Page 32 of A Touch Charmed

My tongue continued to stroke hers, showing her how I wanted to make love to her, starting with her gorgeous mouth. She let out a sigh, and I swallowed it. Wanting any part of her she’d be willing to give me.

By the time I pulled back, the Ferris wheel had stopped at the bottom, and the conductor had been trying to get us to move along. But I hadn’t heard him.

Because for the second time in my life, I was wholly wrapped up in Thora.

Chapter 10

Thora

KissingFinnatthetop of the Ferris wheel had been like injecting a delicate buzz directly into my system. The world moved slower, in soft colors and softer lights. A strong liquid pull flowed through my body. Not magic, but something damn near close enough to it that I almost couldn’t tell the difference.

I’d fallen in love once before. It hadn’t felt like this. Back then it had been a rush of euphoria, the sharp urgency of lust, and a heavy dose of teenage insecurity. This felt older, stronger, more capable of weathering storms.

Once we exited the ride, I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my toes to whisper in his ear. “Take me home and make love to me.”

His lips parted as a gentle radiance touched his eyes. He trailed his fingers along my jaw like he had to touch me to believe this was real. My magic didn’t have a grip on me. It hummed beneath my skin, content to let me go and let me find what I needed on my own. As Finn took my hand and turned to go, Olivia Beaumont approached us.

All the blood drained from my face.

Her eyes widened as she took us both in. “You two are back together? Paige said you were living together, but Paige says a lot of shit.”

Finn pulled me against him. “What do you want, Olivia?”

I tensed. Just being near him and Olivia had me retreating into myself, throwing me back seven years. His gaze shot to mine, pleading, and with a hint of worry in his eyes. I felt like I’d just chewed a handful of glass. He could sense me pulling away, whether through our magic or the vibes I gave off. Metallic spikes of fear flowed into me from his energy.

“Wow.” She looked me up and down, picking me apart and dismissing me with ease. “Good luck with that one, I guess. Hope it ends up better than last time.”

I didn’t want her to win or her target to hit the mark, but I couldn’t stop the chill that seeped into my bones. Word had no doubt gotten around that my father had fired me, and we weren’t in high school anymore. I had nothing to offer her, therefore she had no use for me.

If I was completely honest with myself, I had to admit it had always been that way. With everyone I had considered a friend. Taking a step away from Finn’s embrace, I let the cold memories wrap their icy claws around me.

Olivia’s parents were influential in Boston, but she lived here on the island with her aunt. They had treated Zodiac Cove like a boarding school for Olivia. My father, sensing a networking opportunity, set up playdates for us when we were young, but I’d thought our friendship had been genuine. Little did I know, she’d just been a better actor than most.

Making friends outside my father’s circle of influence had been difficult. When I was too young to make my own choices, I played with whoever my father decided was good enough. It gave me the reputation of being a snob before I even started kindergarten.

A reputation I had never been able to shake because I had to be cautious. I’d been used by enough people that I had learned to keep everyone at arm’s length. That way they could gossip about me all they wanted, but if they didn’t know me, then they were just throwing around empty words.

The forever catch-22 of being the mayor’s daughter.

“Tell Paige to keep my name out of her mouth,” I said.

I’d never been able to stand Paige Newcomb. Her mom, Betsy, had some family in Boston, but not even my father’s machinations had been able to force a friendship between us. Paige had been an absolute asshole to Violet Fischer all through school, and my loyalty to Donovan far outweighed any connections my father wanted to establish.

In the end, he didn’t fight me too hard on that one, since he also cared more about preserving a relationship with the Lathams, but for much different reasons.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Olivia smirked. “Since she prefers keeping your boyfriend’s dick in her mouth over your name anyway.”

“What?” My head snapped toward Finn and his face paled.

I didn’t even have to ask. I already knew it was true.

My head spun as every bit of gossip people had told me about Finn flickered through my mind. He said he slept around before I came home, I gathered that it had been a lot. Did that even matter though? Finn was a single, consenting adult. What he did was his business.

It was how fast he’d moved on after we broke up that still hurt. And fine, I hated hearing about what he’d been doing since, too. But we weren’t together, so it’s not like he cheated. I’d dated other people in the last seven years too. So why did having it thrown in my face feel so awful? And why was Olivia once again at the center of it?

She walked away, rubbing her hand down Finn’s arm as she passed. I wanted to snap her wrist. “Looks like all that whoring around is finally catching up to you.”

“Thora.” He reached for me, but I had so much white noise blocking my thoughts, I took a step back. Devastation dimmed the light in his eyes. “Can we talk about this at home?”

---