Page 47 of Castings & Curses

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One moment,Natalie was all storm—inside her, around her, everywhere, thunder, lightning, crashing rain—then it wasallheat.

Fire sweeping through her and slamming into the ground, over and over again.

Lightning and fire and dear goddess, the wolf couldkiss.

She raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck.

She slid her fingers deep into his hair, something else slipping from her grasp to thump onto the ground below.

She should maybe figure out what she’d just dropped, pick it up, hold it tight, but the heat from Corwin’s kiss was consuming her thoughts, stealing her breath.

All she knew was the wolf who had her wrapped tight in his embrace and the fire that consumed them both.

* * *

The entire worldhad disappeared except for the witch in his arms.

Her scent, everything about her, wrapped itself around him and dragged him deep.

Corwin lifted her closer, reveling in the feel of her nails raking through his scalp.

Something about that should register with him—that both her arms were wrapped around him, that her fingers were plowing through his hair, pulling and tugging—but whatever it was that wanted his attention was so much less important than the feel of the woman in his arms and the rising heat that threatened to consume them both.

A white streak launched up, claws hooking deep in his arm, then the demon-cat was crawling onto his shoulder and from there, to Natalie’s where it shoved its nose in her ear and licked her cheek.

Natalie let out a shudder and her fingers slowly unclenched from his hair.

She leaned back, gasping for breath, then reached up and scratched the cat’s head.

Damn cat.

Always interfering at the worst of times.

Or in this case, perhapsjustin time, for Corwin finally noticed the cyclone that spun around them at incredible speeds.

He would have expected it to tear them apart, but it simply wrapped them in a world of their own making, blocking out all sights and sounds of anything but each other.

And that damn cat.

They stood still, plastered together, the cat wrapped around Natalie’s shoulders, purring loudly as she pet her in long, soothing strokes.

Corwin shuddered as he once again imagined Natalie’s hand petting his wolf’s fur in the same slow movements.

The longer they stood there, staring into each other’s eyes, the calmer their breathing became, until finally, the wind died down and with it, the foliage covering the house behind Natalie began a slow withdrawal, slithering to the ground and sinking into the soil.

Silence fell.

A quick glance around showed Corwin that his alpha had retreated with the rest of the coven to the other side of the property.

They now slowly moved back toward them, looks of awe on their faces.

“Dude, your mate is the freaking queen of witches,” Jared teased, echoing Corwin’s words from the day they witnessed Pippa’s power for the first time.

Corwin was speechless.

That stupid staff—the one he’d thought was a prop from some drama club, the one he now realized she’d dropped when wrapping her arms around his neck—plus the elaborate clothing, even the witch’s hat, all had symbolic,royalfreaking meaning.

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