by J. K Harper
“I know.”
Slowly, he bent down so their noses were touching. Without another word, he kissed her tenderly on the lips.
Tyla closed her eyes. His kiss felt so familiar, and so right. Even after all these years.
“You’re even more beautiful than you were at high school, Tyla.” His lips swept down to her neck and planted tiny kisses across her collarbone. “You grew into a devastatingly attractive woman.”
Tyla moaned softly as he edged down the fabric of her robe. His hands roamed across her back.
“We can’t do this,” Tyla muttered, as he began to untie her cord belt.
“Why not?” He kissed her again full on the lips, his tongue dancing against hers. “We’re grown adults. We want each other. Why should we resist what we want?”
Tyla was so close to surrendering. Heat pulsed between her legs as he caressed her. He kissed her like nobody else had ever kissed her, before or since.
But she had to be strong. What if she gave in and slept with him, and then it all fizzled out the next day? That would interfere with Louella getting to know him.
She owed it to her little girl not to start another doomed relationship with her father.
He was going back to LA in a week. She couldn’t let Louella think they were a couple, only to lose her daddy again right after Christmas.
She’d gladly help them forge a relationship with each other. But she couldn’t be Quinn’s plaything any more. There was too much at stake.
Using all the willpower she had, she pushed him away for the second time in twenty-four hours.
“It’s okay, Quinn. You can see Louella. I already decided that. I won’t try to stand in your way. You don’t have to convince me. It’s fine.”
Tyla turned her back, biting her lip. She felt so emotional about all of this.
What a pathetic mess she was today. All because of that one guy walking back into their lives.
“Thank you.” He looked thrilled. “I’m sure glad we don’t have to mess things up with lawyers. Now come here, you goddess. Let’s make it official.”
She spun around to face him. “‘Lawyers?’ Wait, what do you mean? You’d try to get custody of our daughter?”
The room seemed to fall away under her feet.
His smile dropped. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I swear, Quinn, if you try to take my girl—“She balled her hands into fists, suddenly enraged.
“Whoa, there. Nobody’s going to take our daughter from you. I wouldn’t even think of it. Slow down, Tyla. You’re getting it all wrong.”
The threat of losing Louella cut like a sword in her stomach. Even if it wasn’t a real threat, it made her insane. Like a mother shifter might feel about her cub.
Not that she’d know about that. She wasn’t ever going to be a shifter. Not like her baby girl.
All she knew was that she couldn’t lose Louella. Not ever.
“This conversation is going nowhere when I’m so tired. Can we talk tomorrow instead, Quinn?”
He looked disappointed, but he nodded.
“This isn’t really how I wanted it to be. But okay.”
Tyla sank into the couch.
“Tyla, I apologize for coming here. I made a mistake.” He scribbled something onto the memo pad on her side table. “Here’s my number. I have a personal appearance tomorrow morning, but I’ll be free after eleven. Perhaps we can fix up a play session with Louella before I leave? Both of us, I mean. So I can get to know her a little.”
“We can’t tell her anything about who you are yet.”
“But we’ll tell her soon, right? You guys can come to LA sometime soon, too. Or I can fly here any time. I have my own plane, so it’s pretty easy.”
Of course he did. Celebrities had all that kind of stuff.
Tyla’s eyes darted all around the room. She focused on the framed photo of her dad on the bookshelf. His warm smile steadied her.
She was about to reply when Louella’s tiny sleepy voice drifted out of her bedroom.
“Mommy? I’m thirsty.”
Tyla licked her lips and pulled her robe tighter.
“Coming, baby.” She turned back to Quinn and dropped her voice to a whisper. “You need to leave. Now.”
He nodded and strode to the door. “Please call me tomorrow.”
Tyla headed to the kitchen and the front door clicked as it closed behind Quinn. She could still feel his lips on hers as she made her way to her daughter’s bedroom.
She hoped Louella hadn’t heard voices. Tomorrow would be hard enough, without having to explain to Louella why the ‘big man’ had been in the house with Mommy in the middle of the night.
Oh, boy. Life was about to get even more complicated.
Chapter 8
Tyla woke to the squeals of her very excited four-year-old daughter, bouncing on the end of her bed.
“Mommy! Mommy! Wake up! It’s snowing!”
Tyla stretched out an arm and reached for her bedside clock. Ten after six.
Yeesh. She’d probably only fallen asleep — what, around three hours ago?
Ugh.
It had been so hard to wind down after seeing Quinn the previous night. Just touching him had reignited all her old feelings.
After he left, she had so many different thoughts and feelings swirling around in her brain, she’d found it impossible to switch off.
Eventually sleep must have ambushed her. But not early enough to recharge her batteries fully.
“Wow, it’s snowing? That’s so cool,” she yawned. “Mommy needs coffee, honey. Let me go fix you some breakfast too. Shall we make blueberry pancakes this morning?”
“Eeeee, yes please!”
Tyla set out a cup and went through the usual morning coffee-making routine.
Breakfast. Breakfast could work, too.
Taking out the blueberries, she laid out a big bowl and a skillet, and stifled another yawn.
Oh boy. She was beat.
She’d need to make sure she snapped out of her Quinn funk somehow, for Louella’s sake. Even if it took a gallon of java, a stack of pancakes, and a long hot shower while Louella watched cartoons.
But it’d be okay. They had plenty of time before the town’s Christmas festivities started.
Tyla wanted today to be a great day. It was the first year that Louella had been old enough to get excited about the holidays. She’d love the celebrations in town today. And Tyla loved the idea that the Christmas Gathering was such an old magical folk tradition, going back centuries.
Every year, Tyla had taken her along, while the huge town square tree was lit and the outdoor rink filled with happy skaters. Now she was big enough to really enjoy herself. She might even fit into some teeny-tiny skates. Tyla smiled at the thought of her little girl skating with the bigger kids.
“April and Noah will be there today,” she called to Louella, as she stirred the pancake mixture. “And Mindy too. I bet we’ll see a lot of your friends too.”
Louella stopped jumping from foot to foot and ran up to her mother. “Will the nice big man be there?”
“Who?” She knew who. Why was she pretending she didn’t?
“Oh Mommy. Silly Mommy! The big man you talked to. Is he a shifter like me?”
Whoa there. Where did she get that from?
“Yeah, he is, baby. How did you know?”
“He has eyes like mine. The kind that shine at night. Right? I saw that.”
Tyla’s heart hurt. Louella was absolutely right. She had her daddy’s eyes.
“Does he?”
“He does! You should check, Mommy.”
Tyla nodded casually. “Okay, we’ll check later, if we see him,” she said.
She busied herself with the pancakes, and tried to stop her hand trembling as she flipped the first one.
* * *
The Christmas Gathering was in full swing by lunchtime.
Louella could hardly contain her excitement when she saw all the Chris
tmas lights, and the huge tree. The sparkles everywhere drove her nuts with joy.
Although she was in human form, she was so much like a playful big cat cub that it made Tyla chuckle.
“Mommy! Look at all the candy canes!” Her big eyes stared up at the giant fir tree in awe. “Can I climb it?”
“No, honey! Not a chance. It’d topple over, and then you’d be stuck underneath it.”
Louella gave a glum look, but she nodded.
A little blonde girl waved at them both. Tyla squinted to see her in the winter sunlight. “Say, is that your friend Jomi? Go play if you like. I’ll watch you.”
“Okay!” Louella didn’t need telling twice. She scampered over the snow to her friend with a huge grin.
The two four-year-old girls headed toward the outdoor ice rink, and Tyla followed them close behind. The snow crunched pleasantly under her boots.
She wondered how April and Noah were doing on their first morning of married life.
Damn, they were probably still in bed. That’s how newlyweds were supposed to be.
Tyla smiled to herself. Lucky people. They probably couldn’t care less about the Christmas Gathering this year. Who could blame them?
The ice rink was crowded, and Tyla was glad she’d dressed Louella in a bright red coat. There were so many little kids around. It would be hard to keep track of her without something eye-catching to help.
“Hey, Tyla.” Mindy skated over expertly, turning sharply to stop right in front of Tyla.
Panthers were always so graceful on the ice. Tyla wished witches were too.
“Hey, Mindy. Did your sister call yet?”
“Nope. Those two have got other stuff on their minds.” She winked theatrically. “Speaking of sex on the brain, have you seen Quinn yet?”
The mere mention of his name clicked Tyla onto high alert.
“No. Is he—“She tried to sound casual, even though she knew Mindy wouldn’t buy that for a second. “Is he here?”
“He’s teaching some little kids to play hockey with sticks and pine cones, on the lake. It’s adorable. Come see.”
Mindy grabbed Louella and Jomi by the hands as she swept past them. Tyla had to trot like a puppy to keep up.
Sure enough, Quinn was on the ice. He was surrounded by young children, from around Louella’s age to maybe eight years old. They were all laughing and bouncing around cheerfully.
Louella and Jomi immediately joined in. Tyla didn’t get the chance to think first about whether or not that was okay.
Then she checked herself.
He’s her daddy. Of course it’s okay.
The ice rink was frozen much of the year. Even when it was seventy degrees outside, the lake stayed solid. Tyla had never really understood that when she was a kid, but she knew now that it was done by magical means.
Trust her family to be the only non-practicing witches in Rocky Falls. Her mom and dad called themselves ‘lapsed magical folk’. They were wonderful, loving parents, but they’d never taught Tyla a single spell.
Even though she knew her parents’ intentions were good, Tyla bitterly regretted not knowing even the basics of magic. What a waste of her heritage. She didn’t want Louella to lose touch with her roots the same way she had.
Maybe Louella would get some kind of magical training through Quinn’s side of the family. Maybe being in touch with her dad’s family wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Having a big city track and field star on the ice meant that the crowd just kept on coming. Everyone wanted their kids to join in with Quinn’s game. People held out their phones, snapping photos all around.
Louella was right in the middle of the group now, spinning around fearlessly. Tyla hoped she’d keep her cheetah sense of balance even if her friends fell over.
“Are you sure the ice will hold?” called out a white-haired old man. Nobody answered him. “Sure are a lot of folk congregating on that there lake,” he added to nobody in particular.
Before Tyla could even wonder who he was, there was an almighty cracking noise.
It sounded like a cross between thunder and the screech of brakes on a mighty truck.
On the far side of the lake, the ice ruptured in two.
Sharp panels of ice jutted up suddenly. Someone screamed.
“Get the kids off the ice!”
It all happened in a blur.
Tyla ran forward and snatched up Louella and Jomi, dragging them to the side of the ice. There were still a lot of children stranded in the center.
Tyla pushed her two charges about ten feet away from the edge of the lake. Their faces were pale and shocked. Jomi was shaking.
“Stay there, okay?” Tyla told them. “Don’t move. I’ll be back in one minute.”
She dashed back onto the ice and grabbed three more kids, pulling them off to the bank as before.
With a thunderous crash, the center of the lake split further. More screams echoed all around them. Tyla could hear Louella crying somewhere behind her.
As the magical residents of the town held hands, muttering a spell to keep the ice solid, Tyla saw a big cat on the ice.
It sprinted back and forth across, springing over each widening crack of ice. Taking the children’s hoods or coats in its mouth, it carried them to safety.
Quinn.
Quinn, in cheetah form.
He worked fast and methodically, lifting the kids on the tiniest fragments of ice first. He placed them gently on the bank where he could. Where the ice cracked too quickly under his feet, he threw smaller children into the waiting arms of volunteers.
Single-handedly, he cleared about half the kids from the breaking ice. Not one child fell in the water.
The other kids were rescued by chains of townsfolk. They passed them along from one to the other, until they were all out of danger.
Tyla sat on the bank hugging Louella until her daughter protested. “Ouch! Too tight, Mommy!”
“That big spotty cat rescued us,” pointed out Jomi. “Is he a leopard?”
“He’s a cheetah, like me. Right Mommy?”
“Right. He is.”
Tyla knew her daughter was going to be even more interested in Quinn than before, now that she’d seen him in action. She had no idea about celebrity, because she was too young, so his sports talent and fame meant little to her. But rescuing her friends? That was kind of cool.
The cheetah sprang over to them at last, swishing its tail as it balanced on a tree stump. It made Tyla jump, even though she knew exactly who it was.
“You did a great job, Quinn,” she said.
He made a half-roaring, half-purring sound, then ducked behind a tree. Before Tyla could wonder what he was doing, he shifted back to his human form.
“Uh, Tyla?” She could only see his face and the skin of his broad shoulders.
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to need a blanket or something. Don’t want to freak everyone out with my, uh, nudity.”
Of course. He must be naked back there.
Don’t look. She forced herself not to try to peep behind the thick branches.
“I have a set of clothes in my car,” he went on. “If I can just get there without anyone calling the cops on my bare ass— or worse, putting a naked shot on Facebook—”
“Understood. Come on, kids,” Tyla grinned. “Let’s go get Quinn something to wear.”
“He can borrow my pink coat!” Louella shouted, as she ran off with her mother to find a blanket.
Chapter 9
Quinn looked great reclining on Tyla’s couch, with his arms behind his head.
She came downstairs to find him stretched right out like that, his long legs hanging off the arm.
“Make yourself right at home,” she teased.
He held out an arm to her. “Come sit with me.”
She perched on the edge of the couch, but somehow he maneuvered her deftly so she lay on top of him.
“Quinn, I—“
He silenced her with a k
iss. She couldn’t help but return it.
This time, it was hot and urgent.
This time, she knew there was no way she’d want to stop him.
He wound one hand into her hair, searching under her shirt with the other. His hot touch on the skin of her back made her shiver.
Pulling her head back by her hair, he kissed her neck all over. She moaned as he licked and nipped his way down her collarbone to the swell of her breast.
With one fierce tug, he pulled open her shirt. She didn’t care that the buttons probably flew across the room.
She gasped as he suddenly grabbed her with one arm and flipped her over, so he was on top.
He pulled her knees up on either side of him, pressing his hardness between her legs through their clothes. She squirmed needily.
“Quinn, I—“
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Tyla.” He traced her cleavage with his tongue and she closed her eyes. “I can’t wait to make you come.”
Circling her nipple with his tongue, he teased her until she couldn’t stand it any more. Just as she thought she might explode, he flicked his tongue across the hard nub and sucked it into his mouth.
“Oh, yes. Yes.”
It felt so good. So good, it was like he had never left.
“I want to taste every inch of you,” he muttered, cupping her other breast in his hand.
“Mmm,” was all she could say in return.
With one movement, he yanked down her pants. He moved gracefully aside so he could pull them right off and toss them to the floor.
“Tell me you want me too.” He lifted her legs and placed one on each of his shoulders.
“I want you,” she panted. “So… so… oh… so much.”
With featherlight kisses, he made his way up her inner thigh until he reached her panties. Then he kissed her through the flimsy lace. She gasped.
“You’re so wet,” he breathed. His voice was thick with desire. “You’re so ready for me right now.”
“Always.”
That was all he needed to hear. Shoving her panties aside, he set to work on her there with his expert tongue. It felt incredible. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.
He teased and licked, bringing her to the very brink of ecstasy within minutes. She was totally lost in the sensation.
