A frown drew my eyebrows closer together as I tried to put my own experience into words. ‘When Catherine was here, things were clearer, but since she disappeared … It’s just me, no pack to share my experiences, no other witches. I’m all alone.’
‘No, you’re not,’ Wyn whispered, his fingers finding my cheekbone, then my chin, finally turning my face up towards his. ‘You’ll never be alone, Emily, not while I’m here.’
Words I wanted to hear but still struggled to believe.
‘How longareyou here?’ I asked.
‘Forever.’
His eyes were fierce, burning in the darkness.
‘Even when I’m not in the city, I’m with you, Em, I am yours always.’
The kiss that chased his words was an explosion. A million stars burst into a billion fragments, consuming my body andsoul. When our lips met, I transcended. I was locked in my body and hovering outside of it at the same time, fighting to get closer to Wyn, slipping into his lap, my arms around his neck, my legs draped over his. Swathes of plush, night-blooming jasmine unfurled along the walls of Bell House, the tiny white flowers scenting the night with a heady perfume as they wrapped themselves around my balcony, around me, around Wyn. We were tied together, to each other and the house, my magic embracing him as tightly as he embraced me.
He pulled away first, panting for breath, our foreheads still touching and the sliver of air between us hot and hazy.
‘I didn’t think the way I felt about you could be more intense, but ever since the phase …’ Wyn’s whole body trembled as he huffed out the slightest nervous laugh. ‘I’m trying not to scare you.’
‘You could never scare me,’ I promised, stroking his silky hair, pained by the inches of space between us. He caught my fingers and brought them to his lips.
‘Not even on the full moon?’
‘You’re always you.’ I traced the outline of his mouth, his breath hot on my skin. ‘I’ve seen the wolf and I wasn’t afraid.’
His gaze was so full of love, I lost my words, tongue-tied and too caught up in his eyes for talk. There on my balcony, surrounded by jasmine, the rest of the world went away. It was just the two of us, him and me, and no one else.
‘Sometimes I forget who I was before this all started. I think about the day I got in my truck to come looking for Cole and somehow, I think I was always driving to find you.’
The mention of his brother cast a shadow, it always did, it always would, but Wyn wouldn’t let me look away. With his palm flush against my cheek, he held my gaze.
‘I think that’s why I didn’t fit into the world. I was missing the most important piece: you.’
‘And your pack.’
‘The pack I would never have known about,’ he amended delicately. ‘If your grandmother hadn’t brought you to Savannah.’
It was a strange way to look at things but it was true. If Catherine hadn’t caused my father’s death, manipulated me into murdering Cole during his phase, Wyn would never have been inducted into the pack in his place.
‘There’s so much I would change if I could,’ I said, unable to keep a tear from my eye. Unknowingly taking Cole’s life ate away at me every day.
‘Can’t change what is, only what could be,’ Wyn replied. ‘Except when it comes to you. Nothing could change that. I’m a moth to a flame, Em, you burn so bright, even in the darkness. I will always find you.’
My mouth cocked upwards in an uncertain smile. ‘I’m not sure I love that analogy for you. Moths don’t tend to fare well around flame, at least not for long.’
‘You’re not afraid of me and I’m not afraid of you.’ He plucked a flower from the jasmine vine and tucked it behind my ear. ‘I don’t care what your grandmother told you or some ancestor decided two hundred years ago, you won’t hurt me. Your magic is beautiful, just like you.’
I kissed him again because I wanted to believe him and when he kissed me back, the golden string wound around our hearts pulled me into him, straddling his lap to get closer. My jersey rode up around my waist and his hands found the bare skin of my lower back, drawing a soft moan from me, a sound he echoed, only stronger, more fervent. My jasmine vines surged upwards, weaving themselves around us until I couldn’t see the sky, protecting us from the world and keeping us only for each other. All I could hear was the slip of skin on skin and hard, fast breathing, and I couldn’t tell if it was coming from me or Wyn.
‘Emily,’ he murmured my name and magic flooded throughme, swirling in my blood, filling me up to the brim with sensations I’d only dreamed of before. It wasn’t possible for me to hold him close enough, there was no connection we could share that would be too deep.
Surrendering to the ferocity of his kisses, I let go, closing my eyes and losing myself to the pressure of Wyn’s mouth, tiny sparks flickering on my skin every time his tongue brushed over mine. He stopped to kiss me again, a quick touch that turned into something deeper when my arms caught him around the waist and his hands found my hair, eyes closed, lips throbbing, all common sense evaporating around us. It was Wyn who pulled away first, leaving a longing burning inside me that I wasn’t ready for.
‘Emily.’
My name fell from his lips again, only this time his voice was full of wonder. I pressed forward to resume the kiss, impatient fists curled in the fabric of his shirt, until something cold and wet landed on the top of my nose.
‘It’s snowing,’ he whispered as sparkling flecks of white settled on the ground around us. ‘You made it snow.’
