Magical Midlife Dating: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Leveling Up Book 2)

by K. F. Breene

  “Of course.” The waitress flashed him a winning smile that he didn’t notice.

  “Mr. Tom mentioned that Migration was your favorite,” Damarion said, his eyes traveling over my face. “I called ahead and made sure they had it.”

  15

  My dark mood hadn’t lightened too much through dinner. Damarion had ordered for me again, steaks for each of us with a baked potato, butter, sour cream, and no chives. Apparently Mr. Tom had said I liked that dish. Which was mostly fine, since I’d intended to order it anyway, but also a little annoying.

  “We won’t stay long,” Damarion said with grim determination as we pulled up to the warm glow of Austin’s bar.

  The familiarity of it came as a relief, even more so because Niamh sat in her usual seat. The spot beside her—the one I always sat in when I showed up—was still empty even though the bar was otherwise full.

  “Hey,” I said to Niamh as I stopped behind the empty chair. Paul stood down the way, shaking a silver drink mixer, but there was no sign of Austin.

  “Well, how’r’u? What’s the craic?” She caught sight of Damarion, his expression closed down into an uncomfortable mask and his biceps pushing at his blazer, clearly flexed to match his fists. How he and Austin met hadn’t seemed to weigh any lighter on him. That, or he didn’t like Niamh. It really could’ve been either. “Damarion, how was dinner? Did she let you order fer her?” She zeroed in on my best buddy, sitting next to the open seat. “Sasquatch, ye dirty bollocks, ya. Go down to the end. Open up that seat.”

  He scowled at her, no doubt annoyed she wasn’t using his real name. Unlike Mr. Tom, he hadn’t asked for the change.

  “I was here first,” he grumbled as Austin came around the corner from the back, two bottles of vodka in his hands. He caught sight of me, but his small smile slipped away when he noticed Damarion at my side.

  “But ye won’t be there last, will ye?” Niamh said. “Jessie will make you leave, now ye know she will.”

  “She has a seat right there.” He nodded down at the open place.

  “Yes, but her very large, fine man would also like to sit, or didn’t ye notice the grumpy gargoyle standing at yer back?”

  Sasquatch’s shoulders tensed as he slowly looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened when he caught sight of Damarion, who was in some weird, silent standoff with Austin.

  My nemesis hunched in his place but didn’t move. “I don’t care. He can’t do anything to me. Neither of them can. I didn’t insult her or bad-mouth her or push her or anything. I didn’t break any rules. I was here first, so I get to stay.”

  Damarion’s eyes came around. Finally realizing the issue, he reached forward, grabbed the back of Sasquatch’s shirt, and yanked him. Sasquatch’s shirt ripped but held, pulling the guy back and off the stool, and he rolled across the floor.

  Niamh jumped up and grabbed me, pulling me out of the way, and not a moment too soon. The next events happened so fast that at first I couldn’t do much more than widen my eyes and blink stupidly.

  Austin lunged forward over the bar and grabbed Damarion with both hands, dragging him up and over the barrier. In a show of dizzying strength, he then lifted the huge gargoyle over his head and slammed him down onto the bar, crushing glass and spilling drinks beneath him.

  Damarion grabbed Austin, twisting in such a way that he threw him over the bar. But Austin hadn’t released his grip on Damarion, and he pulled the gargoyle with him.

  Their bodies knocked people out of the way, sending them reeling, before they both crashed onto the floor. Austin punched Damarion square in the face, the crack making it clear he’d broken Damarion’s nose. The gargoyle was already throwing his own punch, though, and it landed on Austin’s jaw with a pop that made my knees weak.

  Adrenaline blasted through me.

  “Go,” I yelled at everyone backing away from the two men. A pulse of my magic sent everyone scattering for the pool area. Everyone this time, including those on the outskirts.

  I magically yanked the bar doors closed, apparently not needing to be in Ivy House for that sort of trick to work anymore, and slid a magical barrier between the pool area and the bar to keep everyone put. Well, everyone but me and Niamh.

  Austin smashed his fist across Damarion’s face. But Damarion didn’t look like he felt it, as he threw Austin off him, sending him crashing into the wall. Austin slid down halfway before bouncing up, but he wasn’t on his feet for more than a moment before Damarion was up and plowing into him.

  They hit the wall, shaking the whole place, exchanging punches faster than two boxers in the ring. Fear gripped my guts. I’d never witnessed this kind of intense brutality close up between people I knew and cared about.

  My mind snapped back to the million or so schoolyard fights I’d broken up. Other mothers would scream and wring their hands, leaving me to wade in and shove everyone aside. Of course, those kids had been weak and easily controlled—these man-kids were a force to be reckoned with.

  Screw it.

  I pushed forward, determined. Niamh plucked at my dress to keep me still, but I shrugged her off, hoping none of my lady bits fell out.

  Austin landed a punch to Damarion’s ribs. Crack.

  “Enough!” I shoved my hands apart, magic blistering within the room.

  Austin’s hand flung sideways, and he jerked back from an invisible force—me. Damarion struggled to push through and get at Austin, but he only hit hard air.

  “Stop!” I kicked off my shoes, needing to be grounded, and stepped up to the dueling alphas. They kept fighting my magic, and it felt as though they were scratching my flesh.

  “Enough!” Electricity crackled. Sparks flared. My rush of anger filled the room to bursting. “You’re acting like children! Knock it off.”

  Damarion stepped forward, shoving the wall of my magic. Austin slashed the air, shattering my hold entirely for an instant.

  I gritted my teeth and strengthened the magic wedged between them, the wall now spitting fire if they reached forward and touched it.

  Damarion, his whole body flexed, his eyes on fire, dropped his arms to his sides, responding to my force. But Austin pushed forward, his jaw broken, his determination unshakeable, his power still trumping mine. I hadn’t learned enough to best him.

  My jaw ached from how hard my teeth were clenched together.

  “Please, Austin,” I said, appealing to him as a friend. “I know this is your bar and you have the right to enforce your law, but please stand down just this once. For me. I need him.”

  He cocked his head, cracking his neck, his gaze never leaving Damarion. His fists clenched and his pecs popped. The dark side of his beast had emerged, and I knew he felt the compulsion to sink down into it and fight until a victor emerged.

  I could not bear to see him destroy or badly wound a man who had saved my life.

  “Please,” I whispered, the bar dead silent, my words carrying.

  A tense moment trickled past, adrenaline still coursing through me. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if he refused.

  “Get. Him. Out. Of. Here,” Austin said at last, each word clipped as though it had cost him great effort. “Now.”

  The dam burst, and I pushed my way out of the bar, shoving Damarion in front of me with my magic. As we left, I released the spell holding everyone else in the pool room. I needed them to rush back into the bar so Austin had something else to focus on. He wouldn’t lose his mind and chase after Damarion if his customers, his friends, needed his attention.

  “There are rules here,” I yelled when we got outside, my anger and fear boiling over. I grabbed Damarion by the lapel and shoved him backward. Only my magic made it possible. “There are rules in this town. Is that why you took me somewhere else for dinner?”

  His nose still bled, dripping blood down his lips. He didn’t speak.

  “You may not like Austin, and I kind of get it based on how you two met, but he is incredibly effective at protecting this town. He’s done it for years. It
is not hard to follow the rules. Do you know what they are?” I paused for a beat. “Don’t be a dick. That’s it. Those are the rules. Don’t start trouble. Well, guess what you did tonight?” I paused again. “That’s right, you broke the single rule of O’Briens. You were a dick to Sasquatch. He’s the worst, but he was right—he didn’t do anything wrong. You can’t just push people around because you’re stronger. That’s a bullshit thing to do, and that’s why Austin is here—to prevent that sort of posturing. His reaction was extreme, I’ll grant you that, but so was your counterreaction. This is on you. I had a nice time, thank you for dinner, but you need to leave for now. We need to cool things down here. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I couldn’t see his eyes in the dark. I had no idea which way the wind blew. After a beat, though, he took a deep breath, his large chest inflating and deflating.

  “I’m from a place that does things differently. Please accept my apology. I acted out of turn.”

  My eyebrows climbed toward my hairline. In as much as I’d expected anything from this near stranger, I’d thought he’d be stubborn and standoffish—two traits distinctive of gargoyles, or so Niamh had said. This was a nice surprise. I appreciated his apology, more so because I believed it. I felt the sincerity in it.

  I nodded.

  He pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his face, which had already stopped bleeding.

  “Your magic is coming along,” he said, cleaning up. “After just one afternoon, you’ve grown in power.”

  “Thanks to you for taking my beatings.”

  It was the first time I’d seen his smile, and it was a thing of beauty. “It was nothing.” He let out another breath and tucked his handkerchief back into his pocket. “You will dwarf the world with your power. It is my honor to have been summoned, my queen. You will make our species proud.” He took my hand gently and, connecting eyes with me, grazed his lips across my knuckles.

  This didn’t feel like the night before, with his over-the-top double entendres. This time, the heat in his eyes sparked a similar heat deep in my core. It burned hot, searing me, making me ache for his touch. It had been a really long time since a man had looked at me like that. Since he’d let his lips linger on my flesh. Since I’d accepted the vulnerability of losing myself to the fire.

  “I know you need to go back in there”—he nodded to the bar—“but I will wait up for you.” His other hand blazed a trail along my jaw before hooking around my neck. The pressure was subtle but firm, pulling me in slowly, his eyes hooded and head dipping.

  I licked my lips, logic warring with desire. I knew I should take this slow, but part of me wanted to get in the boat, without oars, and let the river current take me where it would. All I could focus on were those lips, a little parted, his breathing speeding up to match mine. And his eyes, filled with desire.

  His lips finally brushed mine, and dynamite exploded within me. His hand slid around my back, pulling me in a little tighter, his body now pressed against mine, his desire clearly evident in his hard heat. I rested my hands on his chest and angled my head, letting him take the lead. It felt so good to have his strength and power wrapped around me.

  His kiss deepened and his tongue thrust in my mouth, swirling. His other hand left my jaw, and then his fingers splayed across my back, spreading tingles across my skin. He slid it down slowly as his kiss increased in fervency. That hand reached my lower back and still didn’t stop, not until it reached my butt, squeezing.

  A moan escaped me, and I pushed my hands up his chest and hooked them around his neck. His hand was on the move again, though, down my side until he hit the bare skin of my thigh, and then back up, pressing, his fingers slipping underneath my hemline, heading for goal.

  “Whoa, whoa,” I said, leaning back and pushing his hand away. His labored breathing matched mine, merging as he lingered near my lips. “Let’s… That’s… We’re in public.”

  “Let’s go home, then,” he murmured, and kissed me again. “Let me coax those screams out of you.”

  16

  My body was on fire, pounding, and desperate to be touched. I wanted to know the feeling of being desired again—not for the sake of a release but because a man wanted to relish in my body. The way Damarion was moving his hands across me, thrusting his tongue into my mouth, it frazzled my mind.

  But not enough for me to forget that I wasn’t ready yet. I had a hard enough time wearing nice dresses that showed off my figure—I wasn’t sure I could comfortably be naked around someone. My body was revved up, but my mind wouldn’t stay in it once clothes hit the floor. Insecurity would come raging in, and I’d make it awkward, which would make things weird. I didn’t want the first time back to be weird.

  “You’re right. I do need to go in there. I have to exchange information with Austin,” I murmured, backing off. “My safety is on the line. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? We can have another flying lesson—you’ll get another opportunity to make me scream.” I belatedly realized how that had sounded. It was like the whole “Netflix and chill” debacle all over again. “I mean—”

  “I’ll take great pleasure in it,” he said softly, his voice the equivalent of liquid sex.

  I shivered from my head to my toes, about-faced, and walked back into the bar. Best to just abandon ship. I’d climb into that boat another day, when I was feeling a little braver. Maybe it would help if he’d take things slower. The man was stuck on full speed ahead, that was for sure.

  Only when I was separated from him could I take a deep, desperately needed breath.

  “I take back the whole wanting-to-date thing,” I muttered as I threaded through the people standing around, making my way to Niamh. “I’m too old for this.”

  “Too old for what?” Niamh asked, two full bottles of cider in front of her and a third in her glass. An empty wine glass and a bottle of wine waited at the top of the bar in front of my usual place.

  “Has this turned into a self-service bar, or…” I looked down the way, catching Austin’s eyes as he looked toward me. His gaze dipped, hitting my lips, before rage and then frustration flashed through his expression. The look was there and then gone, and when he looked away, his face was a flat mask of disinterest.

  “This place is wedged!” Niamh gestured around us. “They heard about the attack and everyone wants the gossip.”

  Fancy that. I hadn’t even noticed anyone entering the bar.

  “So yeah, help yourself,” Niamh continued. “Austin is mostly keeping up, but poor Paul is run ragged. He’s useless when it’s busy like this.”

  “Austin seems pissed at me. How was I supposed to know Damarion would throw his weight around?”

  “You’ve got lipstick all over your face. Got a snog off that hot gargoyle, did ye?” She grinned at me as I grabbed a bar napkin and started wiping. “No, Austin’s not mad at you. He’s struggling with having another alpha in his territory without being able to force submission.”

  A wave of uncomfortable fear washed through me. Their fight had been so brutal…the violence of it uncontrolled.

  “They would’ve ruined this bar. I wouldn’t have thought Austin would jeopardize his place of business.”

  “Allowing Damarion to treat the patrons badly, without recourse, would’ve been jeopardizing this place. It was bound to happen. If the circumstances had been different, they would’ve rumbled right when they met. Instead, they had to do their jobs and make sure you were safe and your people were secure. Ye pulled rank then, and ye did it again now.” She smiled with pride. “The best bit? They are both happy to let ye do so. They are happy to let a Jane with new magic push them around. I regret ever having thought about retiring. This is a good laugh. I am absolutely tickled, so I am. I bet Austin never, in a hundred million years, thought he’d end up in this situation. He says he wants to leave town, so he does, but I bet you he’s also desperate to stay. I got a tenner on it with Edgar.”

  My mood darkened for the second time that night, draggi
ng me low. “It doesn’t sound like a good laugh. The last thing I want to do is create upheaval.”

  “Ah, you’re grand. ’Tis good for him, you’ll see. Anyway, what were ye mumbling on about just now? What are ye too old for? Sex on the first date? Because I’d beg to differ. You’ve been on the merry-go-round and ridden enough horses by now to do as you please. Don’t even go on a date. They’re a load of bollocks anyway. Just fashion yerself a cowboy, grab a ride, and see how hard he bucks, eh?”

  I smiled through my mood. “He’s young. Damarion, I mean.”

  “What are you on about? He can’t be more than six or seven years younger. Yer just not used to it because women usually have to date older men if they don’t want an eejit. But that’s for younger women—we’ve enough troubles that we’d do better being less mature, not more. Yer not lookin’ for a long-term thing anyway, right?”

  “God no. I just need someone fun to take the edge off…being lonely.”

  “Is that code for needin’ to get laid? I can’t tell.”

  I could feel my face heating.

  “Ah right, yeah. Thought so.” She nodded. “Yer just findin’ yerself, you are. You don’t need to go worrying about nothin’ t’all. All you need right now is a willy that stands up as long as you need it to. Trust me, younger is better. Maybe aim for twenties. It’s never fun when they’re done before you’ve even gotten goin’.”

  I blew out a slow breath, her talk greatly helping. It felt like the clouds of doom had parted, letting in a little sunshine. That sunshine was cutting through all the crap I’d been brainwashed to believe about what “proper” women could and could not do.

  “Thanks,” I said, reaching for the bottle.

  “I got it.” Austin strolled up behind the bar, ignoring someone waving to grab his attention. He wrapped his large, scarred hand around the wine bottle.

  “Are your hands soft, Austin?” I asked without meaning to, my mind running away from me.