Page 38 of A Touch Enchanted

“Sort of.” I filled her in on everything that had happened with Dell and the story the mayor was trying to spin about the twelve.

“How does he keep getting elected? Who is voting for him?”

“People like the Newcombs.”

She kept her expression carefully blank, not wanting to give an ounce of power to Paige now that high school was far behind her. Violet did her best to hide from me how bad things had been back then. I knew though. Everyone knew.

Violet never wanted me to outright step in, preferring to fight her own battles. But I dealt with Paige in my own way. There was a reason why she didn’t date anyone until she went away to college on the mainland, and it wasn’t for lack of trying on her part.

I pulled her hair around to the nape of her neck, tracing a finger over her gills. She shuddered and I placed my lips over them. “I don’t want to talk about the mayor or the Newcombs or anyone else who pisses me off.”

She ran her hands over my chest. “What do you want to do instead?”

“I want to take you upstairs and fuck the ability to walk out of you again.”

She clenched her thighs against me. “I don’t think you’ve got it in you.”

“I think you keep saying shit like that because you’re hoping I’ll spank you again.” I stood and threw her over my shoulder, slapping my palm against that gorgeous ass. She let out a breathy moan that had me tenting in my wet briefs.

How was I ever supposed to get enough of this woman?

Inside, I set her on her feet, and we went at each other like wild animals. It was like it had been days, not hours, since the last time we’d seen each other. Within seconds, we’d stripped down and crashed onto the loveseat, not having the patience to make it to the bed.

She used my shoulders to steady herself and sank down on my cock. Her wet heat gripped me in a tight fist and I had to clench my teeth to keep from coming on the spot. I pulled her hair back, exposing her neck so I could run my tongue up the column of her throat.

“Want to know what I did while you were gone?” She rode me with aching slowness, dragging out her own pleasure. “I rubbed my clit while I thought about being bent over your lap and spanked, then I licked my fingers so I could taste what you do to me.”

“Fucking hell.” I grabbed her ass with both hands and slammed into her so hard, spots appeared in my vision. She drove me to the damn brink of insanity. “Show me. Right fucking now.”

“So bossy.” She gave me a cheeky smile and dipped her hand between her legs.

I watched her fingers circle that tight little bud as my cock slid in and out of her. “Fuck yes. Rub it harder for me. Get those fingers nice and wet.”

I felt her inner walls began to flutter as my balls tightened, so close to release. She lifted her fingers toward her lips, and I grabbed her hand. With the taste of her on my tongue, I exploded. She immediately followed, shaking and sobbing as the orgasm rocketed through her, milking every last drop from me.

I finished sucking her arousal off her fingers and kissed the tips. “Mine.”

“Seagull.” She buried her face in the crook of my neck.

Laughing, I lifted her up and carried her to bed, where I pinned her underneath me and made slow, sweet love to her until she was whispering my name like a prayer as she came. Aqua and sapphire light glowed between our palms, but her gills had receded. She backed them off, not letting anything come between us and this moment.

I thought about telling her I loved her a dozen times. The third time we made love. When we stumbled into the shower. When we stood next to the open freezer and kissed until a pint of ice cream melted over our toes. When I pulled her onto the balcony so I could slow dance with her under the stars. But none of those times felt like the right moment.

Until I could find the words to tell her, I guess I’d just have to keep showing her.

Chapter thirteen

Violet

Iwokewithastart. Clutching my throat, I gasped for air. My heart hammered against my breastbone. Sweat slicked my skin as my gaze darted around my bedroom. Dust motes danced in the sunlight that filtered in through my partially open curtain.

In bed. Not in the cave.

I pressed a hand to my chest as my pulse resumed normal speed. Just a dream. It had felt so real, though. I’d been at the top of a cave. At the bottom, there were two gates. One golden and light. The Gate of Dawn. The other was made of twisted black iron, the Gate of Twilight.

I was arguing with someone I cared about … I wanted to leave the gates open, but he wanted to close them, to protect us from … something. I tried to stop him from going down those rocky stairs and closing his gate, but I lost my footing …

The details became fuzzy as the last dregs of sleep slipped away from me. I got out of bed, leaving Donovan breathing evenly beneath my sheets, and went into my kitchen. I rummaged around in a drawer until I found a notepad and pen.

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