Page 39 of Riot of Autumn

“I knew something happened in the closet.” Zara grins at me.

“Okay, can I ask a question?” Miri asks.

“I might not answer,” I reply with a shrug.

“Why haven’t you guys hooked up before? You always seem two seconds away from making out with each other when you’re arguing. So why haven’t you?”

That’s a complicated question that I really don’t want to get into. Not when I haven’t even spoken to Ezra about it. And if I’m going to air out dirty laundry, I should probably give him the chance to explain things to me. I’ve avoided asking him about certain events in our past because I wanted to push them out of my mind. But it turns out I’m not great at forgiving and forgetting. I am an excellent grudge holder, though.

“I should probably talk to him about that first.”

“You really should, Ruby.” Lena reaches out and rubs my arm. I hear Ezra laugh in the other room and nervous bats swoop around in my stomach.

“Yeah.”

14

EZRA

My morning has been a shitshow. Ashley Chester’s dog ate an entire loaf of bread, including the bag, off the kitchen counter. He puked it up about two minutes after she got him into the exam room. Then Christopher Perly brought his cat Buttons in because he thinks she’s suffering from depression. She’s not. She’s just an asshole. Christopher calls at least once a month to have me come over and observe her in her natural habitat. I do, because I fucking love animals, but Buttons is a bitch. She likes to scratch up furniture, chew on cords, and has a real thing for stealing underwear. So now my forearms are scratched up like I’ve had a fucking fantastic night instead of a tedious morning.

I’m sitting at my desk doing some paperwork when the front door chimes again. My office is just off the waiting area of the clinic, and I always keep my door open. Murray, the shy, jittery man, who works for me part time isn’t in today, so I’m fending for myself. I hired him hoping he’d come out of his shell a bit and I think he has. It’s not usually a big deal, but today I really want to shut my door and pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist.

I take a drink of water and prepare myself to be polite.

“Hello,” a high-pitched voice calls out from the front. “Can someone help me? I’ve lost control of my pussy.”

My water sprays out over my desk as I choke on laughter, just as Ruby pokes her head into my office.

“Christ, Ruby, I could have died. I was mid-drink.”

“It’s dangerous dealing with pussy all day long.” She laughs as she strides into my office, looking like sin and spite all wrapped up in a confusing package.

She’s wearing a pair of skintight red jeans, and a strappy white shirt that wraps across her body. It looks like she left her hair to dry in natural waves today, and it hangs down her back in a fall of purple. She doesn’t have a ton of makeup on, but her lips are as red as her pants.

“Please stop saying pussy.” My intention is to sound commanding, but the words come out full of lust.

Ruby laughs as she flops onto one of the chairs in front of my desk, but I immediately scent her fucking arousal. This enhanced smell and goddamned hearing is incredible. It’s also, torture.

“Can’t handle a little kitty joke?” Her eyes narrow as she shifts in her seat, crossing her legs and then uncrossing them.

Why is she nervous? And why is she here? Ruby doesn’t normally come to my clinic for visits. My schedule is simply too erratic. Sometimes I’m at the clinic, but there might be walk-ins or emergency patients. Other times I’m doing house calls and I’m just not here.

“I’ve already had claws dug into me today. I don’t think I’m prepared for more damage right now.” My words aren’t a lie, but I mean it in more than the literal sense. Ever since I kissed Ruby, my head’s been messed up. All I can think about is how much I want her. How I’ve wanted her for longer than I can remember. And how she’s pushed me away again and again, but never explained why.

“How’s the necklace feel?” Ruby crosses her legs again, and my eyes track down her body and back up without my permission. My mind flashes to the closet and the sight of her perfect breasts and mouth-watering ass.

“It’s magical.” The chain is long, so it hangs close to my heart. My fingers drift over the spot above my shirt and there’s almost an imperceptible pulse of magic that jumps from it. It wasn’t doing it earlier, but it’s like it senses Ruby is near and recognizes its maker. Or maybe it’s my magic and not the necklace acting up because she’s close.

Ruby huffs out an awkward laugh and shifts again in her seat, picking at a small hole in the knee of her pants.

“Is everything okay? Not that I’m complaining about the visit…it’s just unusual.”

Ruby’s all but squirming in her seat, looking more uncomfortable than I’ve seen her in a long time. She doesn’t tend to show her discomfort physically. She lashes out with words, but she’s not doing that right now. That alone concerns me.

“Is it your magic? Did Colton or the Duke or any of those assholes do something to you?” I’m already rising out of my chair before Ruby throws up a hand to stop me.

“No. It’s not that.” She blows out a long, exasperated breath.

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