Page 65 of Witchful Thinking

Her eyes lit up. “It’s done?”

Lucy had taken a special interest in the main bedroom right down the hall from the guest bedroom. He’d been late coming to karaoke night because he’d been waiting for one last delivery for that room.

He nodded. “Come check it out.”

“I have to check on Shadow,” Lucy said. “Give me fifteen minutes. I’ll meet you over there.”

Lucy raced up to her house and went inside. Alex returned to his space, switching on the porch light for her. It had started raining. The plinking of drops sounded off on the windows and roof. True to her word, Lucy came right over, using the key he left out for her in the stone mushroom by the door. She was covered in a light layer of raindrops. Alex’s breath caught in his throat. She’d changed into a dress, draped in shades of blue and green, a water elemental, a mythical being relishing in their power. As she stood in the doorway, keys in hand, a thought came to him. She belongs here.

She brushed off the water with a hand and slipped off her shoes. “Sorry. I forgot my umbrella.”

“Don’t worry.”

He showed her upstairs to the master bedroom. Lucy stood at the threshold, taking it in for a moment, then walked inside the room, looked around, and turned to Alex.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

He let go of the breath he hadn’t known he was holding.

“Wow,” she said again, but it was more emotional. “It’s everything I could wish for.”

Her eyes began to water. She wiped away a tear before it could fall. Alex gathered her into his arms. He didn’t like to see her cry. He reached up, wiping away her tears with his thumb. Lucy took a step back from him, looking down at her feet.

“You did a good job for the open house,” she said in a distant tone.

Alex shook his head. “I didn’t do it for that.”

Lucy snapped her head at Alex.

“Stay.”

Lucy peered at him. Alex stepped forward. He put his forehead to hers and said, “Stay the night.”

He wanted to wake up with her. Nothing more, nothing less. He’d kissed plenty of women, but standing in this room he’d made for her, she mattered. She reached out; her right arm went to his side to give her support. On tiptoe, she touched her lips ever so softly to his. Once they kissed, it was as if he’d been submerged in cold water, his system shocked into awareness. Here she was—the undiscovered ocean he’d desired to explore and revel in—and he was being invited to explore. He would not waste this time. More. Every cell in his body demanded more. He moved his hand from his side, ran his hand up her forearm, touching her bare skin, over her shoulder, tracing the lines of her body. She trembled with eagerness as he lifted her chin and deepened the kiss further.

They moved together farther into the room, until they knocked into the bed. He lifted her onto it. His hands ran down her back and gave a playful squeeze of her behind. She laughed and nipped his lip. Alex continued kissing her with a careful savagery that tested his patience. She responded by pressing herself against him, closing the gap between them.

They crashed into each other with the same elemental force as when a wave met the shore. There was no telling where she started and he ended with their desperate touches.

He’d wanted this ever since the night by the lake, but he was waiting until the room was ready for her. Alex brushed another gentle kiss over her skin, lingering to breathe in her scent—sweet honeysuckle, earthiness, and crushed black pepper. She moaned and arched against him. All he wanted was to taste the rain on her skin.

His senses heightened. Alex’s blood stirred as he moved and searched out all her pleasure points with his mouth and hands. What does she like? How can I pleasure her? He nuzzled her neck, kissing away the raindrops nestled in the hollow of her throat. The sound of her panting sent all his blood downward, and by the time he licked her neck and cleavage, he was stiff and throbbing with need.

“Alex, please,” Lucy pleaded. He wanted her so much. Alex tucked a finger under her chin and lifted her head so that he could see her eyes. He paused. There was no turning back after tonight. She deserved more than a rain-soaked seduction. She deserved a husband who came home safe every evening, a garden where she’d tend to her blooming honeysuckle bushes, and a chubby-cheeked baby who would chase after butterflies. He tensed. She reached up and cradled his face in her hands. She kissed his eyes and face, whispering softly between kisses, “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

“Tell me what you want from me,” Alex said.

Lucy sat up and shimmied out of her dress, tossing it on the floor.

Alex scanned her body. The rain had made the lace bra and underwear nearly invisible. They clung to her body and showed off every delicious curve and her delta, the apex of her thighs. A ragged sigh tore from him.

“I want you,” she said. “I want everything.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he responded.