Chapter 23
PANDORA’S DIARY
Bonus Magical Moment: Bliss
Risotto: Divine
Times I questioned my feelings for Leo: How many minutes in twenty-four hours?
I’ve never been good at lovey-dovey stuff. I feel silly trying to say sexy things, such as “very, very needy.” Fortunately, Leo didn’t seem embarrassed by my words.
He leaned close enough to kiss. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, yes. Yes.”
“Does this mean—”
“It doesn’t mean anything, Leo!” I said, true to my fuck-buddy self. “Except that I want you, right now.”
“If this is just a side effect of getting your gift, I can’t really—”
“I’m not drunk, I’m gifted.” When I spoke, my lips brushed his. “Do you really think I’m going to let you say no to me?”
He made a noise deep in his throat, then kissed me.
First my lips then my neck, and when my head tilted upward, the world swam around me.
The gentle sun brushed across the bottoms of the clouds and Leo’s gentle mouth brushed my skin.
His hand touched my cheek and I fell into him.
My eyes closed and he kissed my eyelids and my breath came faster as he took my hand and kissed my wrist and my fingers.
His intensity made me soften and tremble.
He murmured to me, but his words mattered less than the raw, honest need in his voice. I responded hungrily, the flush on my skin and the buzz in my mind driving me onward. I touched him everywhere. His shoulders and arms, and oh how I loved his hair and his neck and his face.
My pulse pounded in my throat and my wrists.
He pressed against me and my nipples hardened and I wanted him with an almost frightening single-mindedness.
No, I wanted him with a truly frightening single-mindedness, because we’d been here before.
We’d been here before and he’d thrown me away because I wasn’t good enough, because he didn’t value me more than some future gift.
I wanted him with a blinding hunger and I would have him—but what I really wanted to know was, would he want me for the right reasons?
I murmured, “What I really want…”
“Tell me,” he murmured.
“Forget my gift, forget the earthquake. I want to know how this will turn out.”
“How this will turn out?” he said, between kisses. “How about with us spending every day together, and every night? Talking about books and music and magic, about my dumb clients and your bright students, about our families and each other and about nothing. Mostly about nothing and—”
“No, Leo,” I interrupted, because the passion in his voice made me dizzy with lust. “I meant this.” I placed my hand on his hardness. “How is this going to turn out?”
He laughed against my throat. “I’m going to take you to my childhood bedroom and I’m going to lay you on my bookworm quilt and you’re going to ask me to fuck you.”
“Oh,” I said. “Yes, please.”
I stripped off my top and wiggled out of my skirt the moment we entered his room.
Despite the feeling of being swept along by irresistible currents, I was still relieved to discover I had on decent underwear.
A black lace bra and black panties. Not a matching set but still a pretty good look for me.
Judging from Leo’s expression, he agreed. In fact, his expression agreed so strongly that I felt myself flush with embarrassment—and desire.
When he pulled his shirt over his head, I heard myself make a soft noise.
He’d been a swimmer in high school, and he still had the broad shoulders and narrow hips.
He was no longer a teenager though; his waist had thickened, and he had a slight belly, though his arms were still muscular and his chest was covered in blond hair. I loved how perfectly imperfect he was.
He stroked my upper arm, moving me so that my back was to his front and he could nuzzle my ear and neck.
His palms traced the shape of my waist, then rose higher.
As I pushed backward he felt my tits through my bra and my body hollowed with longing.
I ground my ass against him, and the doorbell rang.
“Ignore it,” I murmured.
“Ignore what?” he said, unclasping my bra.
The touch of his fingers on my nipples made me gasp and—the doorbell rang again.
Followed by an insistent knocking.
“Why aren’t your parents getting it?” I demanded.
“They’re at your house, it’s card night.”
“Shit,” I said.
“I don’t hear anything,” he said, and went back to kissing me.
The bell rang again and that time didn’t stop, like whoever was there knew we were inside.
“What if something happened?” I stopped writhing. “Something bad because of my gift?”
He adjusted himself in his pants. “Your gift is making me suffer.”
“I’ll make it up to you,” I promised, slipping my bra back on.
“You stay here, I’ll be right back.”
I put my arms around him. “What if it is because of my gift?”
“I’ll handle it,” he said, pulling his shirt on.
“With your special book powers?”
“Hey!”
I squirmed back into my skirt. “If anyone messes with you, you’ll dog-ear them?”
“I can’t even slip a bookmark in without getting interrupted.”
I cupped him with my hand. “Oh, honey, it’s bigger than a bookmark.”
“Fuck,” he groaned and pressed against my hand.
I enjoyed his response for a moment, then pushed him through the bedroom door, as I slipped on my top.
He buttoned his shirt and yelled, “I’m coming, I’m coming!”
In the foyer, we took another second to collect ourselves, then opened the door—and found a police officer on the steps.
Beane Island didn’t rate a full-time police presence, so the county sheriff assigned officers to brief shifts in a barely furnished office at the marina. As a kid, I’d recognized most of the cops, but this skinny redheaded guy was new to me. And Leo, too, apparently.
“Can I help you?” Leo asked.
“I hope so. I’m Officer Barker, may I come in?”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Leo said, with a polite smile. “What’s this about?”
Officer Barker looked surprised at Leo’s refusal.
In general people weren’t afraid of Maine police, especially on Beane Isle, but Leo and I lived in Boston.
Also, there was no way we didn’t look mussed and flushed and eager to fall back into bed.
I would’ve been shocked if my pupils weren’t still dilated.
I definitely still hadn’t quite caught my breath.
“We had a complaint.” Barker hitched his thumb into his belt near his holster. “Reports of drones going wild in town. Buzzing pedestrians, making a mess.”
“Oh, thank the Dames!” I blurted, relieved that this had nothing to do with my gift.
“Pardon?” the officer said.
I swallowed. “Oh, er, I mean, uh, I’m glad nobody’s hurt.”
“I don’t see what this has to do with us,” Leo said.
“Your neighbors, the Morrisons? They think they saw those same drones at a lobster bake you hosted.”
“There weren’t drones at the party,” Leo said.
Which meant he must’ve missed the bobolink show. “Actually there were a few,” I said, “but a guest brought them.”
“Which guest?” the cop asked.
“I’m not sure. You know a lobster bake, everyone shows up.”
He gave me his card. “If you remember, please get in touch.”
“Oh,” I said. “Of course.”
“We’ll spread the word,” Leo assured him. “It’s a small island. I’m sure it won’t happen again.”
After the officer left, Leo shut the door, but watched through the window. When the cop zoomed away in his police cart, he said, “I know there weren’t drones at the lobster bake.”
“Remember Trevor Alistair, the kid I used to babysit?”
“That baby you treated like a puppy?”
“He crawled for treats. Anyway, he turned fourteen and got a gift for herding birds.”
Leo frowned. “Hurting birds?”
“Not hurting, herding! Maybe just bobolinks, I didn’t ask. He had a couple dozen of them doing an airshow and your new neighbors the Morrisons thought they were drones.”
“You think that’s what happened in town? More bobolinks?”
I bit my lower lip, which felt bruised from his kisses. “Maybe my gift caused his gift to go bonkers?”
“What does your gift have to do with it?” he asked. “We don’t even know what your gift is yet.”
“Either way, we should talk to him. Sort this out.”
Leo touched my hip. “Sure, but not right now.”
“Mm. We can talk to Trevor tomorrow.” I frowned in thought. “Except for one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Race you upstairs,” I said, and bolted.
I squealed as he caught me on the stairs, picked me up, and slung me over his shoulder. And Diary, I will not share further details of my ravishing, in case my mother reads this.
I woke early and watched Leo sleep.
I felt replete. Satiated. Adrift in the lazy afterglow.
There was only one problem: I was too contented to convince myself that finding my gift had simply made me horny.
I mean, sure, it had done that. But it had specifically made me horny for Leo.
And for good reason. Damn. The sex had been amazing.
I gave myself goosebumps thinking about it.
Maybe getting a gift was worth all the fuss after all. I drowsed for a moment, while trying to remind myself that great sex didn’t mean anything. Leo had still failed the very first test of a relationship: he didn’t value me enough for who I was, he cared more about what I was.
On the other hand, I still hadn’t processed what he’d said to me on the dock. All those things about wanting to share everything with me. Talking about books and music and magic. I guessed this wasn’t just about sex for him—which frightened and thrilled me in equal measure.
I loved Leo. I loved him passionately, I loved him to distraction. I hadn’t forgotten how he’d rejected me, though. Because I couldn’t forget that. However, now I had my gift so the question was this: could I forgive him?
I watched him until I fell back asleep, wondering what his apartment looked like and whether he knew how to cook.