Page 35 of Haunt Me, Maybe

My fingers lingered on the supple skin they found hiding beneath the warm cotton. Aven’s lips parted on a soft, unguarded sound, and something in my chest broke open at the trust in it.

Drawn in, I kissed her for the second time. This wasn’t anything like our last one. It was slow and deliberate, a test of the truth I was already sure of. The way her mouth opened under mine and her fingers curled into my shirt told me all I needed to know, and I was far from done.

She melted to my touch…then pulled back. Just barely. Enough to turn her face away, breaths coming too fast as her hands pressed lightly against my chest like she was trying to remind herself of what she was trying to prove in the first place.

“Wes—” she breathed, unsteady.

My mouth followed the line of her jaw, brushing her skin instead of claiming it. I never said I wouldn’t fight dirty, and she gave a strained chuckle as she learned that firsthand.

“That’s cheating,” she panted, really pushing on my chest this time.

I let her go, prepared for everything to stop, but she didn’t back away. Chest heaving like she’d been running rather than kissing, she tried to glare at me.

“I fail to see how your kisses are proof that this will work.” Her throat bobbed when I didn’t answer right away. I was too distracted by the swell of her breast peeking out from her rumpled sweater. She shook her head and spun around, hands covering her eyes. “Ugh, I can’t think when you look at me like that!”

Her magic stirred when she was flustered, and now was no exception. Like heat rising beneath the skin, it woke and let itself be known.

“Aven,” I said, fighting to keep my hand by my side. She didn’t answer. Her hands stayed over her face, and her shoulders hitched, betraying her. “I’m not trying to overwhelm you,” I told her. “I’m trying to show you.”

Her exhale was shaky, and she dropped her hands to stare at the wall. “Well, you’re doing a terrible job of that.”

Despite her dip in confidence, I smiled. Her snark meant she hadn’t given up on trying. I came up behind her and let her feel the solid line of my chest against her back; the steady calm of me. Her magic wavered and then smoothed, as if it recognized the shape of safety even when she didn’t.

When I did finally touch her, it was gentle. A small brush of my lips at the curve where her neck met her shoulder. Nothing but warm breath and soft pressure—a gift for the power paying close attention inside her. She shivered, and I felt it everywhere. Fuck! So innocent.

“There,” I said against her skin. “That’s what I mean. You feel it too, don’t you? When you’re with me.”

Putting my focus back on the task at hand and off my dick was a monumental effort when her head tipped back like that, offering me more room. That small gesture alone felt like trust handed over. I kissed her neck again and lingered this time to let the moment stretch.

Her magic responded.

“I—I can’t,” she whispered. “It’s building.”

“I know.” I slid my hands around her waist and pulled her tighter against me. “That’s why you don’t do this standing.”

Before she could protest, I sat on the desk chair and pulled her with me in one swift motion. She fit in my lap like she belonged there, and my arms came more fully around her. Her gasp was one of shock, but she quickly softened, the tension leaving her.

“Oh,” she breathed, and I grinned.

“That’s it,” I mouthed near her ear. “Feel how it settles. I’ve got you.”

Her magic went quiet almost immediately, smoothing into something soft and contained. She leaned back fully, trusting my support, and I caught a hint of her unique, magical scent—crushed lavender.

“I don’t understand why this works,” she said, voice small.

“I don’t either,” I admitted. “But I know what I felt when you almost ran, and I know that I won’t let you do it. I can’t.”

She turned her head so her cheek brushed my jaw as she smirked. “You don’t get to decide that.”

Touché.

I smiled into her hair. “Maybe not. But I get to convince you.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Aven

I was in his lap before I truly understood how I’d gotten there. His legs were solid under me, and my own were pressed together as I tried to make myself as light as possible. Not that my weight seemed to be any issue. If anything, Wes held me so tight I was surprised I could breathe.