Page 7 of The Witch & the Hound
I stepped forward, close enough to catch the warm scent of yeast and butter from the loaf, close enough that the steam touched my face. My tail gave a slow curl before I forced it still.
She handed me a slice, her fingers brushing mine, her grin wicked. "Careful. It's hot."
It wasn't the bread I was worried about. It was the witch with flour on her wrist and freckles under her shirt, undoing me one casual touch at a time.
She moved past me to check the pot on the stove, hips brushing mine in the narrow space. I stayed exactly where I was, hands tight around the plate, pretending I hadn't noticed the freckles that curved under the hem of her sweatshirt. Pretending I hadn't imagined following that constellation with my tongue.
The soup bubbled, fragrant with garlic and tomatoes. Outside, her garden glowed faintly silver in the moonlight. The shed crouched, waiting.
Her world was alive, growing, overflowing.
Mine was a silent square with beige walls.
"Are you seducing me?" I blurted, then immediately regretted it. It was my turn to blush. But the truth was already out: every breath in this house felt like seduction. Every arch, every herb, every brush of her body against mine whisperedstay.
Chapter 4
Maggie
He said it so flat I almost dropped the cheese.
"Are you seducing me?"
The man had horns, midnight-dark skin, and a tail that probably had its own opinions, andIwas the one accused of seduction? Apparently, my domestic witchery had more teeth than I thought.
I spun, chunk of cheddar in hand like it was Exhibit A. “Is bread and cheese all it takes?”
His mouth parted, then snapped shut again, like I'd hit him with a riddle he couldn't solve. The inside of his ears went dusky pink. Oh. So the monster could blush. That was completely unfair and doing dangerous things to my blood pressure.
I set the cheese down and grabbed a knife just to have something sharp between us. “If that’s the case, you’re dangerously easy, Bram.”
His amber eyes narrowed, steady and unsettling, like he was cataloging me all over again. “Not easy,” he said finally, voice low. “Just… not used to being here.”
“In kitchens?” I quipped, slicing into the cheddar.
“In someone’s home.”Softly said, like an old bruise he didn’t show to anyone. It landed in my chest and stayed there, warm and aching.
That quiet honesty made my hand wobble on the knife. I covered it fast by plopping a slice onto a plate. "Well, congratulations. You've been officially seduced by sourdough and Cabot extra sharp. Happens to the best of us. I once dated a guy for three months just because he could make a perfect carbonara."
The corner of his mouth twitched like he didn’t know if he was allowed to smile.Goddess, let him smile. Just once. On purpose.
And damn me if my stomach didn't flip harder than it had during the hot flash. I turned around, trying to breathe casually through the implication. Was I seducing him? Did I want to?
The way my heart sped up suggested that was a resounding yes. So much for plausible deniability.
I excused myself to the little half-bath under the stairs, muttering something about checking on the bread, which made no sense since the bread was already on the table. He didn't call me on it. I splashed water on my face and tried to rememberhow to be a normal human woman having a normal dinner with a normal...
Nope. Nothing about this was normal.
I'd never had sex with a non-human. I didn't even know what species he was. I opened the browser on my phone and typed in:horns, tail, paws, pointed ears, sharp teeth, velvety dark skin.
The autocomplete suggested "Barghest."
"Barghest," I muttered, squinting at the results. Well, that was different. And explained the protective Labrador energy he had going on.
The photo on my phone was definitely the same race as Bram. Bigger, the guy looked like he spent all his free time at the gym and ate protein powder for breakfast. Okay, so Bram was the sleek model. Leaner. Still lethal. Still... a lot. And somehow that made him even more appealing.
Curiosity buzzed through me like a second glass of wine. Before I could stop myself, I tapped the next search. Barghest… porn.
