04

The inside of the huge barn glowed beneath what seemed like a thousand flashlights hanging suspended from the high wooden beams of the rafters. A light breeze swept in through the open doors, setting the small beams of light swaying and dancing above the heads of those attending the party. 

As Keeley and I danced to the rhythm of music blasting out of the large speakers strategically placed about the inside of the barn, I glanced up and caught Rook watching me. My heart skipped a beat before it began to thump madly within my chest, as I’d never seen him look at me in that manner before. I’d seen him look at other women with that same look in his eyes, but he had never aimed it toward me.

A flush of warmth swept through me as he continued observing the provocative, uninhibited sway of my hips, his eyes practically smoldering. The look made me feel he was finally seeing me as something other than where I’d been regulated over the past years; his foster sister.

Hope, looming in my chest, I began dancing over to where he sat, then with my hips still moving to the rhythm, I reached out and took his hand, breathing, “Dance with me, Rook.”

Slowly he stood, and as he pulled me into his arms, the top of my head settled beneath his chin, and he set off a case of shivers as he placed his hands on my waist, his fingers beginning to softly caress the skin left bare by the half-shirt I wore due to the humid, uncomfortable stickiness that hung in the air.

I inhaled deeply of his scent—an intoxicating blend of cologne and musk that had my head spinning and my lips brushing across the flesh that rose above the neckline of his shirt. As my tongue tasted and tested, his warmth and flavor seducing my taste buds and senses, Rook shuddered at the contact. Then, a low, hoarse curse slipped from between his lips, before setting me aside, he quickly retreated from me. 

Unwilling to give up on what I knew was a chance to finally have what I’d wanted for so long, I began running after Rook. As I stepped out into the barn-yard, taking a few minutes to let my eyes adjust to the change in lighting, I suddenly found myself being propelled backward, and as my back hit the outer wall of the barn, Rook began nipping at the fullness of my bottom lip, his warm breath brushing across my lips as he groaned, “I’m fucking tired of pretending I don’t want you...”

My legs grew weak at his words, and I began trembling beneath a tidal wave of sensations as his hands began caressing the flesh of my back, before fingers momentarily flirting with the waistband at the back of my shorts, he plunged his hands beneath the denim. 

A ragged breath escaped his lips as he cupped each of my butt cheeks, before bringing my hips against his, he began grinding against the junction of my thighs, allowing me to feel his arousal as he husked, “God, you drive me fucking crazy!” Afterward, leaning in closer, he claimed my mouth, his tongue tangling with mine, our bodies flirting in an erotic dance. 

Finally, easing back, his breathing harsh, he growled, “I have never lost control before, but with you, it’s possible." With those words hanging in the air between us, he turned and disappeared into the shadows of the night.

With a shudder, I shoved the memories aside, as digging any deeper would just be too painful. 

Rook's voice came into focus, and I realized I’d been so lost in thought, I’d missed everything he’d said, as ending his speech, he questioned, "Alright, I guess that pretty much does it. Any questions?"

"Uh, yeah, like, care to repeat all that?” I muttered inwardly. 

The room began to buzz with conversation, and the sound of people gaining their feet and metal chairs being folded, floated across the room as I willed someone—anyone—to pose a question pertaining to anything he’d said. 

Seconds ticked, but mouths remained mum of any questions, and disappointment washed through me. Sure, I could russel up a question, but how can you quiz something you hadn’t heard! 

Continuing to will someone to help me out, I jumped when Keeley sighed from beside me, “Glad that’s over!”

Slowly, I nodded, mumbling, “Yeah, me too,” embarrassed to admit I hadn’t heard a damn thing Rook had said. 

Sliding her fingers beneath my upper arm, Keeley turned us away from the parlor and began dragging me into the abutting room, asking, “So, what do you think about what he said?”

“Uh…what he said? Which part?” I hedged.

Fluttering her free hand in the air, Keeley replied, “You know, about us using our magic?”

“What about using our magic?” I gasped, my voice betraying my shock.

Keeley snorted, laughing, “I knew it! You didn’t hear a flippin’ thing he said! Where’d you zone to?”

I shook my head. “Nowhere, really…Just treading on old bones.”

With a cock of an eyebrow she opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by twelve-year-old Jeremy Myers as he came skidding to a stop beside us. “Wanda needs you in the kitchen, Keeley,” he blurted, turning beet-red as his adolescent voice offered up a loud squeak, before turning, he ran off.

A frown pulling at her lips, Keeley released her hold on my arm, and shaking her head, she muttered, “I swear to the Gods that woman is helpless!” Then with a heavy sigh, she headed off to the kitchen.

Hours later, I pushed off the bed and blew out a disgruntled breath, then tugging the t-shirt I wore further down over hips covered in a ragged pair of sweat-shorts, I made my way out of my bedroom and toward the kitchen to get a warm cup of hot cocoa, hoping it would help me sleep.

When I reached the kitchen, I didn’t turn on any lights as I knew where everything should be. Opening a cabinet door that had always hid the pots and pans behind it, I found instead, row after row of canned vegetables occupying the shelves. What the fuck?

Brows drawing down over my eyes, I began going from cabinet to cabinet, shutting each one with a thump afterward when I was once again thwarted in my search for a small pan to heat the milk for my cocoa.

I was just shutting another door with a rather vicious push when I was suddenly on the wrong end of a tackle. I found myself lying full out on the floor on my back with Rook sitting on top of me in nothing but a pair of shorts, and my head gripped between his hands, that with one twist, would have broken my neck.

Suddenly stilling, Rook peered down at me in the moonlight shining in through the kitchen windows. “Fuck! God-dammit Cat, I was this close to snapping your fucking neck!”

I stared at him, a sense of injustice sliding over me that he was making me out to have been in the wrong. “Well excuse the hell out of me for wanting a cup of cocoa!” I hissed.