Natural Mage (Magical Mayhem #2)(100)

A bang sounded at the door and Emery awoke immediately, lifting his hand to weave a spell.

“No, no, no,” Penny said sleepily, pulling down his hand and wrapping it back around her.

“What the hell?” Reagan shouted through the door. “You get a boyfriend and suddenly I can’t kick open your door without breaking shit? That ain’t right, Penny. That ain’t right. Wake up! It’s time to kick some ass.”

A glance at the clock said it was ten a.m. Light glowed around the curtains in the room.

Emery dropped his hand to Penny’s bare shoulder and turned his head so he could breathe in the fragrance of her hair. His heart swelled and he closed his eyes, soaking in the feeling of her body curled around his and her leg splayed across his thigh.

A fierce protectiveness surged through him, followed by a sense of humbled honor.

How the hell had he gotten so lucky? What trick of the universe had landed him here, with her? Lying with her like this, after the experience he’d shared with her last night…he never wanted to leave her ever again. Not for a moment. She was his, and every fiber of his being was absolutely hers.

But then, he always had been hers. He knew that now. He’d just been fighting it.

She stirred and pulled back enough to peel open a blue eye before offering him a sleepy smile and settling back onto his chest. “Morning.”

Another thud on the door. “Get up,” Reagan called. “They have to repair the front door anyway. What’s one more door? That’s a warning. Heed it.”

“She’s not kidding. She will come in here.” Penny rolled to her back, grimacing. “Ow.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Sore. It sucks that women have all this drama with losing our virginity. Kind of a dick move on the creator’s part. No pun intended.”

He turned and propped up on an elbow, watching her slowly wake up. “Regrets?”

She rubbed her eyes, blinked another few times, and met his gaze. Her eyes sparkled with emotion and a smile tugged at her lips. “Obviously no regrets, but with all the hubbub the world makes about losing your virginity, you’d think there would be balloons and dancing monkeys or something. But nope, just some pain, eventually followed by soreness.”

“So I was terrible?”

She laughed and snuggled into him. “I think you know better. Those sounds weren’t made by a bored or unhappy woman.”

He kissed her shoulder. “I’d say you could’ve been faking it, but I do know better. If you hadn’t been into it, you probably would have told me.”

“Last warning, you filthy buggers,” Reagan called through the door. “I imagine by now that the Guild has gotten a tip about what we’re doing today. I told Callie to mention it to her people in passing. Someone is bound to have leaked it. The Guild is surely readying for an attack as we speak.”

The moment faded away as reality seeped into Emery. He softly rubbed her back. “I only have a vague knowledge of what Reagan’s magic should be able to do. Very vague. This sounds like a suicide mission.”

“Yes, it does.” Penny sighed, patted his side, and rolled away. “But that’s kind of how she rolls. Besides, my mother said this was the way. We know to listen to my mother. Man, did you just hear what I said? And to think, I thought one day I wouldn’t have to. Congratulations, universe, you win.”

He laughed and pulled the sheets away, climbing from the bed. His clothes lay on the floor where he’d left them, dirty from the day before. “I don’t suppose we can go to the Bankses and get another change of clothing before we storm the castle?”

“Doubtful. Reagan’s will probably be dirty—”

“Five, four…”

“Hurry up,” Penny said, pulling on her shirt.

“Three, two…”

“Go, go, go—” Penny reached the door, threw the lock, and opened it in harried, panic-stricken movements.

Reagan paused with her foot in the air and her hands balanced to the sides, ready to kick. A smile graced her face and she lowered her foot. “Barely. Just barely.”

Penny huffed at her and turned back to finish getting dressed.

“Hurry up,” Reagan said. “I want to get the show on the road.”

“Have you told Darius about this?” Penny asked.

“No.” Reagan filled the doorway, wearing her standard uniform of leather pants, a tank top, and her hair in a ponytail. “Let’s see how he likes secrets. And it’s day, so when the shenanigans wake him up, he’ll be half panicked, knowing I did something stupid.”

“You two have such a strange relationship.” Penny pulled on a sweater before bending to her utility belt. She slowed, then cocked her head. A moment later, she stood up slowly, her eyes on me and her brow furrowed. “We do need to go to the Bankses’ house. There is something there we need.”

“I don’t need to—”

She held her hand up. “No, it’s…” Her eyes went distant. Then she shrugged. “Something has arrived. We need to pick it up. I feel it. It’s important, whatever it is.”

Reagan cocked her hip. “I didn’t think you had any of your mom’s talents.”

“I don’t really.” Penny bent to the collection of stones, loading some into her utility belt. “Not where it is actually useful. I only get vague inklings every now and again, and plenty of questionable intuition.”