Page 19 of A Touch Enchanted

I held a hand to my stomach. “Holy shit.”

How was I supposed to practice like this? Wouldn’t it be better if we just fucked all this tension out of our bodies so we could get on with this business of fighting the curse? Because my attraction to him wasn’t going away. If anything, it was getting worse.

When he left Zodiac Cove after graduation, I learned how to compartmentalize my feelings for him. I could tuck away the part of me that was wildly, recklessly in love with him while still maintaining our friendship. But our magic had torn the lid off of everything, and now I wasn’t sure how to stuff it all back in. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to.

Chapter seven

Donovan

Anotherdayofmyalarm going off too early. Another day of me not being able to get out of bed until I’d come at least twice while thinking about that little whimper Violet made when I pressed my thumb against her soaked panties. I had a healthy sexual appetite on a normal basis, but this was starting to get fucking ridiculous.

In the past, whenever I’d start to think about Violet too often, when the regret hit me too hard, I’d find a willing woman and do my damnedest to forget. I couldn’t do that this time. Not only did the idea of sleeping with anyone else make me physically ill, but I’d already asked Violet not to date anyone. It would be a dick move if I didn’t adhere to that as well. I was an asshole, but I wasn’t that big of an asshole.

I never should’ve been with anyone but Violet anyway. We should’ve been each other’s first and only, and if I hadn’t been such a fucking idiot back then, it would’ve ended up that way. We still could’ve had a chance, if I’d come home two years later like I was supposed to. When I FaceTimed Violet to tell her I was coming home and that we needed to talk, she started gushing about her new boyfriend before I could get a word in. She looked happy. A hell of a lot happier than she’d been the last time she’d seen me.

I couldn’t go home and fuck that up for her, so I stayed in Europe and tried to forget I’d ever been in love with the one woman who had always had my heart. We continued to FaceTime every night. I was like an addict who couldn’t stay away. And after her last big breakup, I decided to man the fuck up and finally go home.

As soon as I saw her in person for the first time, I knew it was too late. She didn’t look at me like she had in high school. She looked at me like she looked at Audrey. Like I was a friend, and I’d never be anything else. So I became careful. So fucking careful not to stare at her for too long or touch her too much, out of fear that I’d never want to stop. Because at the end of the day, I’d already lost her love, I couldn’t risk her friendship too.

Regret still tasted bitter on my tongue. Maybe it always would.

At least it helped soften my perpetual hard-on some. Not all the way. I was still at half-mast, but that was the best I could do these days.

I stumbled to the coffee maker and let Sandy out the back door. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth while she chased her own tail for a minute before taking a dump in the corner of the yard. If only life could be that simple for humans.

“Let’s go, girl.” I let out a short whistle to call Sandy to my side. “Time to go see Violet.”

Her tail wagged happily. Even though my magic wasn’t activated, I had a feeling she understood me perfectly. My dog always did like Violet more than me. I might’ve taken that personally if it were anyone else, but she just had a way with animals. Always had.

I was an animal lover too, but between the two of us, I would’ve thought she’d end up with the communication magic. Animals were just as much from the sea as they were from the earth. Though, given that she saved my life with her power, I supposed I shouldn’t question the way things turned out.

The fog gathered over the sidewalk, same as the previous morning, but it was thicker, darker. It raised the hair on my arms. It wasn’t smoky like the mental attack had been, but this shit wasn’t natural. The curse was building toward something.

Something Violet and I might be able to stop if we could get our hormones in check.

I knocked on her door, and once again she answered half-asleep and wearing next to nothing. That half-mast status I’d been able to maintain on the walk over here instantly went to full. It didn’t even matter what she wore at this point. She could answer the door wearing footie pajamas and I’d still be hard as fuck.

But those teeny-tiny boy shorts weren’t doing me any fucking favors.

“Coffee.” She once again took my travel mug and drank deeply from it, making that moan of appreciation as the first hit of caffeine woke her up.

I yanked the mug out of her hand. “This is mine. You have a coffee maker. And put some damn clothes on before you answer the door. I could’ve been anyone.”

She rolled her eyes. “So grouchy this morning.”

I knew I was being a prick, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. Apparently, jacking off twice that morning wasn’t quite enough to take the edge off. I needed to rein that shit in, though. It wasn’t Violet’s fault I was so frustrated I couldn’t think straight.

“Sorry, Cricket. You know I’m not a morning person.”

“Mmmhmm.” She pressed her lips together as she turned on the coffee maker.

Sandy made herself at home on Violet’s small couch. Resting her head on her paws, she yawned and gave me a raised eyebrow, as if to ask me when we were moving in. Never mind that I had a three-bedroom house with a big backyard and Violet barely had enough room to turn around in, let alone space for a whole other human and a dog.

Violet kept her mugs on the top shelf of her cupboard, which she could barely reach without a step stool. She stretched her arm over her head to grab one, causing her tank top to ride up and expose a strip of creamy silk skin around her waist. Jesus fucking Christ.

Her fingers grazed the edge of the mug and ended up pushing it further back on the shelf, out of her reach. It would’ve been comical if I wasn’t so goddamned turned on.

Unable to stand the sight of her tank top riding higher as she continued to stretch, I moved in behind her, careful to keep my erection from brushing against her ass. “Here. Let me.”

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