Bewitched (Bewitched, #1)(53)

Surprise has me raising my eyebrows instead. “You know my name?”

I can’t believe Kane Halloway knows my name.

His own brows furrow. “Of course I remember your name.”

I’m screaming inside.

He’s so much bigger than I remember—not that my memory is to be trusted. And his voice goes straight through my ears and down to my pussy.

Why are you thinking about your pussy? Pull yourself together, woman!

“I’m glad you came,” he says. “I remember you from Peel Academy.”

I nearly drop my drink. “You do?”

I feel like the entire history of my infatuation with him shifts on its axis. I always assumed I blended in with the wallpaper.

Kane gives me a strange look, then leans in conspiratorially. “I did ask you out on a date,” he says. “But you never showed.”

“No,” I say, my voice hushed with horror.

I never showed? Why, universe, why?

“You don’t remember?” he says.

I’m still agonizing over the fact I could’ve been dating this man since high school.

“Um, about that…” How to explain my power? “I have this thing, with my magic—”

Before I can finish, some of Kane’s friends come up to him, one of them slapping him on the back.

“Kane, man, great party.”

One of the other shifters with dark hair lifts his chin at me in greeting. “Hey,” he says, flashing a smile.

Hand to the goddess on high, Kane growls. It’s so low, I’m not entirely sure I heard correctly, but then Kane’s friends back off.

“Easy, boy,” the man with dark hair says, even as he backs away. “I meant no harm. Just wanted to tell the witch she has nice eyes.” He winks at me, even as Kane growls again.

I guess that’s how you fuck with your friend if you’re a shifter—you make him seem weirdly possessive of a girl he just started chatting with.

And maybe if I hadn’t been pining for Kane for years, I would’ve let those growls scare me off. But my happy little heart finds the whole thing thrilling, self-respect be damned.

It helps that Kane is grimacing, as though frustrated with his own reaction. He glares after his friends as they walk away.

“I’m sorry,” he says, turning to me. “There are things about being a lycan…” His jaw works a little as he tries to find the words.

Kane struggles with people accepting parts of his identity? I didn’t expect that.

I wave it off. “Believe me when I tell you, I understand.”





CHAPTER 23





The next several hours blur by as I chat and drink with Kane. By the time the two of us move to the dance floor, magic has thickened the air, the various colors of it swirling and blending. I breathe it in, the power calling to my own magic, demanding I let go of my inhibitions.

This is one of the aspects of witchery they don’t talk about that often. The wild, nearly frenzied nature of our magic that exposes itself when we gather under a night sky.

I can feel that primordial need for release as I dance with Kane. My clothes feel too heavy and constricting, and I have the urge to strip myself of them. I need…more.

Empress…I hear your call…

My blood heats at the sound of Memnon’s voice in my head, and my need rises. I don’t know when I went from dreading the sorcerer to having this reaction.

I mean to look for Memnon, but my eyes catch on Kane as his nostrils flare, like he scents something. A moment later he cups my cheek on the dance floor, our sweaty bodies sliding against each other.

He stares down at me, and again, I see the lupine glint of his eyes. He leans into my neck, running his lips and nose along the skin there. Whatever he’s doing, it feels…animalistic—like perhaps he’s smelling me or marking me.

His mouth skims along my jaw before he pulls away. He looks into my eyes for a long second, and then slowly, he leans in once more, his eyes dipping to my lips, giving me plenty of time to back out.

I don’t.

His lips brush against mine, and then dancing turns into kissing. I’m unable to stop—my mouth likes the taste of his far too much to stop. Something about it tugs at me, like an itch I can’t quite scratch, and that only makes me fall deeper into the kiss, chasing that elusive sensation.

I don’t know how long we stand there, making out instead of dancing, before Kane lifts me to carry me off the dance floor and then out of the cabin altogether.

Without really looking, I sense that most of the party has already moved out here. Lycans have paired up with witches and one another; somewhere between alcohol, magic, and instinct, the evening turned carnal.

Kane only puts me down so he can press me against a tree, his hands coming back up to cup my face. I close my eyes as he kisses me roughly, and the dominance, the power, it’s stoking a memory…

I open my eyes and frown when Kane’s features don’t align with what I expected.

A love like ours defies everything… I am yours forever…

The phantom words tease out a shiver before I force them away, falling back into the kiss.

Not enough. Not nearly enough.

My hands are moving all over him, and I take a moment to appreciate his muscles through the fabric of his shirt before my fingers dip beneath its hem and run over the rigid planes of his chest.