Page 32 of Sigma
She grabs the plate and cutlery and mercifully leaves.
I heave out a long sigh and pull in clean air and the lingering fragrance of her hair.
Grey and Linc have eyes on me out there. Linc approaches, stopping just inside the door.
“Ready for Ronnie to lay her hands on you?”
“Don’t know how it’ll help.”
I also don’t know that I want some witch to see all my secrets. I don’t even know all my dirty secrets.
“Wait for me!” Cicely shouts.
I crane my neck and see she’s pointing at Linc with warning from the Airstream, where Riley stands with a hose, connecting it to a four-hundred-gallon water container that’s now on the ground behind the truck he must have brought it with.
Shit. She’s sleeping here. A hundred feet away, filling every inch of my trailer with her scent. Did she sleep in my fucking bed last night? I’ll never get that scent out. I’ll never get it out of my head, either. I groan and rake my hand through my hair.
“She’s in it for the long haul, bro,” Linc comes in, talking, reading my reaction.
“I don’t want this for her.”
“Don’t seem like you’ve got a choice.”
“I should’ve made the choice to fuck off far away from here the minute I smelled her.”
He gives me a look of understanding. “You can’t help your biology any more than she can. She’s a good woman. A strong one.”
“Why couldn’t my mate be someone who’s afraid of me? Somebody smart enough to get as far away from me as she can.”
Erica Savage along with her two sisters step in. Erica says, “Cicelyissmart. She’s smart and strong and she’s doing what you should be doing. Whatever it takes to fix this.”
Riley’s now just outside. He’s heard this by the smile on his face, the pride there. He’s proud of his woman. And he should be. She’s a formidable witch. It’s good he’s got that after what he’s been through. And from what the other guys have said, a sweet female who showers everyone around her with kindness. And what she just said to me was delivered with kindness.
“I’m glad you’re here, Erica,” I say to her. “Want you to pull out whatever stops it takes to keep everyone safe during this, if something goes sideways and I wind up shifting.”
“Not a problem. I’ll zap the big bad wolf if I need to.” She winks. “Have a little faith. Riley and I overcame some big challenges.So have the other couples before us as well as Greyson and Stacy after us.”
“Yeah, but I’m not on the council. I’m not even a member of this pack.”
“Maybe you should be,” Vivica says. “And maybe that’s why all this is happening, to bring you in the fold. Fate works in mysterious ways.”
“Gotta take a piss,” I mutter. “Can you women give me a minute? Wanna pass me that bucket then shut the door, Linc?”
13
CICELY
I don’t like the emotions I’m experiencing at the sight of Ronnie Young on her knees in front of him, leaning back to look up at his face. She reaches out to put her palms on his shoulders.
No, I don’t like the look of this. In fact, I’ve got the urge to grab her by her mane of glossy, dark curls and smash her head off the stone wall. My heart is beating too fast. I hear a growl. It takes a second to realize it came from me.
“Easy…” Grey reads me and leans back to tug my ponytail, playfully, light in his eyes.
Jared’s eyes cut from Ronnie to Grey, and he grinds his molars so hard I think we all, even the witches without supernatural hearing, hear them squeak.
Interesting. He’s feeling proprietary, too.
Grey’s body language changes and he says, “Sorry. Reflex.”
