Baba shrugged under his strong fingers, fighting the impulse to shift even closer. Fighting thoughts of a future she couldn’t possibly have, with a man she shouldn’t want nearly as much as she did. But her pulse raced anyway, and longing rose up in her like the tide, irresistible and overwhelming. The scent of him—masculine and woodsy and something purely Liam—snared her senses. His very essence seemed to have entangled itself around her soul when she wasn’t looking. How had that happened? And what was she supposed to do about it? Babas didn’t stay. Did they?
“I hope you’re right,” she said. “I’m not all that good at being Human myself; I’m not sure I’ll be able to teach her everything she needs to know. But she’s a tough kid; I suspect we’ll find our way.” She sighed, feeling herself relax despite herself. His hands felt wonderful on her, and she had a momentary fantasy of what else they could do before she pulled herself together.
“Baba,” Liam scolded, moving even closer. “Stop tensing up. We won. Everything is fine. You should be celebrating.” He slid his hands down her arms, then slowly turned her back around to face him. “Tell me—what’s wrong?”
He was so close; she could see the flecks of brown in his hazel eyes, the thick lashes casting burnt-umber shadows as he gazed at her with a look she couldn’t quite decipher. But why should she be able to decode what he was feeling when she could barely make sense of the emotions surging up like a wildfire inside her own chest?
“Liam.” His name was like a prayer, a spell, an invocation—as if uttering it could make magic happen, no matter how impossible that might seem. After all, who knew more about magic than a Baba? And what was more magical than this strange thing that had happened between them, despite all the odds against it? “You asked me, once, if we were a pair. Do you remember?”
He nodded, his expression solemn yet hopeful, watching her as if he was afraid she would vanish. “I remember. You never answered me.” The hint of a smile played around the edges of his lips. “Are you going to answer me now?”
Baba felt as though she was teetering on the edge of a precipice; for one last moment she clung to the safety of the old and familiar, then with a joyous abandon she barely comprehended, flung herself over the cliff into the strange abyss she’d been avoiding for days.
“Yes,” she whispered, leaning in to kiss him, feeling the curve of his smile blossoming into fruition. “The answer is yes.”
Then his strong arms were around her, holding her tight against the rock-hard muscles of his chest, all warmth and shelter and unconditional acceptance. No more witch and sheriff, only Baba and Liam, and the passion they’d both been holding in for far too long.
He kissed her back, his lips firm and soft against hers. “It’s about damned time,” he said in a husky voice. “If I had to wait five more minutes to kiss you, I think I probably would have turned into a dragon myself.”
And then his lips came down on hers again, and there was no more talking, only the sweet taste of his mouth on hers, his tongue slipping inside to savor her, his hands sliding through her hair, then down to her body, which waited so eagerly for his touch.
Heat burned through her from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, and too impatient to wait for him to finish unbuttoning her shirt, Baba made their clothes vanish with a gesture. Liam looked startled for a moment, then laughed out loud, pressing his naked skin against hers with a restrained strength that made Baba even hotter.
“That’s a useful trick,” he muttered as he nibbled his way down from her ear to her neck and then set about exploring her as if he could solve all the mysteries she’d hidden from him for so long. She stifled a groan, feeling warmth spreading out from her center in a turbulent aura of need and wanting and emotion.
Laughter bubbled up, joy like bubbles in a glass of champagne, and she started to do some exploring herself, tasting and teasing and running her hands over the warmth and wonder that was the man she’d waited so long for. The scent of their mingled arousal was intoxicating, and the unmistakable desire that darkened his eyes as he gazed into hers was a magic more powerful than any she had ever found in storm or earth or fire.
And then he was inside her, the two of them moving together as one at last, coming together and pulling apart, only to come together yet again, until Baba could barely tell where he left off and she began.
Higher and higher she spiraled, like a roaring bonfire sending its sparks out to light up the darkness, until with a muted cry she burst into flame, a fiery phoenix reborn out of the embers of love. Above her, Liam shuddered and moaned, echoing her joy. They collapsed together in a heap on the couch, all tangled limbs and stuttering breath and murmured endearments.
Outside the window, the full moon glowed, but its light was only a dim reflection of the look in Liam’s eyes as he gazed at her.
“I love you,” he said, holding her close and running his fingers through her tangled hair as if he couldn’t believe she was still in his arms. “I think you’ve cast a spell on me, wicked witch that you are.”
Baba thought that if this is what it meant to be wicked, she was all for it. “Anything is possible,” she said with an evil smile. And then slid her hand down the length of his body to prove it.