Page 2 of Chosen, Eternally
I nod slowly, as if in a trance. “Really.”
“God, Cate. Can I kiss you?”
Ireally must be the Chosen One, because I have been blessed. Knowing that my feelings for James are returned, that he’s been as desperate to make us happen as I have for quite some time, is heaven. I no longer feel alone in this. I no longer feel like a fool. More importantly, I can’t wait for my new life to begin, with him steadily by my side.
I was already on the precipice of something big—about to pick a life of duty—but this feels bigger. My life doesn’t really consist of much besides working day in and day out at my aunt’s Magicks Shoppe, training with the Society of Witches on basic skills, and spending my free time with James. It’s felt small, almost purposeless.
So it’s interesting how one confession from the man I love, one request for a kiss, can tilt my world upside down. Rock it even more than the news that I have been Chosen by some higher power to protect our town from the evil of vampires until the day I die.
My voice is nearly a whisper when I tell him: “Yes, you can kiss me. And I’ll turn down the job offer. We can start solidifying our plans for our trip to Asia. Maybe leave as early as nextmonth.” The sooner I get away from the judging eyes of The Society and my aunt after I turn down their proposal, the better.
“You don’t have to say no to this opportunity. Not if it’s something you really want. I told you, I’ll stick around for you. You’re all I care about, and if this is what you want to do, then I’ll?—”
“No, no,” I cut him off. “You’rewhat I want. Us.”
“Us,” he says with a groan. “I really fucking like the sound of that. Fuck, Cate.” James scoots closer to me, our legs dangling over the ledge. He takes my head in his hands, knots his fingers in my hair, and brings my face to his. There’s a slight hesitation before our lips touch, but that’s okay. After all, there’s no doubt this kiss is about to change us and everything about our lives. Regardless of how we feel about each other, we’re both smart enough to realize that.
When we finally kiss, it’s like nothing I’ve felt before. His lips are warm despite the weather, and I’ve never felt safer in my life. When his tongue presses into my mouth, I welcome it, feeling the heat from my cheeks spread all the way down between my thighs. My hands travel up James’s chest and lock behind his neck, pulling him closer still to my body. I want every inch of my skin to be pressed up against his.
When I feel one of his hands travel down my shoulder, down my waist, over my thigh, and then back up again under my coat, I shiver—but it isn’t because of the winter chill. No, it’s the feeling of James’s surprisingly warm hand coming over my breast, fitting perfectly in his hand. He cups it while stroking his thumb over my nipple, making me break away and moan out loud in the middle of the night.
James curses under his breath once and whispers, “…can’t tell you how fucking long I’ve been wanting this. How badly I’ve wanted to love you and kiss you and fuck you.”
An electric current shoots up and down my spine at his words, because, my gods, how many times have I had the same thoughts?
“Me too.Gods, me too.”
I feel James smile against the skin of my neck, press a small bite to it before following it with a kiss. “You and your gods,” he says, teasing. “You’re the only true goddess.”
My laugh comes out breathless because he doesn’t even know the half of it. I may not be a goddess, but I was named after one, and were I to accept my role as the Chosen Protector, I’d have near-godlike powers.
Still, James doesn’t know that. He accepts my beliefs because he loves me, but he’s made it quite clear he doesn’t believe in “witch juju.” Pretty bold for someone who willingly moved to Salem for college, if you ask me.
I tilt my head back so he can kiss down my neck, but there are too many layers of clothing between us. I wonder idly why he couldn’t have confessed his true love earlier in the year, like June or July. Maybe then I could’ve done something about seeing him topless in his bathing suit on a hot summer day at the beach. You know, instead of replaying a slideshow of images of his muscular body in my head over and over again that very same night while alone in bed.
In the end, it’s fine, since this issooomuch better than lying under my comforter, my fave vibe in hand, eyes closed as I pant and come to fantasies of James and I breaking through the friend zone. Being in James’s arms, his hands roaming my body, moaning into my mouth, truly exceeds expectations—even in below-freezing temperatures.
When James pinches my nipple, the hunger grows too strong—I can no longer keep my head on my shoulders. I am just a few seconds away from using my powers to eviscerate our clothes and beg him to take me out here in the freezing night.
Not that I would mind terribly. Only that I would prefer our first time to be in a more comfortable setting, possibly one where we can avoid getting arrested for public indecency and defacing a historic landmark.
“We need to stop,” I tell him as I pull away, though my voice is barely audible over our gasping.
“No, yeah. You’re right.” James nods, but the expression on his face reveals that he is anything but in agreement. His tongue drags over his bottom lip, his eyes raking over my body. “Or rather, I know you’re rightin theory, but I really don’t want you to be.”
I laugh and press a kiss against his lips. He doesn’t hesitate before wrapping his arms around my waist.
James rests his forehead against mine. “We can go to my place. It’s closer.”
“Yeah?” I smile, thrilled. With the burden and weight of the decision off my shoulders, and James’s confession out in the open, I feel like I could levitate from happiness—which means I should be careful because I could quiteliterallydo so if I’m not in control enough of my emotions.
“Yeah.” He kisses me again, more intense this time. Sinking into him, I make sure to memorize every detail of this moment. Thanking my powers for my heightened sense of awareness and attention to detail, I know I will forever remember his bergamot and cedar wood scent, the softness of his hair as I run my fingers through it, the warmth of his lips as they move against mine, the eager way his tongue licks into my mouth, the desperate way his hands hold me to him, the moon and stars above, and the snarling noises in the?—
Snarling noises? What the?—?
An iron-like vise wraps around my waist and pulls me away from James, throwing me over the ledge. My head hits the concrete when I land, and for a second there, every ounce of oxygen is expelled from my lungs. I can’t breathe, can’t speak. Can barely think. But once I realize who the mysterious figure—figures, plural—who interrupted one of the most religious experiences of my life are, my system kicks into gear. A shot of magic is injected into my veins, my body recovers at an impossible rate, and I’m able to get to my feet in fight mode. I’m not even bleeding.
“Fucking vampires,” I mutter right before shooting a Mobilization spell right at the second vamp’s chest—a woman with dark, straight hair. She yelps as she flies ten feet in the air and falls with a heavy thud on the grass by a petrified James.
