Page 32 of Love's a Witch
“You’ve been very clear you want me gone. And now you’re at my party, dancing with me.” Sloane’s eyebrows winged up her forehead, and I couldn’t help myself. I reached out and smoothed a silky strand of hair off her cheek, tucking it behind her ear, and her lips parted ever so slightly. I wanted a taste more than anything I’d ever wanted in my life.
The craving was so strong that I forced myself to step back, to turn away and follow the movements of the dance as other couples moved down the line. Why was I doing this to myself? Sloane was public enemy number one, as my parents had made exquisitely clear, and allowing myself to lean into my hunger for her was like playing with fire. So what if I’d had a stupid schoolboy crush? That was then and this was now. Circumstances were far different, and the fate of Briarhaven hung in my tenuous grasp.
A flash of red drew my eyes as Sloane whirled past with her next partner, and I swallowed.
Bloody hell, why did she have to be so stunning?
“Careful, lad, or your mouth will freeze like that.” Raven tapped my chin, forcing my lips closed, and I realized that she was my next partner. I’d literally stopped dancing as I’d gaped after Sloane, and I had to shake my head to clear my thoughts.
“Raven. Don’t you look bonnie tonight.”
“Thank you,” Raven said, threading her arm through mine as we fell into step. “But it’s not me you’re pining after.”
“There’s no pining.” Was I pining? Bloody hell, half the town was here. I hoped nobody else had noticed what Raven had.
“Maybe you should stop trying to push the sisters out, and help them instead,” Raven said, as we took a turn dancing down the middle of the floor.
“It’s a centuries-old curse. The Charms barely contained it years ago; what makes you think that will change now?” Surely the Charms had done everything in their power to break the curse, hadn’t they? The combined force of their coven’s magick, and those that came before the current iteration, should have been enough to change something about the curse.
“Because Broca had a vision. Sloane and her sisters are the first of three. It will take all three of them to break it. Give them time.”
“I don’t know if Briarhaven has time. Do you see it out there?” I jerked a thumb toward the outside. “What if this goes on for months? Business will dry up. There will be inquiries.”
“So fix it.” Raven shrugged a shoulder.
“I’m trying to. The simplest solution is usually the best.” I glanced up to see Sloane glaring at me from across the room, as though she could read my lips. I startled as my hat lifted and went flying from my head, landing with a plop in the bin across the room.
“I see someone discovered her magick today,” I said. Keeping my eyes on Sloane, I used my magick to lift the hat and return it to myside. There, I dusted it off in my hands, before storming across the floor and cutting off Sloane’s next dance partner.
“You’ve got your magick now, I see. Don’t you think it’s time for you to go?” I lowered my head, my face close enough to hers that I could see the little flecks of gold in her green eyes. A soft, citrusy scent hit me. It reminded me of sipping sangria on a sunny beach.
“I know you live in a castle”—Sloane’s breath teased my lips—“and everyone in Briarhaven loves you and bows to your every word. But you, sir, are not the king of me.”
Something about the way she phrased it made me want to be, though—the king of her, in the bedroom, her silky dress pooled at the side of my bed, my hands wrapping a curtain tassel around her wrists to keep her restrained, bending her body to my will. Her defiance brought out a dominant side in me that I hadn’t known I had, and I found myself craving her touch. Maybe it had been too long since I’d been with a woman, or maybe because it was Sloane Freaking MacGregor, who had played many a role in my hormone-filled fantasies in high school. But I wasn’t a teenager anymore, and Sloane was all woman. It was enough to almost bring me to my knees. I couldn’t say I liked it either.
“Not a king, no,” I said, my voice husky. “But a protector. Of this town. And you’ll do well to heed my words, Sloane. I will see you leave before your curse ruins us all.”
“You really know how to show a girl a good time on her birthday, don’t you?”
Goddess above, but I wanted to show her a good time. For weeks preferably. Instead, I stepped back when her sisters joined her side.
“Everything good here?” Lyra trilled, in a sky-blue dress that looked like bandages wrapped around her body.
“Aye,” Sloane said, biting her lower lip and sending my libido rocketing. “Knox was just leaving, wasn’t he?”
“Och, I’ll go tonight, witchling.” I bent close to her ear and caught her quick intake of breath. “But you’ll be the one leaving in the end. Understood?”
I don’t know why she brought out this side in me. If I was honest with myself, a sliver of fear rippled through me every time she was close by.
There was just something about Sloane and her witchy eyes that made me think my future would be irrevocably changed if I let the MacGregors stay. It was like I was the captain of a ship heading into a gnarly storm, and all I could do was batten down the hatches, hold tight to the wheel, and brace myself for impact.
CHAPTER TENSloane
Despite my misgivings, last night’s cèilidh had been surprisingly fun even with the lack of attendees.
Except for one notable moment.
Why did he have to wear his kilt?
