by T. M. Cromer
“That gave you no right to cast a spell on me!” he snarled. “Do you have any idea how freaked out I was to find myself sitting beneath that damned tree with no recollection as to why I was there?”
Because she was in the wrong, Winnie stayed silent.
“Do you want to know what caused my accident last week?”
She shook her head.
“The memories when they came flooding back,” he said, ignoring her desire to remain oblivious. “I was driving to your house when it all returned with a vengeance. A dog ran into the road. Because I was distracted, I wrecked and put my head through the windshield.” He gripped her upper arms and shook her. “I would be dead right now had your uncle not come along. Dead, Winnie. Process that.”
The thought of Zane hurt or dead devastated her. Tears came unbidden and coursed down her cheeks. She closed her eyes and gulped in large quantities of air, unable to breathe freely as the sobs took hold.
“Dammit,” he muttered, hauling her into his embrace. “Don’t cry, Win.”
“I c-can’t h-help it.”
He shifted to wipe her tears. “Please don’t. I can’t take it.”
“I d-don’t want t-to be in a w-world without y-you in it,” she croaked out between sobs. “I’m s-sorry.”
“Oh, Win.” He scooped her into his arms and sat beneath the tree with their initials. “Please don’t cry.”
She clung to him for all she was worth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against his throat. “If I c-could’ve undone it, I would have. I j-just didn’t know how. I didn’t want to hurt you f-further.”
His arms tightened around her, and for the first time in years, she felt protected and cherished. How long they stayed wrapped together was anyone’s guess. All Winnie cared about was being held by Zane.
“Don’t hate me. Please,” she whispered.
“I could never hate you, Win. But so we are clear, I’m not happy with you right now.”
Hot tears pooled and poured from her eyes.
Zane pulled back enough to tenderly wipe the tears from her cheeks. “I think it’s my turn to explain my side of this whole fiasco.”
“You don’t need to, I—”
“I do,” he insisted. “From the first moment I saw you, I wanted you beyond reason. When you agreed to go out with me, I was over the moon. But then came my piss-poor performance. You just felt too good in my arms, Win. I couldn’t hold back to save my own life in that moment.” He made a face. “I wanted it to be earth-shattering for you, but I flubbed it. I followed you to apologize. But I think, by then, you must’ve started your spell. I made it as far as the edge of the clearing when I got dizzy. Within a few minutes, I’d forgotten why I was there.”
“Zane—”
He placed a finger over her lips. “Let me finish. I’m sorry for all the horrible things I said that day. You didn’t deserve them. But I didn’t deserve what you did either.” Zane focused on her and shook his head. “If you ever pull another stunt like that again, I’ll wring your neck. Are we clear?”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“Good.” They sat in silence for a few minutes. Zane finally spoke. “I’m a little disappointed you figured out my game. I had more W names ready to go: Winerva, Waverly, Wylda.”
Her head came up, and she couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter. “You’re a jerk.”
“Wendolyn, Whitney.”
“Stop!” She shook her head and pressed her forehead to his. “I really am sorry.”
“It’s okay, Wanda. Really.”
Winnie rolled her eyes and attempted to climb from his lap.
He anchored her in place with his hands. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I thought we cleared the air,” she hedged.
“Oh, no. Not completely. I owe you an orgasm—with interest.”
Shock made her face numb. While a good part of her wanted to bump nasties with Zane, the more conservative part applied the brakes. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
He grinned, and she felt it down to her toes. “It’s a great idea. I swear I know where the g-spot is located now.”
Zane shifted, and Winnie felt the full length of his erection against her.
“Ohmygod!”
His self-assured smile told her that this time around, he intended to make it good for her. When his mouth captured hers, she ceased to think at all.
The kiss was far different from the ones she remembered from when they’d dated. And yet, there was an underlying element that made Winnie believe Zane still found it difficult to hold back. A wild need he conveyed with every touch.
His passion triggered her own. In their crazed desire, they barely dispensed with their clothes. Shirts were ripped open, her bra shoved aside, skirt shimmied up, and panties… well, she had no idea what happened to those. But she didn’t find it hard to believe they melted into nothingness from his hot hands.
Zane pulled back, panting. “We need to slow down. I promised it wouldn’t be a repeat of eight years ago.”
“I’m not opposed to a repeat. I’m just opposed to not getting the big O.”
“In that case, let’s get that out of the way first.”
His head dipped, and he kissed the treasured spot at the apex of her thighs. When he caressed her clit and inserted a finger into her wet core, she cried out.
Zane seemed to find delight in teasing her and bringing her to the brink, only to back away.
She growled her frustration and snared her fingers into his thick, blond hair. “One more time and I’m turning you into a toad!”
His mischievous gaze connected with hers. “Patience is a virtue, Win. Haven’t you been told that?”
“Not when torture is involved.”
“In that case…”
Zane lowered his head, and Winnie’s orgasm followed directly after. Before she could come down from her euphoria, her second orgasm hit.
“Yeah, you’ve definitely mastered the art of making a woman come,” she sighed.
His lips twisted in a semblance of a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. A tremor of alarm chased down her spine. She couldn’t dismiss the feeling that something was still off.
“Zane—”
When he ducked his head and captured her breast, she lost her train of thought.
He lifted his head and blew on the pebbled nub. “Don’t think, Win. Feel.”
Taking his advice, Winnie gave over to the riot of sensations he was causing. And as Zane eased inside her, it was as if he’d come home and Winnie welcomed him with open arms.
9
“You’re glowing,” Autumn stated.
Winnie fought back her grin when she glanced up from rolling out the dough for the next batch of cinnamon rolls. “Am I?”
Spring studied her and nodded. “Yep. Spill.”
“There’s nothing to spill,” Winnie said in a bald-faced lie.
Autumn swirled a small fireball between her fingers. “Liar, liar, should I set your pants on fire?”
Winnie laughed, and her sister extinguished the flame.
“Seriously, who was he, or is there a new and improved vibrator on the market?” Autumn asked as she crossed to make her morning tea.
“I’ll never tell. And what are you doing here this early, Tums? Shouldn’t you be honeymooning it up or something?” Winnie tried to deflect but just received amused smirks for her effort. Apparently wedded bliss for Autumn meant butting into other people’s lives in a convoluted attempt to make everyone as happy as she was with her new husband, Keaton.
“I’m taking Chloe for a pedicure this morning. And you aren’t getting out of answering that easily. Shall I run down the list of candidates?”
Winnie shrugged and grinned. “You’ll never guess.”
“Zane,” Spring and Autumn said in unison.
Winnie’s head snapped up to stare. “How did you know that?”
Spring snorted. “Oh, please! You act
like we don’t know how to scry.”
“You spied on me?” Winnie’s outrage knew no bounds. The idea of her sisters seeing the whole dirty deed made her ill.
“No! Or at least not during.” Autumn laughed at Winnie’s disbelief. “Seriously, we aren’t a bunch of pervs. But since you’ve been training him, it’s been more entertaining than Summer and Coop’s little romantic dance.” Autumn’s brow shot up. “You weren’t opposed to spying on the two of them.”
Winnie glared her disgust. “You need a life.”
“And you need to stay on topic. Zane. Sex. You’re glowing. Spill.”
“Five.”
“Five?” Autumn asked in disbelief.
“Five what?” Spring asked.
Their oldest sister snorted. “Seriously, Spring. You need to lose that virginity. Your mind doesn’t stay in the gutter long enough to hold a conversation.”
“Oh,” Spring muttered, embarrassed. An instant later, she gasped. “Oh! Wow! Seriously? Five times?”
Winnie laughed at her youngest sister’s dumbfounded expression. “Five times and twelve orgasms.”
Autumn paused with her teacup halfway to her lips. “Goddess! No wonder you’re lit like a Christmas tree! I take it he learned how to use his equipment in the interim.”
“I’m seriously glad he did,” Winnie laughed. “Can you imagine if the sex still sucked after all this time?”
“Uh, Winnie…”
The warning note in Spring’s tone caused Winnie to abandon her chore and shift her attention to the newcomer.
In the doorway stood a furious Zane.
“Zane!”
“You told them? Did the three of you have a nice laugh behind my back?”
“I…” What could she say? She had told them, but it wasn’t what he thought. “It wasn’t like that.”
He dropped the bouquet of flowers he held on the ground and wordlessly turned away.
“Zane, wait! Please!”
His long legs ate up the distance to the door, and Winnie ran to catch up.
“Please listen to me,” she begged. “It wasn’t what you think.”
The rage in Zane’s face was terrifying, and for the second time in her life, Winnie feared he might strike her. His fist clenched and unclenched as if he contemplated strangling her. “Did you, or did you not, just say ‘can you imagine if the sex still sucked after all this time?’”
The tone of his voice and the structuring of his words made her feel like she was in a court of law. “Well, if you’re going to get all lawyer-y and shit, yes. But technically, I was bragging about your skill.”
“Not from where I was standing,” he bit out.
Winnie didn’t know how to defend herself and stared at him in helpless frustration. What he’d overheard was damning.
“Well, had you been here two minutes earlier, stud, you’d have heard her going on about the twelve orgasms and five rounds of sex. So, I don’t think your prowess is in question,” Autumn inserted, coming to Winnie’s rescue.
The blush started somewhere around Winnie’s toes and quickly colored her entire body. Unable to maintain eye contact, she shifted her gaze to the floor.
Zane’s large hand captured hers.
Hope blossomed in her chest, and she lifted her head.
“I only recently told them about erasing your memory and why,” she explained. Careful to keep her voice low, she added, “I would never make fun of you like that.”
His expression bordered tender. “I’m sorry, Win. I always seem to overreact where you’re concerned.”
With a squeeze of his hand and a tentative smile, she said, “I know. I have the same problem.”
He shot her sisters a pointed look. “If you don’t mind, I’d like a little privacy so I can kiss my girlfriend now.”
Girlfriend? He viewed her as his girlfriend? Winnie couldn’t prevent her wide, happy smile.
“Oh, we don’t mind if you kiss her. We had numbered signs made for judging,” Autumn quipped and conjured cardboard signs containing the numbers one through ten.
“Hold on,” Winnie whispered and teleported the two of them to her bedroom.
“Not fair, Winnie!” Autumn hollered from downstairs. Laughter coated her words.
Zane wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her close. “Much better,” he murmured as he dipped his head toward hers. He jerked to a stop right before their lips connected. “Twelve orgasms, Win? Really? I lost track after your seventh.”
“Shut up and kiss me.” She tugged his head down to hers.
He chuckled and complied with her demand.
She couldn’t prevent the throaty moan of pleasure as his hands found their way under her shirt and across her bare skin to cup her breasts.
“We have so much time to make up for,” he whispered against her neck.
Winnie didn’t disagree.
A knock on her bedroom door stopped them before they got further than heavy petting.
“What?” she snarled. Her tone promised death to anyone on the other side of that wooden panel.
“Wow! After twelve orgasms, you’d think you’d be a little nicer!” Autumn called through the door.
“Bite me!” Winnie snapped.
When Zane bit an exposed portion of her neck, she yelped.
“Sorry, I thought you meant me.” His chuckle was low and sexy, warming Winnie from her inside out.
Autumn called out, “Chloe called a meeting of the Witches’ Club. She thinks we should all go for pedicures together.”
Winnie groaned her frustration as Zane’s hands made short work in disposing of her bra and shirt.
“I only need ten minutes to give you numbers thirteen and fourteen,” he whispered in her ear. “Think they’ll wait?”
“They’re going to have to,” she panted as his mouth latched onto her breast.
To Autumn, she called, “I’ll meet you at the salon. Go ahead and start without me.”
Her sister’s laughter echoed down the hall.
“You and Winnie seem to have patched up your differences,” Coop said with a grin.
Zane looked up from the book he’d been reading. “What makes you say that?”
“Autumn told Keaton you’d popped over this morning with flowers for Winnie.”
Zane snorted and turned his attention back to the page in front of him.
Coop grabbed the book from his hands. “What game are you playing, cousin?”
“She figured out that I regained my memories. I had to change my strategy.”
“You still intend to pay her back for the trick she played?”
“Count on it.” Zane snagged his book back.
Censure layered every line of Coop’s face. “Don’t do it, Zane.”
“Why? Because she doesn’t deserve it?” Zane sneered. “Can you honestly stand there and tell me you would’ve forgiven Summer had she pulled a stunt like that?”
Part of him wanted to squirm under his cousin’s disappointed gaze, but Zane hadn’t gotten over the fact that Winnie had so easily lied—and not just once, but multiple times on a continual basis.
“I would forgive Summer almost anything,” Coop said softly.
The words brought Zane up short. “Almost being the key word. What would it take to make your forgiveness impossible?”
“I don’t know. But I do know I wouldn’t play a game of that nature.”
“Really? Because as I seem to recall, you did just that with your little prom stunt.”
Coop had the grace to look embarrassed. “Yeah, and look how well that turned out. But the difference is that I wasn’t sleeping with her. I was also a stupid kid. You should know better, Zane.”
After Coop stormed away, Zane checked the time and closed his book. He had a dinner date to keep with Winnie.
As he showered, he played over her confession in the glen. Her tears had moved him. How could they not? Yet, she could’ve easily employed them as a means of manipulation.
But damn, the sex was amazing. Each time was better than the last as they explored each other’s bodies and learned likes and dislikes. So far, she’d been up for anything. She was a wildcat in bed, and Zane appreciated her enthusiasm. Finding himself aroused by the thought of her special warmth, he adjusted the temperature of his shower to cool himself down.
He fully intended to use her until he’d grown tired of her body. Only then would he confess to payback, right before he burned her and walked away for good. And after he was done with her, she’d be wishing she could forget him. He intended to make it difficult. For the rest of her life, she’d compare other men to him and find them wanting.
If it bothered him to think of her with another guy, Zane shoved it away. It was inevitable she’d eventually move on. He certainly would the second he was convinced she loved him. His revenge would be complete.
10
Two days later, Winnie finished bottling her latest batch of pain-relief cream for the local senior center when Autumn entered her workshop.
After a few minutes spent browsing through Winnie’s stock, Autumn finally got to the point. “You and Zane are moving too fast.”
Winnie shot a questioning look in her direction. “How so?”
“It’s only been a week and a half since you’ve reconnected, but you’re basically inseparable. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, sister.”
“You and Keaton didn’t move fast? For goodness sake, you married almost immediately.”
“But before our fight, we dated ten months and were planning marriage,” Autumn defended.
Her sister referred to the fight that had ended her relationship with Keaton and caused a nine-year rift between the two. Winnie had had a front row seat and witnessed a good amount of the heartache Autumn had suffered.
Winnie nodded. “Thornes only love once. We all know that. Once we’ve found The One, why wait? What makes my relationship different from yours, Tums?”
“I don’t like the fact that he played you right after his wreck.” Autumn frowned. “I’m not convinced he’s forgiven you.”
