Ink (Book 1 of the Ink Series)

Lying awake

I rolled over in bed, unable to fall asleep. I was still wearing Slade's undershirt. It smelled like him, a mixture of ocean breeze and crisp cologne. My thoughts wouldn't shut off. They kept chanting the same thing over and over again: he was a witch. A witch. Witch. There was no way I was falling asleep with that going on in my head.

I snapped on my light, sitting up in bed. Wishing I could talk to him again. I wanted to know more. I needed to know more. It was the only way I wouldn't go crazy knowing such a thing.

A witch!

I didn't know how to feel. I didn't know if I should run for the hills. Maybe tell my dad this kid that comes around all the time—the kid that kisses me and makes me think dirty things—has undeniable powers that I have yet to really figure out. I didn't even know if this meant he was evil. Was he evil?

I slipped out of bed. If he was evil that wasn't a good thing. That was a really bad quality for a potential love interest. I smacked myself. Love interest. The words were funny to me. Kissing didn't qualify as love. Love was a whole lot more than that. I was no expert, but I was sure love was more than that.

The phone rang, scaring me out of my skin. I quickly answered it, afraid my dad would flip out seeing it was three in the morning.

"Do you want to go to the beach tomorrow?" Slade asked on the other end of the line.

I grinned. "How did you know I would be awake? And you do know my dad is sleeping, right?"

"I decided to live on the edge. And I figured you probably were up still obsessing about my recent confession to you."

I frowned into the phone. "Oh, I thought you were going to say that you had a crystal ball or something."

"Um, I think that's psychics or gypsies. But maybe I will look into it. That would be a great peep show," he teased.

"I don't know about that. Judging by your body, I kind of wish I had one. You're buff." I smacked myself in the head for gushing. That, for sure, was gushing.

Silence filled the air. I stopped breathing, feeling like such a dork now that he was not replying back to me. He could have given a laugh, a thank you, something.

"Are you there?" I asked finally.

"Yeah. I'm just imagining you lying in bed thinking about my body. That's really hot."

My cheeks heated. "Oh."

"Do you think my eyes are dreamy too?" Slade laughed into the phone. His teasing was quite hot.

"Actually, I thought they were intense," I admitted, slipping under my covers as the conversation continued.

"Intense is good. What else?" he asked, his voice calm and relaxed. I could feel his energy through the phone. I could imagine his smile.

"The lip ring." I didn't like to admit these things. Back at home I would have shot any guy down with metal in his face. But Slade knew how to pull it off. And he had a mouth that was so attractive, this only drew you to it over and over again. Full and soft, the kind of lips that fit perfectly against mine and left me trembling in my skin.

"I told you the girls liked it." He laughed. "What do you want to do to me?"

I laughed back loudly, feeling like I was in the middle of phone sex suddenly.

"I'm kidding. Unless of course you wanted to share that." Slade sighed.

"You're good, but not good enough."