Page 20 of Chosen, Eternally
“I—” I begin to say but am cut off by an incessant buzzing in my jeans’ back pocket. “Sorry, let me—” When I go to turn it off, however, a message from Tilly cuts me off:
Tilly
Go for it, friend. It was all a lie. James has more soul than most of this Senior Council could ever hope to have combined.
I suck in a breath, suddenly on top of the world.
“What? What is it?”
With a grin that could rival the Cheshire Cat, I launch myself onto James, wrapping my arms around his neck as I plant a kiss on his lips.
He doesn’t hesitate, choosing instead to go with the moment.
“I love you, James Kittle.”
He sputters a laugh against my mouth. “I love you, too, Cate Goode.”
“Will you take a bath with me?”
His crooked smile makes my heart thump so loudly in my ears, I barely hear him when he says, “Baby, I thought you’d never ask.”
James reaches out to offer his hand for balance, so I take it as I step into the tub, feeling his rough palm against the smoothness of mine.
I love his hands. I love how they work. I love how he plays me like an instrument with them, making me come as easily as if he could read my mind. How he holds me with so much love and care and devotion, like he’ll never let go. How he loves me with them in a way no one has ever been loved before.
James shoots me a smirk as I dip my feet in the hot water. It’s like he knows what I’m thinking, like he can read every minuscule expression on my face. He spreads his legs as far apart as they can go and slowly helps me to sit between them. With care, I lean back against his warm chest once seated, feeling his hard cock press against my lower back as I rest my head against his shoulder. When his arms wrap tightly around me, I sigh happily.
I’m in heaven.
“You are the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me, Hecate Goode,” he whispers in my ear before pressing a kiss to my neck.
“You’re just saying that because I saved your life.”
He play-growls. “Don’t be self-effacing, love. I can’t stand it. I don’t love you because you saved my life, but just so you know, you didn’t just save it last night. You saved it the second I met you. You saved me from loneliness. From being the sad, almost-orphan when I first got to college. You saved me from myself after my mother died and I became an actual orphan. We’re different, but somehow cut from the same cloth, so you get me. Every day, you’ve been my savior, and that was way before you ever became the Chosen Protector.” James tightens his arms around me.
I fight back tears and sniffle. “I love you.”
He inhales the scent of my skin as if I were the most incredible drug. “I love you, too, Cate.” A kiss on my jugular. Another on the ball of my shoulder. “You smell incredible, by the way. Better than I remember. And you’re perfect. A goddess. You can’t deny it. Especially not with those powers.”
I frown, thankful he can’t see the expression on my face. “So it’s my powers you like?”
He scoffs. “I wasn’t talking about your magic. I worshipped at your feetbeforeI knew you were a witch. I was the sole member of The Church of Cate and thrilled about it. Less so when I thought you didn’t return my feelings, but, my god,” he says with a sigh, shaking his head in wonder. “Those short minutes we had together before everything went to shit were amazing. To be honest, it was the thought of seeing you again that kept me alive all that time I was imprisoned.”
My heart wrenches in my chest, body tensing. He feels every inch of the shift in my body language.
“Baby, no,” he whispers in my ear, pulling back my hair so he can reach more of my neck, place kisses on my wet skin from my jaw to the tip of my shoulder. “Don’t. We’re here now, aren’t we?”
“Are we? I can’t be sure. I still don’t know whether this is a dream or reality. I’ve fantasized about this very moment more times than I can count. In this tub, too.”
He chuckles, the mood quickly shifting back into something lighter. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”
I twist in his arms and lightly slap him on the shoulder. “C’mon.”
“I’m serious. You gonna tell me about them or what?”
“Mmm.” I lean back against his chest again, wrap his arms loosely around my waist. Tracing the tattoo he got his sophomore year on his inner forearm, I admire the cords of his muscles. Feel the heat of him beneath my fingertips. Dream of those arms holding my hands above my head as he enters me. Suddenly, my skin flushes a deep crimson.
He notices with a chuckle.
