Page 70 of Whiskey Shivers

He cast a spell on me, for sure, but certainly not one of his namesake’s varieties. How could being hexed or cursed feel so damn good or make me so damn happy?

* * *

I was drowsingagainst his chest in that hazy exhausted state of being well fucked. My body was deliciously languid but also slightly sore which promised to be worse in the morning if I didn’t get up and stretch.

“Suppose this means you’ve thought about going back to the classroom, then?” he asked, his voice slightly rough with being on that edge of just getting ready to fall asleep.

We lay close in the dark of his –ourbedroom, I amended firmly in my mind. He’d been on me quite a bit lately to stop asking permission to do little things around the house, reminding me often that I lived here, too and that wasn’t changing. I guess I just needed to get used to the notion that this was a permanent place for me; not something shifting and ever-changing like I was used to.

We’d talked about that a time or two, but I always shied from the topic of my mental and emotional damage as soon as things got just a little too uncomfortable.

Surprising to no one, least of all myself, his question struck a bit of a nerve…

“I know I have to go back, but I also know I’ll never be quite ready for it,” I confessed, and I felt him move beneath me, to look down at me. I cuddled in closer so that moving around wasn’t quite the best option for him and made a bit of a pouting noise. He chuckled slightly at the sound of my pout at his having moved, but the desired effect had been achieved, he stilled and his hand smoothed over my nude back beneath the sheet, warming it.

“Talk to me, baby,” he said quietly when the silence had become too protracted. “You remember something?”

“No,” I said softly. “And truthfully, that almost seems scarier and more fucked up than if I had…”

He grunted in slight agreement, as though what I’d just said made perfect sense to him, and he kissed my forehead.

“I’m glad you don’t,” he declared, and I smiled and snuggled a little tighter into his side.

“I think I’m more afraid of remembering than I am of the missing memories sometimes, then others I… I don’t know. It’s like this pervading sense of dread to go back, you know?”

“Dread because you’re low-key afraid it’s going to happen again?” he asked. “Or more about the kids makin’ fun of you or tryin’ to give you a hard time about it?”

I thought about that for a minute. I meanreallythought about it.

“Maybe a little bit of both?” I hazarded to guess. “I mean, I don’t really know how I feel about any of it and I don’t really want to explore it all that much. I just wish I could bury it; you know?”

He gave me a little squeeze and kissed my forehead and said, “I know.”

I settled against him and told the truth, “I’m so grateful for you.”

He chuckled lightly and said, “You know, I’ll be there, right? Every day, makin’ sure you’re okay.”

I hadn’t thought of that… and even still… “But what about…?”

I didn’t need to finish; he knew exactly what I was talking about. His court date was coming up for the bar fight he’d been in and even though he seemed unfazed, I worried…

“Don’t you worry about me, baby girl,” he said. “Things are gonna be fine.”

He gave me a squeeze and kissed my forehead once more and the tension just drained out of me, his touch pure magic in that regard.

“Get some sleep, baby. We got time to figure it all out. One thing at a time, you know?”

I nodded, and he made sure the blankets were tucked up around me.

“I love you,” I murmured just before I fell asleep. The only answer I got was a tender kiss to my forehead and a tighter hold on me.

I loved that, too.

CHAPTERTHIRTY

Hex…

“Dismissed!” the judge said curtly and banged his gavel. Cornelius smirked at the prosecuting attorney and gave him a wink.

---