Page 117 of Bad Witch

“Good, because I’m not letting you go. I love you, peaches.”

She smiled, blinking rapidly. “I love you too.”

Roman groaned, finally waking, and pulled himself up, taking in the cavern.

I didn’t have my prosthesis. I’d need to shift to get her home. “I’m gonna have to go beast to get you home, baby, you think you’re strong enough to hold on?”

Her smile widened. “That won’t be necessary. I have a shortcut. If you’ll pass me my bag, Roman, I’ll get us to the clubhouse in a flash.”

Chapter

Thirty-Four

Tempest

* * *

After we returned to the clubhouse and filled Warrick in on what happened, I asked Fender to come home with me. He’d readily agreed. Glindy liked him instantly, which was surprising since he was basically canine.

Manfred, on the other hand, had made a lot of noise, splashed us, and thrown what amounted to a monster-sized tantrum. Then I’d gotten Fender to feed him a boar, and his attitude had immediately improved. It might take a little while for them to warm to each other, but I was staying positive. Also, they had no choice. I loved them both, so they’d just have to get along.

We lay in bed now, wrapped in each other’s arms. I was on the mend, almost back to my old self. Almost. Fender was being very careful with me. He knew everything now, what…who I was.

I was the Matilda, at least for now. I still had to have a conversation with my coven about all the changes. I had a mate I refused to give up, and I’d brought Fender with me to the cottage. Two more rules I’d broken, but then, nothing was the same. People were still dead after Disease let loose on the city, and we knew Mayhem wasn’t far behind him. Nothing was the same out there, so they couldn’t be in here either.

The cottage was dark, and moonlight streamed through the bedroom window. It was cozy and warm, and I just wanted to be here with Fender and not think about what was coming next, at least for a little while.

“Matilda the Brave,” he said roughly into the darkness. “How old were you when you were given that name?”

I slid my arm around his stomach. “Matilda W gave it to me. She chose it after my father killed my mother, and I killed him, then burned our home to the ground. I was eleven.”

He made an agonized sound and pulled me closer. “Peaches,” he choked out.

“I’m okay. W was the best. She loved and cared for me. Living here at the cottage was wonderful. After what happened, this was the best place for me. I was safe, and that’s all I’d needed for a really long time.”

“And you’ll stay safe. I’ll make sure of it,” Fender said, but the quiet growl to his voice, made it sound like a vow.

I lifted up on my elbow and looked down at him. “I don’t need to be sheltered anymore, Fender. I can offer my skills and my magic to help in the fight, and I want to.”

He slid his fingers down the side of my face and nodded slowly. “If that’s what you want.” Then he gave me a flash of teeth. “Who am I to get in the way of Matilda the Brave?” The smile slid away. “You’re a warrior, Tempest, and you’re mine.”

I leaned in and kissed him. “And you’re mine.” I crawled on top of him, straddling his thick waist. “I think I need to show you,” I said.

His eyes lit with excitement as he slid his hand up and down my back. “Are you feeling up to showing me, peaches? ’Cause if you need to rest⁠—”

“Oh, I’m definitely feeling up to it.” The need I had for him, to claim him the way he had me, couldn’t wait. I couldn’t bite him, marking him the way he had me, but I could mark him my own way.

“Then, please, go right ahead,” he said, his smile wicked.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him, and the playfulness vanished as fast as it came. He kissed me back with the same brutal fierceness as I was giving him. I was Matilda the Brave, at least for right now. I didn’t want to give it up, and I didn’t want to let my coven down, but I couldn’t…wouldn’t give up Fender, not for anything or anyone. If it came down to it, I would find my own way to help people in need, with or without the name Matilda.

His hot, rough hands slid up under my cotton nightgown, and he tugged it off and tossed it aside before sliding me higher up his body. He gripped the back of my neck so he could pull me down and take one incredibly tight and aching nipple into his mouth. I groaned as he sucked deeply, my hips already churning, desperate for friction—to have him inside me again.

His other hand went to my behind, and he squeezed as he kissed his way across my chest, nipping the fullness of my breast before taking the other nipple into his mouth and giving it the same treatment. We rolled, and I shoved down his boxer briefs with frantic hands. The weight of his erection lay across my stomach, so hot and thick.

Goddess, I wanted him inside me. “Please.” I wrapped myself around him, wriggling until he was right there, right at my opening.

The head pushed inside, and Fender shuddered as he slowly filled me with every long, thick inch. I trembled from the exquisite intrusion, from the way he stretched me in a way that could only be described as a claiming.