She looked up at him, barely able to breathe. She didn’t answer at first. Instead, she approached him gently and ran a hand through his hair. Down his neck. Tension crackled at her fingertips.
“I forgive you,” she said, and before the words were out of her mouth, he’d pulled her hard against him, his fingers digging into her hips, anchoring her to him. His forehead leaned against hers, his chest rising rapidly.
“Jake,” she whispered.
“Sadie,” he said, and her name was a prayer as he kissed the spot below her ear. “Sadie.” This time it was an offering as he kissed her neck. “Sade.” A plea. And then his lips found hers.
Sadie shivered, her fingers threading through his hair, every delicious inch of him pressed against her. The kiss was soft, like coming home. But it wasn’t enough. Not after a decade of waiting. She pressed into him and gasped as he angled his head to deepen the kiss, his tongue brushing against hers with a new urgency. All she could think was more.
Her hands clawed under his shirt, needing to feel him. He let out a rough breath as her fingernails trailed his stomach just above the waistband of his jeans. Everywhere they touched her body warmed like molten sugar. And then without warning he scooped her up by the waist and walked forward, balancing her back against the brick wall. Her legs wrapped around him, ankles crossed to bring him even closer. The brick biting delectably into her back.
They were breathing each other in. Inhaling each other’s scents. Committing them to memory. His teeth catching her bottom lip in a bite that had her groaning into him. It was a slow, maddening slide, growing more frenzied by the second. Her blood thrummed. Her skin crackled. Each stroke of his tongue against hers was a word. A war. An invitation. Come closer, it said. I dare you. Let me show you what we’ve been missing. And he did, his hands sliding up the back of her thighs. A delicious heat pooling in her core, Sadie inhaled sharply as his hands, calloused and rough, the hands she’d dreamed of too many times, made their way under her shirt and up her waist. She arched into him and he groaned, breaking away to pay tribute to her neck with a kiss. Lick. Bite. Repeat.
There was a sudden yelp from a child nearby. It was enough to pull them both out of the kiss, though they didn’t pull away.
“I think we may be brought up on charges of public indecency,” he murmured against her skin.
“I don’t care,” she breathed. “I never want to stop. I should have forgiven you ages ago if it meant this.”
“Wait until we have a bed. I’ll show you just how grateful I am for your forgiveness,” he said against her lips. “I don’t want to put you down.”
“Then let’s walk around like this forever,” she answered, her voice laced with desire and a hunger for more. Always more.
“I can’t pretend to understand … magic, or any of it. But I did the wrong thing once. And I’m not going to give up this second chance. I’ll be here for you. With all of it.”
“Are you asking me to go steady?” she teased.
“I’m asking for a lot more than that, but sure, let’s start there.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her gently.
They made it back to their booth fifteen minutes before opening time, Sadie’s cheeks flushed, her hand in Jake’s. Raquel gave a slight smirk and bumped her shoulder, her eyes smiling.
Already there were a few customers browsing the table. Sadie finished wrapping up their purchases just as she noticed Seth’s fidgeting. It would only get worse as the night wore on and more people came.
“Go,” she told him. “Raquel, you go with him. We’ve got this covered.”
“Thanks, sister,” he breathed quietly. “It’s just, it’s hard to deal with it all. All the secrets and voices and—all of it.”
“You won’t have to deal with it much longer,” she whispered, her heart beating fast at the thought of what was coming. “We’ll meet you at Old Bailer.”
When Seth was gone, she let herself enter into the enchantment of the festival, all thoughts of Old Bailer and conduit magic forced away. Until Sage gasped.
“Look!” She pointed to the sky, where the pale shadow of a full moon was rising.
Sadie’s heart beat double time, her muscles tensing. She suddenly wanted to throw up.
The rest of the festival passed in a blur. Finally, Jake and Sage went to get the car to load up while Florence and Sadie broke down the tables. They’d been wiped out, every single jar and pastry bag gone except for a single lone Black and White cookie that had been hidden behind a crate. Sadie suspected Sage.