“So what is it that’s so complicated?” He looked down at the floor, a scowl overtaking his rugged features. “It’s not…shit, there isn’t someone else?”
“What? No!”
In a flash that sexy smile was back along with the determined glint in Rafe’s eyes. “Then whatever it is, we can figure it out.”
Maybe she should have told him there was someone else. She had the sense he was the kind of guy who wouldn’t be cool with that. Only seeing that look on his face when the possibility occurred to him—she couldn’t take it.
Though it physically hurt to do it, she pulled her hands back. “Rafe, it’s not you.”
“Oh, shit. It’s that bad?” he said, only half laughing. “You’re giving me the it’s not you, it’s me line?”
“No. It’s not me, either. It’s something…outside of us.” She shot a scathing look at Opal, who was shamelessly eavesdropping at the end of the bar. “Come on, let’s sit down a minute.”
They moved to one of the booths lining the far wall and sat. She’d lay it out, plain and simple. Just tell him what Opal had done. She’d sound loony, but that would definitely get rid of him, and without having to bring up Aaron.
Just thinking about him had her glancing at the ceiling, wondering if he was back. She’d been relieved not to have had to deal with him the night before, but it really was a long time not to hear from him.
“So you were just about to tell me what it is, since it’s not me and it’s not you…which for the record sounds a whole lot like we ought to tell it to screw off.”
Her eyes closed and she gave into a soft laugh. He really wasn’t a quitter. If only things could have been different.
Clearing her throat, she met his eyes. “It’s a spell.”
“Come again?” Rafe narrowed his eyes, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
Here it came. The laughter, and his efficient exit. Might as well to get it over with now. “A spell, as in magic. A curse. My well intentioned, painfully misguided, novice witch sister cast a spell on us last night and it sort of drew us together. Powerfully.”
His jaw cocked to the side. “Okay, for the sake of argument, why?”
“I don’t have a lot of dates, so she decided to step in and hook me up.” It was a humiliating reveal, but she didn’t have any other choice. She looked up at him. “I know this sounds like I’m grasping at straws so I don’t have to take responsibility for my actions, but—“
“But the spell made you do it.” Rafe was watching her now, probably waiting for the punchline. And she didn’t have one.
“That’s right.”
Finally, he asked, “So, what exactly are you telling me? That if it hadn’t been for your sister’s dabbling in the occult, you wouldn’t have been interested?”
Oh geeze, Opal wasn’t going to like that dabbling comment. And now that she’d proven her spells could work, Kayla was going to have to keep an eye on her. Smooth her feathers.
But first—“No, I’m saying that my interest might not have been quite so extreme. I’m saying that the way we’re feeling, the intensity isn’t…organic. This connection between us is magic.”
“That would be an awesome line, if you didn’t seem so disappointed when you said it.” Rafe laughed and shook his head. “So you feel a connection, and it’s strong?”
“Almost irresistible, yes. But it isn’t real.”
He should have been getting up to leave by now, but instead he was just sitting there, studying her from across the table. He reached for her hand and rubbed his thumb across her knuckle. “Here’s the thing, Kayla. I’m more of a see it to believe it kind of guy. I don’t believe in magic. So I’m not gonna be able to give you up over that.”
All the more reason to expect that this burgeoning relationship didn’t have a chance. See it to believe it didn’t bode well for holidays around a Ouija board.
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Rafe, you have to. I’m worried I won’t be able to resist you. But because of the spell, not because of what’s really between us. It won’t be fair to either one of us.”
“For the sake of discussion, if your sister did her little spell thing yesterday… then how do you explain that I’ve been thinking about you for a year straight? This connection you don’t believe in…I felt it the night I left town, I felt it for a year, and I felt it when I got up yesterday morning, hell bent on getting to you before the night was through. How do you explain that?”
She didn’t know how to explain it but she knew the magic was real, and that her actions the night before weren’t.
Maybe the spell only worked on her. Hope bloomed in her chest, making her heart beat double time. Maybe what Rafe was feeling was real. Maybe this amazing guy who’d taken a piece of her heart when he left for Portland twelve months before really was there for all the right reasons.
Her eyes met his, locking them together. “You really felt this way since last year?”
“Yeah, Kayla. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. This is different for me. Special.” His gaze dropped to the table before coming back to hers. “I still can’t believe you’re single. That there isn’t a line of guys trying to knock me on my ass for talking to you.”
No. Only one.
And like that, the hope drained out, leaving her cold.
There was more at issue than magic alone. She couldn’t get involved, knowing what Aaron did to her dates.
She had to put a stop to this. “My family is protective of me when it comes to men. They can be…intimidating.”
“I don’t scare easily, and I’ve got to tell you—I’m a pretty decent guy.” His cocky grin settled into seriousness. “Maybe your family should meet me, so I can take you someplace nicer than the stairwell behind the bar.”
“If you meet my family, you’ll run like hell.”
Another shake of his head, and that too-confident smile. “I don’t intimidate easy.”
She wanted to believe him. God, the way he was looking at her, she wanted to just take his hand and go. Leave everything behind and for once just let a man love her. But she never would.
Deep down, she could never give up Aaron and Opal like that.
She smiled weakly, knowing there was only one thing left she could do.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
* * * * *
What awaited them in her apartment, Rafe could only guess, but whatever it was, he had a sense Kayla was expecting it to run him off. Not gonna to happen. Sure, she’d surprised the hell out of him with that spell talk. It wasn’t how he thought. That said, the fact that she believed in something more than he could see didn’t put him off. Yeah, he’d be down with it a hell of a lot more if she’d been more in the love like magic camp, rather than love like a curse.
Love?
Damn, it was too soon for that—even if he’d been half thinking it as he drove out of town a year ago today. Even if it had been on the tip of his tongue when they’d been in this very spot the night before.
Kayla didn’t hesitate, taking the stairs two at a time. Guess she was eager to offer up the crash course she was so sure would get rid of him once and for all. Only as they approached the landing she slowed her steps, then stopped to give him a tentative look over her shoulder.
He shook his head. “No way, Kayla. No backing out now.”
She glanced up at the door, and then back to him with sad apprehension in her eyes. “I believe in the spell. But for what it’s worth, I knew there was a connection between us already. It was just a matter of degree.”
“Okay.” He took her hand. “I’ll take that as a start.”
She took the last couple of stairs and paused at the door. “It’s not the start,” she said and pushed it open.
He wasn’t sure if she meant the start had been when he’d first laid eyes on her a year ago, or if she meant it was the end. But her meaning became secondary when he got his first look at her apartment. Leaves and twigs had collected in the corner
s, and more blew in through the open windows as he watched. Burnt down candles and board games littered the counters and floors, and clothing was strewn about over the furniture. In short, there was crap everywhere.
Kayla stopped in front of him, seeming to wait for his response to the sty she called home. He placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze to reassure her. While he was pretty sure he didn’t want her to treat him to a home cooked meal in this place, the mess wasn’t reason enough to make him walk away. Yeah, sometimes he ironed his t-shirts. And since he’d moved into his place at midnight, he’d already managed to unpack. But it wasn’t like he was some kind of a neat freak. He could deal with this.
“Honey, a lot of people don’t know how to clean. My mother actually goes to this website, fly-woman or bug-lady or something like that, that breaks cleaning into manageable steps. It might be good for you, too, if you’re have trouble getting organized.”
“What?” She looked at him like he was crazy. Maybe the state of the apartment wasn’t the crash course.
“Nothing. Um, what did you want to show me?” he asked.
A strange glint flashed in her eyes and she spun around, peering this way and that. She cleared her throat and then waited some more, her head cocked slightly as if she were listening for something.
Rafe leaned closer. “What are we waiting for?”
“Shh,” she snapped, chewing on the inside of her cheek.
Chastised, he tried whispering. “What—?”
Kayla shot him a scrutinizing glance and took his hand. Looking around, she wove her fingers through his. When nothing happened, she furrowed her brow and moved his hand to her butt, nodding at him.
This was ridiculous. “Kayla—”
She wiggled against the palm of his hand and motioned for him to continue.
Raising an eyebrow, he figured why not and gave her perfect ass a nice squeeze and then checked for her approval. This was definitely weird. Not even close to romantic. So what—Then it clicked, and his senses tingled. He went on alert.
“Shit, Kayla, are you expecting your brother to jump me?” What the fuck? No way was Kayla one of those psycho chicks who lured guys in, getting off on the violence they were about to meet.
No way he was that wrong about her.
“He wouldn’t jump you, but I thought for sure you’d meet him.” Frustrated, she glanced around in confusion. “That would be enough.”
“Enough for what?” he asked, raking a hand through his hair. He had to be reading this wrong.
He was. He could see it in her haunted eyes.
“You said you were a see it to believe it guy…I thought—” Breaking off, she grabbed his hand again and pulled him down to the end of the hall. Rafe halted at the threshold, recognizing a bedroom when he saw one, but she pulled him into it with a firm yank and planted his captive hand on her breast.
He jerked it back, reaching for her hand instead. “Kayla, what are you expecting to happen? There’s no one here but us. Just talk to me and I know we can figure it out.”
“There’s no way,” she murmured, sounding genuinely stunned as she turned in a slow circle. “We’re alone?” She blinked, as if being alone in her bedroom was the most unique experience of her life. And like that, she was the woman he knew again, the woman from the year before.
Leaning into her, he tucked a wild red curl behind her ear. “Yeah, we’re alone. So lets talk.”
Her lips parted like she might have been about to explain, but then she looked away shaking her head.
“Then why did we come up here, Kayla. I know you thought if we did, I’d give up. So either tell me what’s so bad, or just,” he reached for her shoulder, gently pulling her back to him. “Just stop fighting me.”
Her eyes had gone liquid, and she blinked, wiping at them. “I don’t want to fight you,” she whispered. “I want this to be everything it feels like.”
Jesus, those tears were killing him. Pulling her into his arms, he held her, letting her melt against him.
Nothing had ever felt better in his life, than Kayla leaning on him, her brow against his chest, her fingers wound in his shirt. Tipping her head back so all that red silk spilled past her shoulders, he searched her eyes. “Then stop fighting and let it.”
Without giving her the chance to reply, he pressed his lips to hers. One kiss, that’s all he’d intended. But then Kayla was kissing him back, and he was sinking deeper into the give of her mouth.
When he drew back, she was breathless and flushed. Beautiful.
“Okay, Rafe,” she whispered, a hint of the smile that drove him wild there on her lips.
And then she was reaching for him, pulling him in for more of her kisses. Moaning around the thrust of his tongue and shifting against him like she couldn’t get close enough. Like she’d truly given in.
There were still questions, but there would be time for explanations tomorrow. For now he had everything he needed.
Kayla stilled in his arms and, looking up at him, whispered, “We’re really alone.” She looked around and then back to him, a laugh bubbling free. “We can do it in a bed. In my bed.”
That caught his attention. “What are you talking about?”
She didn’t answer. She was too busy pulling at his clothes, her motions bordering on frantic. “Hurry.”
“Your bed?” he asked, grabbing his shirt and pulling it over head. “How long has it been since you’ve done it in your bed?”
“Never,” she gasped.
“What?” He couldn’t believe it, but the way she was tearing at his clothes was evidence of her desperation. Blood thundered into his cock. He would be the first man to make love to her in her own bed. He should go slow, make it last all night—
“Hurry!”
Or he could give the lady what she wanted. Grasping her firmly by the waist, he set her back on the bed and followed her down.
Chapter Five
The weight of Rafe’s body on top of her, coupled with the soft give of the mattress beneath her, sent Kayla into ecstasy. She rocked her hips and reveled in the lack of seat belts jamming into her spine, bricks rubbing her shoulders, or splinters digging into her butt. She was in a bed—her bed—and she was with Rafe.
Maybe it wasn’t fair, maybe she was being selfish— sure as hell, she was being reckless—but she’d never had an opportunity like this before, and who knew if she’d ever have one again. Rafe wanted her. Like maybe enough that even with Aaron and Opal and the insanity that was her life, she wouldn’t have to give him up. The temptation was too much to resist.
She pulled at the buttons on his fly, freeing his cock as she kicked at his pants trying to push them off his body.
Rafe pulled a condom from his back pocket and dropped it on the pillow before working his pants off his feet and shucking them to the side of the bed with a kick. Then he was above her, helping her out of her clothes until they were both naked. His long, lean body pinned her, and he gave her a lingering kiss before meeting her gaze.
“You won’t regret this.”
She nodded. God, she hoped not.
No more rushing, no more racing. Only them. Rafe kissed her. The slow glide of his lips, tender and unhurried, slipped beneath her defenses and settled into her soul.
Kayla opened to him, taking the wet velvet caress of his tongue as a wave of sensual awareness washed through her. Heat warmed her body and limbs, and a simmering sensation danced across the surface of her skin. So different from last night’s flash flame. With every soft probe of his tongue, pulsing waves of anticipation stroked lazy circles low through her belly, making her wet with need.
She locked her arms around his neck, bringing her knee up the side of his bare hip. She’d never experienced a seduction like this. Unhurried. Thorough. Complete. And she had no choice but to give herself over to it.
Angling his head, Rafe deepened the kiss. His tongue filled her mouth with a constant thrust and retreat, a teasing penetration that made her a
che for more. For all of him. His smoldering gaze raked her naked skin in deliberate appraisal, pausing to consider her every curve, rise, and valley, before finally halting at her eyes. “You’re so beautiful.”
No one had ever looked at her that way. “You make me feel that way.”
He knelt at her feet, wrapped his warm palms around her ankles, and pulled them gently to rest on either side of him. Lowering his mouth to the inside of her knee, nipped at her tender skin and ran his lips along her inner thigh, slowing at the top.
“Everything about you.” He drew a deep breath though his nose and whispered, “Your scent…” before licking through her sex and groaning. “Your taste…you’ve put this spell on me.”
Her breath coming hard, Kayla studied the masculine form crawling up her body. His shoulders flexed and released, his muscles rolling over one another as he shifted his weight from arm to arm. When his mouth finally met hers, he slipped his tongue between her parted lips and the fleeting taste of her arousal sent spasms ripping through her core.
The slow rub of his tongue continued against her own in a sultry caress that made her want to beg for him to take her. She needed him.
Then his hand was between her legs, stroking through her slickness, teasing her, before sinking two thick digits home.
Arching her back, she cried out with ecstasy at the invasive friction and stretch of her inner walls. “Rafe…please,” she begged.
“Fuck, I dreamed of that. You saying my name,” he growled in her ear, his breath sending chills streaking across the overheated surface of her skin. He thrust into her again. “I can’t get enough.”
“Rafe!”
Another deep growl and he withdrew to reach for the condom. Sitting back on his knees, he rolled the thin latex down his shaft as Kayla watched, restless and needy.
When he moved back over her, the stark hunger in his eyes promised the waiting was over. He pushed inside, parting her aching inner muscles with a pleasure-pain stretch as his thick head and hard length bore into her depths. She took him completely, gasping at the sensation of his shaft nudging her womb and his groin kissing the spread of her sex.