Page 63 of Untraced Magic
I could tell she was disappointed, and I longed to see her smile again. Sitting beside her, I turned my body to hers, giving her my full attention.
“Maybe a night’s rest to take everything in might not be a bad thing,” I offered.
She sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s been an emotional day for both of us.” She covered my hand with hers.
I glanced down to where our skin made contact, gathering a breath. “I’m really sorry about before. I never wanted you to see me like that.”
Until now, when it came to talking about Ava’s death, I’d been a closed book. No one had managed to crack me at the spine. But here was Morgan, sitting in front of me, having witnessed parts of me noone else had. She had become my strength in ways she would never know.
She angled her body toward me, her eyes searching mine with a vulnerability that scared me, stripping me bare. “Tyler, it’s okay. We all have our moments. Hell, I’ve had plenty.” Her thumb stroked a soft line over the top of my hand.
I steadied a full breath. “I just mean I would have told you in my own time.”
Morgan nodded. “I understand. Really, I do. You’ve been through so much. We both have. Don’t be sorry. Whatever this is…” Her free hand motioned between us. “If it’s not feeling right,” she faltered, “or you need more time…”
There was a vulnerability to her words, my heart pulsing proudly to see her so unguarded, so trusting of me.
Haunted by Ava’s death for years now, I hadn’t let myself get this close to anyone, but I knew it was time I opened my heart to someone else, and I was certain if souls did go somewhere after death that Ava would want me to be happy.
I was done with stolen glances and guilty kisses.
“I don’t need more time,” I said finally, my fire element simmering beneath my skin.
Her doe eyes filled with embers as they held mine, and moving closer, my palm caressed her jaw, her eyelids flicking shut.
When I covered her mouth with mine, desire burned through me, searing my insides as it swept a path through every fiber,every nerve within. A mewl escaped her lips as I drew her mouth apart, cautious as her hand stiffened on my thigh.
Morgan’s hesitancy bristled my skin for only a moment before her fingers dug into me, like she was afraid to let go. It felt so right, a knowing deep inside that would no longer be buried or ignored.
I pulled away, our foreheads resting together. Steel gray chasing chocolate brown, our breathing synching.
“Come here,” I ordered, pulling her into my lap and kissing her once more. No holding back.
I slid my tongue between her lips, commanding her to open up for me, and we met in a delicate tease, slipping our mark on the other. She rocked her hips into mine, deepening our kiss, and my hands fisted her ass, drawing her closer until she pressed firm against me.
Her hands clawed at the nape of my neck, sweeping through my hair, and I matched her urgency, kissing her with a passion we had denied ourselves for too long.
I smiled against her lips. “You’re borderline addictive, you know that?”
A sound came from her, a giggle on a smile as she teased my bottom lip, nipping it.
A feeling so unknown to me pulsed within. To feel this way about a woman was a possessive, frightening thing.
Silky curves swallowed my palms as they glided beneath her top, her back curling against me, forcing her closer. Her reaction to my slightest touch hardened my dick against my zipper, the ache for her touch turning desire into desperate need as I kissed her again.
My name fell from her lips with a shudder. “Ty,” she whispered against my mouth.
I feathered her hair through my fingers, breathing into her ear. “Where’s your room?” I murmured.
She motioned down the hallway. “That way.”
Before I got the chance to stand, her hand palmed the front of my jeans, my dick throbbing under her touch as it pushed against denim. She hungrily undid my fly, and a groan ripped from me as her hand worked over me through the material of my tight boxers.
I inhaled a quick breath at her touch. “What are you doing to me?” I murmured between kisses, sinking back into the couch in utter bliss.
Her touch sent my skin on fire, our hushed breaths filling the air.
“You like that?” she breathed against my cheek.
