Free Magic and Mayhem: Witchin' Impossible (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Hazed & Confused Mysteries Book 1) by Renee George Page B

Haze.”
    “Why?”
    “How bad do you want to have sex right now?”
    My whole body vibrated with lust and desire. “Pretty freaking bad.”
    “Me too.”
    “Then what’s the problem?” I rubbed myself against him. “I want you. You want me.”
    “Because of the mating frenzy.”
    I leaned back to gauge his expression. “What?”
    He shook his head. “You really don’t know much about Shifters.”
    “I think we’ve established that already.”
    “The mating frenzy happens as a byproduct of the mating scent. If we take this further, I’m not sure I have the willpower not to take it all the way.”
    “All the way…”
    “To the mating bite, which will seal our fate forever.”
    “You mean…” I got the gist, but I wanted him to spell it out.
    “It means I’ll never let you go, Hazel. If you push me, and we mate, you’ll have to give up your life outside our world. Or I’ll have to leave my life to follow you.”
    “Would that be so bad?”
    “Yes.” He got up and put on his clothes. It made me want to shoot him. Unhappily, I followed his lead.
    When we were back in the kitchen, I wrapped my arms as far around his waist as I could, and I held him tight. “I have never stopped thinking about you, Ford. I’ve turned down all the men who ever asked me out because they weren’t you. I threw myself into my work, believing that the job would be enough for me. I don’t remember our kiss, and I’m sorry it changed you into something you didn’t want to be, but for me, I hadn’t needed some biological imperative to tell me that you were the boy I wanted to love. I had feelings for you long before you started smelling like cinnamon toast.”
    He tried to pull away, but I buried my face in his chest.
    “We don’t have to hash this out right now, but I need you to stop being mad at me. Especially, since I didn’t know that you had this…reaction to me.”
    He stroked my hair, melting me. “You make mating sound like an allergy.”
    I chuckled. “I couldn’t stand watching you with Greta. Don’t you see?” I tilted my head back again to look at him. “I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to cast a spell to make all her hair fall out.” I didn’t mention that the only reason I didn’t cast the spell on Greta was because I sucked. The first and only time I’d practiced the spell, I’d aimed at my pee-my-pants dolly, but the magic went sideways, and poor Tizzy ended up bald for a month. Bald is not a good look for flying squirrel. “I never meant to hurt you, Ford.”
    Which meant, I really didn’t know much about Shifters. Had I been so self-absorbed, that I made my relationship with Lily all about me? I’d never even asked her about mating. Is that why she was still single? My heart ached for her.
    “I’m not mad at you, Haze.”
    His blue eyes blinked down at me. “Vanilla and rum, huh?”
    “You’ve really never even dated anyone?”
    “You’re the only person I’ve ever wanted to date.”
    “What about sex?”
    I shook my head. “Not with someone else,” I smirked. I might have been a virgin, but I wasn’t asexual. “Masturbation can take off the edge.”
    He laughed. “You’re not kidding.”
    “You?”
    “Not with someone else,” he said. “Not since that night.”
    “Wow, that’s some serious crap.”
    “Masturbation can take the edge off.”
    Even though he was being cute by throwing my words back at me, a vision of him naked and holding himself flashed into my brain. My lady bits clenched. My stomach was pressed against his groin, and I felt the log in his jeans grow exponentially.
    “Now you smell like vanilla, rum, and sex.” He disengaged from me and my throbby lady-morsels screamed, Nooooooo ! “Which means, holding you is not a good plan. Let’s focus on the case. When it’s over, we can revisit this conversation.”
    Goddess, why did he have to be so practical? “You’re right.” I turned myself toward the center island because my nipples