Page 108 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

Connor kissed my cheek. “I’m hitting the shower while I have the chance.”

“What do you want to eat? I’m starved.”

“There’s nothing in the house and you’re not going out.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa… despite youtryingto tell me what to do, let’s play the ‘all the ways Simone’s not stupid’ game.”

“Simone, I know?—”

I held my finger up, signaling him to zip it. “One,” I started. “There are demons trying to kill me. Two: According to you, the demons will think we’ve hightailed it out of town, so going out would give our position away. Three: I have magic. I canmanifest us a freaking meal. Four: I don’t feel like leaving this bed until absolutely necessary. And let’s face it, that tops my list of important things right now.”

“You done?”

“Be a good dog and shower. If you’re clean, I’ll let you sleep in the bed and I might even give you belly scratches before you go to sleep.”

He charged me. I might’ve known exactly what I was doing. I giggled as he trapped me between the bed and his body. “Flea shampoo’s on the shower rack.” And that was where all teasing stopped, unless you counted Connor teasing my lady bits. I went from zero to naked from the waist down in .057 seconds. His mouth found me and—whoa! Thank you universe.

Every touch of his hand, every nip from his teeth brought me closer to my personal heaven. I squirmed beneath him, needing to touch him but whenever I reached a hand out to run through his hair or grab hold of his shoulder, he’d stop, leaving me in carnal agony.

I gripped the sheets instead, widening my legs to give him more access to me.

Everyone… should… have a Connor… I closed my eyes, letting the sensation from his mouth take me over. My heart pounded and my breaths left me in tiny spurts. Nothing in the world felt as good as Connor’s mouth—or other parts—on me.

In the middle of finding greatness, my grandmother popped into my head.

“You can’t be here,” I shouted.

She laughed.Laughed. “Simone, do you remember how many children I had? This is nothing.”

“It’s not nothing to me. And what he’s doing won’t make children.”

My millennials-dead, spirit-guide grandmother laughed even harder at me. I found myself stuck between trying to enjoyevery new thing my mate did to me and not letting Lilith know exactly how skilled he was—if you get my drift. Finally, it got too uncomfortable.

“Is there a reason you’re here?” I asked. Not harshly, but Connor’s tongue made a special kind of magic, the kind that no one else on the planet made. Not even me.

“The vent in the room past the kitchen. There is dried blood from where the intruder scraped themselves while looking for the grimoire. You need to take it to Victoria Rivers.”

“Blood to Victoria,” I said. “Got it.”

“What?” Connor asked.

Lilith left me just as fast as she’d shown up.

If the choice was left to me—and let’s face it, all choices in this relationship were mine—I wanted to spend a normal night in bed with my mate recharging my battery, but Lilith showing up meant more than her giving guidance. How selfish of me to sleep soundly in a soft bed when so many of our witch sisters had already lost their lives, and I still didn’t know Lily Joy’s whereabouts. Was she safe? Was she alive?

“Connor, we need to get the vent from the den and get it to Victoria Rivers.”

“That’s incredibly random.” He started running kisses over my bared skin and it… felt… great. “You sure I can’t convince you to wait until tomorrow?” Yes. Yes, he absolutely could—no, he couldn’t. We needed to dress. We had to move.

I reluctantly shook my head. “My grandmother popped in while you were… well, you wereentertainingme.”

He choked out a cough. “Lilith showed while I was going down on you.”

I shrugged. “Not the best timing.”

To be honest, I thought he’d blow a gasket, but instead, he rolled his eyes to the ceiling and sort of laugh-sighed. “Let’s get dressed.”

Disappointment. I’d been hoping he’d use his hands and mouth to protest my plan. I frowned, pulling my bra cups back into place under the T-shirt. At least I got to wear my favorite pair of Converse.

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