Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I wondered if she was aware the bands on her wrists were glowing as she read the spell out loud. It meant they were most likely all Winter spells or that I wasn’t fated to see any of the pages.
“Cloud coverage, a flick of the wrist and snap of your fingers, and snow? Really? That easy?” She closed her eyes. Panicked, I noticed the rain hadn’t let up and touched her.
My first mistake.
My second was the book falling out of her hands.
And my hands touching her, refusing to let go.
Her eyes heated as they fell to my mouth. “Wh-what’s wrong?”
I tried to breathe without inhaling her intoxicating scent. The pheromones were so strong coming off her that I was drowning in them, suffocating, dying a sweet lust-filled death that had me begging for more.
“Luna,” I rasped.
She leaned in.
I swayed toward her and then jerked back as one of the wine glasses tumbled to the floor.
I’d somehow made it from my side of the table to leaning over it, close enough to kiss down her neck.
“Sorry.” I picked up the glass and grabbed one of the napkins, then jumped to my feet. “I just forgot about something I need to do. Tomorrow, then? Same time?”
Her expression became crestfallen, filled with rejection as she looked away. “Yeah, that’s perfect.”
“Stay safe, Luna,” I whispered, wishing I had the power to do a protection spell over the room.
Wishing like hell I had any power whatsoever that wasn’t locked away or tied to the curse.
I jogged down the stairs, avoiding Hath like the plague and nearly colliding with the inn door as it burst open.
Aengus gave me a sloppy grin. “Hey there, just leaving?”
“The hell are you doing here?” I hissed.
He peered around me. “It said vacancy, and it’s a free country, so I thought I’d stay across the hall, fill her dreams with a few shirtless visions of me chopping wood, and you know—slide in for the kill.”
“You’re an idiot,” I snarled. “And that’s not how this works!”
“Does it look like I care?” He laughed. “You’re not the only Wells here, and I’m pretty sure that when the Matchmaker cursed you, she said that the Wells and Damanta line had to be aligned or the world would end, something about the apocalypse, and blah, blah, blah, here I am! Besides, this is the year we can all feel her, which means if you can’t break the curse, then…” He shrugged. “I’ll just wait until the witching hour and—”
I slammed him against the nearest wall causing a picture to crash to the hardwood floor. “You’ll leave her the hell alone!”
“Tsk, tsk, brother, that temper of yours…” He grinned and made eye contact with someone over my head. “Hath, still beautiful as always.”
She snorted. “The gods are punishing me—both Wells brothers.” She sighed and looked heavenward. “What do you want, Aengus?”
“A room.” He shot her a disarming grin.
She returned his smile. “All full.”
His smile fell. “The sign said—”
“Was just about to change that, so off you go!”
“But—”
“So sorry.”
Sorry, my ass; she hated him, probably because he’d seduced her and then left her in the forest back in the day—she was pissed for a century and then met Montu. If anything, she should thank him, but she was a woman scorned, so not going to happen anytime soon.
“Fine.” Aengus jerked away from me and then whipped his head back with a cruel smile. “Guess I’ll just be bunking with baby brother.”
“I hate you.” I sighed.
“Feeling’s mutual.” He slapped me on the back. “I hope you drove.”
“I’m driving us into a tree.”
“Chin up!” He opened the inn door. “At least you can keep an eye on me at the house—all bets are off in her dreams, though…”
Which meant I was officially getting no sleep tonight. I would need to get there first and try not to touch her in any way—because whatever happened in her dreams during this time happened in reality.
I gritted my teeth. “Let’s go.”
“That’s the spirit!” He patted me on the back. I flinched and tried to imagine a world where I wasn’t filled with lust, hate, confusion, and curses—a day where I was free.
Finally free.
Chapter Eighteen
Luna
When Benjamin left, I popped a pain pill and tried not to think about the hot make-out session or the way he was looking at me before he left.
Like he wanted to stay but had to go.
The attraction between us was this living, breathing thing—it terrified me. Everyone I loved died—why would this eventually be any different? And yet I couldn’t seem to pull away. My brain constantly justified why my body needed him, and I was tortured with images of us tangled in my sheets, sweaty mouths and bodies in sync.
Being marked by him would be the sweetest torture.
Which meant I needed a distraction that wasn’t my broken arm.