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“You’re already naked,” I said, joining her.
“Yeah, but it’s different when you’re looking at me.”
I caught the heat in her voice and moved closer until we were barely a breath away. “Oh yeah?” I rumbled.
I should have known. “Yeah,” she said before both of her hands gripped my waist, and she threw me with all of her might into the water.
If I wasn’t underwater, I’d have laughed right then and there. As it were, once I burst above the surface, I was howling. It was so easy to forget she had all the strength of a shifter, albeit a smaller one.
“How’s the water?” she said, grinning at me.
“I dunno,” I said, diving under only to pop up at the edge and grab her leg, pulling her in. “You tell me!”
She came up sputtering and howling with laughter. I swore, I could truly stare at her forever. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her smile so wide and look so…unburdened.
Fuck, if I could build her a haven and find her a place where she didn’t have to worry about the evil wrought upon her as a baby, I’d be the happiest man on Earth.
Goodness knew she deserved it.
“Think fast!” she said before I was splashed in the face.
I didn’t think I could get any luckier, even if a curse was violently chewing through about a thousand protective wards on me to give me my own sticky end.
But curse or not, we just played together. We splashed, we dove, we laughed until our bellies ached, and our cheeks hurt. It was an experience entirely alien to how both of our lives were arranged for so long, but I loved it.
Yet there was only so much time we could spare, and after an hour or so, we both pulled ourselves out and laid on the grass to dry off, just staring at the sky. I let myself drift, completely lost in the moment, until Ayla’s voice drew me back.
“Can you summon Yvonne here?”
I froze, jarred by the sudden mention of the enchantress. “Why? It hasn’t been a week yet. She was pretty certain the wards she placed on Darla and me would last until then.” Although a lot had happened, we had a day left. Maybe two?
“Just a feeling,” Ayla said at first. For a beat it seemed like she was going to leave it there, but then she spoke up again. “Also, I want Mad Dog and Oren warded. I imagine it’s going to take a full day, and I don’t see all of us being able to slip out of the palace for so long. So, it would be much easier to have her come to us.”
“All right, I’ll have Oren send the request. Normally I’d say it’s pretty ballsy to try to get an enchantress of her caliber to do something so intense away from her home, but she seems pretty invested in your curse.”
“Thankfully. I wouldn’t want her as an enemy.”
I nodded. “Neither would I.”
“I have to admit, house calls are not a usual thing for me, but your man appraised me of all the things that’ve happened in the short time since I last saw you.”
“That’s putting it lightly,” I said. Our core group were all gathered in my room, the five of us sitting with a full spread of food in front of us, but no one was really eating. Well, except for Mad Dog. Dying then returning to life worked up a pretty huge appetite.
“All right, then. Normally I’d start with the two warded ones, but I have a suspicion I need to check how the two of you I’ve already worked on are doing. Euthalia, would you set up a circle for me while I lay out my things?”
“Of course, dear.”
“Here, let me help you,” Ayla said, standing up and hurriedly crossing over to the plump woman. Oddly, I found her little pseudo-crush adorable. As long as she didn’t piss off Yvonne, she could get flustered around the siren whenever she wanted.
After all, I was the one who knew what she sounded like when she lost all control, the way her head would tilt back, and her perfect mouth of hers would fall open as if in benediction.
“Hey.” I saw Yvonne staring at me with those unnerving eyes of hers. “Put it back in your pants.”
Whoops. She didn’t have an enhanced sense of smell, as far as I knew, so she must’ve read it in my expression. Definitely needed to work on my poker face.
“Sorry.”
She sighed, then went on setting her things out. I watched on, on my best behavior, until she and her wife finished, then she motioned for me to stand in the center.
