep in a soul-binding bond that will remain with me my whole life. And I’ve grieved over not having her for so long.

But she’s right here.

And she wants me.

Walls snap up inside my mind, but something bashes them back down.

“Alright, Morgan. Tonight we’ll go home. Tomorrow, I’ll take you dancing.”

Her eyes flash with pleasure. “I fucking love dancing. I’m a really good dancer.”

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