Page 100 of Hopelessly Teavoted
“Az,” she said. “That’s wonderful. But I want to talk about us.”
“Over drinks?” He gestured and she took hers, a perfect dark and stormy. “I have a nice selection of cheese and crackers. Prissy reminded me that it’s not a good idea to have a huge meal before big magic.” She walked past him to the kitchen, and saw the counter festooned with plates of crackers and charcuterie spreads. She turned to smile at him.
“Azrael Hart, did you make me girl dinner to snack on before we have to go save the town?”
He leaned against the entryway, laughing. “Evelyn said we leave at eight, promptly, and then retired to take what sounded like a very important phone call.”
“That’s plenty of time for us to have the conversation I want to have.”
Azrael’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh yeah?” He walked toward her, leaning against the counter. Close enough that he could reach out and touch her; far enough not to die from doing so. “Do you want to fool around and pretend it’s only pretend again, Vickie?” His voice was a growl. “I told you it’s real for me, but Inevermind pretending.”
She shook her head. Goddess, he smelled so good. Lemon and warm, woodsy echoes. They were so close to being able to do what she wanted.
“I don’t want to pretend anymore, Azrael,” she said. Beingcareful and moving slowly so he saw what she was doing, she reached a hand toward his sweater. Az froze, his eyes tracking her movement the entire time.
“Vickie.” His voice was strangled now. “Victoria. Do you mean…”
She ran the hand down the sweater, all the way to his belt loops, running a finger across the button of his pants. He sucked in an audible breath, and she stepped back, to make sure she didn’t do anything foolish in the heat of the moment.
“I mean I don’t want to pretend anymore either.” She felt the emotion of it, welling up in her chest. His eyes were wide, a smile pulling up his cheek. She had to get the rest of it out. “I choose you. Even after we break the curse, repay my debt, save the world… Even if we don’t have to. I want us. For always.”
Vickie couldn’t hold Azrael’s hand, so she held her own, and he must have understood, because he snapped twice, grinning from ear to ear, and two pairs of gloves appeared on the counter next to the untouched spread. He looked at her, waiting to watch the slow slip of the fabric across her skin.
“It must be true love if you haven’t even touched the cheeses,” he murmured.
“It is,” she said, sliding the glove on and reaching for his hand after he had done the same. He watched her, and his face felt flushed with hunger. She knitted her fingers into his.
“I love you, Azrael. For real, not pretend. We should do it. The sealing spell. The soul binding.”
Azrael squeezed her hand, at a loss for words for a moment.
“Are you sure?” His words sounded reverent, and she couldn’t help but grin.
“More than I’ve ever been about anything,” she said.
“Promise?”
“I swear it on everything I love most. The shop, on Hart Manor, and every breath in my body. I’m yours. I always have been, Azrael.”
“It’s nice to see you here, finally,” he said quietly.
“At your house?”
“No.” He shook his head, and grinned, leaning against the counter, their arms still stretched between them. “I mean here.” He pressed a hand to his heart. “Absolutely, hopelessly, and desperately in it. You know, like I have been, with you. I love you, Victoria. Everything I am, and everything I have, is yours. Always.”
He smiled, that same smile, a little crooked, and absolutely heart-shattering in intensity. It was the same way he’d looked at her in high school when she threw up margaritas in his bed; in college when they’d giggled, knocking knees and elbows against the dorm room wall, too much for one twin bed. His eyes lit up across tables dancing with magic and across laminate mundane ones too. It was the same way he’d looked at her in a fancy gown and in sweatpants and writhing on a bench in her shower.
“You’re sure, Vickie.” He said it like a benediction, not a question, but she answered anyway, because she could. Because she wanted to hear herself say it, again, out loud.
“I am,” she said, and she laughed, because it was funny, really, that she’d been so worried about being too clingy, and as a result, had almost ended up clinging to doubt for long enough to miss this.
“What do we need to do next?”
“Don’t worry.” He nibbled on his bottom lip, unable to stop another smile from stretching across his face. “I started preparing for this moment as soon as I knew it was a possibility. We can take what we need from my mother’s garden, and then we’ll set up the spell. It takes hours, so we should start it now. Come on.” He led her, gloved hand in gloved hand, through the house, its floral wallpaper blooming, roses expanding and contracting around them as they hurried down the hallway. The bearskin rug roared in approval, and Vickie smiled as they stepped out into the conservatory.
Azrael snapped, and fairy lights appeared, threaded through hanging trellises and tinting the room in more than just moonlight.
“Do we have time for all of this?” Above her, the garlands twinkled and swayed, tiny stars dancing in pale greenhouse moonlight.
