Natural Mage (Magical Mayhem #2)(99)

“It doesn’t change anything major, though, right?” I asked.

He shrugged as I wrapped my arms around his middle, his eyes softening and his breath dusting my face. “Not your friendship, anyway. Or her annoyance of another person in her house.” He smiled. “As for our lives down the road, who’s to say? I thought my life would be over by now. And yet…” He bent to kiss me, running his lips across mine.

“I love you too,” I said against his lips, and my stomach flipped over. “It’s deep, it’s constant, and it will never go away. I can feel that as strongly as I feel the nature around me. It’s a certainty. I don’t know that I believe in fate, or soul mates, but…”

“I do.” His lips curved. “Or, I should say, I do now.” He went in for another kiss.

The pounding ache was back, deep in my middle, and then lower and lower. Heat unfurled within my body as our kiss deepened. I pulled him by the neck toward the bed before settling on it. He lay on top of me, the weight of his body pushing me into the soft mattress.

“Will you make love to me, Emery?” I asked, my voice filled with lust and longing. I couldn’t hide the quiver of doubt, though. The fear of what was to come. Of how this might change things.

“Are you sure?” he asked softly, his hips pushing forward, applying pressure where I needed it most.

My body responded eagerly, desperate and needy. A glorious fever broke across my skin, and suddenly I’d never been so sure of anything in my entire life.

“Yes.” It was spoken on a sigh, and he didn’t hold back any more. He pulled up the bottom of my shirt before tugging it over my head. My bra went next before he fastened his hot mouth on my budded nipple.

His fingers worked at my pants and I struggled with his belt, ripping it open before sliding his pants down. He yanked his shirt away and I marveled at his hard chest, corded with defined muscle. Power and strength in a gorgeous package.

Skin on skin, frenzied kissing. Then his frame went taut, signaling a struggle for control. No, I wouldn’t let him hold back now. I took hold of his face, kissing him more deeply, my heart pounding as hard as my core.

“No, wait,” he said, out of breath. “Wait.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “Are you still…” He licked his lips. “Will I be your first?”

“Yes.” I stroked the side of his cheek.

He shuddered softly. “I love you.” He captured my lips before backing off again, his body tensing. “I need to be completely in control for your first time. I’m scared I’m going to hurt you.”

“That’s kind of how it goes, isn’t it?” I said, my voice breathy. “You can’t really get around that.”

“I know, but…”

I felt his heat against me. Yearning made me reach out for him.

And then my mother’s obnoxious voice sounded in my ear.

“Hold on,” I said, and he practically jumped off me.

“It’s okay. We can wait. I know this is a huge decision—”

“Would you relax?” I laughed, letting out a little pent-up nervousness, and dug through my nightstand drawer. I checked the date on the foil packet before handing it over with a burning face. “I thought you’d be back sooner. But they last a while, so we’re good.”

His eyes, so deep, so full of emotion, watched me settle back onto the bed. He ran a hand up my thigh, over my belly, beside my breast, and up to my chin before lowering himself over me. Softly, he touched his lips to mine.

“You are a dream come true in a life full of nightmares.” His lips traced my jaw. “You’re my savior, Penny, and I’m honored you have chosen me. That you had enough faith in us—in me—to wait for me. I am completely undeserving, but I know how lucky I am to have found you.”

He drifted down my body then, stalling in various places before gliding his lips to my apex. I arched and gasped, relishing in the tremors the warm pressure of his mouth sent through my body. My knees drifted wider and I clutched at the pillow, soaking it in. My loud moan saw him headed back up, his kisses soft but urgent. Needy.

“Here we go,” he said under his breath, and I heard the foil crinkle.

His body was shaking, and it wasn’t from pent-up need.

I smiled as he took my hands and lifted them above my head, entwining our fingers. Crinkles of skin folded at the corners of his eyes.

When I smiled, he shuddered out a laugh. “I’m really nervous,” he said.

“I’m not.” My smile melted away as a strong, deep feeling took over me. “I’m not even remotely nervous. I’ve been waiting for this moment. For you. For this life. I was always going to end up here. My path was full of zigzags, but there’s no one else I could’ve ended up with. Or you. The proof is all around us.” I let my head fall to the side, and his gaze followed.

Magic jumped and danced within the room, all different colors and patterns. Swirls and mini-explosions, it was beauty in movement. I felt his body against mine, the silk at my back, the heated air between us and the chill beyond. I felt connected, utterly. Balanced, completely. At one with him and my surroundings.

“Look at me, Penny,” he commanded softly.

Our eyes met, and he thrust.





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