Silver at Midnight: A Paranormal Romance Urban Fantasy (The Keepers of Knowledge Series Book 5) by Bridgette O'Hare (best large ereader .TXT) 📕

“Promise you’ll stay here?” Cian begged.

“Okay.” I bobbed my head up and down.

He eased to the door, I lowered the ward, and he slipped out into the darkness. I immediately reset the ward around the house and said a prayer. And I wasn’t even the praying type.

Nineteen

Cian stood at the back deck, hands on his hips, looking a little more than pissed in his now wet flannel pajamas. I dropped the ward and opened the door.

“You do not look happy,” I stated. “What happened?”

“I didn’t catch the bad guy, that’s what happened,” he huffed out as he strode into the warmth of the cottage and stopped just inside.

I closed the door behind him and set the ward, then surveyed the area I could see through the darkness before turning back toward him. “You okay?” I asked.

He let out a frustrated sigh. “Well, for someone who just chased himself down the beach, aye, I’m doin’ a’ight.”

“I can see how that might be a lit’l on the strange side. I mean, at least ya can describe him, right?” I pulled my lips tight, suppressed my urge to laugh, and leaned back against the door frame. “Wait . . . how do I know you’re really Cian?”

His face lit up with a hint of a smile. “Ya got jokes. Go ahead, laugh. I know ya want t’.”

“I’m sorry. I know you’re frustrated. But imagine watchin’ yourself chase . . . yourself down the beach in the dark,” I snickered.

He let out a chuckle. “I’m sure it would be amusin’ to watch. But ya know what pisses me off most about the situation?” he asked as he took a step toward me.

I twitched my lips to one side, as if I were thinking. “Umm . . . that ya got the bottom of your flannels wet?”

He shook his head back and forth, taking another step.

Blood pulsed hard through my veins.

“That . . . that your hot chocolate got cold?” I tried again, my voice struggling.

Still shaking his head, he closed the gap between us.

“That I didn’t get to do this—” In one smooth motion, his hand slid around my head, pulling me to him. With an intense urgency, his mouth molded to mine and then softened as the emotions of the last few days released into our embrace. I leaned into him, barely able to breathe as his warmth drifted over me, through me. It was a kiss deep with lingering affection and charged with the promise of something more. Something I was certain could be the end of me . . . and the beginning.

When he eased his lips away and rested his forehead to mine, the rise and fall of his breathing filled the space between us. Swirls of energy like I’d never felt thrummed over my skin. When his lips pressed tenderly against my forehead, I let out a sigh and sunk further into his embrace.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since I laid eyes on you,” he whispered.

I smiled, my cheek resting against his chest, his arms safely around me. “What took ya so long?”

His chest rumbled with a soft laugh. “I suppose that darn gentlemanly streak. And . . . I wasn’t sure it was a good idea,” he admitted.

“And now?” I asked, looking up at him, eyes wide.

“Probably the best idea and worst idea I’ve ever had,” he winked.

“Aye, I’d go with worst,” I teased.

“And why is that?”

“Because now ya aren’t gonna want t’ help me go through all those books,” I nodded toward the coffee table. “Now, you’re just gonna want t’ kiss me again.”

“Oh . . . like this?” He pressed his lips to mine once more, slow and sweet, leaving me a little light-headed.

“You’re right,” he admitted. “Those books d’not seem as appealing now.”

I shook my head. “Nope. I told ya. But if we are goin’ t’ meet with Uncle Lach tomorrow, he’s gonna want t’ know how we did with the research tonight. And I don’t think tellin’ him we studied anatomy is goin’ t’ go over well.”

Cian huffed out a hard breath. “Fine. If ya don’t want t’ kiss me anymore, just say so.”

“Okay.” I shrugged, spun out of his embrace, and twirled over to the couch, plopping down like a giddy teenager. I grinned over at him, still standing by the door, pretending to be hurt that I left him there alone.

“Alright. If we are goin’ t’ actually work, I’ll heat the hot chocolate back up.” He grabbed my mug from a small table near the back door where I’d hastily put it when the alarm went off.

While he went to the kitchen, I booted up my laptop and checked for an email from Lazlo and Kara. Everything looked good, so I saved the file and started the decryption process. I grabbed one of the research books from the table and knocked my notebook to the floor in the process. The note Pixie Witch had given me in the cemetery slipped out onto the rug. I picked it up and read it a couple of times then returned to my laptop and typed Silver Moon into the search bar.

Cian joined me a few minutes later with now warm mugs of chocolate.

“How’d ya know chocolate was the way to my heart?” I quipped as I took the mug and he sat down next to me on the couch.

“Who said I was after your heart?” he teased and winked.

“I know, ya just want me for my covert skills.”

“A guy can dream.”

“Well, so can a girl. And right now, I’m dreamin’ about how t’ decipher what this note means.” I stole a deep drink from the mug, set it aside, and began typing.

Cian picked up the note, reading it aloud, then said, “I’m curious if you’ll find anything about a silver moon.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because they only happen once every . . . actually, I can’t remember the number of years,