Enchant (The Enchanted Book 1)

by Micalea Smeltzer

  “You’d never punch me. You might ruin my pretty face and you wouldn’t like that.”

  “I might like it if you couldn’t talk for a couple of days,” I grumbled under my breath.

  He chuckled. “You don’t mean that. You never do.”

  He was right like always.

  “Breathe,” he reminded me, and began to move us around the dance floor.

  I took a breath and tried not to think about where we were and what we were doing. If I didn’t overthink it then surely I couldn’t mess it up.

  He leaned in close, his breath fanning over my face. “I didn’t tell you yet, but you are the most stunning creature I have ever laid my eyes on.”

  I shivered at his words.

  “You’re not so bad yourself.” I forced my eyes to his.

  Even though I knew he was the same person behind the mask, something about it made him feel entirely different. Like we weren’t Mara and Theo. We were someone new, people who could be together.

  He brushed his nose against mine. “Don’t look at me like that,” he begged.

  “Like what?” My voice was shaky and barely audible.

  “Like you want me more than anything else in this world.”

  “What if I do? What would you say to that?”

  He winced like he was actually in pain. He wet his lips and took a breath. “I’d say don’t. It can’t end up anywhere good.”

  “Why?” I asked. “Why would it be so bad if we were in love? Why is it not allowed? Wouldn’t you protect me even more fiercely if you were in love with me?”

  “I am in love with you,” he hissed. “I think I was before I even met you,” he growled, moving a piece of hair over my shoulder. “But if you’re in love with me that’s where the problem lies. I’m supposed to fight to the death to keep you safe. Love … Love makes us do stupid things. I can’t let you risk your life for mine. And that’s what would happen.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because …,” he paused, his voice no more than a whisper, “I would die for you not because it’s my job, or duty, or even because I have to, but because I couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to you. I would gladly have my life taken to ensure yours, because I love you, and as long as your heart keeps beating that’s all that matters.” His fingers touched my cheek lightly before moving back to my waist.

  “It’s too late, you know.”

  “What?” he asked staring down at me as we continued to dance, entrapped in our own little bubble. The other dancers had ceased to exist long ago.

  “I’m already in love with you,” I whispered.

  He might’ve been a major pain in my ass, sarcastic, and an asshole most of the time, but there was so much more to him than those things.

  “Mara,” he breathed, his face twisted in pain.

  “Stop, please. I know,” I begged, pain clouding my vision. I couldn’t hear him say it. I couldn’t hear him deny me yet again. I knew all the reasons we couldn’t be together, but knowing didn’t change my feelings.

  He leaned his forehead against mine. “Come with me.”

  I didn’t hesitate to take his hand.

  We melted out of the crowd and I caught a brief glimpse of Adelaide and Winston dancing. Both were laughing at something the one had said and seemed to be having a good time. They were also completely oblivious to us leaving, which I was thankful for. I doubted Winston would say anything but I knew Adelaide would be curious about what we were up to. I didn’t even know the answer to that.

  People still mingled in the halls but it was much barer than before, most of them having migrated into the ballroom.

  Theo led me around and down a hall before stopping in front of a familiar door.

  He placed his hand on the knob like before and whispered something I couldn’t understand. The door opened and we stepped into the illuminated garden. Glowing golden orbs hung in the air, suspended by some unseen force. The air was warm with a crisp edge, and everything inside was still lush and green while outside the shield encasing the garden, everything was covered in white.

  Theo hadn’t brought me back here since the night of my birthday. I’d missed it, but I figured he was afraid of what might happen again.

  I spun around, taking in my surroundings as my dress fanned around my legs.

  When I faced Theo again, the look in his eyes stole my breath.

  “I’m trying so hard to be good, to do what’s right, but I’ve never done what’s right so why start now?”

  I swallowed thickly. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m miserable, fucking miserable pretending to be indifferent to you. I hate telling you we can’t be together when that’s all I want. I’ve never wanted anything the way I want you.”

  My heart roared like a freight train in my ears.

  This isn’t real. He can’t have changed his mind.

  “You … You said in there that—”

  He shook his head. “I know what I said, and I was wrong. Well, not wrong. We’re not supposed to be together for so many reasons, most I don’t care about, but your safety is the most important to me. But…,” he paused, searching for words. He shoved his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes. “You said you love me?” he framed it as a question.

  I nodded. “I do.”

  He nodded too and bit his lip, thinking. “It’s already too late then, right? If you love me and I love you and we’re not together we’d still do anything for each other. So, the way I see it …” He reached out and grabbed a piece of my hair, wrapping it around his finger. “We should be together.”

  “Do you really mean that?” My voice shook.

  I was scared to hope, terrified at any second he might change his mind or this was some sick twisted game and he wanted to mess with me.

  He nodded and touched his hand to my cheek.

  Softly.

  Hesitantly.

  Like he was scared, too—scared I might vanish beneath his fingertips.

  “I don’t want to look back on my life and wonder what if I’d dared. Or worse, die without knowing what it’s like to love and be loved.”

  My chest rose and fell rapidly with each breath I inhaled. I couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen to my lungs.

  “Mara?” he questioned and there was fear in his eyes—fear at being denied or the thought of losing me for good, I didn’t know. “Jesus, way to make a guy sweat, doll face. This feels like a proposal gone wrong.”

  “Oh, shut up.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. He growled low in his throat and his hands found my waist. This kiss was different. It wasn’t edged with the bitter taste of the lies we told ourselves. This was pure and real, and I felt it all through my body.

  There were rules preventing us from being together, but when he kissed me and held me, I knew this was special and something that couldn’t be denied easily.

  It’s easy to make rules stopping people from being together when it doesn’t affect you, but when you are affected it’s impossible to fight the temptation.

  He broke the kiss and both of us were out of breath.

  “I’m afraid I’m going to wake up in the morning and this is all going to have been a dream.”

  He shook his head. “Never. I can’t promise to not be an asshole because it’s a ringing quality in my personality but I don’t want to be your shadow. I want to stand by your side as a warrior.”

  “You’re already that.”

  “I don’t feel it.”

  Darkness leeched into his eyes and I knew he was far away in his thoughts.

  I backed away from him.

  “What are you up to?” The darkness left his eyes and mischief sparked instead.

  I kicked off my heels. “You’ll have to catch me first.”

  The garden wasn’t large and I knew he could easily catch me, but I’d only wanted to see him smile.

  I sprinted as fast as I could and I could hear him running
behind me, his laughter echoing around us. I stopped when I reached a corner of the garden, ivy growing up the cement-fenced wall.

  He stopped behind me, his presence commanding even when I couldn’t see him.

  “I caught you.” He touched my shoulder.

  I turned around and faced him. “You did. What’s your prize?”

  He smirked. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  I spun around and sunk into the grass and leaves. I looked up at him and he smiled down at me.

  “Care to join me?” I asked, patting the grass like it was a soft bed.

  “Enjoying the view for a moment.”

  He waved his hand and the teal fireflies appeared floating above me. The one in the jar necklace he gave me fluttered madly, like it was trying to escape and join its friends.

  Theo gazed down at me for a few moments longer before joining me in the grass. I rolled toward him, resting my head on his chest. He tucked one of his arms behind his head and tilted toward me.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked. “Once I learn all I can and come into my powers completely.”

  He sighed. “Stay here as long as we can, I guess. It’s safest.”

  “I feel like I should be out there—” I waved my hand like there was some magical being “—fighting and doing something. Not sitting back and letting other people get killed.”

  My thoughts instantly went to the people in the New York safe house. I knew in my gut they’d died because of me—because Thaddeus was looking for me. He wanted me—dead or alive I wasn’t sure—and he wouldn’t rest until he got me.

  “I know you do, but you don’t understand what you’re up against, what they’re like. They’re merciless.”

  “They need to be stopped,” I growled.

  “I know,” he breathed. “But you’re far too important to fight those battles yet.”

  “Me? How?”

  “You’ll understand one day—there’s much I don’t understand about it yet, but everything will make sense eventually.”

  “It’s all so cryptic,” I muttered.

  I hated that there was so much I didn’t know and even Theo didn’t. It made me feel unprepared.

  “Let’s forget about all that tonight,” he pleaded. “I want tonight to be about us.”

  His words stirred something inside me and I nodded. I looked toward the sky, admiring the twinkling stars. I loved how bright the stars were here. Sometimes I felt homesick, but mostly it was the people I missed—Dani and my dad. I wondered what Dani thought of my absence. I couldn’t risk contacting her for both of our safety, and it sucked. I missed her and wanted her to know I was okay.

  I felt Theo’s lips brush softly against the side of my head and my eyes fluttered closed.

  “What was that for?” I breathed.

  “Because I can.”

  I looked into his heated gaze and my blood roared through my veins. A smirk rose on his lips the longer we stared.

  He was as infuriating as he was sexy. It was a potent and irritating combination I seemed to be unable to resist, like he was some special cocktail mixed solely for me.

  Suddenly, he hopped up and offered me his hand. I took it and he hauled me up into his arms.

  There was no music, but he began to move us like there was.

  I pressed close to him, breathing in his scent. Dancing with him now felt different than it had in the ballroom. I didn’t feel like we were doing something wrong. He towered above me, his body enveloping mine.

  When he crashed into my life—literally—never in a million years did I think we’d end up like this.

  “What are you thinking about, doll face?”

  “You,” I admitted.

  He smiled cockily. “I’m pretty sure I occupy ninety-nine-point-nine percent of your thoughts.”

  I rolled my eyes. “So sure of yourself, huh?”

  “Of course. I mean, why wouldn’t you be obsessed with me? I’m extremely good looking, an incredible fighter, witty, an amazing kisser; shall I go on?”

  I snorted. “Maybe you should date yourself?”

  “I would, but where’s the fun in that? I like to get turned down some to keep things interesting and how could I ever deny myself? I’m far too wonderful to say no to this.” He let go of me for a quick second to motion to himself before resuming our dance.

  “You talk too much.”

  I silenced him with a kiss, which he deepened. He grabbed my face between his large hands, angling his mouth over mine. I grabbed hold of his tux, afraid I might slip away.

  He pulled away, but just barely. “How can something that’s supposedly so wrong, feel so right?”

  “Because it is right,” I countered, my brain still slightly foggy. “Nobody can convince me otherwise.”

  He kissed me again, stealing my breath and searing himself like a brand on my very soul. I don’t know how long we stood there kissing, it could’ve been minutes or hours, it didn’t matter because it still wasn’t enough.

  Eventually, we found ourselves heading back inside, but instead of going to the ballroom we headed to my bedroom. The air between us was thick with desire, pooling into a storm I knew was going to rain down on us any second.

  We reached my room and he opened it. It closed behind us with a bang and Nigel meowed before running off and hiding in my closet.

  “You make me crazy,” Theo murmured before he attacked my mouth, his fingers diving into my hair.

  He kissed me like a desperate man who ached with all his soul for me. He pushed my back into the door and tilted my chin up to him. I shoved his tux jacket off his shoulders and it fell to the floor. My shoes were the next thing to go. He tore my mask off and tossed it over his shoulder where it hit the wall and bounced off. I took his off too, desperate to see him. I didn’t want any barriers between us.

  He kissed me wildly, with a reckless abandon like I might turn to smoke beneath his hands and disappear. He nipped at my bottom lip and I moaned, my fingers searching for the buttons on his shirt.

  I struggled to undo them and, with a growl, he backed away from me and tore his shirt off—he literally ripped the buttons out and they went flying all over the room.

  The shirt fell to the floor like an empty shell and then he was on me once more.

  I felt consumed, burning from the inside out, like I was going to explode at any second. My body pulsed with an energy I couldn’t control and I swore I heard things rattling in the room, but I was too absorbed to look.

  My palms scoured the planes of his chest like I was searching a map. His skin was as heated as mine, and soft, but definitely not smooth. I felt the slight impressions of scars all over his body, like he’d fallen through a glass window or something of the sort.

  “You make me blind,” he breathed against my lips. “Blind to my fears and my duties and everything I’ve ever known.”

  He kissed me before I could respond. I didn’t think he wanted to hear what I might say, but the truth was I had nothing to say. I couldn’t think of anything.

  I reached for his belt and his hand stopped me.

  “Mara,” he whispered. “What are we doing?”

  I looked up at him, my blood roaring in my veins, and pushed him toward the bed.

  “You shouldn’t have to ask.”

  His eyes were hooded, the normal gray color almost black with desire. His eyes raked me up and down, from my mussed hair, to my swollen lips, to my breasts that rose rapidly with each breath.

  “I know what we’re doing.” He narrowed his eyes on me. “But I want to know that you know.”

  “Yes, Theodore, now please shut up.”

  It wasn’t the first time I’d said it tonight, and I meant it both times.

  Apparently, he liked the sound of his own voice too much.

  I turned around and brushed my hair over my shoulder, showing him the zipper in the back. I didn’t say anything more to him. This was my invitation and he could take it or leave it.

  I heard his f
eet shuffle across the carpet and I held my breath. I didn’t dare to turn and look over my shoulder for fear of scaring him away.

  He paused behind me, his presence looming. I felt his heat against me and he stayed there for several seconds before I felt his fingers lightly against my back. I shivered as he grabbed the zipper and slowly—oh, so slowly—lowered it. I held my breath as the dress loosened from my body. I lowered my arms and the dress slipped easily off my body and pooled at my feet.

  Theo pressed his lips to my shoulder in a tender caress and I shivered, my eyes closing, and I leaned my head back against his chest.

  He wrapped his arms around my waist and we stood that way for a few moments.

  I turned to face him, searching his eyes. In them, I saw desire, but more than that I saw love. He said he did, and I felt it, but seeing it was a far more powerful thing, especially now.

  “No matter what happens,” his voice caught, and he swallowed, “never forget this moment. Don’t forget what you mean to me.”

  “Shh,” I hushed him. “It sounds like you’re saying goodbye.”

  “I don’t trust these people, I don’t trust what they might do to me if they get wind of this. So please, I’m begging you, don’t forget.”

  “I won’t,” I vowed, and it was an easy promise to make.

  He picked me up and my legs wound around his waist. He carried me the short distance to the bed and laid me down on it. He kissed a leisurely trail between my breasts, which heaved against the confines of my strapless bra, and down to my stomach. His hot breath hovered above my panties and I whimpered.

  He smirked slightly and bit his lip, drawing his lip ring into his mouth before letting it go.

  “You can touch me,” I murmured, encouraging him to not hold back. “I’m yours.”

  He growled and kissed me again. The kiss was rough, possessive, as he took hold of what he wanted.

  Me.

  I loved feeling him come unhinged and lose his mind. Even in his asshole moments, he was always very much in control, but now he was reckless and wild, a cannon on the loose.

  My fingers found his belt and this time he didn’t stop me. I undid it and he stepped back to take his pants off completely. I barely had a moment to catch my breath before his large body was looming over me again. He enveloped me like a shadow.