Page 47 of Haunt Me, Maybe

She avoided answering and instead tried to change the subject. Silly witch, that wasn’t going to work with me. But I let her try. It was cute.

“So,” she said quickly. “Did you…haunt anything interesting tonight?”

Okay, never mind. That wasn’t even a good attempt at redirection. Haunt anything interesting? She knew I was stuck in this attic. If she wasn’t even going to attempt to play the game, then I didn’t feel bad about steering us back on track.

“Trying to distract me?” I stepped closer. “You’re blushing.”

Her hands immediately came up to cover her cheeks. “I am not! It’s warm in here.”

I eased her hands down with a gentle hold on her wrists and glanced pointedly at the open window. “It’s forty degrees outside.”

She glared at me and pressed her lips together. I didn’t tease her again. Not with that look. But I did stare, letting the moment stretch until I was sure she knew I was now being serious.

“You don’t have to tell me,” I said, finally. “Whatever it is.”

Needling her embarrassment in good faith was fine, but I didn’t want her to fall into shame. Whatever they discussed tonight, it wasn’t something she was ready to share with me. Despite how badly I wanted to know, I was also okay with waiting. It would come out eventually. Or it wouldn’t.

Aven sighed and met my gaze, resigned. “She was asking about you.”

That got my attention. I assumed it was girl talk, which admittedly I had no experience with, but I’d haunted enough conversations to know it usually included sordid details of past encounters. Aven had none, but I thought Briony would be the one to share.

“Me?”

“And me,” she rushed to add. “Us—or not us—I mean,” she groaned. “She wanted to know whether we’d…done anything.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“I...evaded.”

One of my brows rose, and I allowed my thumb to sweep across her wrist in a slow reward for sharing.

“I said we kissed,” she said quickly. “But not…the other stuff.” I smirked at how she said “other stuff,” but it faded when she continued. “I didn’t know how to explain it to her. What we are.”

That was on me. Again. I thought I’d made myself clear, but for the second time, I’d missed the mark. Aven was mine. I couldn’t leave this town and had no future to offer her outside its borders, but for as long as she chose to stay, she belonged to me. And I was going to make damn sure she knew it this time.

I pulled her to her feet with a gentle tug on her wrists, and she came willingly. Wide, lilac eyes stared up at me with an openness that tugged at my heart.

“I keep failing to make my intentions clear,” I told her, voice quiet but steady. “That’s an error I intend to fix right now.”

I released her wrists and trailed the back of my fingers down her arms. Gripping her waist, I pulled her in and lowered my head until our foreheads touched.

“You’re mine.” Her breath caught. “And the moment you chose to stay, you chose me.”

Her chest rose and fell beneath the thin cotton of her shirt as my hands began to roam. I didn’t even try to hold them back. I needed to feel her. Needed to show her exactly what I meant when I said she was mine. My palms made firm trails up her sides, around to the warm skin at the small of her back, before dipping down to the firm globes of her ass. Claiming. All the while, my mouth kept running.

“There’s no going back, Trouble. Not after I’ve kissed you. Touched you. Do you remember? Right here, I had my fingers in your⁠—”

She surged up onto her toes and kissed me.

I let her explore for a little bit before taking control and deepening my claim on her. She curled her fingers into my shirt and held on as her magic brightened. Reckless and pleased, it wrapped around us like it recognized me.

Our tongues met in a slow dance, a call and answer that made my pants tight and had her shifting on her feet. When she started to tip a little toward uncontrolled, when her body leaned into me with innocent intent, realization smacked me in the back of the head, and I stepped back.

“Wait, wait. Trouble, we can’t.”

Her frown was off focus. “Why?”

“Because you’ve been drinking,” I said gently, pushing on her hips to allow space between us. “I want you to choose me when you’re clear-headed, not brave because of alcohol.”