8. Enchanted
Enchanted
H ave you ever met a woman so fucking beautiful that you feel a shift in the universe just looking at her?
Even if the “her” in question was currently tangled in a drum set and had managed to knock over a harp, bass, and tuba.
I hurried to set the cello down to check on the mystery woman. I did my best to bend onto my knees in my leather mini-skirt.
Gods, she was even more gorgeous up close. She had nicely tanned skin that had a warm rosiness to it. Her wild loose dark brown ringlets went past her broad shoulders. They looked so freaking soft . I wanted to touch them. The mystery woman was built , all muscles and strength, but was also thick and plus size, her build reminding me of a human version of a bear. Her legs seemed to go on for days with her height at almost six feet tall. She wore some nice dress sneakers and a dark pair of jeans cut close to her muscular legs and thick thighs. Her white button down shirt had the first few buttons undone to show her ample cleavage—which I definitely was not staring at—and she had the sleeves rolled past her elbows. Her strong forearms were on full display, showcasing a complete sleeve of cooking utensils and food on one arm and a patchwork collection on the other. I could make out a set of old-fashioned scissors, dog paws, an ax, and a geometric heart. The shirt stretched around all of her muscles nicely. Very nicely. I let my eyes move up to her face as she rubbed the back of her head from her fall, and I found no reprieve from how amazing she looked. Her eyebrows were sharp and arched with one of them razored with a slit, her eyes slightly downturned. She had a wide nose and soft lips—another thing I definitely wasn’t staring at. She also had three moles on her face: one next to her right eyebrow opposite the one with the slit, and two on her left cheek. Something stirred in me that I could not explain or begin to understand. I had never felt so attracted to someone just from looking at them.
I cleared my throat. “Are you okay?”
“Ah, yeah, I think so,” She groaned, her eyes closed. “It’s probably just a bump from a snare drum. It’ll heal.”
Her voice was liquid gold. She had an accent . It was soft and subtle under her husky tones, but I knew it was Spanish. It made me feel warm down all over, with tiny ladybugs taking flight in my stomach. “That was a pretty nasty fall. Do you need some help up?”
“Yes, please,” she accepted with her eyes still closed. She held out her hand for me. I stood—again, carefully—and took her hand.
A bolt of electricity shot from where our hands met, and I soon became overly aware of everything. How calloused, rough, and hot her hands were against my hand. How warm my necklace suddenly got. The mystery woman’s golden hazel eyes, wide and locked on me now. How when she made eye contact with me, I felt as though no one had really seen me before. How my breath stopped and then quickened. How her breath did the same. How her hand squeezed tightly around mine like she didn’t want to let me go. How I hoped she wouldn’t. How this felt like forever.
But it only lasted for a moment.
Worse, I totally forgot I was in full motion right before the moment transpired.
When our hands locked, I pulled her up, but she wasn’t anticipating it. I ended up yanking her up to her feet, sure. However, she was too surprised to stop at just standing. I fell backward onto my ass, our hands separating during the fray. And she fell with me.
On top of me.
She was able to catch herself before she fully landed on me, her large arms on either side of my shoulders. Caging me. She leaned above me, over me, kneeling between my legs of all places. I was enveloped in her scent—a campfire with an undercurrent of delicate, sweet milk chocolate. I had never smelled someone so strongly, but I was so obsessed with her smell, I was almost in a haze. My nostrils flared to get more of it. Also, she was so hot . I wondered if she was a fire elemental, if I was going to have burns. It would be worth it. A part of me wanted to lift against her, wrap my legs around her waist and see what happened, if she felt all of this, too. But I hastily swallowed those intrusive thoughts.
Gods, I needed to stop reading so many dark romance novels.
Her voluminous and cloudy curls formed a curtain around our faces. Even through the darkness of it, her golden eyes were so bright, just like caramel sizzling in a pan before it was poured over a bananas foster. How did her eyes even seem to radiate some strange flame?
Her eyes met mine before straying to take in our situation. Then her eyes came back to mine. Her slitted eyebrow raised, and her lips turned up into a smirk.
No, not a smirk, actually.
A smolder .
That something that stirred with me seemed to slowly uncoil as the ladybugs grew into butterflies.
“Hi,” Her voice was smokey now and deep. The butterflies doubled in size.
“H-hi,” I replied, my own voice raspy. I cleared my throat, and suddenly remembered I did have some manners. “Uh, I’m Byrd, Byrd Pierce”
“Byrd… That’s a beautiful name.” Her smirk grew to show teeth, and I really tried not to swoon. I liked how my name sounded on those lips, in that voice. I didn’t think my name had ever been so beautiful to me. “I’m Quinn Garcia. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Suddenly, something caught my eye as Quinn’s ringlets continued to sway around us. I wasn’t going to lie. I was grateful for the distraction, considering what was happening under my skirt. “Y-you, uh, have something in your hair.”
“Do I?” Quinn’s eyes never left mine, still penetrating into my soul and making me feel laid bare.
What was breathing again? Did I know how to do it?
“Y-yeah. I’ll just—” I reached up with a shaky hand and took the recorder entangled in her curls. A light scent of citrus wafted down to me.
“A recorder? In my hair?”
“Must have snagged during your fall. The first one, not… this one.” My eyes returned to hers. I knew if I let my eyes stray, they would go to her lips, her body still pressed against my own.
“Oh. Right. I should probably get off…” Quinn allowed the words to trail off.
I raised my eyebrows at her. Then she winked at me. I chuckled, and her eyes lit up at the sound.
Oh, she’s got jokes.
Quinn leaned back from me, and I immediately felt cold blanket me in her place. I put my knees together before she could catch sight of anything scandalous. But a part of me also wanted to keep the heat there, as if I were keeping a memory locked there.
How many shots had that bartender put in my drink?
Quinn stood and helped me to stand with far more grace and steadiness than I had done with her. I felt another spark when our hands met, and she still held on after I was standing. We stood together like that for a beat, holding each other’s hands and staring into each other’s eyes. It was very rom-com, and I couldn’t believe it was?—
A cymbal crashed to the ground, making me jump at the sudden noise and pull my hands away. We both turned to the mess from her fall.
“Oh, I guess I should probably clean that up,” she said, walking over to set the drums back up like they were before.
I went over to right the bass and its bow. Quinn said, “You don’t have to help. It’s my mess.”
“So? You think I’m just going to leave you hanging? It was my music that got you distracted enough to go timber in the first place, so this is also kinda my fault,” I joked. In all honesty, I was being polite, but I also needed something to do with my hands. I felt energized and needed something to do to expel some of it. Besides, I did feel bad that she fell.
I went to the stage to grab the cello to return it. On my way to the level that housed them, Quinn asked, “That music earlier… It was some of the most beautiful I had ever heard. So sad, but so cheerful. It was just… deep and emotional. Did you write that?”
“Oh, no, I’m not a music writer.” I picked up the tuba to carry it up as I continued. “No, actually, my mother used to play that song growing up. It’s like a family heirloom on my mom’s side. She taught me how to play it. I honestly don’t play much at all these days. I guess I wanted to see if I still could and if I still remembered the song after all these years.”
I looked up from busying myself with the tuba to find Quinn staring at me with those rich eyes and smiling that same smirk while she leaned on the harp she had just corrected. She looked curious and amused. I felt my face heat.
“I’m so sorry! I’m rambling. Uh, do you play the cello? Or any instruments?”
Quinn shrugged. “I have dabbled a bit here and there, off and on. I mainly prefer the drums over the strings. I’m the drummer in the band I have with my cousins.”
Oh, of course she’s a freaking drummer. Female drummers were notoriously the best and hottest, hands-down. I mean, just look at her arms—I mentally shook the thought out of my head. I shouldn’t be this horny for a stranger. I had never been in the past. I always found people more attractive after I knew them. This much physical attraction was unreal for me.
“That’s so freaking awesome.” I tried to play it off instead. “Do y’all play gigs or anything?”
“No, we never have the time. We mainly play here when we get bored and only really do covers of our favorite songs for the hell of it.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Play here? Are you friends with the owners or their kids?”
Quinn ran her hand through her thick curls, fluffing them even more than they already were. Her smirk widened. “Technically, my cousins and I are kind of friends with the owners. As much as you can be friends with my dad, their uncle.”
My jaw dropped. “Oh my god, is this your party?”
She cringed, but her smile remained. “Please do not call it that. I told Cody this was too much, and I wanted something more lowkey. I hate crowds. I was kinda hoping I could hide away all night without having to deal with the party.”
“ Same . Parties suck eggs,” I said and immediately regretted it. Suck eggs? What am I, a teen in the early aughts?
Quinn’s smile only grew. “They do, actually. They really do.”
I smiled, unsure if she was amused by my nerves or just ignoring it. Either way, I was grateful. “What was the reason for this dreadful party, anyway?”
“It’s meant to be a celebration. For me and the family, in a way.” Quinn ruffled her curls again, her biceps flexing under her shirt in a way I was trying not to notice. “I finally left my ex-girlfriend of too-many years. She was a bitch that no one liked. So, when I decided to leave her—for good, this time—my cousins wanted to party.”
Ex-girlfriend . She had an ex-girlfriend . So, she was into girls. I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised. She very much looked like a masculine lesbian right down to her doing that hair ruffle thing that I’ve seen studs do all the time online. But it was never good to assume, or guess, only based on appearances.
But my heart fluttered at the idea that maybe I had a chance.
“She must have been horrible for your cousins to want to throw this big of a party to celebrate you leaving her.”
“You have no idea. She was terrible. Not just to me, either, but to everyone I loved or liked.” Quinn’s smirk faltered as her eyes grew a little distant. “She just… She wanted me to be how she wanted me to be and hated when I was just, well, me .”
I stepped down a level to get closer to her. I wanted to grab her hand and bring those hazel eyes back to me and away from this ex-girlfriend who would make her feel anything other than herself. Instead, I only stood close enough to reach out. Quinn seemed to appreciate the effort based on the tiny spark in her eyes.
I continued. “If you don’t mind my asking, why were you with her for so long?”
Quinn shrugged. “Boredom, I think. And convenience, maybe? She was there, so I didn’t have to start all over. It’s easier to stick with the devil you know, sometimes.”
I felt there was something more there, something she was leaving unsaid. But I didn’t want to press it. I had a feeling she would tell me if she thought I needed to know. Plus, we had just met. Even as a lesbian, I didn’t want to move that fast.
“Well, I heard some wise sage once say that the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else,” I joked.
Quinn’s smirk fully returned as she locked eyes with me. Actually, that smolder returned, making my face heat at its intensity. “Are you offering?”
“Oh, I’m not that type of girl, babe. I need romance and to know you aren’t an idiot before you can get into my bed.”
“Well, I love reading Colleen Hoover, watching those sappy Hallmark movies at Christmas, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is my favorite rom-com and the best rom-com of all time. Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, PEMDAS is that order of operations thingy in math, and I know the difference between their, they’re, and there. What do you think now?”
I laughed. “I think that you liking to read books is definitely a plus, you liking to those Hallmark movies is adorably sweet, and you are a girl with taste because that movie is truly perfection . The other stuff means that you paid attention in school, which definitely shows you aren’t a total dum-dum. Overall, you are definitely taking strides in the right direction.”
“I’m sure I can win you over before this wretched party ends.”
“Is that a challenge, Queenie Quinn? Because I have to warn you. I can be very competitive, and I’m not easily won over by the weak of heart.”
Quinn’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, I love a good challenge because I always win. And by the end of the night?—”
She stepped into my space, and I could once again feel that pure fire radiating off her and dancing across my skin. She was like a bonfire. Then she whispered into my ear, warm breath tickling and teasing me. “You will be a winner, too.”
My breath caught in my throat. I smelled her again as she pulled back, smelling just like s’mores and a campfire with a hint of citrus from her hair. Her words flared a fire in me that I felt blazing everywhere. I felt goosebumps prickle along my arms as she stepped back, but I wasn’t sure how much I could blame on the cold she left in her wake.
The girl had the audacity to smile at me as she left me the definition of flustered. “How about I get you a drink?”
All I could do was nod.
I grabbed my empty red solo cup as we exited the music room together. Quinn turned out the lights and closed the door behind us. Without the soundproofing of the music room, I immediately had to readjust to the loudness of the party music once more. It seemed like it had gotten louder somehow. Quinn and I went down the hallway. The same white guy was still being a stereotype, but his mashup of 2000s hip-hop songs and current hits actually wasn’t too bad.
When we reached the railing, I took a second to look below again. Somehow, the crowd had grown . Now, I could hardly see the floor below and the furniture was nonexistent as people danced, sat, or stood on it. Despite the ocean of bodies, I was still able to find Simone instantly. She was leaning against Cole, against a wall, swaying to the music. Cole bent down and said something into her ear that made her throw her head back, laughing. When she finished, she caught sight of me and waved. I waved back.
“Who are you waving at?” Quinn asked next to me.
“My best friend, Simone, down there. She brought me and my other friend, Maisie, to the party.”
I saw the realization dawn on Quinn’s face, along with her smile widening. “Ah, Cole has been raving about Simone for weeks . He’s obsessed with her.”
“Oh, I can tell. He’s got it bad, but she’s honestly just as whipped.”
We went downstairs together. As the crowd thickened at the base of the stairs, Quinn reached for my hand so we didn’t lose one another—Not that I could with her towering above most heads in the crowd, but I loved the sentiment. She easily parted the masses and got us back in front of the pretty bartender with the cute earrings.
“Hey, Jesse!” Quinn yelled above the music. “Can we get my usual and whatever she wants? On my tab?”
“Of course, baby! You want another Mezcal Paloma, doll?”
I smiled and nodded. While they were making our drinks, I turned to Quinn. “What is your drink of choice?”
“A gin and tonic with a fresh squeeze of lime.”
“Classy!”
Again, Jesse made quick work of our drinks, presenting them to us in no time at all. Quinn nodded their way, and we turned back toward the crowd. I was sipping my drink when Quinn bent down toward my ear for me to hear. “How about I give you a tour? Show you some quieter places in the house?”
“You are going to have to try harder than that to win, babe.”
“I haven’t even begun, to be honest.”
She took my hand again, guiding me through the crowds. Instead of going toward the entryway, we cut through the middle of the crowded den to reach an alcove. A pair of closed double doors stood across from the open bathroom door. We stopped in front of them, and Quinn pulled out her keys to unlock them. I heard a distinct ding before the doors opened. The interior was all wood, just like the office. Before I could ask the obvious, Quinn pressed against my lower back to get me in so she could close the doors back and lock them. Presumably, before anyone noticed.
Once inside, I asked, “A fucking elevator? Y’all have an elevator in your house ?”
Quinn shrugged, pressing the bottommost button. “My mom told my dad that if we had to have a house with stairs, it had to have an elevator.”
“How big is this house?”
“We’ll find out after our little tour,” She winked. “We are starting with the basement before we make our way back upstairs to show you my favorite spot in the entire house. To answer your question, though, there are about three floors, but the house itself is well over eleven-thousand square feet with over ten or so total bedrooms, I think?”
“That is insane .”
Quinn smirked. “Just wait until you see the house.”
“I doubt there’s anything that can beat an elevator…” I said under my breath, making Quinn chuckle.
As soon as the elevator stopped with another ding, Quinn rested her hand against my lower back to guide me forward again. I could feel the warmth through my clothes, and I tried not to lean into it like I wanted to. Instead, I tried to focus on Quinn’s tour. An excellent one, at that.
The basement alone was the size of a modest house. A stairway put you out before a thick wooden door against a brick wall that gave strong medieval vibes in its design. Quinn noted that her mother had gotten it handmade from monks —yes, literal monks. They had a dining room table and chair set in their formal dining room made by the same monks using the same tree, a testament to Quinn’s mom’s eccentric style.
There was an average-size kitchen that still put most normal kitchens to shame. Off the kitchen was a butler’s pantry , as Quinn described, for their cooks and butlers to use. I had to ask Quinn for clarification on their full staff of three maids, three butlers, a team of cooks, and a massive landscaping team to manicure the over five acres of property. It made my luxury condo seem closer to a two-star motel at this point.
Nearby, there was a living room with one of seven gas fireplaces in the house and a seventy-five-inch TV above it—again, one of very many mounted throughout the mansion. The basement was home to three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was also home to a movie theater room with drink and snack machines, an arcade room with pinball machines and other games, a bigger gym than was in my complex, and an open-space game room with gaming tables and more.
The basement filled with our amusement as we went. I wanted to know everything about Quinn, and I could tell from her questions that she wanted the same from me. This must be what Simone was talking about when she said that she and Cole just clicked.
There’s something about these cousins, I guess.
“Honestly, babe, why do you even leave the house?” I asked, smiling.
Chuckling, Quinn answered, “With work, I actually don’t get a chance to spend a lot of time down here or at home in general. I’m always traveling.”
“That sucks! At least you get to travel, though. Where have you all been?”
“Honestly, all over. I’ve been to every state in the US and most provinces in Canada. I’ve also been to Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, China, Japan—pretty much every continent and most countries around the world at least twice or so.”
“Wow, that’s some kind of job. How cool!”
Quinn’s eyes darkened. She downed the rest of her drink and shrugged as she tossed the ice into the sink and the cup into the trash. “It pays the bills. Plus, I do get to work with my cousins. It could be worse.”
My brows furrowed. There was something more that she wasn’t talking about again. Before I could find a way for her to expand, Quinn changed the subject. “How about you? What do you do for work?”
“Oh.” I filed asking about her job for another time—hoping there would be another time. “I’m a Library Manager at the Archive in Blackbell.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “The library at the supernatural university?”
I nodded, remembering that Simone had said that the cousins sold real estate or something to humans and supernaturals alike. That would explain why she would know about Everlore.
“That’s insanely impressive, sweets. I heard that place is massive. I couldn’t imagine having to manage something like that.”
Sweets . My breath caught as I was taken aback, my face feeling hot. She had called me sweets . Something about that nickname made me want to forget my name entirely. I took a long sip of my drink before I stuttered, “T-thank you.”
Quinn’s brows furrowed. “Did I say something wrong?”
“You called me ’sweets.’ I wasn’t expecting that.”
Quinn slowly smirked, melting me at the same speed. “I’m trying to win you over, remember? Is ‘sweets’ a nickname you aren’t a fan of?”
“Oh, no, no, no. ‘Sweets’ is perfectly fine. I love a good nickname. I read romance novels, so a good nickname is… cute. And great. And perfect. Fantastic, actually.”
I took another sip from my drink, looking away from Quinn for as long as I could. When my eyes returned to hers, her golden eyes remained on me, amused and freaking adorable. Her smirk was still alive and well. If anything, it had grown wider and more vibrant.
“I’m so sorry. I ramble a lot.”
“No, it’s cute. Don’t apologize, sweets .” How Quinn said it felt like a caress against my skin. Impossibly, it made me like it even more. “I was honestly worried you wouldn’t like it since it’s a bit on the nose with you being as adorable and, well, sweet, as you are.”
She winked at me. When I remained a blushing, frazzled, speechless mess, she continued, “Now, we are about to get to one of my favorite spots in the mansion that I really want to show you.”
I really want to show you . The butterflies in my stomach fluttered and grew into birds.
I nodded with a smile so big my lip caught on my smiley piercing.