Page 21 of Fated Moons
Fucking wonderful.
The fire crackled as sparks flickered toward the sky. He sat in the plastic Adirondack chair, nursing a beer. He wanted to shift into his wolf form and run in the woods, letting all the tension from the day’s events evaporate into the night air. More than anything, he wanted to get Amanda out from under his skin. He had never expected to see her vulnerable. She exuded confidence in the way she moved across the room. Her words were always articulated with the right vocal inflection that commanded everyone to listen.
Her luscious plump lips made him want to cup her face, fanning his thumbs over the moist, supple skin that lined those lips before bringing his mouth over hers, drawing in her tongue…
Fuck.
The woman made him crazier than if he’d caught rabies.
The screen door screeched.
“I’ve got it,” Amanda said in that dazzling voice that made his ears perk up and his blood turn to molten hot lava. “Not sure how strong it will be, but my dad found a way for us to connect so that we can sense any kind of black magic or danger between us.”
He wouldn’t have agreed to a spell had he found something wrong with the steering on his Jeep or if Trask had told him not to do it, but in the two hours he had under the hood, he’d found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. “I’m sorry for being a bit of a dick, but what if whoever cast that spell on my Jeep is from your family.” He knew nothing of her sisters, except that they were all in the entertainment business of some kind, except for the oldest, who was a journalist for an art magazine.
“It wouldn’t be anyone from my immediate family.” She pulled up a chair, sitting next to him. The fire kissed her tanned skin against the darkening sky.
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’m very close to my sisters and parents. They don’t hold you accountable for your father.”
“Not the point. They could still wonder if I’m not just a chip off the old block.”
“Yeah, well, you come off like a moody lone wolf, and that scares people.”
He let out a short laugh. “It keeps people at a distance.”
She leaned forward, stretching out her arms. “I need you to hold my hands.”
“That’s asking a lot of a man on the first date.” He glanced toward her fingers. “Is fairy dust going to go flying?”
“I have no idea.”
“Don’t get mad, but I spoke with Trask. He said to focus on the energy in your heart or something. That might control the fairy dust.”
She recoiled. “You told Toldar about what was going on with me? You had no right.”
“Are you going to tell me your father didn’t tell him?”
She glared. “Not the point. It’s not your business. You shouldn’t have told him.” She snagged his hands. No dust appeared. A smile spread slowly across her face. The flames from the fire danced in her blue eyes.
“Are you going to kiss me now?” He blinked a few times, desperate to break the intimate eye contact that made it impossible to keep his thoughts to himself.
Her lips parted as she tilted her head, arching her right brow in a seductive curve. “The more contact we have, the stronger the spell.”
Taking her soft hands in his, he leaned forward, feeling a pull like metal being tugged toward a magnet. Kissing her would be a mistake. It didn’t matter that they would have to kiss in the movie or have an intense love scene.
That would all be acting, and he was a professional.
The fact that his lips were less than an inch from hers had nothing to do with acting and everything to do with being unprofessional. He shouldn’t lick his lips in anticipation of pressing them against hers, but that was exactly what he was doing.
“Open the gate of protection and allow this wolf in the bubble of connection. Alert us to the harm lurking in the dark shadow and allow us to disarm the threat with the force of the buffalo,” she whispered before her eyelashes fluttered closed over lust-laden eyes. A few specks of fairy dust lifted from her face and landed on his with a gentle touch. Her fingers curled tighter around his hands as their mouths gently touched.
A shock vibrated from his lips, shooting down to his toes as he darted his tongue between her lips, tasting the sweetness of honeysuckle seeping from her to him. A rush of heat coated his skin. It was as if he could feel this bubble of protection hug him like an overprotective grandmother with her fierce and unwavering love.
And there it was.
A lingering imprint. As if it had been there all along.
