Page 31 of Unmarked Magic

Her admission left her as a whisper, right as a gust of wind whipped her hair between us. I swiped it over her shoulder, exposing her neck to me again. I was so close to losing control.

“Don’t move,” I cautioned. She froze.

The air in the graveyard seemed to thicken as my hand slid over her skin, traveling beneath her top and sliding up her ribcage. When it found the underside of her breast, she gasped. “Please.”

I pushed my hand underneath her bra, and her full breast filled my palm. I ran my thumb over her nipple, and she whined.

Her response to my touch clawed at something deep inside me, and I fought to hold whatever it was back. “This is what you need?” I rasped. My nose ran a line from the base of her neck to her ear.

“More.”

That one word held so many what ifs, but in less than a second, I dove my hand beneath the front of her skirt and, sliding her underwear to the side, buried it between her thighs. “You wanted this.” It wasn’t a question. Because the evidence soaking my fingers told me everything.

She let out a cry as I circled where she needed it, and I loosened my hold on her, letting her melt against me. Her head fell against my shoulder. Like I was her safety. Her surrender.

“Tell me what you like,” I murmured. There was no way in hell she would walk away from this until her legs could no longer hold her upright.

Another gasp as I applied firmer pressure.

“Just like that, don’t stop.”

Her hand slid behind her, gripping me in my jeans, rubbing me through the fabric. I groaned. This woman. I’d never been this turned on in my life.

Red, my friend.

I had my hand in her fucking pussy.

Spinning her to face me, her startled eyes mirrored mine. Fuck. What did I just do?

Every hue of fall collided with mine in a force I couldn’t see but felt in my core. In my gods-damned bones. For once, I let myself get lost in her eyes, watching her reaction as I slid a finger into her, then another.

A sharp breath pulled into her lungs. “Reid.” Her head fell forward onto my shoulder, and her hot breath hit my neck. Goosebumps ripped over my skin. When her lips replaced her breath, I lost myself. In her touch, her scent.

For one moment, I let myself feel.

It was as if every soul buried beneath our feet cast an incantation into the graveyard, allowing it. Allowing me to feel her. Us.

“You feel like…” Home. I couldn’t say it. But the feeling was so strong I wanted to scream. Like she could save me from this thing lurking inside me. But there was no way I could tell her this. She would run. I would never see her again.

Pulling away, her lips dragged along my cheek, achingly close to mine. Her hand slid south and the confines of my pants became too much. When her grip rubbed my length through the stiff fabric, I moaned. It took every ounce of strength in me to take her hand off me and slam it against hers on the gravestone.

Our fingers entwined. The mewl that fell from her ripped my chest wide open. Her lips were so close. Touching but not.

“Kiss me,” she whispered. “Please.”

Her eyes penetrated my walls.

They caved on impact.

I couldn’t stop myself if I tried. I was too far gone. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. I was mindless, drunk on this woman who I’d only allowed to ever be a friend.

When my lips brushed hers, it was cautious, slow. She melted against me as my hand slipped from hers to cup her jaw, and I could not stop the possessive rumble that came from my chest. She didn’t rush me, and as my tongue pushed into her mouth, rolling against hers, I could never have prepared myself for the connection. The taste of her. I was a grown man, bowing to a feeling I’d not felt before.

I kissed her with everything I had, our kiss turning intense as I kept my movements steady on her pussy. Her lips met mine with a fever I couldn’t understand, her body bending to mine like a puppet. I didn’t want it to end, but I wanted to watch her fall apart. Needed her eyes on mine as she shattered in my hands. Because of me.

Her eyes swam with liquid gold and moss, turning hazy. They softened, her eyelids flickering shut before reopening again and colliding with the insanity pouring from my own.

“Reid.”