pulled myself away from him and sat down on the dais stairs.
“What are you thinking about? Your eyes are darting back and forth so fast it’s making me dizzy.”
“I’m thinking about you, I guess.”
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up !
“I’ve been thinking about you for days.” He frowned, then knelt on the stair below me to run his hand down my calf and lift my foot in the air. “I like your shoes. A lot.”
I was thrilled that he liked them and sorry I was wearing them. I wanted him to stop touching my legs and to slide his hand between them. I sighed, half frustration, half a different kind of frustration entirely. When he looked up at me, desire was plain in his eyes. I inched closer to him. He leaned into kiss me and, much to my surprise, I heard myself say, “We should talk.”
His mouth curved into a devilish grin. “I’d much rather show than tell.”
“I want you to show me everything,” I whispered as he leaned over and brushed his lips against my cheek, moving slowly toward my neck. “But we should really talk first.”
He leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair. “The enchantment has all the subtlety of a freight train today. I suppose I missed seeing you.” He got easily to his feet and walked to the window, giving us both a chance to catch our breath. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Robbin.” I hesitated for a second to gauge his reaction before I added, “He had a key. Last night he just let himself in and something happened.”
“I gathered that from his performance just now,” he said, shaking his head. “But I’d rather not hear the details, if you don’t mind.”
I slipped the red heels off, kicking them away. “I don’t even want to tell you. But I keep doing things I don’t mean to do. It’s the enchantment, like you said. It makes me feel…”
“What?” he asked gently. “What does the enchantment make you feel?”
I tried to think of a word that described the whirl of emotions I felt whenever I was near him, the hum of excitement and need and contentment. “It makes me feel confused. It makes me want to touch you and tell you things, secret things.”
He took a deep breath, bracing himself, and said, “You can talk to me about him if you need to.”
“I just don’t want a lot of secrets to start collecting between us. I’m tired of secrets.” A look of genuine discomfort clouded his beautiful face. “Are you mad?”
“Not at you. But if I didn’t think it would upset you, I’d beat the light out of Turnbough and give him straight to the Dark.”
“It would upset me.”
“I know, love. I know.” He sighed. “I was so happy when he said he’d come to the World with Bennett that I failed to see the many ways it could go wrong. It was a mistake to let him come here. I’ve lost him and I could lose you to him. It would serve me right if I did.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about losing me to him. He made his position pretty clear last night and I don’t think I can stand anymore hot and cold with him. Maybe it’s better this way.” It was easy to say that while Alex was sitting next to me holding my hand.
“Hot and cold?”
“We’ve always been sort of the opposite of the cliché, Robbin and me. I didn’t know why he was saying no so I pressured him for sex constantly and he made excuses about why he couldn’t do it. You can’t believe how many times he rejected me. A smarter girl would have given up and found a new boyfriend years ago. But then last night he came to the cottage and I guess having you here spurred him into action, which I just realized is kind of creepy. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I’m so sorry.”
I had been sure Alex and I would end up doing it on the sideboard the moment Robbin left the dining room; I had already figured out which drawer pulls I was going to brace myself
“What are you thinking about? Your eyes are darting back and forth so fast it’s making me dizzy.”
“I’m thinking about you, I guess.”
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up !
“I’ve been thinking about you for days.” He frowned, then knelt on the stair below me to run his hand down my calf and lift my foot in the air. “I like your shoes. A lot.”
I was thrilled that he liked them and sorry I was wearing them. I wanted him to stop touching my legs and to slide his hand between them. I sighed, half frustration, half a different kind of frustration entirely. When he looked up at me, desire was plain in his eyes. I inched closer to him. He leaned into kiss me and, much to my surprise, I heard myself say, “We should talk.”
His mouth curved into a devilish grin. “I’d much rather show than tell.”
“I want you to show me everything,” I whispered as he leaned over and brushed his lips against my cheek, moving slowly toward my neck. “But we should really talk first.”
He leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair. “The enchantment has all the subtlety of a freight train today. I suppose I missed seeing you.” He got easily to his feet and walked to the window, giving us both a chance to catch our breath. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Robbin.” I hesitated for a second to gauge his reaction before I added, “He had a key. Last night he just let himself in and something happened.”
“I gathered that from his performance just now,” he said, shaking his head. “But I’d rather not hear the details, if you don’t mind.”
I slipped the red heels off, kicking them away. “I don’t even want to tell you. But I keep doing things I don’t mean to do. It’s the enchantment, like you said. It makes me feel…”
“What?” he asked gently. “What does the enchantment make you feel?”
I tried to think of a word that described the whirl of emotions I felt whenever I was near him, the hum of excitement and need and contentment. “It makes me feel confused. It makes me want to touch you and tell you things, secret things.”
He took a deep breath, bracing himself, and said, “You can talk to me about him if you need to.”
“I just don’t want a lot of secrets to start collecting between us. I’m tired of secrets.” A look of genuine discomfort clouded his beautiful face. “Are you mad?”
“Not at you. But if I didn’t think it would upset you, I’d beat the light out of Turnbough and give him straight to the Dark.”
“It would upset me.”
“I know, love. I know.” He sighed. “I was so happy when he said he’d come to the World with Bennett that I failed to see the many ways it could go wrong. It was a mistake to let him come here. I’ve lost him and I could lose you to him. It would serve me right if I did.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about losing me to him. He made his position pretty clear last night and I don’t think I can stand anymore hot and cold with him. Maybe it’s better this way.” It was easy to say that while Alex was sitting next to me holding my hand.
“Hot and cold?”
“We’ve always been sort of the opposite of the cliché, Robbin and me. I didn’t know why he was saying no so I pressured him for sex constantly and he made excuses about why he couldn’t do it. You can’t believe how many times he rejected me. A smarter girl would have given up and found a new boyfriend years ago. But then last night he came to the cottage and I guess having you here spurred him into action, which I just realized is kind of creepy. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I’m so sorry.”
I had been sure Alex and I would end up doing it on the sideboard the moment Robbin left the dining room; I had already figured out which drawer pulls I was going to brace myself
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