Page 24 of The Warlock's Kiss

“Why wouldn’t it be?” he asked.

“There’s…no electricity. Usually no running water at all, especially nothotwater. But you have both.”

“People have had means of heating and pumping water long before they learned to harness electricity.”

Her brow furrowed. Merrick sensed that she wanted to argue, but she seemed hesitant to do so; perhaps she simply wasn’t informed enough on the subject to feel she could argue with any confidence? Modern conveniences had made life easy for humans, but they had also enabled an immense loss of knowledge—the way their ancestors had been forced to live and survive had become unnecessary information.

Of course, he didn’twanther to argue—he’d been pumping and heating his water with magic since the power went out, and she didn’t need to know that. There were only two possible outcomes to him sharing that information with her—either she’d flee in terror, eventually rounding up more humans to destroy Merrick like the monster they’d see him as, or she’d seek to take advantage of his power to obtain her own comfort and security.

Be destroyed or be used. Neither option was appealing.

Butshewas appealing, and he wouldn’t mind if she used him for something else…

Merrick took a step closer to her. That small movement was enough for him to feel the heat wafting off her body. Heknewit wasn’t all because of the bath. “Areyou all right, Adalynn?”

“I-I’m fine. You can go now.”

He extended an arm to brush Adalynn’s hair away from her shoulder. His fingertips trailed over her soft skin, sending a thrill through his body that nearly made him groan. Her breath hitched, and her eyes flared infinitesimally. Despite the other scents clinging to her—sweat and dirt, primarily—he could still smell the fragrance that was undeniably, entirelyher. It was reminiscent of lavender blooms beneath a warm summer sun.

Merrick released a soft but strained breath; he yearned to touch more, to tear away her shirt—and his own—and pull her against him. “You don’t sound very certain.”

Movement below caught his attention, and his eyes dropped to see her little toes curl inward against the floor. One candle lay to her right, and another to her left, undoubtedly knocked over when she’d leapt out of the water.

“I’m fine. Really,” she said a little breathlessly. “It doesn’t even burn anymore.”

He lifted his gaze again, stopping it this time at her collarbone. It would be so easy—and so satisfying—to lean forward and trace it with his lips.

When he sank slowly into a crouch, leaving his face mere inches from her sex—with only the dangling fabric of her shirt serving as a barrier—Adalynn released a soft whimper and pressed herself even more firmly against the wall. Her scent was different here; he could detect the earthy, sweet notes of her arousal.

Merrick nearly groaned. His cock ached with want for release, with want forher, and his lips parted to let out a shaky breath. In an instant, he could have swept her shirt aside and devoured her. In an instant, he could have had her up against the wall, legs spread, crying out in pleasure as he worshipped her sex with his mouth and tongue.

Maintaining his deliberately slow pace, he reached aside with both hands and—leaning just a little closer to her, close enough that his breath moved the cloth of her shirt—plucked the fallen candles off the floor.

When he finally stood, delirious heat suffused his chest, and the desire-driven discomfort in his groin was almost too much to bear. He set the candles on the shelf over Adalynn’s head and looked down at her. “Is there anything I can do for you, Adalynn?”

With head tilted back, lips parted, and pupils blown wide, she stared up at him. She caught her lip between her teeth for a second, and the action sent a jolt straight to his cock, making it twitch.

Smiling, Adalynn shook her head. “No. I mean…maybe a little more light? And some, um…privacy.”

He couldn’t help but smile himself, though her answer—even if he’d expected it—disappointed him. He stared at her lips for a few more seconds, letting himself wonder what they would feel like, what she would taste like, before he finally stepped away. Raising a hand, he snapped his fingers.

The unlit candles flared to life, bathing the room in their soft, flickering glow.

Adalynn gasped, looking around in wonder before her gaze returned to him. “Merrick?”

Oh, fuck. Merrick, you twice-cursed fool.

“Enjoy your bath, Adalynn,” he said, dipping his head in a shallow bow. He spun and exited the room before she could say anything more, pulling the door shut behind him.

He lifted a hand and buried his fingers in his hair, tugging it back sharply as he muttered under his breath, “After all that, why be sostupid? What, did you think she wouldn’t notice?”

But he hadn’t been thinkingat all; it had seemed so natural in that moment to use his magic to cater to her whims, to fulfill her wish as quickly and wholly as possible.

And now there’d be a conversation in the morning that he was neither prepared nor willing to have, because Adalynn was intelligent, observant, and protective of her brother. His only consolation was that he’d be sending them on their way with the sunrise…

But evenhewasn’t entirely certain of his conviction on that matter.

He returned to his study and sat at his desk, restless and fully aware that his research wasn’t likely to progress much further tonight—his mind was even more preoccupied with Adalynn than it had been a few minutes earlier. Now he had that fleeting, exquisite glimpse of her naked body to fuel the flames of his desire, now he had her mouthwatering scent lingering in his nose, and his skin still pulsed with her resonance, her mana song, which seemed to play just for him.

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