Now it was her turn to shrug. “Maybe I’m wrong. There’s a lot about magic that’s unknown. It doesn’t hurt to do some research.”
She glanced at him. He had a look on his face that she couldn’t decipher, but before she could ask him about it, his phone buzzed.
He pulled it from his pocket and studied the screen. “Mal and Willow would like to stop by and chat with you.”
“Oh, um, sure,” she said.
He texted a reply and got an immediate answer. “They’ll be here in about five minutes.”
“Okay.” She closed her laptop and set it on the coffee table before unwrapping the blankets around her. Leaving Briggs in the living room, she left the warm room and walked to the kitchen. She was already shivering, but she opened the back door and peeked outside.
“Holy shit,” she said. “He wasn’t kidding.”
The stack of wood was huge. Forget lasting the winter. It would last three winters.
She shut the door, making a soft scream when she turned, and Briggs was nearly on top of her. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” she said, scrubbing her hands over her thighs. “I was just… “
It was hard to remember how annoying and arrogant Briggs was when he was standing this close. He wasn’t touching her, but if she reached out even a little, she could brush her hand across that broad, muscular chest that looked very… firm.
Lust washed over her, and her magic pulsed in her veins.
Take him. Claim him.
Briggs inhaled deeply before a growl rumbled from his chest, and his blue eyes turned dark.
“You were just what?” Briggs’s voice had gone low, and she felt it deep in her belly like a shot of warm whiskey.
He rested one big hand on the door beside her head, his gaze arrowing in on her mouth when she licked her suddenly dry lips. He made a soft growl. “Answer me, little witch.”
“I was… you have… a lot of wood.”
His perfect lips curled into a smile. “I do have a lot of wood, sweetheart. Probably more than you can handle.”
“You have no idea what I can handle,” she said.
He leaned down, his mouth only inches from hers. “Maybe we should find out.”
Her lips parted, and he growled again, his breath warm on her mouth. “Do you want this, little witch?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, I want -”
Briggs’s phone buzzed, the sound loud and intrusive in the quiet kitchen. Briggs grimaced and took a step back. “Fuck, what am I doing?”
His gaze cleared, that warm lust disappearing to be replaced with annoyance. She skittered past him to the counter and turned on the coffee maker.
“I’ll make some coffee. Do they like cookies? I have some cookies I could put out if they like cookies. Do you know if they like cookies?”
Her voice was too high and too shrill, and she made herself take a deep breath as Briggs’s phone buzzed again.
“They’re here,” he said.
“Okay, great. Do you mind letting them in?” She didn’t turn around.
“Sure.”
She waited until she heard him leave the kitchen before slumping against the counter. What the hell was wrong with her? She’d spent all morning being annoyed with Briggs and searching for a way to break their conduit bond, and then he gets a little close to her, and in less than thirty seconds, she’s nearly begging him for his dick.
