my eyes, stretching my arms over my head. My bones felt loose and limber, my muscles like liquid. I made a mental note to myself not to challenge Rafe about how many rounds he could go again. I’d tapped out after he went down on me for the third time. My body simply couldn’t orgasm again. The effort might’ve killed me.
But now that I was awake and somewhat refreshed…
He looked so peaceful while he slept. I touched his jaw, running the pads of my fingers over the stubble that had burned my thighs in the best way. I’d attempted to squeeze him like an orange, and he hadn’t let up or given me a moment to catch my breath.
A little payback would do him good.
I kissed my way down his chest, letting my fingers play and explore like they hadn’t gotten the chance to last night. I’d been too consumed with him. Too wanting. Needing him over me, under me, inside me. Now that our magic had joined, I could feel what I did to him through that link. It heightened my own pleasure, driving me to the brink of insanity.
His chest rose and fell evenly as my kisses dipped lower. Over the hard ridges of his abs, taking my time to appreciate every inch of his body. I ran my tongue over the V-muscles. His cock was fully awake, and by the way his eyelids fluttered, he wouldn’t be far behind.
Wanting him to wake up with my mouth, I didn’t waste any more time playing. I’d get my fill of that later. Whenever I wanted, now that he was mine and only mine.
By the time I’d taken him down to the back of my throat, his hands were in my hair. He woke up saying my name like a prayer. When he tilted his hips, I hollowed out my cheeks and sucked harder, reveling in his uncontrollable urge to fuck my mouth. My clit pulsed with need and I clenched my thighs to ease some of the building pressure.
Without warning, Rafe flipped me over. I let out a squeal of surprise as he settled himself between my legs and kissed my nose. “Morning.”
I lifted my hips, sliding myself against his cock. “Morning to you, too.”
“And here I thought I’d worn you out last night. Embarrassing that you’re up before me.”
I looked down between us. “Technically, you’re up enough for both of us.”
“Facts.” He slid into me, and I buried my face against his neck and moaned against his skin. He still smelled like me. “Is this what you wanted when you woke me up with your sweet little mouth on my cock?”
I shook my head.
Chuckling, he gripped my ass and angled me to get deeper. Right in that spot that had me seeing stars. I tightened around him, and he held still. “Not so fast. Fuck, you feel too good.”
He tried to slow the pace, but I wanted fast and dirty this morning. We’d done plenty of slow and sweet last night and we had a long day ahead of us. I just needed a little something to get me through. Taking cues from the way I dug my nails into his shoulders, he rammed into me.
“More,” I cried out. “Just like that.”
He hammered into me, hitting that spot over and over. His eyes were intent and focused, the look he wore when he was trying his damnedest not to come before me. With one more hard thrust, I went flying off the edge. My legs gripped his waist tight as I rode out the last of my orgasm. Two more thrusts, and he was coming with me.
“Please let me wake up like this every morning for the rest of my life,” he mumbled into my neck. The weight of him on top of me was better than a security blanket.
I trailed my fingers through his hair, gently dragging my nails against his scalp. Goosebumps dotted his skin. “Round one?”
He groaned and his cock stirred inside me. “Evil, tempting woman.” Raising himself up on his hands, he pulled out of me and gave me a quick kiss. “Later. Too much to do today.”
He jumped up and threw his pants back on, leaving the top button undone. God, he was beautiful in the morning. The pants hung low on his hips, showcasing those prominent V-muscles that I’d run my tongue all over last night.
Still in bed, and not quite ready to get moving yet, I propped myself up on my elbow and shamelessly checked him out. For years, I’d had to settle for stolen glances, when I was certain no one could see me. Because I’d never been all that great at hiding my feelings, and I knew what my face did when I looked at Rafe.
As it turned out, I’d still failed spectacularly at keeping what I felt for Rafe under wraps if Maybell Ketner had been able to see it. Yet, she still pushed hard for me to be with Kyle, going so far as to push my parents into pushing me too. Because that was what Kyle wanted. If only one of them had stopped to ask me what I wanted.
Everything could’ve been different.
But the usual regret and guilt I had whenever I thought of those days didn’t overwhelm me or cause me to lose hours thinking about the “what ifs” in my life. A touch of sadness for the way things turned out still lingered. I doubted that would ever go away. Despite all the awful things that Kyle did, I’d grown up with him and had cared about him. But I no longer took any form of responsibility for his choices. And just as I didn’t blame Rafe for shutting me out, I was no longer angry at anyone else either. Including myself.
There was a lightness in forgiving and letting go. The past no longer had the power to hurt me. And that mattered, too. All of this mattered.
Rafe put his hands on his hips and tilted his head. “What’s going on in that gorgeous head of yours? I can see you thinking overtime.”
I wrapped the sheet around me and stood. “At first, I was just plotting how I could get you back in bed for another round before we faced the day, but that was before…”
Before I started thinking about the past and understood how letting it go could make a difference. Rafe and I had been blocked because there had still been fractures between us. It wasn’t enough to want to let them go. I really and truly had to do it.
But what if we weren’t the only ones who were blocked?
I’d been so close to the answer last night. So close, and I glossed over it because I’d been solely focused on Rafe and why we hadn’t fully connected yet. But there was more to it than that. The magic that came through to me from the group had also been fractured.
I thought about what the rest of the group had shared with us about Ceti. How she said it would take all twelve us and we had to be strong. Our faith couldn’t waiver.
I’d never be able to make my illusions whole if I didn’t have all of everyone. Not just my partner. Though Rafe and I were two halves of a whole, just as everyone else was with their partners, we were also connected as a circle.
There was a reason why all the earth signs were Lathams, and why the air signs were also brothers, even though they didn’t share blood. And why the fire signs were all cousins who had the same DNA. And why the water signs were a found family of sisters who had chosen each other. And why we had paired up the way we had.
It wasn’t just about charging our magical battery with an opposite sign, though that was also true. By pairing with our exact opposites, we filled something in each other that the other didn’t have. The need for home and family. For endless, unconditional love. The entire reason this island had been created in the first place.
In the larger game of fate, there were no accidents or coincidences.
“We have to go back to the circle. All of us.” Now that this idea had fully formed in my mind, I wasn’t letting it go. I was in a frenzy, whipping clothes around the room. “Shit. I need a shower, probably something to eat too. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Rafe just watched me, bemused, with a half-smile tugging on his lips. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain in the shower. We’re short on time and we need to multitask as much as possible right now.” I could feel the truth in that too. The air hummed with a surge of power that prickled my skin and set my teeth on edge.
The end was coming.
Today.
I’d done my best to explain my plan to Rafe in the shower, but his naked wet body was extremely distracting, and I was only human. Knowing we were down to hours instead of weeks or days should’ve kept me on track, but all I wanted to do was seize every moment I had with him. Not squander a single second. Selfish, maybe. Considering I’d had years and done nothing, but again, nothing happening here was by chance or accident.
We weren’t meant to be until now.
I trusted myself and my instincts as much as I trusted Rafe, and there was a comfort in that like I hadn’t known for a long time. I finally felt like I could breathe.
We wandered out to the kitchen, where Finn poured a cup of coffee and added two creams before handing it off to Thora. “Morning, wallbangers.”
Rafe muttered a curse under his breath. “Can you try not being you for once?”
“Pull your panties out of your ass, I’m not insulting you. Just stating facts. For a second there, we all thought it was another earthquake.” He poured a mug of coffee for himself and raised it to me. “How does it feel to be saddled for eternity with a humorless prick?”
I wrapped my arms around Rafe’s waist. “Wonderful.”
“Yeah. Well.” Finn took a sip. “If he ever pisses you off, at least now you can levitate him to a different room.”
Rafe lifted his palm, sparkling with crystal blue light, and tossed out a vision of a giant goose that snapped at Finn. Who yelped and jumped back, nearly spilling his coffee down his chest. “Dude. Not fucking cool.”
Rafe let the vision go. “Oh, yeah. This is going to be fun.”
Thora and I gave each other looks across the room, trying not to laugh over one of the few shared memories we’d had as teens. I’d been hanging out with Rafe one day on our rock wall while Kyle was at football practice, when Finn went tearing across the beach like the hounds of hell were on his tail. Thora sat on a beach towel not too far away, laughing her ass off as a goose chased Finn up and down the sand, nipping at his ass.
Rafe and I jumped in to help by throwing pieces of corn dog at the goose, but it wouldn’t be deterred. It wanted a piece of Finn. Bad. Rafe eventually tackled it, and it bit his shoulder before getting loose and flying away. Finn had been traumatized by geese ever since.
“Are you done fucking around?” Finn asked.
“Are you done finding out?” Rafe and Finn glared at each other for all of two seconds before they both cracked and started laughing. Guys were so strange.
Rafe and I filled Finn and Thora in on my plan to gather everyone back to the circle we’d cast last night. It had been weak then, especially since Rafe and I hadn’t yet fully combined our powers, but there was more work to be done. There needed to be more than just trust between the partners. There needed to be trust between us all.
Easier said than done.
Thora and I headed next door to let everyone staying at Brooke’s know the morning’s plans, while Rafe and Finn woke up Kenna and Galen to get them moving. The sense of urgency hit me more strongly as we crossed the yard through the circle we’d cast the night before. Magic and energy lingered. It sizzled across my skin. And with it, the undeniable feeling that time was trickling away. We needed to do this now and we needed to do it right.
Thora rubbed her arms. “Do you feel that?”
“I started feeling it this morning.”
“Time is slipping away from us.”
“We’ll beat this.” Faith and trust. They were as essential in this battle as magic. “I have no doubt. We just need a little more from each other.”
Everyone got up and out to the circle without much complaint. By this point, we were all feeling the buzz in the air. The certainty that this was the end.
Brooke’s bees once again circled the hives, flying in a funnel-like configuration, but not leaving the protection of their home base. Violet and Donovan did a quick check on the animals in the forest and found most had gone underground or tucked themselves into their dens. Animals were always the first to know.
“Should we try the same formation as last night?” Audrey held Wes’s hand, a golden-green light blazing between them as they charged their magic.
“Not yet.” I took a seat in the grass and Rafe followed my lead. The rest of the couples gave each other funny looks, but joined us on the ground. All of us in a circle, knees touching. Not in the formation we’d need in the end, but the connection was enough for now. “First, we need to fix the issues we have within this group before we can go further.”
Galen snorted. “Pretty sure you’re the one who was holding up the rest of us.”
“Oh, good. You just volunteered to go first.” I gave him a sarcastic little smirk, which deepened his frown. “So glad I don’t have to call on you now.”
“Call on me for what?” Beside him, Kenna rubbed the inside of his thigh, subtly and deftly silencing him before I lost my nerve with the group.
I took a deep breath, wiping my palms on the cotton shorts I’d borrowed from Kenna. I didn’t want to hurt Galen. I understood his pain and his self-loathing better than most, and he made Kenna happy, which made me love him by default. Even if he could be an ass.
“You need to forgive me for what happened with Kyle.” I laced my fingers tightly together, my blood pumping hard against my pulse points, as I swept my gaze over everyone, before settling back on the person holding the deepest grudge still. “And you need to quit punishing me for whatever pieces of me you see in yourself. His death wasn’t any more my fault than your father’s death was yours.”
There was a collective gasp from the Lathams and the water signs. No one talked about Galen’s father. No one. Especially not to him. The only ones not wearing horrified expressions were Thora and Kenna, who looked proud, and Finn and Rafe who were both angry. Not at me, but at the man they wished was still alive so they could kill him themselves.
Galen being Galen, he didn’t react in a way that was at all predictable. He just tilted his head, studying me as if I was some sort of exotic, uncatalogued animal that had just wandered out of the forest. “What makes you think the two of us are anything alike?”
It wasn’t an accusation and I didn’t take it as one. We couldn’t afford to think the worst of each other right now, none of us were in here in bad faith. “Kyle hit me. The day of our wedding. That’s why I ran out. But understand, I never wanted to marry him in the first place. I’d gotten swept along in what Kyle wanted, and a date was set before I’d ever found my voice.”
A murmur went through the partners. Galen’s gaze whipped to Kenna, who had her eyes on me, shining with unshed tears for me at long last speaking the truth. Pity and regret flowed into me in waves from everyone else’s magic, but I didn’t want either of those things. What I wanted was an understanding and respect for the choices I’d made.
So I told them everything. From the beginning.
Audrey gave me a knowing look. “You and Rafe didn’t hold anything up, did you? You couldn’t have come together before because you weren’t ready. Is that right?”
I nodded, glancing between her and Wes, knowing they’d also had a lot of hurt and misunderstanding between them, but they overcame it when they were meant to. “I think you know as well as I do that mistakes are what we call things we don’t understand yet.”
Audrey smiled, as did Violet and Brooke. Of course, the water signs got it. I expected nothing less from the intuitive elements. We wouldn’t have stopped this curse sooner if Rafe and I had been locked in together a year ago, or even a month ago. There were no “what ifs.” There was only “what is,” and it was up to us to accept that we were exactly where we were supposed to be.
Galen understood that, too. He didn’t offer me an empty apology, knowing that wasn’t what I wanted from him. He simply tipped his head, in both recognition and reconciliation. He’d been wrong, but he wasn’t sorry for the things he’d thought about me when he didn’t have all the information, and I didn’t want him to be. Neither of us had any use for the past and wallowing in things that could’ve, should’ve been done differently.
But I wasn’t done yet.
Next, I leveled my gaze at Cole. “It was shitty of you to try to have me fired. I do my job well and you all know it. Thankfully, your mom has more sense than the three of her sons combined, or I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Everyone is replaceable. If you weren’t here, I’m sure another Everett could’ve stepped in. God knows there are enough of you.” Cole winced when Brooke drilled an elbow into his side. “Fine. You’re a good assistant manager and that was shitty. It won’t happen again.”
“You should probably give her a raise too,” Brooke said.
He gave her an incredulous look. “For what? We don’t even have a hotel for her to work at anymore.”
Brooke stared back at him, pointedly refusing to give an inch.
Cole let out a long-winded sigh before angling his gaze toward me. “And you’ll get a raise for all the shit you put up with from us over the years. Thanks for not suing us.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Wes said. “I should know better than anyone here not to jump to conclusions. Well… almost everyone.” He winked at Audrey. “Yet, I jumped to conclusions about you and Kyle that weren’t my business.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Donovan said. “I don’t have much to do with the hotel, but I knew Cole had given you some grief and I didn’t say anything. I should’ve.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” I held out my hands. “I’m not looking for a round-robin of apologies here. I just wanted to share my story and hope you understand that I always had Rafe and Kyle’s family in mind. We can’t afford lingering resentments between any of us.”
“Agreed,” Finn said. “And since we’re clearing the air, I think Wes should forgive me for dancing with Audrey that one time. I only did it to get your dumb ass to wake up.”
“Christ.” Wes rolled his eyes. “I let you move in with me, asshole. Consider yourself forgiven.”
“Since we’re making apologies…” Kenna turned toward Thora. “I’m sorry I thought you were a stuck-up bitch in high school.”
Thora nodded. “And I’m sorry I thought you were a useless party girl.”
“I’d like everyone to stop acting like I’m some sort of exhibitionist,” Donovan said. Beside him, Violet blushed and whispered in his ear. “Scratch that. Call me whatever the hell you want, I really don’t care that much.”
I stood and dusted blades of loose grass off my bottom as a burst of unfiltered apologies started flying back and forth. “I think we’re good now. The point is, the twelve of us need each other. Ceti said we had to be strong together. This is a good first step.”
“What’s the next step?” Audrey asked.
“The next step is to try this circle again.” I took Rafe’s hand when he stood beside me. “I know exactly what illusion I need to cast next. The final piece of the puzzle.”
