This kiss was like nothing I’d ever felt before. Magic flowed from my mouth into Blake’s, and from his mouth back into mine, bringing with it a gasp of pleasure – a massage from the inside out. Flashes of memories that felt like mine but very definitely weren’t burned across my brain. Parts of my body that weren’t actually my own tingled and ached with desire. It was as though I was inside Blake at the same time I was myself, and both of us were aroused, and I got to feel itallat once.
“Be careful, Princess,” Blake whispered against my lips as he wrapped his body in mine and leaned me back against the sofa. “This hunger will consume us both.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
MAEVE
Shagging Blake on the sofa drove out my fear, for a short time, at least. But his haunting words and the memory of the singsong voice by the painting came back as soon as I left the library. They pounded against my skull as I climbed back into bed. I wrapped my arms around Rowan, using his warmth to drive out my unease. He didn’t stir, his breathing remaining even.
My thighs ached. The walls of my pussy ached, too – a delicious ache from the workout I’d had. If this was how people felt after running, well…no, I still wouldn’t be a runner. But I did want more of what I had last night.
More of my guys.
My coven.
I could do with a lot less of the freaky voices and veiled warnings and compelling people through windows, though.
Rowan opened one sleepy eye.
“Hey,” he said, his voice husky with sleep. His dreadlocks fanned across the pillow.
“Hey yourself.” I wrapped my arms around him and drifted off to sleep.
I dreamed I was at my Uncle Bob’s house. I recognized the living room from the one time I’d visited, before the Crawfords politely suggested I didn’t return with them for a subsequent visit, probably because I’d ended up in a screaming argument with Uncle Bob about his abhorrent belief that homosexuality was “unnatural,” and snapping back at him made his whole body puff up and stand over Mom with his fist raised like he was ready to hit her.
Dream me sure wasn’t standing up to him now. I huddled in a corner, my knees against my chest. Uncle Bob loomed over me, his finger waggling right in my face. Spittle streaked from the side of his mouth. Behind him, Aunt Florence sat by the roaring fireplace, her face calm, her eyes vacant as she stared off into space.
“You’re a vile, evil, rotten creature. If you’d been raised in aproperChristian household, you’d know better than to talk back to the man of the house. I see I have a lot of work to do to straighten you out.”
Uncle Bob ripped something from my hands and threw it in the fire. A college catalogue. He told me I was wicked and immoral for even thinking about attending a co-ed college, which he described as a pit of debauchery.
“The only college you’ll attend is one I choose, and it will teach you about a woman’s natural place in the world.”
I opened my mouth to argue with him, but terror closed my throat. Bob’s face loomed closer, and he raised his hand high and grabbed my hair, pulling my head back so hard that tears sprung in my eyes.
His other hand curled into a fist. It hovered in the air above me, a silent threat, a deadly beacon.
I woke with a start to sunlight streaming through the window.
Kelly.
My chest heaved.
The dream was obviously my conscience, reminding me that I hadn’t called her back. That was why I couldn’t speak in the dream. I glanced at the clock. Eight am. It would be midnight in Arizona. Far too late to call.
I’ll call today. No matter what happens. Ihaveto find the time to call her.
I set my phone back on the nightstand. At least Kelly was safe in Arizona. And even though Uncle Bob was a bit of a wanker, he was my dad’s brother. He wasn’t really like the brute in my dream; that was my brain imposing my fears.
Bob and Florence loved Kelly, and I knew they’d be looking after her.
After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, homemade pork sausages, and three cups of that delicious raspberry and vanilla tea, I helped Jane dress Connor in his baptism gown.
Flynn joined us in the hall, looking dapper in a dark grey suit, a red tie setting off his flaming hair and the smattering of freckles across his nose. I remembered his cock sliding inside me last night and had to squeeze my thighs together in an attempt to curb the ache that already began to pulse through me.
We are about to go to church. Control yourself, Maeve.
Flynn held up his phone. “I just called an Uber. I tried to get Arthur to drive us in, but he’s a big grump.”
