Page 53 of Woods of the Raven

My mouth went dry. “I’m that easy, am I?”

Instant scoff. “Easy? Did you miss the part where I confessed I’ve been making a fool of myself for months?”

Something occurred to me. “Is that why you were a jackass when you came over with Pete?”

“I was not a jackass, but if I was short with you, then yes, that could have accounted for my tone.” And then he added, “Possibly.”

“Well,” I said shakily, biting my lip, “I would very much like to take you home with me.”

“That’s good,” he rumbled, then drew me close and kissed me again.

I was going to say something, try for some more clever banter and flirting, but the kiss eclipsed all else. He moved me easily, like I didn’t weigh a thing, and his hands were strong as they gripped my thighs, his body powerful, and when he yanked me forward, I wanted all of him all over me.

“We could go now,” I whispered when he broke the kiss, needing air. My arms had somehow wrapped around his neck, and I was holding on, probably a bit too tight. I needed to get off him, to move or—

“Don’t do that, don’t get up,” he husked, lifting his hands from my thighs to my face, framing it, staring at me. “Stay here,” he barely got out.

He wanted me there, and I was happy to oblige him.

“God that’s crazy,” he whispered.

“What is?”

“It was the weirdest thing that day, when I was introduced to the town. I saw you, and I felt this amazing need to—wait,” he said, brows furrowing. “Did you put a spell on me or something? Is that what this is?”

“Pardon me?” I scrambled off his lap, standing up, scowling down at him.

It was hard to be away from him, because even though he was being an idiot, his lips were swollen and reddened from being kissed, his eyes dark and warm, and he had a gorgeous flush on his throat. Every instinct in me said I needed to claim him, but the words coming out of his mouth were ridiculous.

“Never mind, who cares.” He reached for my hand. “I’ll happily be under your spell because it means you wanted me enough to cast it to begin with.”

I slipped around the coffee table, putting it between us as he stood up. “I’ll have you know I’ve never cast a love spell in my life. First, I don’t think it’s fair, and second, they require the death of a living creature and—oh. Wait now,” I said, my brain kicking in. “Tell me, when you got the autopsy results for the girl who died, did she have her heart?”

He squinted at me. “She did not, no. How did you know that?”

“I think we need to call on Declan Grant,” I told him, crossing my arms. “Because I think I know why I wasn’t supposed to touch him earlier today.”

“You think he tried to cast a spell on you and killed the girl for her heart?”

“No. I don’t think it’s a love spell. I think there’s dark magic being cast, though, and that would’ve required a sacrifice.”

“You lost me,” he said, moving around the table.

“I know, but could we go talk to him?”

“You think he knows something about Megan Gallagher?”

“Is that the girl’s name?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so yes, I think he might know something about her, but I could be very wrong. It might be a coincidence that he’s new in town and a girl is dead. Either way, whether he’s involved or not, we’ll know more once we see him.”

Lorne nodded. “Lemme change so I can go in my official capacity.”

“You don’t need to. You’re still the chief, with or without your uniform.”

“I’m aware.”