Page 24 of Twilight Echoes
She pressed her hand on the center of his chest, her fingers grazing his skin with the kind of heat only lovers shared. Her hair bounced over her shoulder, curling at the ends.
He cupped her chin as her long lashes fluttered over her eyes, sending fairy dust to the ceiling. When their mouths met, his pulse raced as if he’d been running in the woods for hours. She tasted like cinnamon and sugar. He wanted to savor her sweetness for as long as he could.
One kiss.
For now.
“That was nice,” she whispered.
“The best.”
“We need to call my father,” she said, resting her forehead against his and letting out a long sigh.
“I know.” Selfishness had been something he struggled with most of his life. He wanted to be a dancer and a choreographer, and sometimes he felt like he’d put his family out because of it.
Now he’d stolen a kiss when they should be racing to tell her father what they’d uncovered.
“You have to know that it’s not you that I’m fighting against.” She rubbed her thumb across his cheek and then dropped her hand to her lap. “What if I had been dating someone else when you showed up? Or had been in love?””
“I never owned you.”
“But you claimed me as your mate.”
“I imprinted. It’s more like a promise of a future relationship. But we both know now there’s a lot more involved. We were destined to be together. Our souls are connected on a deeper level. Also, you have to remember that we know when we imprint, but when it happens that young, it fades as if it were a dream, until our mate is put in front of us and we realize the connection again.”
“What would you have done if I had been with someone else?” Her nose wrinkled.
He fought the urge to bat it with his thumb. “That’s a hard question to answer because of my current circumstances. I probably would have left you alone.” He waved his fingers through the small amount of dust. “But then this stuff happened and knowing the Legend of the Fated Moons, well, that does change things.”
“It sure does.” She narrowed her stare.
“There’s something else you want to ask me.” He ran his fingers through her long hair. “Go ahead.”
“If I had been with another man, would I have known the moment I saw you? I mean, I did feel something.”
“I don’t know if what you felt had to do with coming into your fairy side, my imprinting, or the bigger picture of the legend, but I’d like to believe you would have at least wanted me.”
“Oh, it was there. It’s kind of always been there,” she said as she pulled out her phone and tapped on the screen. Once she was done, she tossed it on the table, set her computer aside, cupped his face, and kissed him, hard.
It was wet. Hot. Sloppy.
And everything a kiss should be between mates.
“Shouldn’t we go see your father? This information we found out is important,” he managed to croak out.
“He’s not here. He went out. He’ll call as soon as he sees my—” Her phone rang. “That must be him.” She set the phone on her lap, tapping the speaker button.
“Hey, Twinkle Toes,” her father said. “What’s this information you have?”
“I think we know who cast the spell,” she said with a tinge of excitement. “Have Gabe and the council look into Regan Wilcox. I can’t find anything on her on the internet, including what coven she belonged to, and she and her sister stopped going to the studio right after I was accepted into the company.”
“I’m with Gabe now. We’re gathering everyone tonight, so we’ll have the witches’ register find the family name.”
“Do you want Darrell and me to come out there?”
“No. Nothing you can do tonight but get a good night’s sleep,” her father said.
“That reminds me,” she said, untucking her hair from her ear, letting the curls fall, covering her face. “What room do you want Darrell to have?”
