Page 53 of Bonded By Tea and Tarot

“Right, yeah.” I open my door and step out, avoiding looking at him for fear of the tears that are pushing at the back of my eyes.

“But—” Aury says, slamming his door and jogging a few steps to catch up with me as I get to the porch. He snags my wrist when I reach for the lock. “But,” he says more forcefully this time, “I’d love if you’d grab an overnight bag and come stay with me tonight. You could meet her, my cat, and see my place. It’s nothing special, but⁠—”

I whirl around, hope reigniting in my chest. “You want me to spend the night with you?”

“I’d love for you to spend the night with me.”

I twist my lips to the side, then bite them, trying not to grin because it feels so silly how happy I suddenly am. “That sounds good,” I say.

Aury meets my smile with one of his own, and before I know it, we’re back on the road, and then minutes later we’re pulling into the apartment complex near the community center.

“She’ll probably be right at the door meowing, but she’s friendly unless she’s annoyed,” Aury warns me, then opens the door. Sure enough, meowing that sounds like scolding greets us. “Hi, little love,” Aury coos, bending down as soon as we’re inside with the door closed. I melt at his cat-voice, and the fact he called her his ‘little love’ is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.

“I have a friend for you to meet,” Aury says to her. “This is Siobhan, and we like her a lot. She’s a witch, so you’ll probably like her even more than you like me.” Aury straightens and turns to me right as I’m bending down to offer my hand to the long-haired black cat. “This is Bunny.”

“Wait,” I say with a laugh. “Your cat’s name is Bunny?”

Hearing her name, Bunny head-butts my hand and chirps at me, then twists around my ankles.

“Yeah,” Aury says, a fond smile on his face. “My little sister named her—she was six when we got Bunny and I was fourteen. Technically she was my cat, but my sister so badly wanted to help name her that I couldn’t say no.” He shrugs, and I smile at the sweet gesture, especially for a teenage boy to let his baby sister name his first pet something so ridiculous and cute.

“Well you’re just the sweetest baby, aren’t you?” I say to Bunny. She mews in agreement and leans her cheek into my fingers.

Aury scoffs, then talks to Bunny again. “More like an old lady, already ten years old somehow, aren’t you? And already wooing our omega, I see.”

Bunny stretches up on her back legs, planting her front paws on my knees, and meows in my face.

“Oh my,” I say, then look up at Aury. “What does that mean?”

Aury shakes his head, but he’s smiling. “She wants to be carried like a baby.”

I look back down at her, unsure if I’m ready for that, but she’s climb-clawing her way into my lap so I guess I don’t have much of a choice.

“Here,” Aury says, scooping her up and then holding her out to me. I fold my arms like I’m ready for a baby, and he settles her into the crook of my elbow.

Bunny immediately goes as limp as a noodle and her purr revs in her chest, vibrating my arm underneath her.

“Oh Mother Earth,” I breathe. Happiness bubbles in my chest as I cradle the fluffy black cat. “You’re so cute I want to squish you to pieces.”

Aury laughs and gestures me into the kitchen. “Cuteness aggression,” he says with a nod. “I get it.”

After dinner I change into comfy clothes and we cuddle up on the couch. I’m not wearing a bra, and I’m entirely too aware of that fact. My nipples will not chill. They are clearly visible points begging for Aury’s attention, yet he’s behaving like the gentleman no one asked for.

I scoot closer and curl into his arm, deliberately brushing one desperate nipple against him. He sucks in a breath and a little thrill zips down my spine to settle in my stomach. I lean my head against his shoulder, then slowly inhale his sweet honey and cinnamon scent. It’s stronger after a day of teaching classes, and I’m relieved that being around so many other people hasn’t muddled it.

“Hey Aury?” I whisper.

“Yeah?” he whispers back, angling his head to look down at me.

I peer up at him through my eyelashes, knowing it’ll make my eyes look bigger in the darkening light. Then I tip my face up and angle myself as close as I can without climbing into his lap.

“Will you kiss me?”

His eyes darken and a smile flits across his face before he cups one palm around the back of my head and leans down. But instead of pressing his lips to mine, he presses them to the corner of my jaw.

“I’d love nothing more than to kiss you senseless,” he whispers. Then he proceeds to lick the shell of my ear and suck my lobe into his mouth, teasing it with teeth and tongue. My heart kicks up and I shift on the couch, trying to get impossibly closer. He holds me steady, then tugs lightly on my hair until I bare my neck to him.

His lips brush along the curve of my jaw, down the front of my throat and then along my collarbone to the curve of my shoulder. He sucks and laves the skin with his tongue, and I gasp when goosebumps break out across my neck and arms.