by Mary Martel
“He did, didn’t he?” Tyson whispered in awe. “That son of a bitch. He’s been a smug bastard for days and I couldn’t figure out why. What did he have to be smug about? What did he have that the rest of us didn’t? I figured it had something to do with you. Sitting here with you, watching your pretty face, wanting to kiss you… I figured it out, he kissed you and that’s what he’s been so smug about.”
I put my hands up to my face and pressed them against my cheeks, trying to cool them off. My face was on fire. At least I knew now that Quinton hadn’t told anybody.
But… Wait. Tyson kept saying he. Did he even mean Quinton?
“Uh…” I said as I moved my hands away from my flaming face. I licked my suddenly dry lips and asked, “He who?”
His lips parted in genuine surprise.
“Has there been more than one?” He asked in a strangled voice. “Have you been kissing more than my Uncle?”
“No,” I exclaimed. “And it was just the one time. How did you know?”
“I told you, he’s been so damn smug. And he walks around with this stupid knowing smile on his face, like he’s got a secret and he’s laughing at the rest of us. The twins think you had sex with him, but I knew better. You’re not ready for sex but I could totally see my Uncle sneaking in a kiss or two. He’s pushy and has absolutely no self-control.”
He shook his head and sat back in the love seat with an angry scowl on his face.
Holy crap. The twins thought I had sex with Quinton and they were talking about it with Tyson. That was insane. And absolutely mortifying.
“They think I had sex with Quinton,” I breathed out on a horrified whisper. “Oh my god. We didn’t have sex. I’ve never had sex with anyone.”
“Whoa,” he said in a soothing voice. “Slow down, girl. It’s just the twins and I think it was more wishful thinking on their part.”
What?
Stupefied, I asked, “Why would the twins want me to have sex with Quinton? I don’t understand any of you.”
“We made an agreement between the seven of us. To back off, give you space and to build on making friendships between you and us. It was Quinton’s idea. If he’s telling us one thing, then going and doing the complete opposite of what he told us we were supposed to be doing, then he’s not playing by his own rules and no one else has to, either. All bets are off and you’re fair game.”
I was fair game?
I didn’t like the sound of that. I wasn’t sure what bothered me more, being fair game or them talking about having sex with me.
“You know,” I told him, “I didn’t actually agree to any of this. I didn’t agree to be in your coven and I didn’t agree to having a relationship with any of you.”
Even though all of that was true, I had no intention of ever finding another coven. I had found my place and it was with them, I didn’t want another coven, no matter what. But the relationship thing still bothered me. It was unconventional, not normal, and a few of them didn’t even like me.
“Please, sweetheart,” Tyson’s said in a soft voice, “don’t lie to me. This is your coven and you aren’t going anywhere. You think Uncle Quint is going to let you go now that you let him in there? I don’t think so. He’s just going to keep coming back for more and he’s never going to stop. The twins aren’t ever going to let you leave them. They take family very seriously, and you are family now. The rest of it will all fall into place. You sound like we expect you to jump into bed with all of us tomorrow. That’s not happening. Shit like this takes time. We’re all on board and we all agreed to give you as much time as you needed.”
I sighed and slouched back in the love seat. I didn’t want to talk about this right now. I wanted to shove it to the side and deal with it maybe never.
“Can we hang up my dream catcher now?” I asked in hopeful voice.
He sat forward quickly, snatching the box from my hands. He held the box away from me and out of my reach. His eyes glittered, full of mischief and he smirked at me.
I had a feeling that light in his eyes and the sexy smirk did not bode well for me.
“Girl,” he cooed. “I would love to hang up your dream catcher for you. Under one condition. I want you to do something first.”
Yeah, this did not sound good.
“What’s this condition?” I asked suspiciously.
His smirk turned into a full blown, blinding smile. I couldn’t help the small smile that graced my lips at the lovely sight.
“I will hang your dream catcher up for you, and all you have to do is give me one tiny, little kiss. You don’t even have to give me your tongue if you’re not ready for that.”
The smile immediately left my face.
Kiss him?
Oh boy.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Words escaped me, and I suddenly became fascinated with my hands that were in my lap twisting every which way.
Did I want to kiss Tyson?
No, no I did not. I wanted him to kiss me. I didn’t want to be the one to make the first move. I would likely overthink it and mess the whole thing up. I didn’t want my first kiss with Tyson to be some sloppy thing I screwed up, but I most certainly did want there to be a first kiss. And, if it was good, a whole lot more.
I also wanted Quinton to kiss me again too. If I hadn’t known that this was the kind of relationship they wanted, I would have felt completely horrible about myself and weighted down by guilt.
“Sweetheart, look at me.”
I turned my head to the side so he could see my face. I imagined my eyes were a little wide in my head and probably full of the fear and the near on panic that I was feeling.
“Fuck it,” he muttered, leaning forward. He wrapped a hand around the side of my neck and slid it back, into my hair. His hand moved up and he fisted it gently in the hair at the back of my head.
With his hold on my hair, he tilted my head to the side and his lips crashed into mine. Heat seared into me, like he’d branded me with his mouth.
His teeth nipped at my bottom lip, making me gasp at the sensation. His tongue slipped inside and he took control, control over the kiss, control over me. The hand in my hair tightened as he tilted my head giving himself better access to my mouth. His lips moved against mine as he caressed every inch of my mouth with his tongue. He wasn’t there for a visit, he acted like he owned the place, the paint had dried and now he was moving in and he planned on staying a good, long while.
I placed my hands on his warm, hard biceps and I kissed him back. Or, I tried to kiss him back. He wouldn’t let me.
I made a sound deep in the back of my throat, embarrassingly close to a moan as his tongue slid out of my mouth and he nipped at my bottom lip again.
My breath was coming in pants as I forced my eyes to open. I hadn’t even remembered closing them. When had I done that?
Tyson licked his lips and his burning eyes raked over my face, ending back on my lips. My heart was beating way too fast in my chest, rising and falling heavily with each breath I took. His looked to be doing the same.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized in a soft, sweet voice. “I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I traced my finger across my lower lip. It tingled and felt swollen to the touch.
Tyson’s hand slid out of my hair. The backs of his fingers trailed down the side of my neck, stopping just above my collar bone.
His thumb smoothed over my scars as he asked, “Did I scare you?”
I shook my head, silently telling him no, he didn’t scare me, he hadn’t scared me at all.
Someone knocked loudly on the bedroom door. Tyson and I jumped apart as if we’d been burned. I scrambled off of the love seat and threw myself onto the bed. I scooted over until I sat in the middle of the bed. I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, trying to make myself look as small and innocent as possible.
I avoided looking Tyson’s way, cleared my throat, and called out, “Come in.”
“Hey,” Quinton said as he stuck his head around the door. “What are you two doing in here?”
He stepped into the room and slammed the door shut behind him, making me wince. Quinton had a thing for bursting in and slamming doors. I couldn’t even believe he had the decency to knock first. A miracle.
“Nephew,” he growled, “I asked you a question and I expect an answer.”
“Actually,” I responded before Ty had a chance to and things got heated, “you came in here and demanded to know what we two were doing. You didn’t address one of us specifically. Perhaps Tyson didn’t answer because he was waiting politely for me to go first. Did you ever think of that? Huh? No, of course not. Not you, you who barges in and demands to know things that aren’t any of your business. What’s up with that, huh, Uncle Quinton?”
His nostrils flared angrily as he glared daggers at me.
“How many times do I have to tell you to stop fucking calling me that?” He snarled at me.
Way to poke the sleeping bear, Ariel.
I couldn’t seem to help myself.
“He, Uncle Quint,” Tyson said, butting in. “Calm down. You’re going to scare her if you keep talking to her like that.”
Tyson put his hands on his knees and pushed himself to his feet.
I didn’t take this as a good sign.
“It’s okay, Ty,” I said quickly as I scooted towards the edge of the bed on Quinton’s side. “And, I’m sorry, Quinton, really, I am. I know how you feel about me calling you that and I should have left it alone. Instead, I said it and I had to pick at you. I’m sorry, honest. And, I won’t do it again.”
The last part was a lie and had me hiding my hand behind my back so I could cross my fingers. Not that it would do me any good, but I felt the need to do it anyway.
Quinton scowled at me. It wasn’t a pretty look for him and a few weeks ago it might have scared me. Quinton didn’t frighten me anymore with his dark and intense looks. I could be afraid of him looking at me like that when I actually did something to wrong him. Then, and only then, would I have a reason to worry. Now he was just full of it. All piss and vinegar.
“What were you two doing in here?” He repeated the question he had originally asked when he’d come in here.
I didn’t mind him repeating the question, and I really didn’t mind going back to our original topic.
But…
“What are you doing here, Quint?” I asked instead of answering his question.
He sighed, and his shoulders slumped forward. He ran a hand over his short, buzz cut hair, back and forth.
“You’re here,” he said simply.
I raised both my eyebrows and titled my head to the side, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, I twisted at the waist to look back at Tyson. I shot him a questioning look.
“Do you know what he means by that?” I asked Tyson.
“Babe,” Quinton said in a patient voice and I turned back to face him. “Why do you think Ty’s here?”
When I didn’t answer right away he shook his head sadly.
“Ty’s here because you’re here,” he informed me. “Do you think he’d come over here to hang out at Dash’s house just because? Um, no. I can’t even remember the last time he came over here on his own and without me telling him to do so. Same goes for the twins who are, right now, downstairs. They aren’t here to hang out with Dash or Damien or even Julian. Ty’s here because you’re here. I’m here for the same reason. The twins don’t do well with being alone, they hate it. But if everyone had stayed in tonight, they still would have left to come here. Because this is where you are and, in case you missed it, we want to be where you are.”
My hand rose, outstretched on its own accord, reaching for him. It was like I couldn’t stop myself. When Quinton was around I had a hard time not touching him. I pressed my hand to my chest instead, stopping myself from doing what I really wanted to do. If we were alone I would have reached for him. But we weren’t alone. Tyson was here and not five minutes ago we were trading our most intimate secrets, via mouth to mouth.
“It’s true, sweetheart. I’m only here for you. Dash isn’t exactly my favorite person on the planet. He’s family, yeah, but that doesn’t mean we’re besties. You and me though, girl, we are going to be besties. Besties who swap bodily fluids on the daily.”
I shot Tyson a look that his words rightfully deserved, a seriously nasty look. He chose to ignore it and, unfortunately, continued speaking.
“Even if it means I have to come here to the sour puss’s house.” Tyson shrugged. “As long as you’re here then this is where I’m going to be. I would move into your room here with you if I thought Uncle Quint wouldn’t lose his damn mind.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Quinton ground out. “It’s bad enough I have to deal with her being here, I don’t need you running off on me too.”
I folded my arms over my chest and tried to defend myself. “I didn’t run off on anyone. I told you why I couldn’t stay in the big house with you. You understand why, I know you do, and you aren’t even really mad that I’m staying here. You wanted me to get to know the rest of them, so much so, you even encouraged me to stay here. With Dash. So, don’t even try to whine about that. It’s your jealous insecurities coming out to play. Get over it. Now,” I put my hand out to my side, gesturing to Tyson, “Ty promised me he’d hang up my dreamcatcher for me and we are going to have to go to the store to buy some kind of hook or something to use to hang it from the ceiling with. I don’t know, that’s not my area of expertise. I’m sure Tyson can handle it. Then we are going downstairs to see the twins because I miss them and if they really did come here to see me then I want to spend some time with them.”
Quinton looked past me, to his nephew, and grinned. “I love it when the real Ariel comes out to play,” he said, sounding pleased as all get out.
I stood at the foot of the bed, in between them, awkwardly.
Enough was enough.
“Perhaps you should go downstairs and wait for us to join you,” I rudely suggested.
Quinton aimed his grin at me. “It won’t take you long to hang up your dreamcatcher,” he told me knowingly. “Ty already put a hook in the ceiling for it two days ago.”
“What?” I whispered. I whirled around and pointed my finger rudely at Tyson. “You,” I screeched. “You tricked me into kissing you!”
Unrepentant, he shrugged and said, “Yeah. Can you really blame me, though? I had to try. And, to be fair, I’m still going to hang up your dreamcatcher for you. And, I did go out of my way to put that hook in the ceiling for it. That’s got to count for something.”
“He also put the protection spell into the thing,” Quinton said softly, defending his nephew. “That took work, energy and blood to make for you.”
I loved my dreamcatcher and knowing what Tyson did to it for me, to make it into some form of protection for me, made it all the more special.
I turned to Ty and found him watching me with a serious expression on his face. His brows were drawn, his eyes guarded, and his lips were pursed into a tight, thin line.
“Thank you, Tyson,” I said softly with a small smile on my face. “I already told you I loved it and I meant it. Thank you for making it so it really will keep out the bad things while I’m sleeping.”
I held my right hand out to him and waited. I needed his touch, the heat that came with the touch of his skin.<
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He walked over to me and grabbed ahold of my hand, pulling me into him. I collided with his side and he let my hand go. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled my front into his side. My boobs were smooshed into his ribs, but I didn’t care. It was a little too up close and personal for me with Quint standing not five feet away, too close for comfort with an audience. I didn’t think I was a big fan of PDA.
“Now,” Quinton said blandly, making my eyes shoot to his face. “How about we talk about what I want to talk about now? I want to hear more about this kiss.”
All air left my lungs and I almost hyperventilated. When I managed to draw in a shaky breath, my eyes were all for Quinton. Was he mad? He had kissed me first. Logically, I knew he had nothing to be mad about, he wanted this, he wanted me to be with all of them. That’s why he encouraged me to come to Dash’s house in the first place.
I got what he wanted from me. How could I not when it had been spelled out for me on several occasions?
I got it.
I did.
But standing here in the same room with Nephew and Uncle, both whom I had kissed. That didn’t seem right to me because neither of them acted like they cared.
I cared.
I cared a whole lot more than I probably should.
“You aren’t mad?” I asked Quinton cautiously.
Tyson pulled me in tighter to his side. If I got any closer, we would fuse together.
Quinton smiled at me and it was a new one, a smile I hadn’t seen from him before. This smile was soft, sweet, and, scarily, very loving.
I didn’t know what to do with that smile or the love I saw in it.
Frankly, it freaked me out. If I didn’t have magic, then he wouldn’t feel anything for me. I would simply be some unfortunate girl who moved in next door to them. The one who wasn’t a witch and didn’t have magic inside of her. They wouldn’t have given me a second glance then, I was that girl. Was that it? Did they only like me because I was a girl and had magic? I knew that was the truth of it, which is why I wondered… why did I like them so much? Not all of them, of course. But, some of them I liked a great deal. Did I like them and feel drawn to them simply because they were male and had magic? Why would Quinton look at me with love shining in his eyes if it weren’t for magic? He couldn’t love me, he didn’t even know me.