He was baiting her to talk. She’d resisted too many psychiatrists to start sharing stories with this man now. “Thanks for your concern.”
“Of course.” As quickly as he appeared he vanished, just in time for Mitchell to return with the drinks. She took a long sip of hers. It was bitter. She preferred the sweeter stuff, but she’d given him no instructions. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. “Thanks.”
He took a sip of his own. “My parents usually spell the serving trays to appear to anyone who wants something to drink.”
“My grandmother prefers that people mingle. This forces it.”
“Ah.” His grin was fast. “That’s smart thinking.”
“How is work?” She’d like to talk about anything other than the incident and her speaking in tongues from ancient times. Even the weather would do.
He didn’t seem to hear her. “I just saw Kim again. I need to go say thank you to her. I never did. Will you excuse me for a second?”
“Sure thing.” She wished him a silent good luck at getting near that Enforcer if Kim wished to be left alone. Although she’d let him catch her twice in his vision so maybe she did want to talk to him, too.
The music, now a slow song for lovers, caught her attention, and she wandered toward it, drawn to the melody like she was to sunlight at the institution. It was a pleasant song, and the couples who danced to it swayed together in the middle of the floor.
She took another sip of her drink, fully aware that it was going straight to her head. Her cheeks even felt a little bit numb. That was probably a sign to stop drinking. But she didn’t. She just sipped slower.
Don’t ever tell. Promise me.
She closed her eyes. Leave it to her mother to show up everywhere. I’m not. I’m just looking at dancers. I’m not confessing secrets. Who would believe me anyway?
As though she summoned him, Mitchell appeared right behind her. “Sorry about that. I’ve wanted to have the chance to do that for a while.”
“No worries. Now, when the band is choosing set lists for something like this do you suppose they stop and think ‘which songs can we play that will best increase the chance that the couples will go home and have sex afterward?’ ”
Mitchell snorted. “Did you really just say that?”
She had. She was good at saying something to totally make the other person lose focus. Saying something shocking turned a conversation like nothing else could. Inciting anger could work too, if she needed it. They were old tricks to get out of therapy.
“Have you ever danced?”
“Like kissing before you took pity on me, I’ve never done it, no.” She continued to observe the couples, one in particular catching her attention. They were completely into one another. The woman wasn’t gorgeous, not by any fashion standards, but oh how her husband—their wedding rings gave them away—looked at her like she was.
Mitchell took her hand in his, that cupping way that he did. “That wasn’t pity. I’m a terrible dancer. By the end of this you may take pity on me. Come on. Let’s dance.”
She let her friend lead her onto the floor.
Chapter 6
Mitchell might claim to be a bad dancer but she couldn’t find fault in his steps. Of course, she had nothing to compare it to.
“If a guy really wants to dance with a girl but he’s bad at it, he floats her off into the air. Then all they can do is sway. It’s an old trick that works,” he whispered in her ear. She laid her head on his shoulder.
She didn’t want to talk. Why do that when she could pretend? “Mitchell, for just a second I want to be someone else, okay? I want to be some girl who is here with you who doesn’t have to worry she’s about to be overcome by whatever happens to me. Just for the length of this song. I want to be a normal, twenty-four year old woman on the dance floor, feeling really lucky because she’s with the best looking guy at the party. That’s you by the way. Just for this song. Then we can go back to real life and all that I really am.”
He was quiet, and she wondered if she’d ruined it. She closed her eyes. She’d just pretend. If he didn’t storm off the dance floor, she’d make jokes until she fixed it.
“I don’t want you to be anyone else. I want you to be you.”
He didn’t get it. She lifted her head to look him straight in his eyes. “The girl I’m talking about is on this dance floor because she’s beautiful and he wanted to dance with her. No other reason.”
Half of Mitchell’s mouth raised in a sardonic smile. “Why do you think I asked you to dance?”
“I don’t know but not because I’m so beautiful you couldn’t help yourself.”
“Ellie, I haven’t danced since I was eighteen years old. Asking you was purely because you are so beautiful I couldn’t help myself.” He tugged her slightly closer. “Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen. How could I? My life has taken turns I couldn’t have seen happening. But I haven’t stopped thinking about you for half a second since you sat down at my table and wanted to know why I was there. You said I would get over it with distance? Not hardly. I traveled across the country to dance with you tonight.”
She sucked in her breath. “Really?”
“Well, I didn’t know it was to dance. I thought maybe it was to just stand next to you in a garden party. All I knew, all I was consumed with the last day, was getting here.”
He was so beautiful. “I really want to kiss you again.”
“I want to kiss you, too, but not like I did at Prestige. I want to kiss you quite differently. Not here. Not with an audience watching.”
Did they have an audience? She turned to look, but he tapped her chin before speaking again. “Just dance with me until the end of this song, and then I’m going to find somewhere to kiss you.”
He smelled fantastic. The soap had changed since the Institute. Was that sandalwood? She breathed him in. “I can’t think of anything to say.”
His smile was slow. “Have I actually rendered you speechless?”
“Do I talk too much?”
He brushed the hair off her head as the music ended. “I could listen to you talk all day.”
Mitchell took her hand and led her off the dance floor. She kept her head down. He’d said they had an audience and not seeing exactly what that constituted was probably a good thing for her right then. She might chicken out and go hide to get away from prying eyes.
He moved in the direction of the line to speak to her grandmother but cut left before he reached her. That was smart. They’d gotten lost in the crowd. Mitchell found the backdoor of the house and led her through it. This was exactly the way she’d have taken to get out of the party on her own. Maybe some things—like how to escape a crowd—were instinctual.
The kitchen was active, people shouting directions to each other. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Which way to your room?”
It made better sense at this point for her to lead, and she tugged on his hand, bringing him to the back staircase and toward the wing with her bedroom.
“Hey, Ellie.” She did love that name. “I think you’re richer than I am monetarily and that is a hard thing to be.”
She abruptly stopped. “Well, then you’ll need to get out. I mean clearly, what am I doing here with you?”
His smile was fast, a play on his lips. “Sure. I’ll go right now. I’ll just get out.”
She snorted. “Right this way.”
It was a good thing she’d cleaned her room and not left it a pigsty, as she often did. Picking up after herself had never exactly been her forte. She closed the door behind them, and he looked around.
“This is pretty.”
She’d spent some time decorating it in turquoise and white colors the last time she’d been home. A big improvement from the pink it had been since she was fourteen. The problem was she’d never much cared what her living space looked like since she never got to stay in it very long.
“Thanks.”
A waft of warm energy moved through the roo
m, and she lifted her eyebrows. What was he doing?
“Giving us some privacy from the Enforcer’s ears. They can’t hear in here right now. If you want them to hear you, say the words ‘open up,’ and the spell will move. I don’t want you feeling trapped. I just thought… maybe it would be better if it was just you and me.”
He was so thoughtful. “Thank you.”
Mitchell stepped toward her. “I’m going to kiss you.”
“Okay.” Her heart beat so fast she could hear it in her ears. “But if you wanted to do more than kiss me that’s okay, too.”
He brushed her hair off her forehead. “We’re still figuring all of this out. There’s only one chance to do this right. One chance for our first everything. What’s the rush?”
He was right, which was a running theme, and she liked it. “Okay.” She kept saying that. She needed to switch to fine or sure or something.
But then his mouth was on hers, grazing the tops of her lips so gently at first she could barely feel him there—until he increased the pressure. She wrapped her arms around his neck. This was different than the last time, this was heat.
And her body woke up.
She hadn’t known it was asleep, but wow.
He leaned her down on the bed. “Just going to kiss you,” he told her again.
She ran a finger down the slope of his nose. “I wouldn’t say no to anything. Do you understand?”
Mitchell nodded. “I want you, too, but not tonight. Not yet.”
She couldn’t believe this was happening at all. What were the chances that she’d be institutionalized, again, and meet this incredibly handsome man who was now in her bedroom, wanting to kiss her? Oh, and he was also all genius-y. Slim-to-none.
Yet, here they were, his mouth pressing slightly on hers, the heat and weight of his body gracing the top of hers, making her feel small and cherished. She was never going to forget this moment. He smelled like cardamom. Was it in his shampoo? His soap? Something he was taking? There were lots of reasons witches used different herbs and spices. This was one she loved. Or maybe just because it was Mitchell.
He joined their mouths again, and she closed her eyes. However long she had this, she was going to treasure the moments. After a while, he pulled back but only to surge forward again, pressing his tongue inside of her mouth. It was strange for a second and then so fantastic she couldn’t believe it. She moaned against his mouth, which seemed to spur him on more. The quick movements of his lips sped up and then a second later he rolled off of her to his side, tugging her with him so that each lay facing each other.
The cool air of the room hit her exposed skin, a striking difference to the heat Mitchell generated with his kisses.
The minutes passed but there was just Mitchell. The small noises he made, the way his hand stroked over her hair, the taste of his breath, the way that he kissed her…
Eventually, he stopped, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, he continued to stroke her hair as he gazed in her eyes. His lids were hooded, the smallest smile on his face.
She leaned over to place one more kiss on his lips. His smile broadened. “Okay if I stay right here? I can get myself together and find a late train if you want.”
“Stay.” Excitement danced through her veins. She’d never slept with anyone. “I have to get up in the morning and take a test. Other than that, I don’t have anything going on. I can try not to wake you.”
He shook his head. “I probably won’t sleep. I don’t. I didn’t much before the hexing and since the hexing I am hardly sleeping at all. That’s why they kept me at Prestige so long. But they decided I was good enough. So, yeah, I’ll be up when you get up. But I’d like to stay.” He shook his head like he was trying to clear it. “What test are you taking?”
“My high school equivalency. I’m trying to graduate. They’re going to spell me the test at nine a.m., and then I’m going to try to see if there is some way to move forward.”
He smiled at her slowly. “You know I think that’s wonderful because you want it. So you’re going for it. I don’t care whether you went to school or not—you are great just as you are—but it bothers you, so good job fixing it. That’s… guts.”
“Well, if I can make it through the test without having an episode that’ll be great, right?”
He shook his head. “You will. Not tomorrow. With all of my power, I would fix this for you, if I could. You know that, right? I would.”
She kissed him for that. “Thank you.”
“Anyway, I wouldn’t mind if you had another episode in front of me.”
That was strange. She swallowed through the lump that formed in her throat. “Why’s that?” The last thing she wanted to be was his project, or some sort of fascinating thing for him to study based on her issues.
“I’d like to magically record it. And get one of those two people who speak the ancient language fluently to tell me what you were saying.”
“Oh.” She supposed that made sense. “I… I can’t control when or where. I sometimes have them a lot and sometimes they’re spaced out. Why do you think you don’t sleep?”
She realized she was abruptly changing the subject. But they were talking about personal things so it had to be okay for her to ask.
“Well, it used to be that I was so interested in things. There was another book to read, another thing to learn. Why waste time sleeping? Now? I think it might have something to do with the fact that I went to pick up a tuxedo and then I… I woke up in Ava’s shop with a fiancée I’d never met having done and said terrible things. It feels a little bit like I slept walked through a year and destroyed my life.”
She pressed her forehead to his. “I won’t let anything happen to you while you sleep.”
He nodded, not moving his forehead so that when he did it was like he moved her head, too. It was… cute.
“I believe you mean that. Thank you.”
“You came and surprised me. Maybe sometime I’ll come surprise you.”
He put some of her hair behind her ear. “I’d love that. How about tomorrow? Come surprise me tomorrow.”
The lights dimmed in the room. “Okay to bring them all the way off?”
His magic was so swift she hadn’t even felt him use it. “I’m not scared of the dark.”
“Me neither. Lots of things go wrong in the light, too.”
The lights turned off entirely followed by the sheets coming up over them. Those were not the kinds of things she would use magic to do. She had to stop and think about what she would use hers for. There were limits to how much she could do all day. But tonight she hadn’t had to get up. She just got to lie here while he did all of those things.
Outside, the party continued. Her grandmother never threw anyone out until the wee hours of the morning. Her grandparents had always been party animals and age hadn’t diminished that. Mitchell’s breathing changed. She raised her gaze in the darkness to see his eyes were closed. He’d fallen asleep.
Just minutes earlier he’d told her he wouldn’t sleep. But maybe he’d felt comfortable with her and that made her grin. She closed her eyes, and eventually, listening to him sleep put her under, too.
She didn’t dream.
She woke without needing an alarm. Her body always seemed to know when she had to be up early. Mitchell hadn’t moved. His eyes were still closed, his mouth slightly open, his arm still over her waist. Light beamed into the room from under her curtains.
Eleanor hated to wake him, but she had to be ready to take her test. She scrunched backward and his arm fell, but he didn’t otherwise move or wake. She needed to save her magic for the test, so she dressed the human way and quietly left the room.
Kim sat reading on the floor outside of her room. She looked up when Eleanor approached. A cup of coffee appeared in Eleanor’s hand. She stared at it for a second. “Thanks.”
The ex-Enforcer rose. “You’re welcome.”
“I have to take a test so this is more than welcome. Thanks a
gain.” She wasn’t used to people doing things for her here. Mostly, if she didn’t disobey rules, she was left alone.
“Sure.” She grinned. “Sorry to be so visible. As Mitchell clearly knows the privacy spell, we didn’t want to be too far away. I can vanish.”
She shook her head. “No, I mean, I don’t mind seeing you. I’m not all that invested in having to be alone all the time. Whatever works for you.”
“That’s good.” Kim was easy to talk to. It was hard to picture her doing the things that Enforcers were said to do all the time. Did she put malicious witches into comas and burn down their family’s homes?
“How are you liking the area?”
Kim grinned. “I grew up on the other coast, so I have to say I’m really liking the beach but missing the season. It’s cold at home. I never thought I’d say it, but I miss the cold. We were totally excited to get the call to work here so I’m not complaining.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I asked. I didn’t think you were. It was winter at Prestige, but I hardly noticed. Even with my walks I got to take. I liked the sunshine.”
A coffee cup appeared in Kim’s hand. “Here’s to sunshine.”
“Cheers.”
Eleanor came to a stop outside of the library. Almost no one came in there except to clean, and it seemed like a good place to take her test. “I heard you saved Mitchell. That’s amazing.”
“I can’t talk about that but…” She looked away. “I like Mitchell. His ex is married to Lawson, who is like a brother to me. I had a horse in that race, so to speak. But I really like Mitchell. Things are never all that clear cut. Ava had two really good men in love with her.”
In love with her…
Yes, he’d been in love with Ava who had picked Lawson. He’d wanted to marry her. Was that something a person could do twice? Witches only married once. Eleanor’s mother had a baby with a human and had never found a soul mate in either grouping. Ava had two, or at least she’d thought she could marry both of them.
Sadness she knew she didn’t have the right to feel flowed through her. “I… I should get going.”
Curse Reversed Page 7
