“As Kansas would say, ‘bullshit’. The worst misuse of power is to hide it, repress it or pretend it doesn’t exist. Why do you hide from your magic, Dorothy? And why do you continue to hide from me? Have I done something to offend you? Or have you never met anyone who shared your powers before?”
Dorothy scoffed. “You can drop the innocent act, wizard. I’m not that easily fooled by your kind.”
“My kind?” His brows lowered dangerously. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Instead of answering she released Emily again. “What were we talking about?”
“Little coward.” Z stared at Dorothy and shook his head, sighing heavily before reaching for her sister’s chin and looking into her eyes. “You are very tired and you need to go to bed immediately, Emily.” His voice was suddenly deeper, more resonant. “You won’t wake up until morning, no matter what you hear. And you’ll thank your sister for all the trouble she went to.”
Emily yawned and looked across the table at Dorothy. “I’m too tired to clean up, Dorothy. Can you do it? Thank you for going to all this trouble.”
Without looking at Z, as if she were no longer aware he was there at all, she got up and disappeared down the hallway.
When Dorothy heard the bedroom door shut she could no longer hold in her ire. “You arrogant, wicked, presumptuous—”
When she ran out of names to call him her magic took over, and a hunk of chocolate rum cake flung itself across the table, directly onto that gorgeous square jaw.
Dorothy covered her mouth, a shocked laugh escaping through her fingers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen, even if you did deserve it. You can’t just do that to people. Control them like that. It’s wrong.”
Z wiped the cake off his face, his eyes sparking gold. “Never start a food fight with a wizard.”
That was the only warning she got. Seconds later Suki ran screeching from the room and most of the cake was decorating the walls of Emily’s beautiful, easily stained apartment.
Dorothy couldn’t breathe she was laughing so hard, running around the table as the mad fool pretended to chase her. After all the intensity and tension of the last few weeks, getting hit by globs of chocolate was almost cathartic, and just the release she’d needed.
At least, it was the next best thing.
She grabbed one particularly gooey blob as it slid down the wall and turned to fling it at him, only to find him directly in front of her. He took her hand, sliding his fingers through the sticky mess and entwining them with hers.
“What did you mean by my kind, Dorothy?”
She stared at him in breathless silence. Even with cake painting half of his face, the man was too beautiful to be real. A golden pirate god. And he was touching her.
She wasn’t supposed to let a wizard touch her. Ever.
You haven’t been struck by lightning yet.
“Witches and wizards are natural enemies. Oil and water. You know that,” she said, lifting her chin when he frowned.
“Who told you that nonsense?”
Her lips parted and she shook her head. “Man, you are good. I almost believe you’re surprised.?
?
“Believe this.” A fine hum started beneath her skin. She could feel the power rising inside her, mingling with her desire to get closer, to feel more of him.
He pressed himself more firmly against her. “You feel that? The way your magic calls to mine? Matches mine? The way your body cries out for my touch? We’re not enemies, Dorothy. We’re the perfect fucking fit.”
Z bent his head, his tongue curling around her chin to lick the streak of chocolate icing he found there. “Mmmm.”
“Wait.” But she tilted her head to give him easier access.
He released her hands and her arms rose up against the wall, held by some invisible force that had her pinned. Her eyes widened in momentary panic. He’d trapped her?
Z stepped away and began to unbutton her blouse. “Trust me.”
“Fine. Let me go first.”