Page 34 of The Witch's Shifter
Softly, I reach out, and Belinda releases a breath when I wrap my hand around the back of her slender neck. But when I pull her in, it’s only to press a kiss to the soft spot between her brows. She reaches up to put her hand on mine, her wedding ring cold against my skin, and quietly, she starts to cry.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, lips still skimming her brow.
Pulling away, she breaks free of my touch. “Thank you, Alden. For everything.” A few tears snake down her cheeks. “I hope you find everything you’re looking for.”
I’ve already found it, I think, though I don’t say it aloud.
“Good night, Belinda.”
Her chest hitches with a sob, and she reaches up to cover her mouth with a hand. “Good night.”
Then she turns, dark emerald cloak whipping in the breeze, and she strides quickly away from me, though I can still hear her cries as she goes.
It doesn’t make me feel good, not one bit, but I still can’t find that I’ve done anything wrong.
And even as I stand here watching Belinda melt into the shadows of the night, my mind tugs me back to Aurora, back to that cramped little cottage with too many men, and a tingle of excitement goes through me at the thought of seeing hertomorrow, of pulling her into my arms and feeling the beat of her heart against mine.
I wasn’t sure what I was looking for when I met Aurora, but now that I’ve found it, I realize everything else pales in comparison.
Even the beautiful woman I used to call my love.
Chapter 19
Faolan
I WAKE TO THE SCENT of cinnamon and woodsmoke. When I first come to, pulling myself slowly from the depths of sleep, I’m not sure where I’m at. There’s something soft beneath me, something warm draped across me, and a feeling of contentedness wrapped around me.
Then my eyes open, and I remember: I’m inherhouse. Aurora’s house.
As I sit up on the plush couch, a blanket slips from my shoulders, reminding me of last night. Aurora draped it over me and placed a kiss to my temple, and I was so exhausted from everything that had happened the past few days, I fell immediately into a deep dreamless sleep.
It’s not often I sleep that hard; I’m usually on edge, easily awoken by the slightest sound. But as I reach up to scratch my head, I hear sounds coming from the kitchen, and I’m amazed they didn’t wake me sooner.
I yawn and stretch my arms overhead. Pain lances through me, stealing my breath away. That’s right, I’m covered inwounds, both from Cathal and my idiotic dive through Aurora’s parlor window. My gaze shifts in that direction, and shame curls in my stomach at the sight of the rough boards nailed over the broken window. I’ll have to make it up to her somehow.
Standing, I look down to find myself in a pair of borrowed trousers. My chest is bare, wrapped in bandages still, and when I trail my fingers over the soft cotton, I remember how Aurora tended to me yesterday, how her green eyes were so focused as she mixed her poultice and applied it to my wounds.
I remember how she tasted when I kissed her, the softness of her waist as I lifted her onto the countertop. Then I hurt her when I was unable to control myself, to control my hunger for her.
Fool.
A small growl pulls my attention away from my wrappings and to the parlor doorway, where the cat, Harrison, is lurking, half hidden behind the doorframe, green eyes affixed to me.
Naturally, my lips pull back in a snarl. This only makes him growl louder, the hair along his back puffing up.
“Harrison?” comes Aurora’s voice. It sounds like she’s trying to whisper, probably because she thinks I’m still asleep. “What’s the matter?”
Her bare feet pad softly through the foyer, and then she’s standing in the parlor doorway, her flushed cheeks looking soft and healthy in the morning light.
“Oh, Faolan. I didn’t know you were up. Good morning.”
At her feet, Harrison growls once more, then vanishes, his footsteps thumping up the stairs. With his going, Aurora frowns.
She introduced me to him yesterday, but it didn’t go well. He hissed, I growled, and webothseemed to disappoint her.
I’ll have to try harder not to let my instincts take over when he’s around. If I don’t want Aurora to reject me, I’d better figure out how to at least be amiable with him.
But a cat? Really?
