“Boyfriend, then?” She didn’t turn around. It was far too easy to picture Flynn with another man. Was he also a witch? Did they do spells together?
“No.” His hand found her arm and squeezed. “Octavia, I have no one.”
A note of loneliness entered his voice, but as soon as it was there, it disappeared.
“No one?” Octavia slowly turned around.
“None.” He was still touching her. “How about you? Is there someone lucky?”
She snorted. “Nope.” No one wanted to be with the village outcast. “Not at all.”
She was hopelessly, forever alone. Destined for a life without anyone else. Was she being dramatic?
Maybe.
But it was the truth.
She would?—
Flynn’s lips crashed into hers.
CHAPTER 6
I Thought This Would Help
For one singular moment, Octavia didn’t react. She just stood there, putting all her weight on her good leg, as Flynn kissed her.
And gods above, what a kiss it was.
His mouth moved over hers with the practiced skill of someone who’d done this many times over. This wasn’t just a kiss—it was as though he’d been holding back from the moment they met. Sparks ran through Octavia, starting at her mouth and making their way through her.
And then his tongue touched the seam of her lips. It sent a jolt through her, just like his magic had back in the shack. Whatever strange restraint had frozen her in place snapped like a too-tight lyre string.
Octavia moaned. Her right hand found Flynn’s hip, and her left wove behind his neck as she held him close. Before she could think too hard about the consequences of her actions—she was fairly certain this wasn’t an exceedingly wise decision—she kissed him back.
Their mouths slanted together. Lips and tongues and teeth competed for attention as they kissed and kissed and kissed.Flynn’s tongue swept into Octavia’s mouth, and he tasted her like she was the most exquisite food.
“Good gods, Octavia,” he groaned against her lips. Each word was punctuated by a nip to her mouth, her chin, her neck. Each second brought her closer to completely melting against him. “I thought this would help.”
His fingers threaded behind her neck, and he held her close. He kissed her like she was air and he was drowning. Like she was the answer to all his life’s problems, and he’d just found her. He kissed her in a way that didn’t make sense.
How could they feel this way after knowing each other for such a short time?
“Help what?” she gasped, unable to fully draw breath beneath the weight of his attention. Not that she really cared. Who needed to breathe when they were being kissed like this?
“Don’t you feel it?” He squeezed her hip, his hands apparently no longer bothering him. “The pull between us?”
Octavia sucked in a breath, and her heart hammered. “I thought it was just me.”
Or at least, mostly on her side of things. Despite the things he’d said, she’d dismissed his words as playful banter. Why would the handsome witch be interested in her? She was just an injured messenger who couldn’t even shift right now.
Flynn laced their fingers together. His forehead pressed against hers, and his breath was coming as unevenly as hers.
“Just you?” He let out a grim chuckle and guided her hand between them to the obvious bulge in his trousers. “Does this feel like I’m unaffected by you, Lady Octavia?”
Objections to his calling her a lady again rose to her tongue, but then he pressed her hand against his cock. Oh gods. It wasn’t like Octavia was a virgin, but fifty years with just a few drunken trysts didn’t exactly chalk up to a lot of experience.
And this was… he was… thick.