Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Truth Muffins Aren’t Just for Poker Players
Declan
I was ruined.
How many people knew my muffins were the baked equivalent of a truth serum? Some of the non-magical poker players might blame the sudden wave of honesty on alcohol, but the magical ones would know what really happened.
Was this the same as hexing? It felt the same. I’d manipulated other people’s behavior with magic. Using magic to make people do things they wouldn’t normally do was what dark witches did, right? Which meant I was one of those kinds of witches. Someone who dabbled in awful terrible things.
Gideon thought Elwood would be understanding, but what if…
Magic like that was punishable, right? That’s what everyone had been hinting at when talking about the hexes.
So, what would happen to me? Would Elwood have to get another mage to bind my magic?
Because, as my grandfather, I wasn’t even sure he could do that kind of spell on me.
Maybe my dad was right to live his life like magic didn’t exist.
I rubbed my chest as Gideon opened the door to his apartment and waved me inside.
Licorice was already perched on the window outside Gideon’s living room.
I couldn’t even look at her. I felt too guilty.
What would happen to her when I was punished for my baking disaster?
None of this was her fault. I’d make sure everyone knew that. I had to protect her.
I made sure to keep the Muffins of Truth—or did Truth Muffins sound better?
Whatever I called them, they would be capitalized forevermore in my head when I thought of them—away from Gideon.
I wasn’t even sure why I’d brought them with me.
I should have tossed them into the garbage, but I needed to know where they were until I destroyed them.
My hands trembled as I set them on Gideon’s dining room table like they were a bomb, ready to explode with the slightest provocation.
“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Gideon whispered as he pulled me into his arms.
I dropped my head to his chest and squeezed my eyes shut. “How can it be? I made magically manipulative muffins.”
He chuckled softly until he realized I wasn’t laughing with him. “No one was hurt. You’ll see. Everything will be fine. Magical communities know mistakes happen when people come into their powers. Your muffins are pretty mild compared to some of the stuff I’ve seen.”
“Yeah?” I blinked up at him.
“Yeah.” He smiled down at me. He seemed so sure. Oh, how I wanted to believe him.
“I should talk to Elwood before he hears about it from someone else.”
“I’m sure he’s already heard. And tomorrow is soon enough. Nothing’s going to change overnight.”
I winced but knew he was right. Ravenstone was a small town. Gossip traveled faster than a bullet down these cobblestone streets.
“I don’t think I should open a bakery.”
Gideon stilled. “Why?”
“I obviously don’t have a handle on my magic. What if next time I’m thinking about you when I’m making cookies and suddenly everyone’s taking off their clothes and getting frisky with one another?”
He grinned. “Thinking about me makes you want to take off your clothes?”
“You know what I mean.” My cheeks heated. “My point is, I hadn’t even realized I was doing anything magical.”
“Didn’t you? You seemed to know right away that it was those cheesy muffins that were the problem.”
I sighed and pushed my face into his chest again. My actions made my glasses go askew, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t meet his eyes right now. “Yeah… looking back, I can see what happened, but—”
“No buts,” Gideon said, cutting me off. “Now that you know how it happened, you’ll be able to recognize the signs.”
I hoped he was right. “That doesn’t mean anyone will ever want to eat anything I make ever again. Even Sandy avoided my baking after he saw what was happening. Sandy!”
I could feel Gideon shaking his head. “Sandy only set the muffin aside. You must’ve missed him wrapping up the leftover cupcakes in a napkin.”
I looked up at Gideon again. “Did he really do that?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“I know.”
“And if you don’t think anyone will ever eat your baking again,” he said, “I can disprove that right now.”
Before I realized what was happening, he’d stepped away from me and grabbed a muffin from the table.
“Gideon! Stop!”
He chomped into the cheesy muffin of doom. I stared at him. I don’t know what I’d expected, but he didn’t explode or glow or spontaneously blurt out how my bakery dreams had just gone up in smoke.
“See?” He smiled. “Everything’s fine.”
I took the muffin out of his hand before he decided to eat any more of it.
“I don’t have anything to hide from you, baby.”
My stomach fluttered. I wasn’t sure if it was because of his term of endearment or everything else he’d said after tasting the muffin.
Gideon wasn’t a liar. I’d known that, but it was still reassuring to hear it and know it was true.
So I broke off part of the muffin and stuffed it into my mouth, too.
We stared at one another for a long moment.
“I don’t have anything to hide from you either,” I whispered.
Gideon’s eyes softened. I’d expected him to hug me again. Instead, he took my hand in his and looked into my eyes.
“I…” He cleared his throat. “Like I said before, I’m sure you’re my mate, but I can’t know for sure without being able to shift into my wolf. But without that confirmation, I’ve been struggling.” His voice broke on that last word.
“Gideon…”
“I want us to be mates, but there’s been this small what-if in the back of my head.
But I think that was just my insecurities, because everything else says you’re mine.
And although I might not be able to shift, my wolf…
” He placed his hand on his chest, right over his heart.
“I can feel my wolf inside me, and he’s as obsessed with you as I am.
Every time we’re together, my wolf wants to bite you. Claim you as ours.”
My heart skipped at his earnest expression. I nodded. “I feel really drawn to you, too. It’s fast, but I feel it in my heart. You’re it for me. There’ll never be anyone else for me.”
He sucked in a sharp breath. “I didn’t know witches could feel their mates, too.”
“I think I can,” I whispered. I put my hand over his where it rested on his chest. “I feel this sense of knowing deep inside me that insists you’re mine and I’m yours.”
“I don’t want you to live across the street,” Gideon said.
“What?” I frowned at the sudden shift in what we were talking about. “Why would I?”
“The apartment. Above the bakery. You sounded so excited about it, but…”
“I’ll admit that when I first thought about starting a business here, I’d planned on getting my own apartment, but that was back when I was worried our relationship was moving too fast.” I bit my bottom lip as I tried to summon the courage to say what I was thinking.
Finally, I blurted out, “I was kind of hoping I might move in with you.”
Gideon’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really.” I swallowed hard. “I’m trusting my gut, and it’s saying you’re it for me. It doesn’t matter that we’ve only known one another for a few short weeks.”
“But the apartment… you talked about wanting it.”
“Oh, I’m still excited about the apartment. It’ll be good to have a second source of income.” I sucked in a shaky breath. “So, um, what do you think? About moving in together?”
Gideon’s eyes flashed, and I got the sense of his wolf being close to the surface as his emotions spiked. He brushed his finger over my cheek. “I want you to, but half the time you insist on staying at Elwood’s, so I didn’t think you… I didn’t want to pressure you.”
“I’m sorry if I’ve confused you,” I said. “If it’s any consolation, I’ve confused myself, too. It felt like everything was happening so fast. I didn’t know how I could fall for someone so quickly. But I can’t deny how right this feels. I don’t want to be away from you another night.”
He cradled my cheek in his palm as his gaze locked on mine. We stared at one another for a long moment. We’d shared intimate moments before, but this… this felt different. It was more. It was everything. My heart thundered in my chest as my skin started glowing.
The first time my magic had come to life when we were together, I hadn’t known what to think.
But now it was always close, like it wanted him as much as I did.
To reach for him. Touch him. And that made sense, I guess, because my magic was me, wasn’t it?
And I didn’t think I’d ever get enough of him.
I sucked in a shaky breath. “I love you, Gideon.”
His eyes widened, but his smile was so full of happiness I could feel it radiating from him. “I love you, too, Declan.”
Gideon’s mouth met mine in a soft kiss that quickly turned heated.
When he tugged my lip between his teeth and nipped at it gently, need spiked through me.
The tenderness between us was washed away with an urgency I couldn’t control.
When he pulled his mouth from mine, I was panting.
Clinging to him. Wishing we didn’t have clothes on.
“Need you,” I said.
I shouted in surprise when he lifted me off the ground.
Wrapping my arms and legs around him, I relished the feel of his hard body pressed to mine.
He cupped my ass with his hands and pulled me closer yet.
His fingers bit into me, and I hoped he’d bruised me.
I wanted to wear his mark, any mark at all.
He carried me through the apartment to his bed. With each step, my erection rubbed against him, and I thought I could come from that alone. He set me gently on the mattress and followed me down, crawling over me, almost like he wanted to cage me in and never let me leave.
“Mine,” he bit out harshly. That single syllable was followed by a low, satisfied rumble that I knew was his wolf.
His mouth trailed down my neck, and I tilted my head to give him more access. He hummed in approval. It was a deep, primal sound. More growl than not. His teeth grazed over my skin, and I shivered. I wanted his teeth in me. I wanted to be his in every way I could.
Gideon. Me. Together. Always.
But without his wolf…
I felt a pang of… something—disappointment? longing maybe?—wash through me, but then he ripped my shirt from collar to hem, and all thought was torn away with it. I groaned when his tongue swept over my newly exposed skin. Like tasting me was his greatest desire. Like he couldn’t get enough.
As he tugged on my jeans, I pulled at his shirt. We flung aside the rest of our clothes, piece by piece, until there was nothing between us except the golden sparks of my magic zinging along our skin like magical fireworks. When I reached for him, he grabbed my hands and pinned them to the bed.
I gasped his name then, “Please…”
“So fucking beautiful.” His breath danced over my skin as he nuzzled my neck again.
I could come undone just like this—him pressing me to the mattress, covering me, and rocking his body against mine. I bucked against him, helpless to do anything else. His hard cock slid against mine.
“Fuck…” I shuddered.
“Wait,” he commanded. “Want to be in you when you come.”
He grabbed the lube from the bedside table. Prep was fast, but thorough. I didn’t mind a touch of pain, but Gideon refused to give me even a moment of discomfort. With each slippery finger he thrust inside me, my magic sparked wildly around us until the whole room glowed.
“Now, Gideon… I can’t wait.” I pushed him gently, and he let me roll him to his back and straddle him.
I stared down at him through my steamed-up glasses. I’d forgotten I had them on, but I didn’t stop to take them off. Not now. Not when Gideon was under me, waiting for me. I needed him too damn much to stop for even a second.
He was flushed and sweaty and so fucking gorgeous. But best of all, he was mine. My mate. My amazing, brilliant, sexy mate.
He held his cock as I lowered myself onto him. And I groaned as I sank onto him. Every time we came together like this, it felt more perfect than the last. When I’d taken all of him deep inside my body, he moved his hands to grip my hips.
“I love you,” I whispered. Because he needed to hear it again. And I needed to say it.
Then I started to move. Rocking up and down on his length. Fuck. He filled me so completely, and I never wanted him to leave. Nothing in my life had been as perfect as being with Gideon. I couldn’t look away from him as we moved together, even when our rhythm became increasingly chaotic.
Faster. Harder. More.
The glowing embers of my magic pulsed around us with each thrust. Each spark that touched Gideon’s skin was like a tiny tether binding us together.
I was so close now. I curled over him, turning my head to the side, offering him my neck.
When his blunt human teeth bit me, my body clenched in pleasure.
My magic burst into thousands of tiny pieces and fell over us in a glittering cascade as my release shot across Gideon’s stomach.
His arms wrapped around me like steel bands holding me still as he thrust deep inside me once…
twice… then he came on a deep guttural grunt that reverberated through me.
When he loosened his embrace, I snuggled closer. I didn’t want this moment to end. I never did.
Gideon was safety and love and acceptance. He was home.