There was an insane amount of sexual tension between us, and my mind drifted back to his claim of making me beg for him to bite me. Every time his skin brushed against mine, my self-control exploded and desire spilled out. I wanted to touch him, kiss him, taste him. But I didn’t know if I could.
He was still a werewolf, and while I was accepting him as my mate, I had to get past what he was first. Which, slowly, I was. But I needed time, and until I did, I couldn’t give in to the desire.
“Harlow?”
My mouth snapped shut. I’d been staring at him like a bloodhound. My cheeks heated as his lips quirked up. “Because you ate all my food.”
He pressed down on his knees as he stood up. “I’m a werewolf. It can’t be helped.”
Striding over to him, I took his hands in mine and winked. “Close your eyes unless you want to get whiplash.”
He huffed, doing as I said. “And you think I’m the scary one.”
Xavier’s hands were rough, callused, against my soft skin. I couldn’t wait to feel what they would be like running over my— focus, Harlow.
I shook my head and closed my eyes as well. Taking a deep breath, I called upon my magic and teleported both of us, atom by atom, to the edge of the forest. Teleporting caused a soft purple glow to radiate from my chest and warmth to fill my body. It was one of my favorite powers.
I opened my eyes and smiled. Xavier’s eyes were squeezed shut, and he clung to my hands with a vice-grip. “We’re here.”
His eyes popped open. “No fucking shit.” His mouth dropped as he looked around the village.
After he got over the fascination of my ability to teleport, we bought everything we needed to restock the cottage and more. I stopped in the convenience store to look for Deb and found her humming to herself at the register.
“Welcome back, Harlow! I have so much to tell you. So much to ask you” —she paused, wide, curious eyes flicking back in forth between Xavier and me—” about witch stuff. But, we clearly have more pressing matters to talk about! So, this is who you bought those sweats for, hmm?” She looked him up and down.
I stepped in front of him to block her view of his perfect, chiseled chest. “So you did notice, huh?”
“Harlow, I’ve known you for long enough to know that you’re a solitary creature.” She gave me a pointed stare. “And why don’t you buy a shirt so you can stop protecting him from my prying eyes?”
I wheezed, beating a fist on my chest as I caught my breath. “I was not!”
Xavier’s arm slid around my waist as he tugged me into his warm, naked chest. “Actually, you were. Not that I mind. I find your jealousy endearing.”
“A shirt would be nice,” I grumbled.
I wanted to rip my brain out of my body and burn sage around my neurons. What on earth was I thinking? I’d never been jealous or… territorial before. He was his own person. People can look—only the thought of people looking causes me intense rage and the desire to mark my territory somehow.
I gasped. No! I won’t bite him. Did I really just have that urge?
Xavier had a prominent smirk on his face as he watched me argue with myself in my head. “I’m yours, little witch. Just as you are mine. Don’t worry about that.”
“I wasn’t worried,” I said a little too fast before huffing.
“Sure.”
I wanted to smack his amused expression off his face, but Deb interrupted us by handing over the shirt to Xavier, who slipped it on with ease.
“Boyfriend?” she asked.
“Mate,” he answered for me.
Deb’s brows bumped together in a frown, and I forgot she’d grown up as a human with little knowledge of the paranormal world. “Sorry, what?”
“Soulmate. It’s a supernatural thing. Something I had thought only werewolves and vampires had,” I said, heat rising up my neck to my ears.
Xavier’s arm went around me again, and I leaned into him. “She’s in denial. But only slightly.”
She squealed, bouncing up and down. “No way! Soulmates, like the forever, hopelessly, love at first sight, would-die-for-each-other kind of love?”
“That’s the one.” Xavier’s hold on me tightened.
“Oh my gosh, Harlow. You are so lucky!” She sucked in a dramatic gasp before pinning Xavier down in her sights. “So, that means, you’re a werewolf or a vampire right?”
“I’m a—”
“No! Don’t tell me. Let me guess… Vampi—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence,” he growled.
Her hands flew to her mouth. “I’m sorry. Werewolf then.”
“Xavier!” I smacked his chest.
He shook his head, body tense. “Werewolves don’t associate with blood-sucking leeches.”
“Why?” I asked, glancing up at him.
“We just don’t.” He shrugged. “It’s been instilled into us. I haven’t actually met a vampire before.”
My lips parted and then I pressed them together. “Hmm. So, if you’ve met one, how do you know you wouldn’t like them?”
“Have you met one?” Deb asked, acting fifty shades of starstruck.
“Yes, actually. He wasn’t awful. Just annoying.” Xavier’s body tensed and a low growl emitted from him. “I was fourteen. He came to the coven for some reason or another,” I explained with an eye roll.
“Why doesn’t that logic apply to werewolves with you?”
“Because werewolves have done the unspeakable.”
“But I am a werewolf.”
I swallowed hard. “Not you, then.”
Deb giggled. “Okay, you two are cute.”
I cleared my throat. “So, tell me about the coven. Have they found you?”
She snapped her fingers together and leaned over the counter. “Oh my gosh, no, but I’ve been having these dreams about my parents. They feel so real. They tell me things about why they gave me up and what the coven is like. They told me there was someone after them and having me around was dangerous. But they got rid of the threat a few months ago, so that was why they started tracking me down.”
I nodded. “Witches can communicate through dreams. Think of it like a mystic telephone.”
“So,
