Bait N' Witch (Brimstone Inc. #3) - Abigail Owen Page 0,66

already pale skin blanched, those adorable freckles across the bridge of her nose standing out in stark relief. He took another step closer but held back from going to her. They needed to work this out first.

“They want you to teach them the magic you were taught by the demon.”

She glanced down at her hands and appeared to consider that, then nodded, her gaze back to his. “All right.”

“You work with other Anevals to both spread the word about this vulnerability their power creates, and also to work with werewolves we trust to develop magic to protect you and the others.”

Now interest sparked in her eyes, the wariness easing. “Which werewolves?”

“That will be determined later, but I’ll make sure they’re safe.”

Again, she nodded. “Done.”

Her instant trust eased something inside him.

“What else?” she asked.

“You stay with me for the foreseeable future.”

Now she frowned. Not the reaction he was hoping for. “As your…prisoner?”

He hid a wince that she could even think that. Grey stepped closer, right into her personal space, inhaling the wildflower and honey scent of her, wanting to hold her, but they weren’t there yet. Rowan didn’t back away, but she still regarded him with wary, wide eyes, swirling with darker gray, like a storm. “Not as my prisoner.”

“As what then?”

“I want to give you a set place in this life.”

The flutter of her pulse at the base of her throat kicked up a notch, and the hope gleaming in her silver eyes couldn’t be just a trick of the light. Gods, he’d better not be seeing things he wished to see.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“As a bonded pair. You and me.”

He caught her soft gasp, her eyes dilating. “You know about that?”

Shock spiraled through him, clenching the muscles in his arms, pulling his hands into fists. What was she talking about? He hadn’t officially bonded with her yet, and they hadn’t talked about love. “What do you mean? You already knew?”

Rowan’s brows drew down. “I…” She bit her lip. “Do you want to bond with me?”

Grey couldn’t stand the uncertainty in her eyes a second longer. He reached out and ran a finger along her smooth cheek. “I fell in love with you the day you walked into my house and froze the girls mid-fight and all I could think about was kissing these freckles and that I wasn’t all on my own anymore.” He lightly touched the end of her nose. “You brought laughter back into my life, and into the girls’ lives. You filled a gaping hole inside me I didn’t realize was eating at me until you showed up.”

Big gray eyes gazed up at him, still uncertain.

“Let me show you something.” Grey undid the top few buttons of his shirt and pulled the material aside to show her his family sigil tattooed on his chest. He took her by the wrist and guided her fingers to the mark. As soon as she touched it, the tattoo glowed red, like a brand held to the fire.

Rowan gasped. Then the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen stole across her face, lighting her up from the inside. “Let me show you something, too.” She pulled her hand out of his loose grasp and flipped her arm over, pulling back the sleeve of her sweater.

There, glowing white, was a smaller version of his sigil. The breath punched out of his lungs, even as his body responded to the sight of his mark on Rowan’s skin. Bonded pairs among witches happened only when soul-deep love was involved. A magical connection that their kind didn’t enter into lightly because it could alter their magic. Even with Maddie he hadn’t considered entering into a bonding. But with Rowan… Still, it was supposed to be a choice. A spell. “When? How?”

Rowan laughed, the husky sound kicking through him. “The day we met. It took a while to fully form, so I didn’t know.”

Fascinated, Grey lightly ran a finger over her mark, enjoying the hiss of air his touch elicited from her. He smiled but released her. If hers felt anything like his at physical touch from her bonded other half, then if he didn’t stop, they’d be naked and on the floor in short order. He’d rather save that for when they got home.

First, he needed to know. He took her face in his hands and gazed into those gorgeous gray eyes that no longer stared at him with wary question but glowed with…hope. “Will you be my bonded other half, Rowan?”

She smiled