When I emerge from the bathroom, my hair slicked back and wearing a robe that fits me a lot better than hers fits her, I find Reggie on the lone bed in our hotel room, seated upright against the headboard, her legs crisscrossed under the robe. She has a small bag of pretzels in her hand and the wrapper of a bag of M&M’s on the nightstand next to her. She looks over at me, then pats the spot next to her invitingly. “Get yourself a snack from the minibar and let’s talk.”
“Everything in the minibar is exorbitantly priced,” I say, but I pluck a couple of packets of peanut butter crackers and a bottle of water out of there anyhow.
“Then it’s a good thing you’re a rich old warlock,” Reggie tells me in a bright voice. “Now come sit, because you and I have a lot to discuss.”
I sit on the bed next to her, my legs stretching out in front of me. Compared to her, I’m a tall, pale giant with dark hairy legs and a weird face. She’s so delicate and beautiful and . . . sunny. Determination and happiness personified. The thought of that makes my chest tighten all over again, because I suspect she’s going to tell me once more that we should be nothing but friends. “You’re probably tired,” I say, because I feel I should say something. “Maybe we should just call it a day.”
She turns toward me on the bed, and her nearness hits me like a fist. I know we have to share a hotel room because of the obfuscation spell that protects her, but I thought it would be easier than this. Right now, all I want to do is grab her and throw her down onto the mattress and push her legs into the air so I can tongue her for hours. To taste her and claim her and make her so giddy with lust that she’ll fall in love with me no matter how awful my past is.
That’s . . . actually not a bad plan. I glance over at her to see how receptive she might be to having her pussy licked.
Reggie leans forward, her expression gentle even as the robe gapes, showing more freckled skin. “Ben, you and I need to talk. I know you like to keep things bottled up, but if we’re going to have a hope of this working out, we need to clear the air. I’m not here to judge anything, just to understand. I know you’re old as the hills and a warlock, and that makes your perception of things different than mine. This is why we need to talk things through.”
I narrow my eyes at her. When she says “this working out,” does she mean rescuing Aunt Dru? Or something else? She brought up my age, which isn’t a good sign. Of course she thinks she’s too young for me. Of course. My jaw clenches, and I’m tempted to skip the talking and just go straight to the pussy-licking. Get her so dazed with pleasure it won’t occur to her that I’m five hundred years old. Plan decided, I reach for the ties of her robe.
Reggie immediately smacks my hand away. “You are not avoiding another conversation with me, Ben Magnus.” Her cheeks flush bright. “Don’t think that just because you made me come hard earlier, it means we shouldn’t talk like adults.”
“I could make you come hard again,” I offer. “Many, many times.”
She shivers, her eyes slightly glassy, as if considering that. Then she shakes her head. “I have too many questions that need to be answered first.”
“Who says I want to answer you?”
Her nostrils flare and she gives me a stubborn look. “Are you going to pout because I won’t let you distract me? Fine.” She reaches for her bag of pretzels and offers me one. “You can have a pretzel for each answer you give me.” She flutters her lashes. “Sound good?”
“I want a kiss,” I demand. I take the pretzel from her hand and toss it over the side of the bed, onto the floor. “You, in my lap. One answer for every kiss I get.”
She pauses, her lips parting, and then that determined Reggie look crosses her face. “As if that’s a hardship,” she mutters, and then climbs the distance between us in the bed. She tosses a leg over my hips and then settles herself atop me, her robe gaping at the top and not nearly enough at the bottom. Her weight is light over mine, but she feels so good. Perfect. She smells like soap and she has freckles everywhere, and this is the best idea I’ve ever had.
Reggie puts a hand on my cheek, her thumb skating over my jaw as she gazes down at me. She thinks for a moment more, then carefully brushes her lips over mine. The kiss is gentle, a mere promise. She presses her mouth softly to mine, lingering on my upper lip before pulling back. “Since we’re on the subject of kisses . . . I want to know about your relationship with Gwen.”
This is what she wants to start with? Of all the things we have going on, she’s asking about Gwen? I study her face. “Are you still jealous?”
“Me?” She snorts. “No, of course not.”
“You are.”
Reggie shrugs, averting her eyes. She stares at my mouth. “Does it matter? I just want to know what the situation is there, all right?”
She’s jealous. Incredulous, I stroke my hands up and down her sides. Reggie’s jealous over me. It’s hard to believe that someone as perfect as Reggie even wants me, much less is jealous of someone from my distant past. “When Gwen was a familiar for my aunt, she wanted to practice her sex magic. She’d sneak into my room at night and seduce me. I was just convenient.”
Reggie frowns at me. “The looks she was giving you were not the looks of a woman who finds you just convenient. She was acting like she wanted to devour you whole.” She brushes a wet lock of hair back from my face. “Have I mentioned I didn’t like it?”
It amazes me that she’s even feeling threatened. “Three hundred years ago, I thought Gwen was special. I thought what we had was special. I was flattered that she’d chosen me out of everyone she could have. Then I found out she was practicing on everyone in the house.” I shrug. “After that, my affection for her died. It’s been two hundred years since I’ve even thought of her.”
“Oh.” Reggie bites her lower lip. “I see.”
I squeeze her waist with my hand. “I should also remind you that I didn’t want to come see Gwen. In addition to her being self-absorbed, she’s also a terrible gossip and very indiscreet. If she knew anything about my aunt, we’d already know it.”
“She told us about the well.”
“And you saw how useful that was,” I point out. “My aunt might have hidden her tablets there long ago, but it’s clear she’s moved them. Or they’re so buried with mud that we’d never be able to find them anyhow. Either way, it’s a dead end.”
“I see.” Her fingers move against my nape, twining in my hair. She looks at my mouth again and then lowers her lips to mine. “I have more questions,” she tells me between kisses. “So get ready.”
I groan, holding her tightly against me. I love the way Reggie fits in my arms, the scent of her, the way she sighs when our lips meet, even the feel of her breath against my skin, warm and slightly ragged, as if she’s affected greatly by our kissing, too. This time, I don’t wait passively for her to kiss me. I kiss her back, stroking my tongue against hers when she parts her lips. My cock is hard and aching all over again, which isn’t surprising, given that Reggie’s straddling me, her smaller body covering mine. We kiss for what feels like hours, and I’m lost in Reggie’s soft, giving mouth and the little noises she makes.
When she finally pulls back from me, she’s dazed.
“I want to kiss you all over,” I tell her, rubbing a hand up and down her spine. Her robe is gaping even more, exposing her freckled collarbone and an expanse of soft skin with just a hint of cleavage. I want to jerk that stupid covering off her so I can feast on the sight of her naked body, but I need her to give me permission first. “Let’s forget about the questions. You can lie back in the bed, and I’ll lick every inch of your skin.”
The needy sound Reggie makes is incredibly erotic. She leans in and kisses me again, her mouth hot and urgent, and then just as quickly pulls back. “Talking. We have to talk.” She pants. “Those are the rules, Ben.”
“We can make our own rules—”
“Talk,” she repeats, a stubborn note creeping into her voice.
I groan. “Fine, then.”
Her hand slides down the front of my robe, touching the amulet I’m wearing around my neck. “What’s this? It was glowing in the well.”