Page 42 of The Witch's Shifter
I crack one eye open and give her a tired smile. “That was fast.”
Her lips curl up on one side. “I’ve been waiting to get you alone since you got home tonight,” she says, leaning forward to brace her hands against my chest. She slides off of me by a few inches, then right back on. She’s deliciously wet. “I missed you so much.”
My eye closes again as she leans all the way down to press a kiss to my lips. I’ve missed her taste, the feel of her mouth against mine.
After Belinda, I wasn’t so sure I’d ever fall in love again, but now I’m in so deep that I don’t think I’ll ever find my way back. Everything now is Aurora.
When Aurora breaks our kiss to resume gliding up and down my length, I whisper, “I love you.”
Her pussy tightens around me. “I love you too, Alden.”
It’s like the first time every time she says my name. Especially when I’m inside her.
I can usually last formuchlonger than this, but I’m too tired to hold back, and with my name on her lips like that, I’ve got no hope of holding out.
With a grunt, I grip her hips and spill everything I have into her—one of the perks of her being pregnant. She takes it with a fluttering gasp, her chest rising and falling rapidly, then leans down again and gives me a deep kiss.
“Aurora,” I whisper as she pulls away. But my voice sounds distant, like it’s drifting off, or like I’m underwater. The room is dark and warm and smells like her, and if I was exhausted before, I don’t even have a word for what I am now.
The last thing I feel is Aurora sliding off of me and cuddling up against my side, her body curling around mine, and then I’m encompassed in black.
It’s so good to be home.
Chapter 22
Aurora
THE DAY ISFINALLYHERE. The window in the parlor is fixed, the autumn sun is shining, and my family should be here any minute. It felt like this moment would never arrive, but now it has.
Harrison sits upon a sun-warmed boulder at my side, his tail swishing behind him, eyes trained on Wysteria Way, the main road leading to Wysteria from Faunwood. This is where the wagon carrying my family will arrive. Any moment now, we should hear the wagon creaking down the road, and my sister’s beautiful silver hair should come into view.
The thought of pulling her into my arms makes me so giddy I can barely stand still.
Alden and Rowan stand on either side of me, and Faolan is here too, though he’s lingering farther back, leaning against a pine tree a short distance from the wagon stop. He’s been with us for a couple weeks now, but he’s not relaxed around the men as much as I’d hoped. He still barely speaks to them, and it’s made for a tense atmosphere in Brookside. Hopefully theharvest festival and Samhain will shake loose some of the weight that’s been lurking around the cottage lately.
“Are you excited?” Alden asks. He’s wearing the new pair of trousers I bought for him to make up for the ones Faolan destroyed, and they hug his broad legs flatteringly. His cloak flaps lightly in the breeze, and his dark curls gleam in the late-morning sun.
On my other side, Rowan looks radiant, as always. His red hair is vibrant, the long locks hanging around his smooth pale face. He’s wearing an emerald-green tunic with golden stitching, and his fitted trousers are tucked into a pair of polished black boots. It’s the first time I’ve seen him in such formal clothing, and it reminds me that he comes from nobility. It’s easy to forget when he’s feeding the chickens in bare feet or helping me in the kitchen, flour dusted across his cheeks. Seeing him now, though, it’s clear he hails from wealth the likes of which I’ve never seen. Still, he smiles when he meets my eyes, and it’s that same grin he’s always given me—lighthearted and a little bit silly.
My gaze slides to Faolan. Leaning against the tree with his arms crossed, he looks... unapproachable, to say the very least. His inky hair shadows half of his face, and his body language makes it clear he’d rather not be approached. When he sees me looking, he holds my gaze, but his lips don’t turn up.
I know this isn’t what he wants—I’ve learned over these weeks that he’s a bit of a loner, someone who prefers being in the woods by themselves over being surrounded by people. And there’s a bit of that in me too. I just hope that, in time, we can find a way for him to fit into the family.
Family.
I suppose that’s what we’ve become. We may be a bit rough around the edges, and goddess knows we’re not perfect, but we have love, and that’s the most important thing of all.
My heart already feels full to bursting when Harrison says, “She’s here!”
A little laugh puffs from me; he couldn’t care less about my mother or even Wyland, Selene’s husband. In his eyes, Selene is the only one who matters. I suppose that’s a testament to who she is, with her open heart and never-ending well of empathy and compassion. Harrison picks his people with care; it’s one of the many things I admire about him.
The wagon rattles up the path, with three people sitting in the back. Selene is already waving a hand over her head, and I wave back, lifting up onto my toes as if that’ll help her see me better. Behind me, Rowan chuckles.
I grip my skirt in my hands to keep from vibrating out of my skin with excitement.
I can’t believe she’s here!
Finally, the wagon comes to a stop, and Wyland is the first to climb out. Long and lanky, with golden hair and sun-kissed lashes, he’s always reminded me of a willow tree. He wraps me in a big hug, and I squeeze him back.
