Page 77 of Wicked Witchmas: Elara & Tripp

“You’ll make millions.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

As he lingered in the shadow of the entrance, Tripp observed Elara and Hermes. He didn’t love how cozy they were, and the urge to smash his cousin’s handsome, grinning face balled his fists. Lightning flashed outside, and the following thunder caught their notice.

Elara’s entire essence glowed when she saw him, and any jealousy he’d felt melted away, replaced by a sense of well-being.

She loved him.

Just as he loved her.

Their main problem was commitment to one another, and they had less than three days to satisfy the Trickster’s curse.

When Tripp opened his arms, she scrambled up and took a running leap from the mattress, embracing him with her whole body. His eyes drifted shut as he absorbed her happiness to see him. Yes, teasing and flustering her had been fun, but her confidence grew exponentially. He could easily spend his life receiving this type of welcome.

“I love you.” His voice was low and gruff from the force of his emotions. “It feels good to acknowledge and say it aloud.”

Keeping her legs locked around his hips, Elara drew back to gaze into his face. “It does, but not as good as it feels to hear it. To live it.”

“Yes.” He grinned. Once again, she’d captured precisely what he’d found difficult to relay. “You’d think, after all the years I’ve been alive, I’d find a way to express my thoughts as concisely and eloquently as you do.”

“When it matters, you can,” she assured him with a quick, firm peck. “Hermes helped me clear another block.”

He glanced at his cousin, and the longing on Hermes’s face disturbed him. Was it for Elara? Had he fallen hard for her, too?

“No, Tripp,” Hermes said, having tuned into his thoughts. “It’s the experience I want.”

He offered up a commiserating smile. For too many years, Tripp had witnessed couples holding hands while shopping, sharing bites of their food, and laughing at inside jokes with their lovers. Those moments created such a profound longing that he’d had to look away. Now, he recognized what he’d been missing was Elara’s love.

Another stone flared, and Hermes winked.

“Keep helping us clear those blocks, and I’ll name my firstborn after you,” Tripp quipped.

Elara shut down. The speed with which she withdrew almost did his head in.

“What did I say?”

“I don’t want kids,” she blurted. “Not now, not ever.”

His parents walked in on her declaration, and his mother’s hands flew up to cover her gasp.

Hermes hung his head. “Back to the fucking drawing board.”

As he searched his feelings on the matter, his mother protested.

“It’s fine.” All eyes turned in his direction. Elara appeared tearful and unsure of his response, and her reticence tuggedat Tripp’s heartstrings. Clasping her hand, he gently pulled her forward, embracing her. “I’m never going to force you to do what you don’t want to, flitter-mouse. If you don’t wish to have children, we won’t.”

Her scrunched face told the story of her struggle not to cry. “Really? You’re okay with it?”

“I’m okay with it.”

“Enguerrand!” His mother’s dismay created a heavy atmosphere. “I believed she was ready in this lifetime. I’d have never sent those blasted boots if she wasn’t.”

Elara’s temper sparked to life, and with it, the mountain woke. Outside the patio doors, Rainier’s snowcapped peak was shrouded by a blast of ash.

If Tripp couldn’t calm her, literal hell on earth would commence. “Elara?—”

“Iamready, Brelenia,” she said through clenched teeth. “Having children or not doesn’t mean I can’t accept Tripp’s love or he mine. Women aren’t mindless baby-producing vessels. And if you can’t see that, you aren’t the person or leader you believe yourself to be!”

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