“Sure, there is. I keep protecting you until we figure out how to stop your family from going after you.”
“One, we don’t know for certain it’s my family, and two, we can’t continue to spend time together, Briggs.”
“Why not?”
“Why… Briggs! I tried to fuck you against your will last night. Do you not remember that? What if it happens again? What if my magic takes over and I can’t control it again?”
He parked and shut off his truck before releasing his seatbelt and turning to face her. “Little witch, stop.”
“Don’t tell me to stop, Briggs,” she snapped. “What I did last night to you was -”
“I would fuck you even if I weren’t your conduit.”
She blinked at him. “I… what?”
“I would fuck you even if I weren’t your conduit,” he repeated.
“You… you can’t possibly know that,” she said. “My magic has messed with your head and -”
“Cecelia, I wanted to fuck you the second I saw you in the hospital,” he said. “Before I even knew who you were, before you so goddamn bravely tried to stop Hudson and me from taking Elora out of the hospital, before I touched you and felt your magic.”
“Are you serious?” she said.
“Yes,” he said. “I wanted you from the moment I saw you, little witch. So, this idea that your magic is forcing me to want you is bullshit. Does it make it harder to resist you? Yes, but I wanted to know what it would feel like to be between those soft thighs of yours, well before this conduit thing. Even if I weren’t your conduit, I would want you, Cece. I want to suck on those pretty nipples, taste your sweet pussy, and give you every goddamn inch of my dick until you’re fucking stuffed full of me, with or without your magic. Is that clear?”
“Briggs,” she whispered. Her entire body trembled with hot need. She was making a damn mess in her panties, and her magic was flooding her system, pulsing through her veins and begging her to take Briggs.
They stared hungrily at each other before Briggs growled loudly, his hands reaching for the steering wheel and tightening around it until it made an alarming creaking sound. The noise seemed to ground him a little, and he tore his gaze from hers, staring out the window as a bead of sweat rolled down his temple to be soaked up by the white hair that had sprouted on his jaw.
He took a deep breath and then groaned. “Fuck, I can smell your lust.”
He opened the truck door and slid out, slamming the door shut before he braced both hands on the hood and took several more breaths. Cece sucked air into her lungs, willing her racing heart to slow and thinking about all the things she needed to repair in her house with dismal home-improvement skills and on a shoestring budget, until her lust cooled.
When she felt somewhat in control, she left the truck, giving Briggs a tentative smile. “I’m sorry.”
He stared at her over the truck’s hood. “We can’t have sex, Cece, but I’m not letting anyone else be your security. This isn’t up for discussion. I know it won’t be easy keeping it platonic, but we’re just gonna have to fucking deal with it. All right?”
“Why is it so important that you be my security detail?” she asked.
His blue eyes turned a dark brown, and she watched in fascination as more white hair sprouted on his face. His deep voice now a low, gravel-filled growl, he said, “Because you’re mine to protect.”
CHAPTER 19
As Briggs opened the door to BFK Securities and ushered Cece inside, he chastised his bear.
You have got to chill the fuck out.
His bear ignored him completely, and Briggs could have cheerfully strangled him. He wasn’t someone who lost control of his shifter side very often, and how easily his bear had taken enough control to force him to tell Cece she was his to protect made him a little uneasy.
Before he could say anything else to his bear, the scent of Cece’s happiness washed over him. She had spotted Rosalie standing at the curved reception desk and talking to Willow, who stood behind it.
“Rosalie, hi!” Cece said.
Rosalie smiled at her. “Hey, Cece. How are you?”
“I’m good. How are you?” She joined them at the reception desk as Hudson stepped out of Kat’s office and headed toward Briggs. “How did the rest of the night go?”
“Fine,” Briggs said. “The witch didn’t return, and no sign of her this morning.”
