Without being told, Aspen knew her eyes had turned silver. Her skin raced with electricity from the emotions that swirled in her chest, and she felt as if she’d fly up into the air at any moment.
Dylan seemed to sense that and held on to her tightly. “Will you?” he repeated.
“Yes, I will.”
He dropped his head and his lips met hers tenderly. With fingers splayed around his neck, she kissed him back and melted into his chest. After a second, he deepened the kiss, and every nerve in her body sang with excitement.
At the sound of someone clearing his throat behind them, and Dylan released her abruptly.
Holding a hand over her reddened mouth, Aspen turned around. Her dad stood in the doorway with a stern look on his face.
“Dylan, good to see you back here, son. Do you have any news?”
As though protecting her, Dylan threaded his fingers through hers. He pulled her behind his back and stepped forward. “Yes, sir. Demothi has completed the spell and says you can try it out when you’re ready.”
Roman smiled broadly. “Excellent. That’s the best news ever. Come on in, son. There’s enough supper for all of us.”
“Thank you, sir. But if you don’t mind, we’ll be there in a minute.” Dylan ran a hand through his hair nervously.
Roman stared at the two of them. “Don’t be long then. We’ll be taking Norma to her new home straight after dinner.”
“Yes, sir.” Dylan nodded his head and as soon as Roman had turned his back, he pulled Aspen into his arms again.
“My pretty princess, you’ve made me so happy. I love you. Do you know that?”
She stared at him in wonder and then buried her face against his neck. It was so good to be in his arms, and he made a deep sound in the back of his throat that made her shiver in delight.
“I love you too,” she whispered. “I’m so happy that you’re here. I don’t think my life can get any better than this.”
Dylan smiled down at her. “I think I fell for you the moment that I saw you in class. You looked so pretty, and I wanted to keep you all to myself. I couldn’t handle the way that Ray was touching you. I’ve been planning something bad for him for a while already.”
“Hah! You have no clue how close I came to letting Ruby drown. I couldn’t stand it when she wrapped herself around you.” Aspen punched his shoulder lightly.
Dylan lifted her chin and ran a thumb over her bottom lip. “Maybe we should go inside and eat before your dad comes to get us.” He smiled. “I belong to you now, and no one is going to come between us ever again.”
After pressing one more kiss against the side of her mouth, he wrapped an arm around her waist and they walked into the house together.
THE END