He now turned his attention to me. “Wouldn’t you like to go on a date or spend time alone together? I know how fond you are of Holly, but I also know you want to be wooed and romanced.”
Yet another example of him listening to me. I was always telling him about the stories I was reading, swooning over the main characters and their happily-ever-afters.
“True,” I agreed tentatively. “I won’t lie and say it wouldn’t be nice, but never at the expense of Holly and her safety. You’re not the only one who takes mental notes. You’ve made it crystal clear that our relationship can’t ever overshadow your main priority of hiding her.” There was no resentment in my tone.
“Do you trust me?” For the briefest second, I got a flash of Aladdin offering his outstretched hand to Jasmine. He wanted to show her the world. Micah was asking me to consider the one he was trying to create—a world where he could see a way to both have his cake and eat it, too.
I didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely.”
“Then let’s try this. I wouldn’t have suggested this if I hadn’t already played out every possible scenario in my head.” Maxwell and I still weren’t completely convinced. “Fine. Test me.”
“What if someone comes in here and has a gun?” It wasn’t a hard thing to imagine. There was no point dodging the truth. This had happened.
Micah grimaced. It was still a fresh pain for him as well. “Then you will work your magic, and Maxwell will come for me immediately.”
“What if that person leaves with Holly?” It was the ghost’s turn to ask.
We continued to grill him for another five minutes, and each time we asked a new question, he came back with a solid answer. This wasn’t just some random plan. Micah had given it a lot of thought.
“I can’t believe I’m having to convince you about this.” He laughed, shaking his head.
“And I can’t believe you’re willing to loosen that tight grip you’ve had when it comes to her well-being,” I countered.
“Then let’s take it day by day. On a trial basis.” All humor drained from his face as Micah turned serious. “Trust me. This is the only solution.”
He then turned back to Maxwell. “What do you say?”
The ghost studied him thoroughly. Seconds ticked by, and I wondered if Micah could feel the specter’s scrutiny clear down to the soles of his feet.
Maxwell fiddled with the end of his moustache, deep in thought.
“Well?” The whole idea was contingent on his agreement.
“If it means I don’t have to witness any more of your groping and kissing around here, I say why not.” Beneath the fake expression of disgust rose a happier one. He was glad to see me happy and making plans again.
“I’ll take that as a yes, Maxwell,” Micah said, and he picked up the pile of flyers. “If there’s nothing else, I’d better get started on these. I’ll have Holly help while I explain the new arrangement.”
We all looked over toward the far-right corner of the store. Shelves and displays hid her from our view, but Holly had headed in that direction when they first entered the store. She had no doubt tuned out the world, escaping into the book she’d been carrying.
“Before you go,” I blurted, coughing when I heard how weird I sounded. “There’s something I need from the attic.” I pointed to the ceiling like the gesture would reveal my intention. Or like they needed to know where it was. I was nervous.
Micah nodded. “Then let me know what it is, and I’ll grab it for you. Who knows how long these will take to distribute.” Rolling the stack into a loose tube, he followed behind me. Any excuse to check out my butt.
The second I heard the door leading upstairs close behind us, I whipped around, and launched myself at Micah. My arms worked their way around his neck, and the kiss I’d been daydreaming about happened.
The flyers dropped to the floor, forgotten, as Micah returned my urgency with that of his own. He didn’t hold back. He didn’t try to take over or control the aching desire that seemed to explode out from me.
I couldn’t get enough of him.
His touch.
His taste.
The sound he made—that guttural groan that just screamed sex.
Everything about my angel was intoxicating, overwhelming, and unbelievably addicting.
I’d told him that once—that he was like that first sip of coffee in the morning, that first chapter in a book that reaches out and whisks you away on an adventure. Books often described it like a drug, but I’d never experienced that. All I knew—all that I was familiar with—was the way his energy set my own on fire. I couldn’t keep my own moans from passing through my lips, and some were there simply because I couldn’t bear for the kiss to end.
I wanted him.
Wanted all of him.
Right here.
Right now.
My hands dropped to his belt like they’d been doing it forever. There was no feeling awkward or shy. This was where we usually stopped, but I was tired of waiting. Suddenly, I didn’t care that we were dangerously close to having our first time in a narrow stairway.
The only thing I could think, that flashed over and over in my mind, was how good this felt, and how natural the next step was. I was by no means a virgin. But these emotions that Micah stirred up in me were definitely new.
The thought made my fingers tremble and slip. His belt was proving to be an obstacle.
Unfortunately, it was enough of a slip that Micah took hold of my hand to stop me.
His breath came out ragged. “Wait.”
I stopped and watched as he wet his lips. God, I needed to kiss those lips.
“Why now?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “It just feels like the right thing to do.”
He took my face between his hands and brought his mouth to my forehead, kissing it ever so lightly. “Heaven knows I want this, Sedona.”
I tried not to laugh at his choice of words.
It was my turn to sigh as my heart thundered in my chest. I was positively thrumming with desire. It was both terrifying and exhilarating. “So let’s take that next step.” I peered up into his blue eyes. “I’m ready.”
He brushed his thumbs across my cheeks. “Then not like this. I don’t want this to be our first time.”
Reality crashed around me, and I finally laughed. What the hell had just come over me?
“How about you come over tonight? I’ll cook us some dinner, and we’ll take it from there.” I rose up on my tiptoes and briefly pressed my lips against his. He held my head in place, deepening the kiss until I was back to being aware of only the two of us. I could see why falling in love could be dangerous for empaths. I wasn’t just feeling my own emotions. For microbursts of time, I caught his. It was like trying to snatch sparks of light from the air. Just when you think you’ve captured one, you open your hand and your palm is empty.
I could also see why Micah worried about becoming involved with me. It required a level of trust he wasn’t used to. In order to focus on me, he ran the risk of blocking out his focus on Holly. It was enough to make me want to pull back and break the kiss.
If I could.
If I had some kind of choice—my heart overruled my brain this time, willing to drown in desire and excitement.
Micah was the one to do it. “I’d better go.” He didn’t move, though. It was as if he didn’t want to break the magic of the moment either. “Any minute now.”
My arms began to drop from where I’d had them around his neck again. Placing my hands on his chest, it was safe to say I’d never been so torn in my life. All it would take was a word, and a few more steps up into the apartment, and it would happen. Micah and I would have sex, and it would be everything I’d ever imagined it to be.
Sometimes being responsible sucked.
I created some much needed distance between our bodies.
“Go. The sooner we get done, the sooner we can start our evening.” My voice sounded so needy and
guttural. Micah’s eyes widened. He liked what he heard.
“I’ll let Maxwell know our new plans.” He took a step back as well, bumping into the door at the bottom. “Well, not all our plans, but that he’ll be watching Holly tonight at my house. I’ve got plenty of wards there to keep them both safe until I show up.”
“Are you sure?” A new wave of concern blasted the last of my desire.
Micah bounded up to where I still stood. He kissed me again, hard and fast. “Positive.” He didn’t wait for my response. With a wave over his shoulder, he exited through the door. I didn’t follow.
Instead I sat on the step, gingerly touching my swollen lips.
Tonight, then.
Tonight, everything would change.
Chapter 6
You could cut the sexual tension with a knife.
Never in my life had I experienced this intensity personally, making me wonder how I’d ever lived without it. I knew that sounded cheesy, but it took everything I had to breathe through the emotions that filled the air. It had nothing to do with being bombarded with other people’s lust and desire.
No, the sensations that were wreaking havoc over my psyche were emanating from me. Part of me wanted to ask Micah if he was drowning in it as well, but every time the words formed in my mouth, I chickened out.
Dinner was almost ready, and the mouthwatering aroma coming from my oven was one of my favorites. I made a mean lasagna when I felt inspired, and staring at Micah as he sat on the other side of my kitchen island had been all the motivation I needed. I wanted to impress him with my culinary skills.
Heck, those were just a few of the skills I was hoping to show him by the end of the night. Wringing my hands in front of me as I studied the timer, I just hoped I didn’t let my nerves get the better of me.
Be confident! I inwardly cheered. It’s not like it’s rocket science.
That was the thing, though. It might not be as technical, but with my heart invested, it could end up being just as complicated. I didn’t want to wake up tomorrow morning with a heavy dose of regret because we really did make better friends than a couple. Sex wasn’t everything, but it was. At least it felt like that right now.
“You’re quiet again,” Micah said. He’d lit the candles I had gotten out for tonight. The flames flickered against his skin, lighting him up from beneath with a glow that made it impossible to deny. Of course, he was an angel. It should’ve been obvious from the beginning, if I hadn’t been so hung up on how attractive he looked. Maybe it was because I’d been granted a closer look—a sort of peek behind the curtain—that I could truly see his aura.
It was gorgeous.
He was gorgeous.
“You’re making me nervous now, Sedona.” His voice was soft and gentle. Micah hadn’t taken his gaze away from me. “If you’re having second thoughts, then all we’ll do tonight is eat.”
I gulped a little too loudly, drawing attention to my nerves. It wasn’t that I was questioning our decision. At least, not like he was thinking. Part of me knew that once we crossed this bridge, there would be no going back. Everything would change. It would be harder to untangle from each other if something went wrong.
“You’re not worried?” I asked, grateful for the distraction when the oven’s alarm sounded. Grabbing two oven mitts, I carefully removed the hot casserole dish and placed it over the burner to cool off. I didn’t see his face when he answered, but I almost lost my grip on the kitchenware at the last minute.
“About us having sex?”
His response shattered any anxiety I’d been wallowing in. When I turned about, it was to find him sitting there, the picture of innocence. It was his cheeky grin that gave him away. He’d done it on purpose.
“No,” I laughed, realizing that I hadn’t been clear about where my thoughts had strayed. “I’m not worried about that.” Without thinking, my gaze dropped down the front of his body, resting just below his belt buckle. I had no doubt that tonight would be every bit as magical as I imagined. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that by lowering our guard, there was a risk of something bad happening. “I meant us leaving Holly with Maxwell so we could be alone.”
Sliding the spatula around the edges of the lasagna, loosening the burned parts from the pan, I immediately felt a new emotion settle in the air. It was the one I best associated with Micah and called his “no nonsense” energy.
“I trust them both to follow my orders.” There was a slight twitch in his left eye that gave the truth away.
“How many times have you called Holly or texted her?” Dinner was momentarily forgotten while I leaned across the island to stare deep into his eyes. He couldn’t lie to me then. There was no way he was this calm, not after I’d seen some of his past reactions.
His gaze dropped to his phone that was beside him on the countertop. The screen was face down, and I wondered if it was because he didn’t want me to see that he was troubled.
“Um,” he answered slowly. He leaned in as though he was about to expose some dark secret. I did the same until our faces were mere inches apart. “I plead the fifth.” And with a smugness that shot licks of heat down my front until it pooled between my legs, Micah crossed his arms across his chest and sat back.
“Are you even American?” I retorted, slapping my hand down on the island’s granite surface. “As an angel, aren’t you meant to encompass all of mankind?”
He simply nodded. “Something like that.”
His gaze followed me as I began pulling plates out so we could eat. I could feel it—hot and driven—as if he was memorizing every move and nuance.
God help us. How are we going to survive dinner?
“You disappeared again.” Sure enough, I’d stopped mid-dishing out the lasagna and been standing there like an idiot, daydreaming. “You do that a lot.”
“I do?”
Micah reached out and with the top of his finger, wiped a few drops of the marinara sauce from the plate I’d placed in from of him. “You get this faraway look. I often feel guilty for speaking up, because you look so content.”
I rolled my eyes, handing him a fork. After quickly filling my own plate with a smaller slice of lasagna and a healthier serving of green salad, I came around the island, so I could sit on the stool beside him. “I’m not that bad. I just sometimes get distracted and squirrel.”
“Squirrel?”
I loved it when I used words in a way he’d never heard before. “It means that my attention can split easy. One minute I’ll be scrolling through a publishing house catalogue, and the next, I’m ten pages deep on Pinterest, searching for finger puppet patterns.” That was the best way to describe it. “And it all depends on the day and what’s going on. It used to make my grandfather laugh and tease me. I would come into the store when I worked part time there after school and find acorns by my name badge, or on the plate of cookies he left out. It was our own personal joke.”
“Because squirrels like nuts.”
“And my grandfather had a soft spot for squirrels.” I felt sheepish for sharing such a personal memory with him, but it also felt right. This was what normal couples did. I wanted us to be that—regular, normal, reliable, predictable. No drama meant that the chemistry that continually built between us couldn’t come to an end.
“I’m quite partial to them, too.” The tone in his voice had deepened. Micah was no longer playing with his food, using his fork to push the cucumber drizzled with ranch dressing back and forth through the pasta sauce.
He was looking at me so intently that the odd feeling came back—the one where my surroundings started to grow hazy as my focus on Micah became brutally sharp and clear. He was all I saw. He filled my vision.
“Micah,” I murmured, not completely sure what I was trying to say. My mouth opened slightly. I closed it back up.
He caressed the side of my face before tracing the outline of my lips. “What do you need?”
He searched my eyes for some indication of where my head w
as. I was done thinking about it—fantasizing about it. I was a grown woman, and there was nothing wrong with confessing my wants. No, my needs.
I turned in my seat and placed my hands on his upper thighs. The jeans he was wearing were a frustrating barrier keeping me from what I wanted—to feel his bare skin. To be able to feel him all over. I wasn’t sure where these new brazen urges came from, but for just once, I didn’t try to rationalize them away.
“You. I need you.”
He had the decency to not tease me in return.
He slowly rose to his feet, pushing the stool away with the backs of his legs. Extending his hand to me, he helped me up to join him. Up close and personal, he smelled so good, and without thinking, I buried my face into his chest and inhaled deeply. My hands fisted up in his shirt.
It was getting harder to think clearly.
I wasn’t complaining.
“Hold on.” In a move that rivaled those in the romantic comedies, Micah scooped me up in his arms, and carried me to my bedroom. He kicked the door closed, and then with an endearing tenderness, he carefully lay me down.
“No one’s going to walk in on us, Micah,” I joked, the idea of someone watching not altogether unwelcome. “We’re completely alone.” I sat up and rested back on my hands. “Just you and me.”
His smirk was sexy as hell. “And Lavender. I don’t want any surprises, so she can hate me later for evicting her from her favorite spot. She can deal with sleeping on the couch tonight.” There was that streak of humor he had that always left me feeling good.
Then it hit me.
He was nervous.
The jokes and trying to lighten the mood were his own attempts to keep calm.
That made him even sexier for trying.
“I’m sure she’ll understand.” I scooted forward until I was at the end of the bed, sitting in front of him. I stroked the sides of his legs before resting my hands at his belt. As I slowly unbuckled it, Micah’s breath hitched with each sharp tug I gave. When his belt finally gave way and I’d popped the top button, my finger slowly traced over the zipper’s teeth.
Addicted to You Page 5
