Page 7 of Magic Pussy

She glanced toward her mate, and Rye looked around the room.

Luke fixed his stare on his alpha, as meaningful as he could be without saying a word. Inside him, his cheetah was practically clawing to the surface. It should be him. It had to be him.

The corner of Rye's lip lifted when he watched Luke.

“Maybe we should ask Ian?” he mused out loud. “He's scheduled to work as a lumberjack for the next two weeks or so. We can spare him if we call in for a temp worker.” He let a second pass, before saying, “Unless you don't mind delaying your vacation next week, Luke? You could go.”

He could feel those damn enticing eyes turn to him, although he didn't glance toward Rain before nodding. “Sure thing. No problem. Always wanted to visit Louisiana, anyway.”

If he was perfectly honest, he had, in fact, never thought about Louisiana in his entire life, but thankfully, no one thought to question it.

Rain's scent was alright now. No, more than alright. Delicious. Tantalizing. Tempting. He wanted to sniff her hair and then maybe bite her earlobe...

Luke managed to restrain himself with some effort. He knew most women of the non-shifting variety didn't appreciate getting sniffed. Or bitten. Not by guys they weren't into, anyway. Luke wasn't blind, he knew he looked good, and most girls thought so. They liked his body, his accent, his eyes, or some shit. Rain had never expressed any real interest, though.

He was going to have to try to avoid making her uncomfortable the next few days. Stay cool and professional. Besides, he was rather wary of her. Her mysterious power, her vague answers. She'd said a lot more about herself today than she ever had, but he doubted that it was the end of the story. The last thing he needed was to get involved with another greater being. He'd learned his lesson. Mortals weren't meant to play with ultra-powerful beings like scions and shit. If Rain was anything like that, he should stay clear.

Should.

“When do we leave?”

She sighed. "Soon. I want to stay here as long as we can," the longing was clear in her voice. "But the solstice is in five days, and I want to check out what's happening while I'm there."

That didn't give him a lot of time to gauge the area and get a feel of who he was working against, but he acquiesced without voicing his concern, all the while wondering if he'd ever manage to say "no" to the lass.

What was it with Rain Phillips?

“Alright. We go in two days.

Rain was insane. Two days later, he had proof of it.

He’d started to suspect it when they’d arrived in town. Everything appealed to him, the jazz, the thick smell of spice, the scents from the river, the fancy balconies overflowing with plants and the colorful houses.

“Why the fuck did you leave this place? It’s paradise.”

It was perhaps a little too hot for his taste, but there was AC just about everywhere, so he could deal with it.

The witch rolled her eyes. “Let’s reassess that statement in a week, shall we?”

They headed to a small hotel run by one of Rain’s acquaintances. Why didn’t she just stay with her family? Back when he had a family, he'd stayed at his cousins', siblings', uncles', and distant, twice-removed, relatives' at the first occasion, even if he had to share a sofa with a cat.

Luke was curious as fuck, but he kept his mouth closed. He was pretty sure that the problem wasn't a lack of room at her sister's place.

"Michelle ain't gonna like you staying here, you know," the owner told Rain, confirming Luke's suspicion. "She'd want you under her thumb, especially now."

"Which is exactly why I'm staying with you, Ma Curtis. I know you can take her on," Rain said with a wink.

The cranky old owner tsked, but checked them in nonetheless, before calling out, "Sophie! Amelia!"

Two teenagers came out of the back, wearing aprons.

"One of you, take Rain and her beau up, would you? Separate rooms, they say. They don't fool no one, but if they wanna play coy, I ain't gonna cry about it. It's their money to waste."

So, the old lady was mistaking them for a couple? Interesting. Luke wondered why. Their mannerisms certainly didn't suggest it.

"Rain? Rain White? Here!" one of the kids asked, while the other one gawked. "Fuck me sideways!"

"It's Phillips, now," she said. "And watch your tongue in front of your grandma, Sophie."

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