An idea sparked in my head. Farmington. Down the road that went past Master Cortland’s house. It seemed like Master Cortland was turning to Mrs. Gainsley as his go-to witch when he needed magical help. Celestine had used him to get at me… Maybe I could use him too.
“Sorry,” I whispered. I eased my hand away from my side and turned my head to concentrate on its movements. Gabriel adjusted his weight to accommodate me. The friction between our bodies sent a fresh wave of heat through me. I narrowed all of my attention away from that onto my hand.
I moved it in a slow circle, swiveling at the elbow. A seeking spell, a reaching spell. It sent my magic spiraling out across the countryside toward Master Cortland’s house and settled around the familiar bulk of his presence.
Yes, he was home. Just outside the house. Perfect. I’d rather do this outside with more room to work with.
I clenched my hand and then released my fingers, twitching them as they unfurled. Casting my magic out, out, across that distance with a flare of my spark in my chest.
Out there in his yard where Master Cortland stood, wavering lights with the impression of faces would have shot up around him. Eerie and vague but clearly magical. I made them sway with my fingers for several seconds to make sure I’d have caught his attention. Then I balled my hand into a fist, snuffing them out. Sucking all that magic back to me so there’d be no trace for Mrs. Gainsley to test.
I sagged back against the seat. The magicking had left me a little breathless. Or maybe that was because of Gabriel, braced against me still. The car Matt had taken had rumbled off, but Tyler was still puttering around the garage. A faint squeak suggested he was polishing one of the other cars.
“What did you do?” Gabriel asked under his breath. His face was so close to mine I could feel the movement of his lips in the jitter of breath against my cheek. Every inch of my skin screamed for me to move, to increase the friction, to pull him closer, but I clamped down on that urge.
“I think I sent a red herring for Mrs. Gainsley to go investigate,” I said. “We’ll see if it works. If I ever get to leave this car.”
He chuckled softly. “I can try and lower myself onto the floor.”
I touched his side before he could move. “No. It’s okay. The last thing we want is Tyler noticing us like this. His shift is almost over anyway.” I hesitated. Gabriel’s heart was thumping in his chest almost as hard as mine. “Unless you’re uncomfortable. I’m not going to try to— I meant what I said. Whatever you feel—or don’t feel—toward me, it’s totally fine. I never expected anything.”
Then I shut up before I babbled into even more awkward territory.
Gabriel bowed his head. His forehead touched mine. “I know. It’s not that, Rose. You didn’t do anything wrong, I swear it. You have no idea…”
I waited a moment after he trailed off. A quiver ran through my nerves.It’s not that, he’d said. Not that he didn’t have those kind of feelings for me? I couldn’t hold back the words.
“Why don’t you tell me? Seeing as we don’t have a whole lot else to occupy us at the moment.”
He adjusted his weight again, tension coiled through his muscles, and his thigh slid deeper between my legs. I bit my lip against a gasp of pleasure.
He was turned on too, I realized all at once. It wasn’t discomfort making his heart thump. Not if that hard length resting againstmythigh told me anything.
Gabriel drew in a ragged breath. “You’ve got no idea how hard it is to be this close to you and not make a move,” he said thickly. “Maybe the rest doesn’t matter. What do you want, Rose?”
“Right now?” He did want me. I was starting to feel dizzy with desire. It caught hold of my tongue. “I’d pretty much die for you to move your leg just a little closer.”
His breath stuttered. Then, slowly and deliberately, he shifted his thigh so it pressed right against my clit through our jeans. “Like this?”
I swallowed a whimper. My hips flexed against him before I could stop them. A bolt of pleasure shot up from my core. My spark didn’t brighten, because its connection was only to my consorts now, but the rest of me all but blazed.
My hand fisted around the side of his shirt, as if that could hold me in check. “Gabriel,” I murmured.
“Rose.” His head dipped beside mine, burying his face in my hair. He rocked against me at the same time as he kissed the crook of my jaw.
A whimper slipped out of me, too desperate to contain. I clamped my lips shut.
“You like that?” he whispered, his lips skimming my skin.
“So much. Please.”
I didn’t even know what I was begging him for, but somehow he did. He adjusted himself again, lifting away from me for one brief but painful second, and then he was settling himself flush between my thighs, his rigid erection against my sex. A strained sound worked its way out of his throat. As he stroked against me, a moan traveled up mine. Before it could break from my lips, I clutched his hair and dragged his mouth to mine.
We kissed, hot and messy, as we arched against each other. I didn’t know what we were doing, but it felt so good I didn’t give a shit.
My teeth grazed his lip. He kissed me harder, his hand shoving up under my shirt. His thumb teased over the peak of my breast so gently I almost lost it just like that.
My fingers traveled down his side to grip his hips. Pulling him to me, like I’d wanted to so badly earlier. Like I’d thoughthewouldn’t want. But there was no denying the hunger in his mouth as it devoured mine and the rocking of his hips and—