Tethered 02 - Conjure (13 page)

He wasn’t going to need his romantic comedy theory to get laid tonight. I’d already made up my mind it would be happening the minute he’d asked to take me home. The distraction of his touch was something I desperately needed at the moment.

“Are you hungry?” Kace asked randomly.

“A little.”

“How about we pick something up for lunch from Putman’s and take it back to your place?” he suggested.

“All right.”

Putman’s was nearly empty when we got there. Apparently the lunch rush hadn’t hit yet. An older lady stood beside the counter. Kace led me over to her so we could place our takeout order.

“Hey, sweet cheeks, what can I get ya?” the woman asked in a deep smoker’s tone, brightening as soon as her eyes found Kace.

I stifled a laugh. Sweet cheeks? Really? I’d have to remember that for later.

“We’d like to place a takeout order,” he replied without showing an ounce of embarrassment from her comment.

The woman—Margaret, based off her nametag—reached under the counter and pulled out two menus. With her smile fading from her face, I took notice of the heavy wrinkles that lined her lips—grateful smoking was not a habit I had picked up just for that reason alone.

“Thanks,” I said. I took a menu from her fingers. I skimmed over the options, contemplating which one I would get this time—lunch wasn’t my favorite meal, breakfast was. It was the one meal when breads and sweets were accepted without question.

The little bell above the door dinged as another customer entered the diner behind us. Warmth splashed across my back and pooled in the sensitive area behind my knees. I didn’t have to look behind me to see who had walked in. From the magick surging beneath my skin, eager to meet with his, I already knew who it was without question—Theo.

I licked my lips and swallowed hard. Unable to help myself, I turned and glanced over my shoulder, spotting him taking a seat along the wall to my right. My breath rushed from my lungs as soon as I made eye contact with him. His lingering gaze made my heart pick up pace. Jesus, could Kace feel what I was right now? If he touched me, would he?

I turned my attention away from Theo, fearful Kace would look to see who or what I was focused on. The desire to glance back over my shoulder was killing me, though. Warmth from Theo’s gaze scorched a trail down my back, across my rear, and all the way to my ankles. He was getting himself an eyeful of me. I bounced my leg while cursing the waitress silently for not rushing to take our order like I needed her to.

“Have you two decided yet?” the older woman finally asked.

“A grilled cheese with bacon please,” I said quickly. The faster we ordered, the faster we would be able to get out of here.

She jotted down my order. “What else with it, sweetheart? Chips and a drink?”

“Yes, please,” I said. “A sweet tea.”

“A grilled cheese with bacon, huh?” Kace asked with a smile. “I’ve never had that one. Make that two of those.”

“Chips and a drink for you too, honey?” Margaret asked as she continued to write on her pad of paper.

“Yeah,” Kace answered. “I’ll take a sweet tea also.”

“All right, it’ll be out in just a minute.” She turned to toss our order in a green basket on the counter that separated the kitchen from the dining area.

Kace reached out and tugged on a strand of my hair gently. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fine,” I lied, flashing him a smile.

His fingertip brushed against my cheek and a slight surge of warmth floated from behind my knees to where he’d touched me. It was nothing in comparison to what I felt when Theo even looked at me, though. I wondered if it still felt the same to him. Guilt cut through me. Too much time had gone by for me to explain the tether to Kace. Now the only thing I could do was pray Theo and I could get rid of it somehow.

My eyes skimmed Kace’s face. He didn’t seem to feel anything different. I took his hand in mine and smiled wider. “I’m just ready to get out of here and head home with you.”

He wrapped his free arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. “Me too,” he whispered in a low growl.

I held his attention as best I could until our food came, only managing to glance in Theo’s direction a few times. Once we exited the diner, I finally felt like I could breathe again.

“Is there any way we could stop for some wine or something for tonight?” I asked as we headed to his car. A drink mixed with Kace was just what I needed tonight.

He cast a sidelong glance my way. “Absolutely.”

I smiled at him and climbed into the car. “Good.”

My eyes shifted to the restaurant as Kace situated the food in the back and started the car. Theo was gazing out the window of his booth, staring at me. I could feel his eyes on me—the warmth trickling through my veins, crying out for him to release it. I continued to lock eyes with him as we pulled away. His face remained as expressionless as ever.

Kace’s knee brushed against mine as I sipped the remaining bit of wine in my glass. The movie had reached an embarrassing sex scene—the kind he’d said earlier would get me in the mood. I glanced at him and burst out laughing at the come-hither look he was sending my way. My heart pounded as the people on TV picked up the panting pace a little more.

“What’s with the look?” I said between giggles. I reached for the nearly empty bottle of wine I was sure cost more than the couch we were sitting on.

It had some fancy French name—at least that’s what language I thought it was—printed in gold lettering across the front. From the way I was feeling, I was sure it was the most potent wine I’d ever drunk. I sloshed more of the dark red liquid into my cup and licked my lips. One thing I loved about drinking wine was the way its taste tainted your lips.

“Are you telling me you don’t find my sexy look sexy right now?” Kace asked, feigning hurt.

I laughed even harder. “I like it better when you don’t try so hard.”

He leaned in closer. “Like now?”

His icy eyes smoldered with the perfect mix of desire and control. He stayed that way, his lips mere inches from mine, for too many heartbeats to count.

My eyes flickered to his mouth. “Yeah…much better.”

I watched as his perfect lips curled to form a pleased smile.

“Good.” His word drummed through me. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

Reaching out, his fingers lightly stroked down the length of my arm until meeting with the hand holding my wineglass. He maneuvered the glass from my fingers and carefully placed it on the coffee table beside the bottle. His mouth slanted over mine before I had time to think about pressing my lips to his first.

My fingers fisted in his hair, and I spun to wrap my legs around him as he laid me back against the couch. Kace nibbled my lower lip then, biting and sucking as his hand slid beneath my shirt to roam over the skin of my stomach. Ecstasy filled me as my magick reached out to him. He dragged my bottom lip between his teeth and then gently slid his tongue across it. The sensation sent shivers through me and made a soft cry escape from between my swollen lips.

I reached for the edges of his shirt and tugged it over his head. Splaying my fingers across the sculpted muscles of his abs, I lifted up so that my lips could meet with his. His warm tongue darted out and forced its way between my lips, eager and fervent in its efforts to mingle with mine. Kace’s hand beneath my shirt slid to the waistband of my shorts, slipping his fingers underneath. He teased me with his touch. My nails dug into his back, and I was rewarded with a low growl of pleasure spurring from someplace deep within him.

He pushed the hem of my shirt up higher and then forced me up so he could peel it completely off. My bra was gone an instant later, replaced by his warm hands as they cupped my breasts and tweaked my nipples.

Kace’s lips left mine in favor of the skin along my neck. He licked his way to my collarbone, down the sensitive area between my breasts, and all the way to my navel. Pausing, he glanced up at me and grinned wickedly.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he muttered.

I didn’t respond. My mind was thrown back into that blissful state created by his touch as his tongue slid up the length of my torso until it reached my right nipple. There, he sucked and licked to his heart’s content.

After our session on the couch, we finished the movie we’d been too preoccupied to watch the ending to and then went for a walk on the beach. It was nearly seven thirty by the time we got back to my house.

“Are you hungry again yet?” Kace asked, rubbing his thumb against the area between my thumb and index finger.

I clutched my stomach with my free hand. “Starved, actually.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” He smiled.

“I was waiting for you to,” I admitted, grinning like a fool.

“Funny,” he said, shifting his gaze away from me. “I was waiting on you to mention food.”

“Where do you want to go?” I asked.

“Back to your place.”

“Okay…you want to order in or something?” I didn’t have crap to eat at my house. I hadn’t been back to the grocery store yet.

“Yeah. Let’s order from Collette’s,” he insisted. “I’ll get them to bring us another bottle of wine.”

I turned to glance at him. “How is it that you have all this money to spend on expensive bottles of foreign wine? I’m sure you don’t make that much working at the front desk of your parents’ hotel.”