If The Broom Fits - Prologue
“You said she was dead. Gone. Forever.”
“I said I thought she was dead and gone forever.”
I watch as she paces the small room. Her lithe body still makes my breath quicken and my dick swell - even after all the years that have passed. Something about her calls to me, drawing me in every time she’s near. This time, though, the effect just makes me angry. I gave up everything for her, and for the first time, I’m wondering if I did the right thing.
“You promised that with her out of the picture, you and I would finally be together. That we’d rule over the realms and be powerful beyond measure. I’ve waited. Patiently. Now all of a sudden, she’s back. What does that mean for us?”
She stops and looks at me, a wicked smirk tilting her plush red lips that mock me with their perfection.
“For us?” she simpers. “Oh, darling. Don’t fret. The plan is still in place, and we’ve got the advantage. They don’t have their memories. It’ll be like taking candy from a baby. We just have to find the book before they do, and then you and I will get our due. Give me a little more time.”
“Give you more time,” I huff, trying in vain to keep my frustration under wraps. She doesn't like it when I question her, but I can’t help but ask, “A hundred years wasn’t enough?”
Her eyes narrow and arms cross over her chest. “You’re starting to sound a tad bit ungrateful, darling.”
I barely stop myself from staring at the ample cleavage she’s displaying, fighting the urge to look. To touch. It seems unnatural, my pull toward her. I know the second I give in, I’ll go under again. Lose myself. Just like I always do. Though maybe the forgetful oblivion is preferable to remembering everything I’ve lost.
“I’m wondering how much longer I have to wait. I love you. I want us to be together and don’t understand why we can’t be.”
“I’ve got a plan, darling. Killing her obviously didn’t work, but I’ve learned from our mistake. Instead of removing her from the equation, we’ll remove something far more precious. This time, we’ll be successful. I promise, shnookums. Then you’re all mine.”
God, I hate that stupid nickname!
As she walks up to me, her green eyes captivating my own, I feel myself backing down. Giving in. Again. It always happens like this. I start to get angry, then she wraps herself around me, as she’s doing now, her curves molding to all the hard parts of me, and everything is forgotten. Time. Heartache. The family I gave up to be here - with her. It’s like she pulls at my soul the way no other does.
The realization jolts me to a level of awareness I haven’t had in decades. Her pull. Is it really love? Because it suddenly feels tainted. Dark.
Before I have time to contemplate that thought, I’m tugged under again when her lips meet mine.
She just needs more time. Give her space and everything will happen the way it’s meant to. Trust her. Love her. Give in to her...
The squishy softness beneath me has me snuggling in, my body at peace even if my brain is mush thanks to the total chaos that seems to plague my very existence. I almost wish I could go back to being invisible. Almost. Cocooned in warmth, I’m so damn comfortable that I may never leave. It’s cozy here with no one trying to kill me or fuck with me or my guys.
I’m on my belly, my arms cuddling the pillow beneath my head instead of a warm body. Pity, that. The sheets surrounding me smell of petrichor, that scent that lingers in the air after the rain, and when I take in a deep breath, I get an underlying hint of parchment. A smile tilts my lips as the click-clacking of a keyboard somewhere beside me tells me exactly whose bed I’m in.
“How’d you get stuck with the defective ghost girl, sexy nerd?” I mumble.
He chuckles softly, which is followed by the sound of sheets rustling and something being carefully set down on a hard surface. The bed jostles a bit, and his scent swamps my senses.
My eyes open and lock on to his. This is the first time I’ve seen him without his glasses, and getting an up close and personal glimpse of his chocolatey brown eyes has my appetite sparking to life. And I’m definitely not thinking about food. His arm is tucked under his head, causing his bicep to bulge enticingly, and that’s when I notice he’s sans shirt. My heartbeat accelerates as I let my eyes scan his lean, muscular chest, all the way down to his ridiculously defined ab muscles, to the small patch of hair that leads to something large and very excited to see me just beneath his blue jogging shorts.
“My eyes are up here, you know,” he murmurs, his amusement brushing against my senses.
I smirk, enjoying this new playful side of him. “But there’s something really interesting happening down here.”
His answering chuckle has the butterflies in my stomach fluttering happily.
Reluctantly, I lift my gaze back up to his smiling face. A hand comes up to brush a stray lock of hair behind my ear then lingers there, his thumb caressing my cheek. His smile falls away as a rush of emotions floods the space between us. They all hit me at once, and I suck in a deep breath, struggling to find my equilibrium as the room spins.
The hand still lingering on my face glides down my body until it presses against my lower back, causing our bodies to collide with a force I didn’t expect from my shy guy. One arm snakes beneath my head, his hand tangling in my hair, while the other holds me snugly in place.
“You good, sexy nerd?” I whisper in his ear. My face is nestled against his throat while one arm has wound its way under his arm and around his back, my hand gripping his shoulder.
“Yes. I just need to hold you for a minute.”
“I’m fine. Really. I think my brain just became overloaded and shut down.”
“That’s not why. I mean, I’m glad you’re okay. It’s just…” He trails off, his hold on me getting even tighter. Good thing I’m not your average girl, or I’m pretty sure I’d be passing out again from lack of oxygen. “First, I see you dangling in the air by some maniac's hand. Then Cole whisks you away, and I don’t know if you’re dead or alive. When I finally do get to see you, you pass out again from one hell of a memory dump.”
He pulls back, his eyes scanning my face.
“I can still see the devastation on her face. Your face all those years ago. It wasn’t just Cole that broke your heart. It was each and every one of us.”
His despair leaks through our connection, but he’s right, so I don’t argue with him. Cole’s betrayal was the biggest shock, but the others stood by and let it happen. Old me didn’t know there was something more sinister at play. All she knew was that her five, the ones she trusted more than she trusted herself, had tossed her aside, thrown her away like their bond meant nothing. It was as if someone had reached straight into her chest and ripped her heart out, holding it in their hands while it still pumped, leaving her body dead and lifeless.
“We didn’t...we’d never…” he stutters out, unable to form a complete sentence.
When his big brown eyes meet mine, I see the tears he’s holding back. His emotions influence my own, and before I know it, fat drops are rolling down my cheek, his tears combining with mine before landing on the bed beneath us.