Page 49 of Ruled By Magic

He snapped his mouth shut.

I’m what?

Awkward silence descended, but his hands moved even as his lips remained closed. He loosened my towel and pulled it away. His chest rose and fell hard as he examined me. I was used to this. He kept me naked more than clothed when he was home, but the intensity in his gaze caused my breath to catch and heat to rise in my cheeks. He touched my cheek with the gentleness I’d needed the night before, the caring touch I’d craved. To my horror, a sob bubbled up in my chest.

He pulled me against him. That broke the dam, and all the emotion I’d held in check spilled over. My throat hitched, and tears soaked into his expensive suit fabric. He stroked my hair and rubbed my back in firm circles. He felt so good, so solid and safe, I couldn’t do anything but let him hold me. It was stupid. He was the one who’d upset me, but the need for comfort overrode all logic.

As I calmed, he pulled back to study my face. He wiped a tear, looked at it, then licked it off his finger. I gasped, and his lips curved up. “What? I’ve tasted the rest of you. This is new.”

My toes curled at the words, but a little of my tension released. This felt normal.

“Turn over. Lie on your front.”

The instruction took me by surprise, and I frowned at him. He made an impatient gesture, and I complied, so conditioned to doing what he said when he said it. He drew in a sharp breath and traced a finger over a sore spot that made me flinch.

“You’ve bruised much worse than normal.”

“You were rougher than normal.” It wasn’t an accusation. Just a statement of fact. He traced the spot again, and I grumbled deep in my throat, but the position and his hands on me were having a predictable effect. He’d been right. I was easy. I tried to banish the thought. His words had cut me, even if he now claimed he hadn’t meant them.

“You’re such a fragile little thing, aren’t you?” His fingers slid over me, massaging the sore skin, and I closed my eyes. “I sometimes forget how easy it is for me to hurt you.”

“I’m not that fragile,” I mumbled, but I couldn’t summon the required irritation. After my miserable night and day, this was just too nice.

A sleepy haze had started to descend when reality crashed in with a fierce thump and my eyes flew open. The link-up. It might ring. Should I tell him? He’d want Hex recaptured. But she might need help. The call could end up being a ransom demand.

Leo’s hands paused. I must have tensed up. “What is it?”

“It’s—” My tongue froze. Indecision clawed at me. Tell him? Lie?

An urge drove words from me. “Something happened today. When I ordered lunch, I—”

A loud, repetitive ringing broke out, echoing through the apartment.

Leo leapt up from the couch and I chased him into the bathroom. The ringing drove into my skull. It could be Hex. Or it could be something terrible. Hope and terror twined together in my chest.

Leo tore the cupboard open and retrieved the link-up. He held it out.

“Speak. Don’t say I’m here.” His voice was clipped. He answered the call on speaker.

“Hello?” I said.

“Liv? Is that you?”

A weak, crackly voice came back. A powerful surge of relief pummeled me, and my legs almost gave out.

Hex.

“Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. The—” She dissolved into crackles.

“—attacked. You need to get out.”

“What? Hex, I can’t hear you.”

“Fuck this. Is that better?” The sound sharpened a little.

“Yes.”

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