Witching Time (The Wild Hunt #14) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,41
working through Marigold, and after our talk yesterday, it has to know something’s up.” Kipa sounded worried. He was carrying my bag for me, and had his right arm wrapped around my waist. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I know you want to help, but just…be careful?”
I gazed up into his eyes. They were like warm toffee with flecks of topaz glinting in them. He had braided his hair back and he looked like Jason Momoa, only even more magnetic.
My heart warmed as I realized how much I really cared about him. I wasn’t waiting for a proposal—unlike my friend Ember, I wasn’t ready to get married. But I felt secure with Kipa in a way I never had before. Ulstair, my late fiancé, had been a wonderful part of my life, but he never made me feel safe. I always knew that I was stronger than he was, and that was fine. But now, I was learning what it was like to be on the other side of the coin. And I didn’t hate it.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, his voice low.
“That my life has been so much better since you came into it,” I said. “Seriously, I never expected to meet someone who could match me in so many ways. I’m…”
“Unconventional? Quirky? A little provocative? And even just a bit in-your-face?” He laughed. “I love everything about you. You keep me on my toes and you aren’t afraid to confront me when I screw up. I’m not sure what it is about you, but I don’t mind when you scold me. You make me want to be a better man.”
I laughed. “You’re a good man,” I said. “I won’t put up with bullshit, and if you weren’t a good man, I’d have kicked you out early on.”
He held me fast, leaning down to kiss me. His lips were soft, his breath warm as it mingled with mine, and I felt a surge of hunger. I wanted to feel his hands on my body, and I moaned softly, my heart racing.
“Tonight, us-time,” he whispered.
“As soon as we can,” I whispered back, feeling him press against me through his jeans. I caught my breath and then let it out in a slow stream as I steadied myself. The man knew how to trigger me in the best of ways.
“Woman, you’ve got me wrapped around your little finger,” he said, laughing.
“I think I might have you wrapped around some other part of me,” I shot back.
We paused at the gates. Evie was there, looking ragged.
“Evie, you okay?”
She shook her head. Her eyes were red and it looked like she had been crying. “Mom—Marigold—is on a tear this morning. She’s pissed off about the corn maze and she’s been chewing me out, up one side and down the other. I can’t do anything right.” She paused, her eyes welling up. “I can’t take this much longer. I’m ready to move out. I had planned to live at home when I started college next year because…you know, the costs to live on campus are incredible, but at this point, I’m thinking I’m going to apply for a dorm room. Or maybe look for someone who has a room for rent in Seattle. As things stand now, I don’t know how I’ll manage to handle her mood changes until then.”
I frowned. “You know, maybe you should stay with someone for a while until things calm down.”
“Oh, Marigold’s going to freak out enough when she finds out I’m moving away from home next year. If I left now, she’d call the cops and make them haul my ass home. I’m still seventeen. I can’t just run off. I wouldn’t want to worry Dray or Rain. And…I don’t really want to worry my mom, even though she’s gone batshit crazy.” Evie stamped our hands. “I don’t know if you can help, but please…if you can do anything?”
“We’ll try,” I said, not wanting to promise anything. While I suspected that Marigold was being influenced by some sort of supernatural activity, there was always the chance that she had developed some sort of psychological problem, or maybe she was going into perimenopause and her hormones were whacked. Human women’s bodies fluctuated more than those of the Fae or Ante-Fae. Their cycles were more irregular and their timing wasn’t as on point as other species. But if Rain was able to get Marigold to the doctor for a checkup, that might catch anything that was