Devin edged his hand closer to hers until the tips of their fingers touched on the rough wooden plank they sat on. “That I’m all right with this. With us.”
He felt her fingers twitch, as if she wanted to take his hand in hers and hold it. He beat her to it and found her hand to be clammy, as if she were nervous. He hated that he had made her that way. He hated how much time it took him to realize what he had known all along. It had only been a couple of days, but that was far too long to leave her waiting.
“I may not understand how you can be what you are, but I hope that one day, I will. I hope I’ll have a lot of days with you, learning about this stuff… about you.”
She grinned and started to laugh. “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that.” Her free hand reached up and wiped just under her eye, as if to catch a tear before it had a chance to fall. “I was so scared that you didn’t want to have anything to do with me. I totally get where you were coming from about thinking I charmed you or something, but you have to believe – “
Devin leaned forward and kissed her. It was the only way to make her shut up and accept his apology for being a jackass about the whole thing. He hadn’t realized how much he missed her warm, sweet lips until just then. He wanted to kiss her every day, every hour if he could.
“I believe everything you said, everything you’re going to say,” he said when he pulled away.
“You trusted me and the least I can do is trust you… I love you.”
Krystal’s grin widened, and she held onto his hand that much tighter. “I love you too. Not just because you’re okay with me being a witch. I think I loved you the night you took me out on that boat. You helped me face my fears and I knew that I would always be safe with you. I never knew I need that feeling until I met you.”
Devin touched his forehead with hers, relishing the smell of her perfume as it drifted around his head. “Whether you know it or not, you helped me face my fears too.” Her eyes beckoned for an explanation and he leaned back, so he could gaze at her, the picture of strength and beauty. “I haven’t told you everything about my time in Boston.”
Krystal’s stare drifted down to his left shoulder, the one marred by the scars of his past. “Does this have to do with…”
He nodded. “Yes,” he said, then steeled himself one more time to tell the story he didn’t want to hear himself say. “We got a call one day. Some nutcase had a homemade flamethrower and he thought he could use it to rob a bank. He hurt a lot of people before we got there. He had several hostages and we were sent in to take him down. I was wearing a standard bulletproof vest, and so was my partner, Paul. We were safe from bullets, but not from fire. I managed to get a few shots in on the guy, but he turned the flamethrower my way. Paul jumped in front of me, taking the bulk of the attack.”
Devin swallowed hard, pushing out the sounds that haunted him. The roar of the flames, Paul’s screaming, the popping of guns going off all around him. “I blacked out and when I woke up, I was in the hospital getting treated for the burns on my shoulder. Paul died on the scene. They couldn’t put him out fast enough. We got the guy, but…”
“You thought it was your fault your partner died?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
He nodded, his throat thick with the warring emotions. Self-hatred, guilt, all of it wanted to consume him. But as long as Krystal was holding his hand, looking at him with those brown eyes, none of the demons could have him.
“I know it’s not my fault now. When you were talking to Alexa last night, something of that day in Boston came back to rear its ugly face,” he brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of her fingers. “But what you said chased it all away. I couldn’t control what happened. It wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t have known that Paul would try to sacrifice himself for me. It’s what we’re trained to do, and Paul died doing his job. He’d been a cop for much longer than me, and you’d never meet a guy more dedicated to his job.” He paused, remembering his old partner with the same nostalgic fondness. “I really looked up to him.”
Krystal moved in closer until their thighs were touching. She wasn’t cold anymore, and he wondered if it had something to do with her special fire magic coming out.
“I didn’t know you heard any of that,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder.
Devin let go of her hand, but only so he could wrap his arm around her waist to pull her tight against him. Damn, this felt so right. He would have been content to sit on that dock all day and watch the world pass by without a care.
He kissed the crown of her head. “I had almost thought to ask you for something, but I think I know what the answer would be.” She edged away to meet his gaze. “When Valerie erased Jacob’s memory, I started to think about that day in Boston. I started to wonder if you could take away those memories for me.”
Krystal shook her head, just as he knew she would. To sleep through an entire night without waking up in a cold sweat, or flinching away from the tiniest of harmless flames, would have been such a relief. It was the easy way out, a coward’s way out. It was a good thing Krystal wasn’t so willing to give into everything he asked.
“What happened in Boston made you who you are today,” she said. “I could never take that away from you, no matter how difficult it is to deal with the memories. If I didn’t do it to myself when I was terrified of the water, then I won’t do it for you.”
Devin couldn’t help but smile at her and squeeze her a little tighter. “That’s exactly what I
thought you would say.”
There was a sudden sassy flash in her eyes. “Besides, what happened to experiencing life in all its bold and bitter moments?”
He chuckled. “Well, maybe I need to start putting a little sugar in my coffee, then.”
“Maybe you should,” she giggled. “I tried drinking black coffee this morning and it was so terrible! I mean, the blend was great, but oh dear goddess, I couldn’t drink the whole cup. Way too strong for me.”
Devin burst out into a laugh. Yeah, he missed her way more than he ever imagined. “I guess to be fair, I’ll have to try your chai tea latte now.”
She ribbed him. “It’s still on the house whenever you’re ready.”
Devin placed another gentle kiss on her lips. “As long as I can get plenty of these on the house as well.”
She quirked her face up in a funny, thoughtful way. “I may start charging for those.”
“And what do witches use as currency? Seeds?”
Krystal swung her feet up, draping her legs across his lap and he reached around to lace his fingers at her opposite hip, holding her there so she wouldn’t fall over. “We don’t use currency, but I’ll have to make something up. How about for every kiss I give, you have to give me something just as sweet?”
“Like chocolate?”
She made a pleasing sound and grinned. “That sounds good to me.”
Devin moved in and winked. “I can think of a few other sweet things I could give you.” He captured her lips one more time, caressing them with his own until he could feel her body grow hot and feverish.
He quickly pulled back, but he could see the hunger in her eyes. He remembered how she explained that he was the one to ignite this fiery ability within her. If they weren’t careful, they could burn the whole town to the ground.
“You’re not going to burn my clothes off with all that special magic, are you?” he asked with a laugh.
“I’ll certainly try,” she said before grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him down to her once again.
Dating a witch was not going to be easy, but it promised to be a hell of a good time.
About the Author
Sheritta Bitikofer is an author of eclectic tastes. When she's not writing her next paranormal or urban fantasy novel, she can be found volunteering at her local animal shelter, shooting archery at a medieval reenactment event, doing Zumba, roaming about Civil War battlefields, or having coffee with her husband a
t their favorite café. A wife and fur-mama to two rescue dogs, she makes time to write engaging and moving stories about shifters, vampires, and magic that enthrall readers from cover to cover.
Follow her for upcoming novel releases
www.moonstruckwriting.wordpress.com
Also by Sheritta Bitikofer
The Redemption Duet
The Rose
The Lion
Bewitching Brews
Bewitching Fire
Bewitching Darkness
Bewitching Hearts
The Loup-Garou Series
The Enigma
Becoming the Enigma
Beast Within
Precedents
The Legacies Series (A Novella Series)
Companion to The Loup-Garou Series
The Legend
The Guide
The Frenchman
The Prophecy
The Pirate
The Native
The Irishman
The Scholars
The Convicts
The Soldier
The Outlaw
The Deviants
The Unsinkable
The Decimus Trilogy
The Beast of Verona
Amber Ashes
Saving the Beast
Standalones
Escape
Clouds
Passions
Silver Screen
By The Book
Bewitching Fire Page 27