Chapter 12
MANNY
“The thing you most love about Folk Haven is me. I’m home.”
Blossom’s snappish voice pulls a smile from my previously frowning mouth, and I lift my head, watching from my seat beneath an apple tree as the wood witch appears from the forest, striding toward me with the pumpkin crown still sitting snug on her head.
If Blossom competes next year, I don’t know that I could put in my all. I never want to see that adornment on a head other than hers. She looks beautiful in my creation.
“Figured out the secret message of my pumpkin, huh?”
She scowls and crosses her arms over her chest. “Could you be any more obvious?”
“I don’t know. Let me try.” I lean forward and hold my hands out, palms splayed in surrender. “Blossom Fernmore, I’m gone for you. Please know that as much as I love teasing you, this is the truth. Please believe me when I say, you’re all that I want, and your happiness means everything to me.”
She’s silent for an agonizing stretch, then extends her hand.
On it, I see the ring. The one I made.
I wondered if she would ever realize who the gift was from. I half expected her to know the moment she opened the box.
And then to chuck it at my head.
But I overheard Heather ask about the ring once, her eyes on me.
My best friend knew I’d grown interested in metalworking and that I’d convinced a local dragon artist, Dimitri Novac, to let me apprentice under him.
He taught me until he passed away a couple of years ago. I still miss that grumpy old mythic.
Now that I work for Owen at his recycling company, I have access to plenty of scrap metal for my hobby.
The crown was the first piece I fashioned that Dimitri approved of.
The ring was the second.
But Blossom told Heather that their dad had gotten it for her as a gift. That was when I realized the story she’d made up for herself.
One that Heather didn’t believe, but was a good enough friend to keep her mouth shut about.
Now that I think about it, that must have been Heather’s first hint that I was in love with her sister.
“I can’t believe you never told me. You’re a sneaky wolf,” Blossom chides with affection in her voice, and I preen under the hints of her caring for me.
But will she stay?
Can I do anything to keep her here?
The problem is, I don’t want to force Blossom into the decision. No more bets or tricks. I want her to choose Folk Haven on her own.
I want her to choose me.
“Let me know if you want a complete set,” I tell her. “Necklace. Bracelet.”
The wood witch saunters up to where I sit in the grass, back braced against the trunk of an apple tree. I told her to meet me here because even if she didn’t show, I’d still have the scent of her around me. Still be able to stare at the flattened patch of grass where I held her last night.
Blossom sinks down, settling in my lap as her legs straddle my waist. “Nipple piercings?”
I rear back in surprise, shoulders hitting the tree trunk. My wolfish libido roars to the forefront, taking the joke entirely too seriously.
“Yes.” I growl out the word, hands encircling her waist. “But I need to see the flesh I’m working with.”
Blossom snorts. Then, her face turns thoughtful as she speaks. “Jenny owns a house on the lake in the human section.”
Confused by the change in topic, I offer a confused nod. “She does.”
Blossom wraps her arms around my neck and fiddles with the hair at the base of my skull. “Heather was saying they were going to move into Jenny’s place permanently. Not go back and forth anymore. Heather’s going to sell her house.”
I remember my friend mentioning this too.
“She asked if I wanted to buy it.”
My lungs clench, and I have trouble inhaling. “When?”
“Before the mating.”
Before everything that happened between us. Did she tell her no and is now rethinking the refusal?
“I told her I’d think about it,” Blossom says.
“You did?”
The wood witch scratches her nails against my scalp in a gentle caress.
Even though she’s straddling my lap, Blossom isn’t close enough. I tighten my grip on her waist, dragging her flush against my chest, and bury my nose in her hair.
Apples, spice, and warm woman.
Much better.
“I think I’ve always wanted to come back here,” Blossom murmurs. “Once I realized I didn’t have to. That I could survive out in the world on my own. Without Papa and Heather hovering over me and treating me like the baby of the family, the town stopped feeling so suffocating.”
Every syllable out of her mouth gives me hope.
I don’t need Blossom to move to Folk Haven for me.
All I need is for her to give me a chance while she’s here.
I’ll utilize this proximity to badger her into loving me.
Craft jewelry for every part of her body.
Race with her through every forest. Give her orgasms in every orchard.
“Made any decisions?” My voice is rough on the words as I keep my begging at bay. To distract myself, I focus on the soft press of her against my chest and the way her intoxicating apple-pie scent fills my nose and my lungs.
Blossom hums and fiddles with the collar of my shirt. “I have. But I’m worried about something.”
My stomach dips low. “What’s got you upset?”
She sighs, heavy and long. “That you’ll be completely insufferable when you find out I’m going to tell Heather yes. And that part of the reason is because I’m in love with you.”
She’s right. I will never let her forget this.
Cradling her cheek, I guide Blossom’s face so her eyes meet mine. So she sees the incandescent happiness spilling out of every pore of my being.
“Bud—”
“I said, part of the reason!” She tries to scowl and pounds a not-at-all hard fist against my chest. “There are other things I miss about Folk Haven. It’s not just you.”
I roll us into the grass, pinning her sweet little body against the ground.
“But I’m the biggest reason.” I pair the proclamation with a gentle, suggestive thrust of my hips.
My wood witch groans and digs her fingers into my hair, pulling until almost the point of pain. “See? This is exactly what I was worried about. You’re going to be impossible to be around.”
“Only when I open my mouth,” I argue. “There are plenty of ways to keep that part of me busy.”
Blossom’s cheeks go red, even as she smirks. “True.”
More snarky, teasing comments come to my mind, but I don’t let them out. There will be time in the future to get into verbal sparring matches with my witch.
Because she’s staying.
I hold her gaze, remaining quiet for long enough that understanding flashes in her eyes. She knows the next words from my mouth won’t be a joke.
“I love you, Blossom Fernmore.”
Her gaze softens.
“Please, let me be yours. I want to carry the heavy furniture into your new house, and feed you s’mores, and fashion you hundreds of pieces of jewelry, and run through the woods with you. Let me love you, whenever you’re ready. Let me in. Let me make up for every wrong I’ve done to you.”
“Manny”—Blossom releases the grip she has on my hair to trace her thumbs over my eyebrows and down to the curves of my cheeks—“let me put apples in a pie for you rather than chucking them at your head. Let me kiss your cheek, not because I’m saying good-bye, but because I want to have the taste of you on my lips. Let me be your home. Let me love you.”
The sneaky witch just plunged her sharp-nailed hand past my rib cage and gripped my heart.
But the hold, though it threatens to devastate me, is also a gentle cradle I can’t live without.
“Okay,” I rasp. “No arguments here.”
Blossom’s eyes sparkle. “None from me either. Look at that. I guess we can get along.”
As our mouths meet in a kiss, a happy growl rumbles deep in my chest. And when Blossom rolls me onto my back, I revel in the way she dominates me.
Suddenly, all her delicious warmth is gone, except for a tight grip around my wrists and ankles. I turn my head and realize vines have wrapped around my limbs.
“Bet you can’t catch me, wolf.” Blossom crouches at my side only long enough to smack a quick kiss on my cheek. Then, she takes off running, disappearing between the dark trees with light laughter and the sparkle of green magic reflecting off the pumpkin crown.
I grin, tugging at my restraints. And when I finally break free, I release a night-shattering howl.
Warning my wood witch that in every race with her as the prize, I intend to win.
The End
Thank you so much for reading the collection of Folk Haven Tales. I hope you enjoyed every magical love story! Do you want to spend more time in the mythic-filled Folk Haven? Keep reading for a peek at more mystical small town romances.