Page 31 of A Touch Charmed

Very interesting, considering he’d been the one to reject Violet, and had been avoiding her ever since they discovered they were the other half of each other’s magical battery.

“Looking a little hungry there, D.” I held up the half-eaten bag of cotton candy and shook it. “I’ve got a snack here if you need to be sated.”

He flipped me off and stood. “I’ve got to go.”

“So soon?” I gave him an evil grin. There was no getting around it. He knew he’d been busted checking out Violet. “Are you sure you don’t want to finish the show?”

“Can’t. I’m on quality control duty.” He stumbled as he practically ran from the stands.

I turned my gaze back to the show, where Violet lost her rhythm for just a beat. Not enough for anyone in the audience to notice, but enough for me to guess that she’d seen Donovan fleeing the tent. It was too bad he hadn’t touched her before he bailed. She would’ve been able to stay underwater for a lot longer.

After the show ended, we stepped outside, where the crowd had begun to thin again for the late afternoon. It would get busy again after dinner, all the way through sunset. There were fireworks down at the beach at the end of each evening. That was all tourists, though, since most residents got a better view from their homes.

“Can we ride the Ferris wheel before we go home?” Thora asked.

I was dead on my feet and ready for a nap, but the way she called my place home sent a fresh wave of energy buzzing through me. “Anything you want, bluebird. This is your day.”

We got our tickets and a guy who smelled like foot spray locked us into a metal bucket that had probably been put together with luck and duct tape.

There wasn’t a lot of room to move on this thing. I draped my arm over the back of our seat and tried not to puke as the wheel lurched forward. As someone who built shit for a living, I knew very well all the things that could go wrong.

“Are you… scared?” Thora’s dark green eyes danced with humor.

“No.” My jaw tightened as a bead of sweat trickled down my back.

“You are scared.” She poked me in the side and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Oh my God. How are you afraid of heights? You used to climb through my bedroom window on the second floor all the time.”

“That was different. Ladders are more secure.” When she gave me a pointed look, I amended, “They are usually more secure. When people aren’t sneaking up on me.”

“You’re lucky I never snuck up on you before I got magic.” As if just realizing the memories this conversation brought to the surface for both of us, a flush stained her cheeks. She pinched her lips between her teeth and looked away.

I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Who’s the scared one now?”

She crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip. “I’m not scared.”

“Okay. If you say so.” I chuckled. As my fingers dangled on the seat, they brushed the back of her shoulder. Goosebumps dotted her skin. “You’re shivering, gorgeous. Are you cold? Because you are more than welcome to lean against me for body heat.”

She turned to me with challenge blazing in her bright eyes. “What if I actually leaned into you for body heat? What would you do?”

“You can snuggle against me anytime you’d like.”

Her gaze dropped to my lips. “And if I wanted to kiss you?”

I clenched my fist. We were wading into dangerous territory here. There was nothing I wanted more than to claim her mouth and use my tongue to show her exactly what I wanted to do with my cock. But with her hip firmly pressed against mine, I couldn’t be sure if she was asking me about kissing, or if it was just a game her magic was playing.

“Tell you what.” I slid her as far over on the seat as she could go. There wasn’t much space, but we managed. The bucket rocked and I gripped the metal bar. “Don’t touch me at all until we reach the top. Let’s see if you still want to kiss me when we’re up there.”

She didn’t respond, just turned her gaze to the crowds spread out at our feet and the endless ocean beyond. The Ferris wheel continued to move, stopping for a few minutes with each new couple it loaded on from the bottom.

Neither Thora or I said a word. We didn’t touch. As our bucket rose higher, anticipation built, until it became a living, breathing thing I could wrap my hands around.

At the top, I turned to her. My throat was impossibly dry. “Well?”

She cupped my jaw with both hands and traced the line of my lower lip with her thumb. As her gaze remained laser-focused on my mouth, she tilted her head as if in question. My tongue swept the pad of her thumb. She sucked in a sharp breath, and with aching slowness, she leaned in. Paused. Then leaned in again. Until finally, her lips pressed against mine.

And my entire world opened up.

This wasn’t the desperate, clumsy kiss I gave her on the beach the day I broke my leg and my magic took over. This kiss was soft and sweet. A gentle exploration of who we were now. There was nothing hurried or frantic about it. We had taken too much time letting ourselves hurt. This kiss said we owed it to ourselves to take time to heal, too.

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