Chapter 24 #3
“Sorry, Tori,” Cece said. “I should have moved it to a lower shelf.”
“All good,” Tori said. She and Judd headed to the kitchen, and Cece drank in the sight of Briggs.
He was wearing a thin jacket, and she gave him a teasing smile. “Don’t tell me you’re actually cold?”
“I wore it because we stopped at the hardware store, and it makes humans nervous and weird when I walk around in weather this cold in just a t-shirt,” Briggs said.
“Right, it’s for the humans,” she said.
A cute grin crossed his face, and he did that same soft growl from yesterday.
Cece had heard Briggs growl plenty of times since he’d started living with her, but this one wasn’t at all like his normal growl.
What did it say about her that this soft little growl, the one she’d only ever heard him do for her, made her so wet, she was practically swimming in her underwear?
Briggs inhaled deeply, and she knew he could smell her need for him, but for the first time, she wasn’t embarrassed.
She liked that he knew she wanted him. Liked that her desire for him was so transparent.
Her magic spiked in her veins, a hot pulse that only increased her need for the man in front of her.
She wanted to touch him, kiss him, beg him to bury his face between her thighs.
Green vines were curling around Briggs’s arms, travelling up his biceps and wandering over his shoulders before caressing his face gently.
“Holy shit.”
Maisie’s voice broke through Cece’s fog of need. She stared at her best friends. They had stood up from the couch, and Maisie, still holding the Pomeranian in her arms, said, “Your plants are taking the big guy hostage, babe.”
Cece blinked at her before staring at the bookshelf of plants. The plants were all significantly bigger. A couple of them had even busted open their plastic pots, and the plants with vines had all grown in length and were curled around Briggs’s body, gently stroking his arms, face, and chest.
Briggs only glanced at the vines around his body before saying, “You brought some plants downstairs.”
The embarrassment growing in Cece’s chest faded, along with her magic, and with a final caress, the plants unwrapped from Briggs and retreated. “I brought them down this morning.”
“They look good in here,” Briggs said.
Cece gave him a pleased smile. “I thought so too.”
Maisie and Kinsley joined them, and Maisie grinned at Briggs before holding out her hand. “Hey, I’m Maisie, and this is Kinsley.”
Briggs shook her hand, and then Kinsley’s and Cece shoved down her jealousy that they could touch him and she couldn’t.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Briggs said.
“You as well,” Kinsley said. “Thank you for keeping our girl safe.”
There was a moment of awkward silence before Maisie winked at Cece and then kissed the top of Linda’s head. “We should get going, Kins, before I kidnap this adorable dog.”
She set Linda on the ground, and the dog immediately ran out of the living room and down the hallway toward the kitchen.
“Text us if you need anything, honey,” Kinsley said before hugging Cece.
Maisie hugged her next and whispered in her ear, “Dude, you need to climb that man like a tree.”
Cece gave her a light pinch, and Maisie laughed. “Nice to meet you, Briggs.”
“You as well,” Briggs said.
They left, and Briggs shoved the door shut. “It was nice of your friends to visit.”
“It was,” Cece said. “I miss them, and even though I’m worried about them being in danger, I needed this visit.”
“I’m glad you got to see them.” Briggs studied her, and Cece was feeling decidedly warm despite how damn cold her house was. Her urge to take Briggs upstairs was becoming overwhelming, and she quickly looked away from his steady gaze.
“Um, so thank you for helping today. It’s not exactly a fun way to spend your day off.” She couldn’t help but stare up at him again.
Briggs’s gaze never left hers. “I don’t want to be anywhere else but here, little witch.”
“Briggs,” she whispered, that hot need washing over her again. “I don’t think I can keep resist-”
“Okay, let’s get that door installed before - whoa, maybe we shouldn’t be leaving you two alone.” Judd sniffed the air as he and Tori walked toward them from the kitchen.
Cece stepped back as a growl rumbled out from Briggs’s chest. Judd gave him a good-natured grin. “C’mon, you can use all that pent-up rage you’re suddenly feeling for me to carry the new door inside.”
Judd yanked open the door and gave Briggs a look when he didn’t follow him. “You coming or what?”
“Stay in the living room with Tori while we fix the door, little witch,” Briggs said. “It’ll be too cold in the hallway for you.”
She nodded and watched Briggs’s perfect ass walk out the door until he pulled it shut behind him. She glanced at Tori, flushing a little at the bunny shifter’s grin. “Sorry.”
“Hey, I, too, can appreciate a great ass when I see one,” Tori said. She was holding Linda, and she petted the dog before kissing her head affectionately. “Come into the living room with Linda and me, and we’ll relax while the men work.”
Cece laughed. “Sounds like a perfect plan to me.”