Page 16 of Can't Bite This Feeling
Verity’s eyes light up. “Oh! It’s so nice to meet you!” She beams at me with such open kindness that it nearly breaks me. “You’re new? Welcome to Screaming Woods, the weirdest place you’ll ever love.”
I open my mouth, trying to form words, but my attention is momentarily hijacked by one of the snakes poking out from under Gideon’s collar. It blinks at me.
“Um,” I manage, “you have a snake on your shoulder.”
Gideon’s grin goes wide, a little wicked. “Ah, that’s Marius. Don’t mind him. He’s nosy. The others are asleep.”
Verity rolls her eyes fondly. “And snoring,” she adds, elbowing her husband gently.
At that moment, Gordy reaches up to adjust his beanie, and a small, green snake pops its head out, tongue darting with clear curiosity.
“Sheila,” Gordy sighs, “please behave.”
Sheila ignores him completely, locking eyes with me and giving a dramatic littlehissssthat sounds suspiciously like a greeting.
Verity chuckles, then eyes me with a playful spark. “You get used to it, trust me. Gorgon snakes are like moody cats. They want all your attention until they don’t.”
Rapha snorts softly, but I catch the relief in his eyes, as if he’s grateful I’m smiling instead of panicking.
Alice props one hip against the counter and smirks. “It’s nice to have another broody man around, Rapha. Gideon and Gordy were getting cocky, thinking they’d cornered the market on tragic supernatural brooding.”
Gideon clutches his chest dramatically. “Excuse me, tragic and broody is a classic look. Don’t shame the style.”
Verity pats her belly and grins at me. “Listen, we’re having a baby shower in a couple of weeks. Our first little half-human, half-gorgon miracle. Youhaveto come. Please. I’d love more female energy in the room with all these scaly boys.”
My laugh surprises me. It’s light and real, the first since waking up in this strange place. “I’d love that,” I breathe. “Thank you.”
Rapha slides his hand around my waist, and I feel his tension ease. For the first time, I believe we might have a place here, strange as it is.
Alice leans forward, conspiratorial. “And if you ever need help adjusting, or you want to hex someone who annoys you, I’m your witch. Well, a witch with a dash of ancient gorgon-huntress DNA, but let’s not split hairs.”
“Ancient huntress?” I echo, eyes wide.
Alice shrugs, grinning. “It’s complicated. Let’s just say I’m good at handling guys with snakes for hair.”
Everyone laughs, even Rapha, low and warm, and the sound melts something frozen in my chest.
Maybe I could belong here.
Maybe we both could.
After we say goodbye to Alice, Gordy, Gideon, and Verity, Rapha leads me back out into the square, my fingers still tangled with his. The world outside the bookshop feels less terrifying now, less like a waking nightmare, and more like a place that might let us start again.
We wander past a fountain where fish leap through water that glows faintly blue, and Rapha’s attention snags on a sign across the street.
“Hungry?” he asks, one dark brow arched.
I laugh as my stomach tightens and growls. “Starving.”
I don’t tell him that food isn’t the only thing I’m starving for. Rapha is larger than life in every way, and my body craves the intimate connection we once shared so long ago. Although for me, the years passed in the blink of an eye. They must have seemed endless for Rapha. I’m still humbled by the truth of it, that he waited, that he sacrificed everything for me.
Rapha’s thumb brushes the inside of my wrist, like he can sense the tangled ache of my thoughts. His crimson eyes soften, warm enough to melt me where I stand.
“Come on,” he murmurs, voice low and velvet-dark. “Let’s feed you before I’m tempted to carry you back to the inn and skip food entirely.”
Heat floods my cheeks, but I laugh, breathless and wild, letting him guide me toward the bakery. It’s tucked between a men’s fashion shop and a candle stall, its name painted in curling script:Conjure and Crumb.The aroma drifting out the door is warm and sweet, with a note of something vaguely… dangerous.
Inside, the glass cases are filled withSoulspice Piesthat sparkle faintly like they’ve been dusted with stardust,Dreamslip Eclairsthat twitch as if dreaming, andDoom Donutsdripping violet glaze, pulsing faintly with something that might be forbidden magic.
