Page 21 of Bewitched By the Wicked Witch
"Do not finish that sentence," I commanded, annoyance lacing my voice. Now I had that image in my head of me riding the massive anatomy I'd cursed this man with. A shiver ran down my back as, for just a moment, that sounded nice.
He was the last person I had truly opened my heart to, the only one who had ever made me feel whole. And goddess, it had been so long since I'd experienced the warmth he made me feel. I vividly remembered the comforting way my fingers intertwined with his, the steady heat radiating from his body as we sat together under the stars. His love had enveloped me like a soft,reassuring blanket, and the memory was almost overwhelming, a bittersweet reminder of what I had lost.
I glared down at Cosmo as we reached the upper level. "Thanks for that," I grumbled.
He gave a feline smirk and blinked. "You're very welcome."
I opened my mouth to add sarcasm, but then I was standing just a few paces away with only a door between us and Callum.
"Sage, open the door please," he whispered, almost desperately, from the other side.
I stepped forward, my hand touching my side of the door, but stood there unable to open that small barrier between us.
"What do you want, Callum?" I demanded, letting anger clip my tone as he had once clipped my heart into pieces like some damn crystal ball. Thousands of tiny shards disintegrating into dust and magic, only to form again, harder, darker and more imposing.
"I just want to talk to you," he said through the wood.
I wondered if he was running his hands through his long bangs, like he used to when nervous or unsure.
"Why?" I demanded, my voice lowering as I pushed all the old feelings and emotions deep down inside of me into a frozen lake where they needed to be. He didn't deserve one emotion from me. Neither good, bad, or even angry. Nothing.
Cosmo's wet nose nudged my hand, and I looked down into those star-flecked eyes as he stared up at me, ready to do anything I needed, letting me know he was there for me.
I didn't need the man behind this door. Just my grumpy, sarcastic cat. Still, a small smile tugged at my lips as I muttered the incantation and cracked the warded door open.
There he was, Callum Renshaw. Hair a mess, like he'd run his hands through it a hundred times. And just like that, I was standing in front of him again, my heart cracked wide open.
"Did you come to investigate me, Callum?" I growled, making my face cold and sharp, showing him the villain I'd become.
His bright green eyes studied me, sweeping over my body in that analytical way he examined everything and everyone. "No, Sage, I didn't come to investigate you."
"So what are you here for, then?" I demanded.
"I'm here investigating the disappearances," he said as he ran his damn hand through his blond hair.
I was tempted to slam the door in his handsome, perfect face.
"And that includes me," I trailed off, hoping he would finish the sentence, and hoping he would feel the frost I was creating in the air, the ice I was building around my heart to keep my true emotions concealed.
I hated this moment, the weight of it, the way I wanted to crumple and cry and reach for him. My fist clenched as I fought the emotions, fought my inner desires. Fought him.
"Sage, please," he said again, his voice thick with so much left unsaid in those two brief words. His gaze took me in and threatened to devour me whole. "I've missed you. I miss your voice and the way your eyes glitter whenyou're angry. I miss the way you laugh and the nights we'd lose our magic after a long week of finals under the sparkling night sky." He took a shuddering breath before continuing. "Goddess, help me, Sage. I miss everything about you. Like right now, how you're glaring daggers at me? I miss even that."
That pain, the ache of my chest being ripped open and my heart torn out and shredded in front of me, returned. I resisted the urge to rub the wound, the ache I'd thought had left so many years before. Molten hot rage surged and sent ice in my veins.
"You've missed me?" I growled, leaning forward. That was a damn mistake. His unique scent, leather, parchment, and a hint of whiskey, hit me in the face, threatening to melt my ice as a different kind of heat erupted within me. I glared. "You have no right to miss me."
"I know," he admitted, his hands going up between us. "I made a mistake. I should have found..." he trailed off, stopping himself several times as he tilted his head back, running his hands through those dark blond locks. Then he turned tortured green eyes to me. "I haven't been able to stop thinking of you. I'm an idiot. Let me explain what I can."
I scoffed. "You don't miss me. You miss sex, since your anatomy is too big now to screw anything but an elephant."
He paused, a slow smile stretching across his face before he chuckled, his eyes going wide. "That was you?" He leaned forward. "If you wanted me to have bigger equipment, all you had to do was say so, Sage. Your wishwould be granted. Anything for you, anything." He winked.
"It wasn't a reward, you bastard."
"Oh, I know, and if I'd ever even wanted another woman, it might have been a problem, but, you see, the only woman that will ever be for me is you." He leaned forward and flicked my nose. "So I hope you like elephant-sized equipment. Though I'll warn you, I've had many naughty thoughts about you over the years that have left me passed out on the ground." He grimaced. "More than a time or two."
"Told you," Cosmo quipped to my utter horror. Then he turned those eerie star-flecked eyes to Callum and growled.
