Free Blood of the White Witch by Lacey Weatherford

with his thumb.
    “Not possible. You deserve the best of
everything that life has to offer. I know how much you’ve always
wanted a life with a real family. Maybe this is your chance to have
that.”
    “Speaking of family, what are your thoughts
on my mom?” he asked, pulling me over to sit in the two white
chairs by the coffee table.
    “I think Darcy was probably lying,” I
answered him honestly, though I knew it would be the last thing he
would want to hear.
    “I’m afraid of that, too,” he said with a
sigh. “I was so hopeful that she was right. I wanted to know that
the person I destroyed was not my mom.”
    “Don’t give up yet,” I tried to encourage
him, not wanting to see the crestfallen look on his face. “Maybe
Darcy was just misleading us about your grandparents. We’ll keep
looking around while we’re here, just to make sure.”
    “That sounds good,” he agreed.
    I got up then, feeling the urge to explore,
and walked through one of the adjoining doors in the room. I found
myself in a very large walk-in closet, which was bigger than my
whole bedroom back in Sedona. I was surprised to find several
articles of women’s clothing hanging inside.
    “It looks like someone has stayed here at
some point,” I called out the door to Vance. “There are a lot of
things in here.”
    I then wandered out of the closet and
through another door finding that it led to an extravagantly large
bathroom.
    “Vance, come look at this!” I said, taking
in the sight before me.
    “Wow,” he replied when he entered, coming up
behind me to look at the giant custom-tiled bathing area that was
set into the floor. It looked more like a small swimming pool than
bathtub. A slow grin spread across his face. “I think we’re going
to need to try that out.”
    “It sounds like the perfect thing to relax
an overwrought husband,” I said stepping around behind him to lift
my hands to his shoulders, massaging the tense knots I could feel
in them.
    “That feels wonderful,” he replied, hanging
his head, allowing my fingers better access to the area.
    “So how about we have the bath after dinner
this evening? I’ll finish massaging you, and it’ll help you sleep
better,” I suggested, wanting to help him somehow.
    “There’s only one reason that I haven’t been
sleeping well lately and I have no intention of changing any of
that.” He grinned while turning to face me, giving me a sultry look
that I couldn’t possibly miss the meaning of.
    He reached out and grabbed me by the
shoulders, and I thought he was going to kiss me. He surprised me
though as he turned me around so he could massage my neck a little
for me.
    “You’re right,” I responded with a soft
groan at the touch of his truly magic fingers. “That does feel
good. I can’t wait until this evening.”
    He reached down, taking my hand and pulled
me out of the bathroom, heading over toward the massive bed.
    “We have about an hour before lunch. Do you
want to take a quick nap with me? All of our … umm … eventful
nights are starting to catch up with me,” he said with a wide
smile.
    “A nap sounds divine,” I replied, thinking
we had indeed been pushing our physical limits lately.
    He pulled the bedding back, lifting me
gently so I was sitting on the edge. Then he removed my shoes
followed by his, before he crawled up to join me. He pulled the
covers over both of us, as I cuddled up into the crook of his
arm.
    “This is nice,” I said moving to drape my
arm over his waist.
    “Yes, it is,” he replied, and he gave me a
gentle squeeze in return.
    I closed my eyes and let the rhythm of his
strong beating heart, along with his steady breathing, lull me to
sleep.
    When we awoke sometime later, it was clear
that we had slept through lunch and well into the evening. I
instantly felt regret, wondering if we might have offended our
gracious hosts.
    When I sat up I noticed that a silver tray
loaded with food had been placed just inside the door for