Witches Get Stitches by Juliette Cross

Chapter 17

~VIOLET~

“Good.That settles the food issue. I’ll contact them today,” said Livvy.

She’d had the fantastic idea of acquiring two food trucks for the grand opening. With a small after-hours fee, they’d set up on our dead-end street and work late for us.

“All we have left to discuss is the music. I had some ideas.” Livvy was tapping her notes into her tablet.

I’d been avoiding Nico’s gaze most of the meeting in our small office. He wasn’t behaving angry at all. If anything, he was being exceptionally cordial, but it still felt off.

My heart had been jackhammering sporadically all morning, every time I thought of what I was going to tell him after the meeting. Though he gave me a few puzzled looks, he hadn’t been rude or anything like I thought he might after our last interaction.

Forcing my focus back on Livvy, I said, “We’re not going to have an eighties tribute band. I don’t want The Cure and Depeche Mode on loop for this crowd.”

Livvy arched a brow at me. “Are you hating on my music?”

“Not at all. I just think our clientele is more eclectic.”

“So do I, which is why I hired Southern Sun. They play a mixture of old and new classics with more of a rock vibe.”

“I know them.” Nico had one ankle crossed over the knee of his other leg, his body leaning away from me in the chair at my left. “They’re a good band.”

Those were the most words he’d said all morning. I gave up on being nonchalant and turned my head to take him in.

He looked way better than he did two days ago. He’d shaved, and the bags under his eyes were gone. And while he looked cool and aloof, there was an edge to his demeanor. Nico was often broody, but usually with an easy smile. For me, anyway. Now he barely looked at me.

And if that didn’t chafe my ass, the fact that he was being painfully professional did. No banter. No flirting. Nothing but pure professionalism coming from him. Not a single, solitary note of friendliness anywhere. This was going to be harder than I’d thought.

“Fine,” I agreed. “That’s good for me then.”

“Who’ll be manning the merch table?” Livvy asked while typing on her phone.

“Sean will do it,” I said, realizing I hadn’t even asked him to work the grand opening yet.

“Lindsey mentioned she’d help out however we need,” added Nico. “I’ll see if she’ll relieve Sean when he needs a break.”

That rubbed me wrong. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll ask her when she gets in later today.”

Nico stood. “She’s already here. Working on some sketches for the display portfolios we’re putting in the lobby.”

“I didn’t even talk to her about that yet,” I said to him.

“Don’t worry about it.” Then he finally looked down at me, hands propped loosely on his hips, expression blank. “I did.” Then he turned his attention back to Livvy. “Are we done?”

It was way early for Lindsey to be here. We didn’t even open till noon. And the fact he knew she was here had turned my breakfast into a nest of snakes in my stomach.

And when had he talked to her about the portfolios?

“Yeah. I think we’ve got it,” said Livvy, popping out of the chair she was in. “You guys have a good day.”

Nico and I walked toward the office door at the same time, but he backed away before our shoulders could touch, gesturing for me to go first. I glared at how he took a full step away from me to allow me to move ahead of him.

I didn’t have the freaking plague.

Once we were back in the lobby, I meandered to the front counter to leave Sean a note about manning the merch table at the party. Nico didn’t even glance at me, marching straight to the end of the hall where Lindsey’s partitioned workspace was.

Dammit. I didn’t even have a second to ask for a private conversation.

I heard her soft hello then Nico’s deep voice as they spoke, the conversation indecipherable. Then she laughed. So did he.

What the hell?

Two days ago, he was pretty damn clear about wanting to be with me. Had he moved on already? Wait, Lindsey had off yesterday. Did they go on a date? Was that where he’d been?

Suddenly, my neck was sweating, and my breakfast bagel was trying to come back up. I twisted my hair up and used the holder on my wrist to tie it in a messy bun.

The light laughter and murmurings continued down the hall for the next ten minutes. Twelve actually, because I was staring at my damn phone to be pretending to do something whenever he decided to come back to the front.

But he hadn’t come back up yet. He was still flirting and laughing with Lindsey.

The front door opened, and Sean sauntered in, giving me that head-nod greeting guys liked to do. “What’s up?”

I was sitting on his stool behind the counter. “Nothing,” I snapped. “Why are you here so early?”

His brows popped up at my catty tone, but he kept on grinning as was his typical facial expression.

“Nico said he wanted me to enter inventory receipts into the system before we opened today. Something wrong?”

As he rounded behind the counter and I maneuvered out of his space, I caught a sudden wave of his dark aura. Usually, I pushed away his grim magic automatically, almost desensitized to his brand of wickedness. But today I was off my game. I had a one-track mind, solely on Nico and whatever the hell was going on with him. And her.

So when Sean’s pulse of magic pushed against me, rather than push back, I drank it in, feeding on the ragey feelings. It incited a jealousy-fueled string of curses which I somehow managed to only mutter under my breath as I stormed off.

Riding the envy train, I marched down the hall toward Lindsey’s workspace, slowing only when I was near the door. And yes, I was tiptoeing. And eavesdropping. I didn’t care how unprofessional or ridiculous, I couldn’t control myself.

Lindsey giggled, her voice soft, like he was standing close to her. “I would just love something like that. A little edgier. Maybe across my back.”

“I like your style just fine. It suits you.”

“What do you think of this one?” she asked softly.

Peeking around the corner, I don’t know how I managed to stay quiet when I saw that she’d slid her sweater off her shoulder, exposing the red strap of her bra and a tattoo, her adoring gaze fixed on Nico mere inches next to her.

A spike of adrenaline shot through my system like an arrow ripping through my chest. My knees buckled. If that wasn’t enough, he lifted his hand and traced a finger along the curve of her shoulder before righting her sweater and leaning in to tell her something. Or to kiss her!

I couldn’t watch. Whatever was about to happen next, I didn’t want to see it.

I turned around and sped diagonally across the hall into the kitchen. I turned on the Keurig and started opening and closing, slamming actually, cabinets to find the coffee, a coffee cup, and possibly some whiskey.

What the hell was he doing? How could he imply he wanted something with me a few days ago and already be dating her?

I’m tired of waiting, Violet.

I winced at the memory and the stark pain in his eyes that I’d ignored right before he’d kicked me out.

Well, I can’t say he wasn’t a man of his word. He sure as shit wasn’t waiting. I was shaking with fury. I’d finally gotten the message from my psychic eye that I should go for the asshat and he’d already moved on?! Was this some kind of cosmic joke?

I popped a K-cup of dark coffee into the Keurig then pulled down my favorite mug that read No one cares, work harder. When I hit the on button, I felt him come into the kitchen behind me.

There was never any doubt whenever Nico walked into a room. His wolf energy buzzed along my skin, warning me that a hunter was near.

Normally, I got a little high from that sensation. Today, I wanted to swing the toaster off the counter and hit him across the head with it.

He walked behind me and opened the fridge. I tapped my spoon on the counter, possibly a little maniacally, trying to make my coffee percolate faster with wishing before I lost my goddamn mind.

When it finally finished, I moved my cup aside then spun around to find him looking in the fridge. For what, heaven only knows, because it was only ever stocked with creamer, condiments, and leftovers.

“Do you mind?”

He glanced up, brows raised, looking adorable and innocent as fuck. I couldn’t help but zone in on his mouth, trying to determine if they looked redder, as if recently kissed. The rage returned ten-fold. I clenched my jaw tight, pretty sure I tasted molar dust, refusing to spew out what I wanted to say right now.

He pulled out my Almond Silk creamer and passed it over without a word. I snatched it from him and went back to my coffee, pouring fast, then sloshing the coffee over the lip when I stirred too furiously.

“You’re welcome,” he said, sounding amused.

That motherfucker. I spun around, glaring daggers at his back as he finally pulled out a low-fat yogurt and reached into a drawer for a spoon.

Ha! Yogurt? What was he doing, trying to stay fit for his new boo?

Without even thinking, I telekinetically grabbed the loaf of bread sitting on top of the fridge and threw it straight at his face. It bounced off his big-ass head and rolled off his shoulder to the floor with a fluffy plop.

He froze in the middle of tearing the foil lid off the yogurt, his eyes flicking down at the floor then up to me, his mouth open in complete shock.

“Did you just throw a loaf of bread at me?”

I stood there, fists balled at my sides, glancing at the bowl of apples on the table. I swear, I couldn’t control myself. I lifted one with my magic and shot it at his chest. Hard. He deflected it, sending it slamming into a cabinet. His eyes narrowed, his expression hardening to granite.

Oh, he was pissed? I knew I was acting irrationally, but I didn’t give a damn. I just wanted to hit him with something. Hard!

I looked at the toaster.

“Don’t you dare, Violet.” His voice was all dark and dominant and wolf.

My heartrate spiked with a mixture of fear and excitement, my anger boiling. I held his gaze and lifted the toaster with my magic, but before I could throw it at his stupid, fine-ass face, he dove for me.

I yelped and lunged out the door, throwing two dining chairs in his way with a flick of my hand over my shoulder. With no effort, he leaped over them. Then I was running.

“You better run,” he growled, right on top of me.

I sprinted with all the speed my long legs would take me, zipping down the main hall, feeling his heat right behind me. I flew past all the workspaces on the right then past the lobby that opened up on the left, trying to make it to the back door, yet knowing I never would.

Then I yipped as I was suddenly lifted off my feet, a strong arm banding my waist. The supply closet door opened. He swung us both inside then slammed the door shut and pinned me with my back to the door, my wrists manacled above my head. I looked up into wolf-green eyes. His head dipped low, and he bared his teeth. “Any reason you’re trying to hurt me?”

“If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve crushed you with the fridge.”

He huffed out a laugh, though his mouth never formed a smile. “Semantics.” He tossed that word back at me from our last conversation at his house. “What was that all about?” His voice was all growl.

I clamped my mouth shut, glaring at him with my pent-up anger at the thought of his mouth on hers, his body against hers. As if he could read my mind, he pressed his full weight against me, chest to chest, thighs to thighs.

“I’m pissed at you,” I gritted out.

Then he dropped his head lower and grazed his nose up the side of my neck, crooning, “I noticed.” He retraced the same line back down my throat with his tongue. My insides liquefied, but I kept myself rigid, unyielding, even as he nuzzled my ear. “Tell me what made you go hell-cat.”

I whimpered but refused to open my mouth. That is, until he opened his own and bit the slope of my neck, hard enough to sting. I gasped before hissing, “Stop that.” But the words sort of fluttered out of my mouth and fell to the floor. Like my self-control.

When he licked the spot, a helpless moan vibrated deep in my throat. Piercing me with predatory eyes, he grazed his nose along the side of mine. Soft, slow, petting. His wolf was caressing me, teasing me.

“Let me guess.” His voice was all beast, ocean dark and fathoms deep. “You were spying on me and Lindsey.”

I tried to jerk my hands free, gritting my teeth in my fury, but his strength was a powerful force. Well beyond me physically. I could’ve used magic, but I’d told him the truth. I didn’t want to hurt him. And if I was totally honest, feeling the force of his brute strength had me beyond turned on.

“Did you kiss her?” I spat, seething.

His lips were a bare whisper away from mine. “No.” The intensity of his gaze heated further. “You really think I want her?” There was definite amusement in his voice.

I narrowed my eyes to slits. His smile widened.

“I don’t care,” I snipped like a petulant child.

“Such a bad liar.”

“I hate you.”

“Still lying.”

“Stop talking and fucking kiss me.”

“There’s my girl.”

He slanted his mouth over mine, taking zero time to push his tongue inside. Our moans mingled as he held my wrists with one hand and reached between us to clamp his hand over my breast with the other.

It was a possessive grip. Not a subtle or gentle touch, but a hard and domineering claim of ownership. That in itself shot a wave of heat between my legs. Nico wasn’t wasting time. He was a visceral man of action.

I rocked up against him helplessly. I could taste his aggression, a hard pulse in the air that scraped against my skin. I wanted to swallow it down and let it rattle my bones.

While lapping fiercely inside my mouth, he kicked my feet apart and ground right between my legs, his dick a steel pipe inside those jeans.

My head spun, intoxicated on his pheromones, on the delicious friction between my legs. Hiking one leg over his hip, I rubbed my pussy against him, frantic to get him inside me.

He tweaked my nipple through my thin shirt and bra, swallowing my sexual sounds of desperation and pleasure, then he slipped his hand to the hem of my shirt and yanked it up. He released my wrists to pull the shirt off then tossed it aside.

“Nico.” I dug my nails into his shoulders, but he was already tugging my bra straps down and lowering his head.

When his mouth opened on my breast, his teeth grazing my nipple, the pulse between my legs became a constant throb. Heady. This was escalating at an astronomical pace, and I didn’t care. I couldn’t think past fuck me, Nico, please fuck me.

I clenched my fingers in his hair, pressing him closer, demanding him not to stop. He circled my taut nub with his tongue before latching on again, sucking hard. I moaned, nails scraping his scalp.

“Are we actually going to fuck for the first time in a supply closet?” I panted.

He lifted his head freakishly fast, his hand circling my throat, and froze. He didn’t squeeze, just held me still, another sign his wolf was fully in charge. I loved it.

His gaze intensified as the caged animal behind his eyes all but declared victory at my admission we were about to have sex.

I might be a fumbling imbecile when it came to actual relationships with men, but I also knew that when my body wanted a man this badly, there wasn’t anything that was going to stop me. Right now, I just wanted him in.

And what he must’ve seen in my eyes was reflected in his own. Stark lust—brutally raw and starving.

Easing close until his mouth was against mine, he whispered, “I’ll fuck you wherever you want me to.” His thumb grazed my pulse, his fire-gaze burning me up with feral hunger. “But it’ll be my way.”

I smiled a little at his super-alpha rising to the surface. Lots of supernaturals tended to be dominant, but I’d heard werewolves were intensely so in bed. Evie had even mentioned it a time or two, right before she blushed and got that dopey, drugged look in her eyes.

“Whatever you want, wolfie.”

We had both been powder kegs waiting to go off ever since that first contact two years ago. There was no mistaking that now. I don’t even know how I kept us apart this long.

My hands were shaking as I pushed up his shirt, needing skin. He stopped long enough to strip it off. When I went for my pants, trying to unsnap and unzip as fast as possible, panting like I’d run a goddamn marathon, he lifted me by the waist and turned me around. There was a table for T-shirt folding with a box of the logo T-shirts sitting on top. He knocked it all off with one sweep and bent me over the table.

“Yes. God. Please.”

I started to lift up onto my arms, but he growled and pressed his hand between my shoulder blades, pushing me back to the table.

I wanted to touch him, to feel him, but he wasn’t listening any longer. As soon as he’d stripped my jeans and panties down to my ankles, I expected to feel him plunge deep. But when his hot mouth opened on my slit, I jerked and cried out.

His vibrating groan as he licked and sucked added a layer of pleasure along with his tongue. He spread my lips apart with his thumbs and licked with long strokes, then he slid a finger through my folds before spreading a slick circle around my clit, still fucking me with his tongue. I grabbed the edge of the table, trying to hold on and not buck against him, the sensation so intense I was already about to come.

“Dammit. Get it in.”

“So impatient,” he growled and bit my ass.

I jumped when he slid two fingers inside me, and I came so hard and fast my vision blurred at the edges. I cried out while he continued pumping inside me, moaning his appreciation, whispering words of praise.

When he pulled his fingers out, he opened his hot mouth on me again, already stoking a fire that hadn’t nearly died out. If anything, I was more eager to feel him stretching me, filling me.

I reached back and managed to clench my fingers into his hair. “Nico,” I demanded.

He chuckled but lifted away. I heard the sound of his belt unbuckling, his zipper unzipping, and the distinct crinkle of a condom wrapper.

“Music to my fucking ears,” I mumbled, pushing up onto my elbows.

He leaned over me, bracing one arm on the table by my head, and licked a line up my spine that made me arch and jut my ass up into the air.

“You taste so fucking good,” he growled as he nipped my shoulder.

“Yeah? What do I taste like?”

He fisted my hair and turned my head so we were nose to nose, mouth to mouth. Something primitive sparked in those electric eyes before he rumbled, “Like mine.”

Then he sank inside me with one sharp thrust. I gasped at the sudden invasion, clenching my eyes closed. So thick. So full. He held still, not moving, his lips sweeping across mine, holding me still with his tight fist in my hair.

“Look at me, Violet,” he whisper-rumbled against my mouth. “Open those beautiful fucking eyes.”

So quiet, yet the power of his voice had me obeying him at once. Only then did he start to move, pumping in slow and deep, holding me captive with that feral gaze. Every slide of his thick cock was better than the last. The wet sound of raw sex heightened my arousal.

“God, Nico,” I breathed against his mouth.

“And you kept us from this for two years.” His fist in my hair stung when he tightened just a little more. Punishing me. I deserved it.

“I’m so fucking stupid.”

He really had no idea how much, but I’d wait to tell him later. Right now, all I could think was harder. Deeper.

He grinned before giving me a quick, wet kiss. Then he straightened, released my hair, and gripped my hips, his long fingers digging into my skin.

“Touch yourself,” he commanded. “Need you to come soon.”

I glanced over my shoulder, shivering at the slits of green staring down at where his dick entered my body, flesh slapping flesh.

“Can’t hold on much longer, huh?” I teased.

He lifted a hand and slapped my ass. Hard. When I jolted, my pussy clenching, he hissed in through his teeth.

“Fuck, Violet.” He gripped my hips tighter and growled, “Do as I say.”

I gulped hard at the sheer dominance in his voice. I was so goddamn turned on.

“Yes, sir.” It came out sassy, and his answering growl catapulted me toward another orgasm.

I gripped the front of the table again with one hand and reached between my legs with the other, circling my slick clit with two fingers. Laying my cheek to the table, I moaned at the euphoric sensation of my wet fingers sliding and his driving rhythm and my nipples rubbing against the cold table with each thrust.

When I felt myself climbing fast, I reached up and held onto the edge with both hands, my moaning gasps filling the small room. He reached down and lifted one of my legs, bending my knee to rest on the table and opening me wider. Then he really started pounding me. He took over, stroking my clit fast and hard.

“Fuck!” I cried out as I came, my sex squeezing his dick.

He pinched my clit while continuing to fuck my brains out, sending me into one of those out-of-body orgasms. Before my moans had even died, he moved his hand from between my legs to my thigh, squeezing to the point of pain. I didn’t think he meant to. He was lost to his own orgasm as he fell forward onto his other forearm and bit my shoulder—that was definitely going to leave a bruise—his animalistic groan vibrating from his chest to my back.

He shuddered then stilled, his dick swelling bigger as he came, the stretching sensation making me whimper with pleasure.

I couldn’t move. Just lay there, panting and grinning like an idiot. He wasn’t much better. His weight on top of me was heavy, but I didn’t care. It felt so good. He felt so good. This was so fucking good.

“Damn,” I muttered after a few minutes.

He laughed, his bare chest shaking since it was still pressed to my back.

“Yeah,” he breathed into my ear before pressing a kiss below my lobe. With a heavy sigh, he lifted up and pulled out of me, helping me get my leg down and foot firmly planted on the ground. Because, let’s face it, my legs were jelly, my body completely useless in post-orgasmic bliss.

By the time Nico had disposed of the condom, zipped up and got his shirt back on, I’d managed to straighten my bra and that was it. I stood there, still breathing heavy and staring at the sex god in front of me. He caught me looking, a sinful smile spreading across his face.

“Need some help?”

“Mmhmm.”

I wasn’t proud. I could barely move, still stunned that I’d been cock-blocking him all this time.

“Here we go.”

He knelt in front of me, looking up as he eased my panties up my legs. That knowing smile—smug and satisfied that he’d made me explode like a nuclear bomb—remained on his chiseled face. There was also a touch of warm affection there.

He trailed his long, perfect fingers down the backs of my thighs and calves, a tender caress, to my jeans and pulled those back on too. After zipping and snapping, he leaned forward and brushed his mouth on my belly before pressing his forehead there as he wrapped his hands around my waist and squeezed. I couldn’t help but comb a hand through his sex-mussed hair.

Something about this gentle gesture gave me a pinching sting at the center of my chest. It was so sweet, so tender, so serious.

To lighten whatever heavy emotion weighed the room down, I cleared my throat and clenched my fingers in his hair then pulled his head back so he’d look up at me. “If you think you’re getting this on all work breaks, you’re out of your damn mind.”

He chuckled then nipped the bare flesh on my belly with his teeth.

“Ow!” I jumped.

He soothed with his thumb but looked anything but remorseful. He got to his feet and found my shirt. He handed it over rather than helped me back into it, for which I was glad. We were in unfamiliar territory, and I wasn’t sure how to behave.

It was sex, but it also more. I definitely understood that when I’d interpreted the Tarot cards correctly. And I didn’t know what to do with more.

He kept a hand on the doorknob while he waited for me to get my shirt back on. “Come to my house for dinner.”

“Why?” I asked lightly.

“Why do you think?” He frowned, his gaze watching every move I made while I slipped on my shirt. “So we can do that again properly.”

“What, like missionary style?” I goaded.

His scowl deepened, but there was amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Thoroughly,” he corrected.

“Ah.” I propped my hands on my hips, my shirt back on. “Should I make a list of what I consider thorough?”

His eyes darkened, heating again. A throb between my legs pulsed in response.

Holy hell.

My body was ready again. His nostrils flared, and he arched a brow.

“Yes,” he finally answered, husky voice telling me he knew exactly what was going on in my panties. “A detailed list.”

He opened the door and gestured for me to go first. As I passed, he planted his palm on my stomach to stop me, leaning down close to my ear, his hot breath sending a shiver over my skin. “Text me the list.”

I stepped forward and glanced up at him. “Maybe.” I was pretending I wasn’t as affected as I was about sending him a list of what I wanted him to do to me tonight.

As I sashayed by him with a wicked smile, I turned to find Sean at the counter, leaning forward on his forearms, staring at us both. And the shit-eating grin on his face told me he just sat there and heard everything that had happened.

“Enjoy the show?” I snapped snarkily.

He winked. “Magical supply closet, eh?”

“Fuck off, Sean,” I called before storming off to my workspace.

But then I heard Nico answer him as he headed across the lobby to leave. “Yeah, it is.”

My heart fluttered, and I grinned like an idiot the rest of the day, mentally making my list.