Page 69 of Bad Witch

“Brick,” Fender’s unmistakable voice rumbled across the parking lot like an incoming storm.

Brick’s gaze snapped up.

“Let go of her or you’ll lose your fucking hand,” Fender snarled.

Brick released me and lifted both hands in the air. “Not fucking with your female,” he said. “She came out of nowhere and I thought⁠—”

“When it comes to Tempest, don’t fucking think. She’s here for me.”

Brick straightened but kept his gaze lowered. “I was at the gate the whole time. How did she get in?”

“I let her in,” Fender said, surprising me.

“But I was at the gate and l⁠—”

“I let her in,” Fender said again, brooking no argument.

Brick took a step back, his gaze sliding between me and Fender. “If you say so,” he muttered, then turned and strode back toward his post.

“You okay?” Fender said to me, his hands curling gently around my upper arms and pulling me in to his hard, hot chest. “Can feel your heart pounding. I’m going to kick Brick’s ass.”

“I-I’m okay,” I said, and I was…now.

I waited for him to ask how I got in. He didn’t, not yet anyway, and instead, he took my hand and led me inside the clubhouse, across the main room, and down to the dens. He’d definitely ask me when we got to his place, and I tried to think of what to say. I’d been careless. In my rush to get here, I hadn’t considered Willow’s ward or the guard always posted at their gateway. I couldn’t make any more mistakes like this. How was I going to explain it?

We walked into Fender’s quarters, and he closed the door. My mind whirled, trying to come up with something, anything, to explain how I got into their territory the way I had.

Fender’s fingers slid under my chin and he tipped my head back. “First things first. Need my kiss.”

I blinked up at him. “Pardon?”

“My kiss.”

The longer I got to stall, the better, plus, I wanted…no, I realized, I needed to kiss him. “Yes…of course.” He dipped his head, and I went up to my toes, meeting him halfway.

His lips were soft yet firm and deliciously warm, and as soon as they touched mine, everything, all my worries slipped away. He kept the kiss slow and gentle, and I melted. Who knew a kiss could be so powerful?

I’d imagined what it would be like, but my imagination had failed miserably. When Fender kissed me, the world stopped spinning. It was just he and I and nothing else.

He growled quietly against my lips, one hand sliding over my waist, the other up into my hair. My belly fluttered, and I leaned into him more, until he was all but supporting me. He slowed, the deep, overwhelming kiss becoming gentle presses of his lips to mine, before he finally lifted his head.

I stared up at him dazed, my body buzzing, electric.

He grinned. “Yeah, peaches, that’s the way you kiss your lover after you’ve been apart.”

I’d love to take some of the credit, but in reality, I’d done nothing but stand there while he’d taken ownership of my mouth.

“You miss me?” he asked, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I really fucking missed you.”

Had I? I’d only just seen him earlier in the day, but so much had happened. So many things that had made me feel afraid and out of control, and I realized that standing here in Fender’s arms, I felt—steady again. After the way our last interaction had ended, I’d been worried what it had meant for us.

His thumb slid over my jaw, drawing me back from my thoughts.

“Yes,” I said, giving him an answer to his question. “Yes, I think I did.”

His smile widened. “You think?”

“I know.”