Running his tongue along his lips to catch every drop of my blood, he places his palm flat against my chest. The heel of his hand rests on the crest of my breasts, and he slowly slides his hand up until it settles around my neck. His thumb moves to follow along my jaw, up my chin, and over my mouth, before he sits up again, his face only a few inches from mine.
“You taste like touching divinity,” he murmurs, his nose brushing against mine. His hands move along my sides, and his thumbs stroke the undersides of breasts. His darker side colors his smooth, inviting voice, as he whispers against my lips, “Now that I’m well fed, do you want to stop or do youdesireto keep going?”
It’s the emphasis of the word ‘desire’ that tells me this is a test. With every part of my mind and body screaming to rip our clothes off and act out some of the fantasies rolling through my dreams, do I have the willpower to back away when he won’t stop me? It’s clear that he’s more than interested in moving forward, but he also trusts me to know the line. This is that line. The difference between filling a need and acting out a desire.
“I’m good,” I lie, climbing off his lap and cracking the door because it’s now extremely toasty inside this car.
“You’re good?” he echoes, sounding like he’s been smacked by a two-by-four. “Just like that.”
I lift my hair up off my neck, letting the cool night air dry my sweaty skin. Putting on the performance of my life, I shrug like my body isn’t organizing a picket line demanding we climb back into his lap and lick the sweat from his pecs, and answer, “I told you it’d be fine. Worried over nothing.”
“Guess so…” He trails off, and the mildly offended look he tries to hide makes this choice all the sweeter. This may be the first time he’s gotten this far and the girl rejected the offer for more.
Not wanting to attempt to squeeze back into my turtleneck and needing a little distance to keep myself under control, I leave Nolan to ponder this new experience and hop out of the car to go dig through my shopping bags in the trunk. No longer self-conscious that I’m running around in my bra, I talk to Nolan through the open door. “It sucks that after all this shopping, I still wasn’t able to find Christmas presents for all of you. Everything I looked at seemed silly. They don’t really sell the knives that Donovan likes here. And what do I get for Kaleb? Another book that he’s likely read. Get Connor a squeaky toy?”
“I will give you a thousand dollars if you buy Connor a squeaky toy for Christmas,” Nolan laughs, climbing out of the car and using his sweater to wipe down the seats.
“I’m not going to buy Connor a squeaky toy. It was a joke,” I deadpan, ripping the tags from my newLegend of Korrat-shirt Felix picked out. It has the logo for the Fire Ferrets on it.
“It would be hilarious, and you’re the only one Connor won’t punch for doing it,” Nolan implores. He looks down at his sweat and blood stained sweater, shrugs, and throws it back into the car, choosing the shirtless option to drive home.
Ignoring his comment, I complain while putting my shirt on. “I have you and Mildred to buy for too. Since I found out she’s my grandmother, it’s made it even more obvious how little I know her. Do I just get her a giant tin of tea?”
“She does like tea, and Callie, you’re literally keeping me alive despite my own stubborn ass. I don’t need anything for Christmas,” he states with a shy smile, portraying a more humbled version of himself.
“Only if you promise the same thing.” I motion a hand at the trunk. “You’ve bought me more than enough stuff.”
“Deal,” he agrees, handing me my red hoodie from the backseat.
“Well, that’s one person off my shopping list,” I mutter, then scream when a hulking cat jumps onto the hood of the car.
It’s all black with pointed ears, yellow eyes, and a pronounced ruff around his neck that makes him look like a miniature lion. Seeing me, he climbs over the car, somehow easily managing to dodge Nolan’s attempt to capture him, and perches on the trunk. He starts meowing and reaching for me with his giant paw. When I drop my hand for him to sniff, he immediately rubs his head against it and a deep purr rumbles from his kitty chest.
“You certainly have a way with animals,” Nolan comments, watching as the cat tries to climb up into my arms.
I make a soft “oof” noise when I pick up this monstrous sized cat, and my heart melts as he snuggles under my chin. In a sweet voice, I coo, “You must have been what I thought was watching me. Aren’t you just a mischievous little thing? Sneaking up on us and scaring us like that.”
“I wasn’t scared,” Nolan insists, eyeballing the cat. “And that ball of fur is many things, but little isn’t one of them.”
“Isn’t he sweet?” I gush, scratching around his neck while I search for a collar that he doesn’t appear to have.
“He looks like the kind of cat that will maul you in your sleep if you dare disrespect it,” he replies, walking around the car to open the passenger side door. “Time to go, love.”
“We can’t just leave him here,” I argue, and hiss when the cat’s claws dig into my skin at the mention of leaving him behind. “See?”
“No shelters are open right now and we live an hour away,” Nolan reasons, crossing his arms over his chest, because he’s shirtless when it’s cold enough to snow.
“Then I guess he’s coming home with us. What do you think Mr. Mischief? Want to come home with us and turn me and my grandmother into crazy cat ladies?” I ask, earning a deeper purr and a headbutt of affection.
Nolan sighs, watching me carry the massive creature over to the car, then he helps me get in while also giving the cat a wide berth. He buckles me in, closes the door, then walks around to the driver’s side of the car.
At the last minute, he decides to shrug on his coat, then slips into the driver’s seat and buckles his seatbelt. As Nolan flips through his phone to find a good playlist for the drive home, I smile at his profile and say, “Mr. Mischief is the perfect Christmas present for Mildred, because what’s a witch without her black cat?”
Chapter 23
Felix
It’s the night of the winter solstice—or in the witch community, Yule—and I’ve asked all the guys to meet up with me before we go celebrate with Callie and Mildred. We all agreed to meet at the base of Callie’s driveway, close enough to the house that I don’t have to poof myself to one of them, but far enough away that we won’t be seen by Callie and Mildred. I wanted time to wait from them so I can gather my thoughts on what to say. Which would’ve been fine, except I’m twenty minutes late because I haven’t existed for the past two hours. Something I’m doing my best not to panic over.
