Page 4 of Spice
So, I say the only thing that makes sense. The only answer I can possibly give him.
“Yes.”
Two
Ezra
I sip my drink, watching the achingly lovely Willow flit around the coffee shop, loading mugs into a dishwasher, wiping down the counter and the tables, cashing out the register. She keeps looking at me, and every time she does, it’s like velvet rubbing over my skin. I sit in the corner, one ankle propped over my knee, trying to look as though the sands of my hourglass aren’t about to run out. What’s another twenty minutes when I’ve been living with this axe over my head for the past fifty years?
I can’t stop watching her. Staring at her. Drinking in the sight of her like she’s an oasis and I’ve been walking through a desert for the past five decades. And yes, I’m relieved I’ve found her so that I can break the curse, and you know,notdie. But there’s more to this. I knew it the moment I sipped the drink she’d made for me, the one infused with her magic.
The wordminehad pounded through me in a way I’ve never experienced before, and believe me, I’ve experienced a lot of weird and unexplainable things during my two-hundred and forty-one years on this planet.
She knocks over a cup holding spoons, spending them clattering onto the floor and mutters a curse under her breath, that gorgeous pink magic shimmering in the air around her. I frown, remembering the way she’d denied her power. Why isn’t she aware of how powerful she is? Why didn’t she know that she’s an Everwane, like me?
These are questions I can seek answers to once I know I’m not about to shrivel up into a pile of dust.
She pops back up from behind the counter, her auburn bun wobbling precariously on top of her head. The fact that I find her breathtakingly beautiful is no surprise, given the connection between us. I’m sure to most, she looks like a pretty girl next door, with her clear skin, warm brown eyes flecked with gold, and womanly curves. But to me, she looks like a goddess. I’m already thinking about sliding my fingers into her hair, wondering if it’s as soft to the touch as it looks. I’m already thinking about what I’m going to do with all of those curves, how perfectly she’ll fill my palms. I wonder if she’s ever noticed, or if anyone’s ever told her about the mesmerizing way those flecks of gold in her eyes glow when her magic activates.
She glances over at me, and our eyes meet, making my pulse skip and then race ahead. I’ve never been so acutely aware of my own heartbeat. Our gazes hold and the magic in the air around us pulses, making the lights flicker again. She sucks in a breath and looks away, cheeks pink, as she returns to closing up the coffee shop.
Relief and anticipation mingle together in my chest. I’m going to do it. I’m going to actually break this curse that I thought was going to be the death of me.
And in doing so, I just may have found something worth living for. If Willow is truly…I blow out a breath, pushing the thoughts away. Break the curse first, then worry about the future and who we might be to each other.
Who you are to each otherwhispers a little voice in the back of my head.
I toy with the silver ring on my finger, the rune engraved on it humming softly. It started humming the moment I stepped in here, and it’s been intensifying ever since. It’s reacting to her presence, her magic.
Goddess, am I glad I had a craving for a pumpkin spice latte this evening, and the coffee shop in Moonveil, the next town over where I live, was already closed for the day. To think, this little witch has been under my nose, scant kilometers away, all this time.
I watch Willow work, observing the way she moves, the cute way she mutters to herself under her breath. I can’t seem to stop watching her. I can’t believe I found her.
“Okay, I’m ready,” she says, untying the peach-coloured apron from around her hips. “Let’s…um. Let’s go.”
I stand and wait for her by the door while she gathers her things, and then I hold it open for her. She glances up at me as she passes, and I can see everything she’s feeling shining out at me through those gold flecks. She’s nervous, but not scared. She’s intrigued. Incredibly curious.
And turned on. I can see it in the rose gold flicker that comes and goes.
She wants me. Good. I want her, too. More than I’ve already let on.
She locks the coffee shop door, the cold night air swirling around us. Tree branches sway in the gentle wind, making shadows dance across the pavement. The street is lit up, with several of the shops and cafes still open. Everywhere I look, I see signs of Halloween—jack-o’-lanterns on doorsteps, skeletons and ghosts in windows, eerie orange and purple lighting. There’s even a fake cemetery in the park on the corner. I can hear Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” from somewhere down the road.
I look back down at Willow to find her peering up at me. She looks breathtaking in the dim lighting, the shadows highlighting the soft, feminine planes of her face. Soon, she’ll be wearing nothing but starlight as we join together to break the curse.
My cock starts to stiffen at the thought. It strikes me then that I’d want her even if I didn’t need her to break this curse. I’d want this pretty little witch for my own no matter the circumstances.
Which only adds to the growing evidence that she and I are written in the stars.
“Um, so…how does a two-hundred and forty-year-old warlock get around? Do you disappear into mist? Have you got a broom stashed somewhere?”
“Two-hundred and forty-one,” I say, smirking at her. I reach into my pocket for my keys and unlock my car, which gives a merry little chirp. “And I drive a Mercedes.” I gesture at the black car parked on the road.
“Oh. Right. Of course,” she says, and even in the low lighting, I can tell she’s blushing. Goddess, do I like making her blush. We walk towards the car, and I glance at her, eyebrow arched. “You really expected me to fly off on a broom?”
She laughs, the sound ringing out and making my chest feel tight. “No. Of course not. That would be as ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as a gorgeous semi-immortal warlock telling me he needs to bang me to break a curse and save his life.”
I laugh too, opening her door for her. “Well, when you put it that way, it does sound somewhat suspect.” My smile fades. “But you do believe me, don’t you?”
