Chapter 10. Lochran
Lex had kicked me out of the house.
Well, not kicked out, per se . She’d said she needed to concentrate on writing her trial notes and I was welcome to sit quietly in the house or go for a wander. I’d decided to stay. But after three ill-timed sexual innuendos, she’d handed me a wad of cash and told me not to come back until sunset.
And that was how I found myself wandering down the small village center. The shops that lined it reminded me of the Shambles in Yorkshire, England. Crooked shops with rooms stacked atop one another loomed over a narrow cobbled street, each window brimming with every ware a witch could think of.
But stacks of cauldrons and spell books only went so far in distracting me from the memory of the awkward breakfast encounter.
Eventually, my thoughts tumbled to the forefront of my mind. Lex was clearly attracted to me. Her desire was potent to the point that I couldn’t help but drink it in. But then she’d suggested that I go and feed off another. I’d had to fight back the repulsion bubbling inside me at the thought of ever taking another to my bed now that I’d met my mate.
Thankfully, I wasn’t afforded long to dissect breakfast, as countless witches and sex demons made a point of introducing themselves to the new face in the village. Each asked the same two questions: “Who’s your new mate?” and “Where is she?”
When the bell tolled three—only another few hours until sunset, thank the Goddess—I made my way into Declan’s Teashop.
The teashop was quaint, with a bell that tinkled as I entered, mismatched chairs and tables, and an entire wall dedicated to different tea blends.
A middle-aged incubus looked me up and down before spinning on his heel and grabbing a jar off the wall. By the time I reached the counter, he already had the tea steeping. The scent of cinnamon and cloves made my mouth water, and all I could think about was my mate and her Samhain-spiced scent, which must have been evident on my face as the barista grinned knowingly. As I made to pull out the wad of cash, he gestured a circle with each hand, before holding out his left hand. He swiped the knuckle of his bent finger against his outstretched palm as if swiping a card.
No charge.
Matching his grin, I placed my right hand flat to my chin before bringing it down and outward. “Thank you.”
His grin widened as his angular eyes flicked over my shoulder. Following his gaze, my eyes settled on the familiar form of the succubus who had been summoned seconds before me. When the shadows had pooled around her, she had looked indifferent, as if unconvinced that a mate could bring her as much enjoyment as hunting for her meals could. It was safe to say that was no longer the case. Sasha’s grin was spread from ear to ear, mirrored by a stunning androgynous-looking witch sitting opposite her, both holding each other’s hands over the table.
“Lochran!” Sasha said, her smile not once flickering. She turned to the witch and said, “Ashley, this is Lochran. He’s my friend from the shadow realm. Lochran, this is Ashley. They’re my mate.”
Ashley afforded me a single nod before their attention was once again consumed by Sasha.
“Lovely to meet you, Ashley.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Ashley said, unable to take their eyes off their mate.
“Where’s your witch?” Sasha asked.
I recited the same line I’d said to countless couples throughout the day. “She’s at home, as she has some very important work to finish, so I’m exploring my new surroundings.”
“Ah,” she said, as if unable to form any further words through her smittenness.
“Anyway, you two enjoy the tea,” I said.
“You too,” they both replied, neither looking at me.
I took my first sip of tea just as I reached the door. It was like an herbal party in my mouth, causing warm, fuzzy feelings to seep deep into my bones. I turned to the incubus and kissed my fingers, causing him to grin .
The tea was divine. Unlike anything I’d ever tasted in my life. I would absolutely be coming back here for more.
I wandered down to the next shop along. A simple sign saying Handywitch hung above the door.
A witch with siren-like black hair opened the door forcefully. She would have been beautiful if it weren’t for the seemingly permanent scowl etched into her face. She looked me up and down, then tsk ed. Desire rolled off her in waves, though this desire smelled like rotten peonies. It was the scent of someone who coveted what they couldn’t have.
“Another witch, another summoning,” she seethed.
My talons itched to get out. What was this witch’s problem?
“Oh, fuck off, Priscilla!” came a voice from inside the shop. “Stop bothering my customers. And don’t bother coming around here again!”
The witch’s eyes practically glowed green as she threw a final, villainous stare into the store before barging past me. She attempted to throw me off balance by bashing her shoulder into mine, but I had expected it, and she almost went tumbling back to the ground. Blue flames licked up her arms as she regained her posture, which I matched with shadows of my own. Finally, she flicked her head, her hair moving in unison over her shoulder, and said, “You’re lucky I don’t have the time to deal with the likes of you.” With that, she glided past me and down the street.
It took a few long breaths for my shadows to coil back. For the second time, I was glad my mate wasn’t with me. If the witch had barreled into Lex the way she had me, I wasn’t sure I could have stopped myself from tearing her throat out with a single swipe of my claws.
And killing coven-mates probably wouldn’t help me woo my witch.
A bell tinkled as I opened the door to the Handywitch shop. I scanned the shelves and was surprised to see that it was a hardware shop. For some reason, I’d been expecting gloves. I made a mental note to make a list of things that needed fixing around the house... if the house was amenable to letting me do some DIY.
A witch with loose brunette curls sat behind the counter, her Converse-clad feet resting on the countertop. She was blowing an iridescent bubble, her cheeks red with the effort, as she held up a finger in a gesture that she would be with me in just a minute. I waited patiently, scanning the workshop behind the witch. I had expected to see some wood-crafting items, maybe a half-finished bird box or something, what with this being a hardware shop and all, but surprisingly, there were only cauldrons, each brew containing a self-stirring spoon. Some frothed, while others sparked, but all of them smelled sickly sweet, like candy.
I wrinkled my nose at the too-sweet smell, and my eyes landed on a photo on the wall. A middle-aged blonde witch smiled, as did the black-haired incubus beside her, the picture of blissful matrimony. The teenage witch between them didn’t share the sentiment. While she looked almost exactly like her mother, she had the same thick black hair as her father. Her side fringe swooped across her kohled eyes, blending into her black, oversized hoodie.
Though she wore a frown, the young witch looked almost identical to the bubble- blowing witch in front of me, and I wondered if they were sisters.
Said witch gave a final, squeaky blow, and my head snapped toward her just in time to see a bubble the size of a hoppity hop explode into shooting stars, each zooming in different directions. I threw my hand over my head, but the sparks merely tickled my skin where they landed.
The witch excitedly punched the air. “Finally!” she cried.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked, panting heavily.
“Oh, just a thing I’ve been working on,” she said absentmindedly as she clicked her fingers and a notebook and pen appeared in front of her. She stuck her tongue between her teeth as she wrote furiously. I glanced at the notebook, but all the words looked like squiggles. “The ink has crushed-up, ethically-sourced dragon scale in it. It’s spelled so only I can read it. Had to take extra precautions since Priscilla took an interest,” she said without glancing up.
My eyes wandered back to the photo as I let the witch curate her thoughts. On second look, the teen witch looked even glummer than before.
“Cousin,” the witch said, her face sobering as she set her pen down. “I’m just looking after the shop until she gets back. In the meantime, I’m working on my real passion.” She jabbed a finger in the direction of the cauldrons behind her. “Magicked candy.”
While her tone was friendly, it was clipped enough for me to realize follow-up questions on either topic weren’t invited. Instead, I asked, “Who was the witch in here before me?”
The bubble witch rolled her eyes. “Priscilla Raisin,” she said, voice laced with boredom. “She’s been trying to find out how I make my candy for months. ”
“I—” But I didn’t get the chance to find out more.
The doorbell tinkled, and I sucked in a breath, momentarily thinking Lex was plowing her way toward me. It took a full second for me to realize this witch must be her mother.
“As I live and breathe!” she cried, exultant. “I knew! I just had a feeling she’d do the summoning!”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Lovely to meet you too, sweetie,” she said, her eyes glancing around, searching proudly for her daughter.
“She’s not here. She’s working on her trial notes.”
“Well, that is disappointing. Sensible, but disappointing. Oh, hi, Caitlyn, honey,” she said, giving the bubble-gum witch a wave.
“Hi, Ms. Cole!” The witch waved back.
Ms. Cole looped her arms into mine. “Come, Lochran. I want to get to know my new son-in-mating over a nice cup of tea.”
***
“Honey, I’m home!” I called from the door.
Lex poked her head from around the kitchen doorframe, a pretty scowl on her face. She’d fixed her bun and was now in a different set of pajamas from what she’d had on this morning—though no less scanty. My heart skittered in my chest. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to how beautiful she was.
“How was your day, dear?” she said, every word laced with sarcasm.
“Before I tell you, take this.” I held out a cup of tea that I’d let the incubus at the shop pick for me.
Her eyes widened, and she reached for it greedily. She moaned as she took a long sip, causing my dick to stiffen and my stomach to growl.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Ah, well, don’t thank me yet. I might have bumped into your mother while I was out—”
“No!” she ground out. “ Urgh , she’ll never let me live this down.”
I’d guessed as much from her mother figuratively spilling the tea on Lex when we were at the tea shop. I now knew everything about my mate, from the time she was four years old and was too stubborn to admit that she needed to use the bathroom on a long car journey to Disney World, resulting in her pooping her pants and her parents having to find the nearest detailer, to her best friend being a wolf shifter. I should’ve felt bad knowing so much about my mate, but I just couldn’t quite bring myself to feel repentant. Especially not when I’d had the privilege of listening to how my fierce and independent mate came to be.
Also, her mom was quite intimidating. I didn’t think she would have let me leave even if I had wanted to.
“She told you the car ride to Disney World story?”
I nodded, and she groaned.
“You had better have an equally embarrassing pants-pooping story to offer in exchange for that one.”
I held my hand to my heart, an exaggeratedly somber look on my face. “Alas, I do not. I was born fully formed, albeit painfully immature, but fully potty-trained nonetheless. Can I offer you a struck-by-lightning-and-falling-out-of-the-sky story instead?”
Her eyes widened, then narrowed. I might have played the worst day of my life off with a bit more humor than was warranted, but it was worth it to see the twitch of a smile as Lex said, “Not a fair exchange, but I’ll think about it.”
“There’s one more thing,” I added, getting an odd sense of enjoyment at Lex’s only half-serious annoyance. “We’re going to have dinner with your family tomorrow.”
Surprisingly, instead of seeming annoyed, she snorted a laugh. “Good luck.”
“Good luck? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, you’ll see,” she said with a finality that told me that, even under torture, she would not reveal what awaited me tomorrow.
“I might take the apology tea back,” I said, my eyebrow cocking at her.
She held it defensively to her chest. “It was a gift. No take-backsies on a gift.”
A huge relief settled over me. This was nice, the banter and jokes. It made me feel better about being the weird sex-demon couch surfer.
My stomach gave a rumble, and I winced at the stab of pain deep in my gut. I’d literally eaten three lunches at the three different restaurants the town had to offer, and it’d hardly made one iota of difference.
“I’ve been thinking about our situation,” Lex said. “You don’t have to have full-on sex to feed, do you?”
I shook my head. She already knew the answer from our exchange at breakfast, but I clarified, “Well, what constitutes as full-on sex is different for everyone. But, for me, it’s penetrative sex. And I haven’t done that in years.”
Lex snorted. “Be serious. So... you can feed in other ways?”
Now wasn’t the time to tell my mate about the sex ban—which had been fully and gladly lifted the moment she’d summoned me. “I can survive off being near someone with strong sexual desires.” Lex’s face flushed and, yeah, she totally knew I’d been feeding while she masturbated last night. “It’s enough to keep me alive.”
“Staying alive and being full are too different things,” she said, her voice quiet but inquisitive.
Okay... my mate was definitely leading up to something. I couldn’t help my voice becoming raspy and seductive as I took a step toward her, breathing in her spiced desire as I said, “I’m usually full if I’m the reason someone orgasms.”
Lex gulped, and I suddenly realized that this might be a bit too quick for her.
I stepped back. “But... I mean... desire from afar will be enough for now... if that’s... something that works for you.” Had I just asked my mate out loud to feel free to rub one out in another room so I could feed? Urgh , I’d never felt so awkward talking about sex before. This was supposed to come naturally to me. I’m a motherfucking sex demon! I’ve done this for the last decade of my life, and never had an issue. But the moment I meet my mate, I’m stumbling on my words and cumming in my pants.
Thankfully, Lex didn’t balk. “Anyway,” she drawled out, determined to ignore my last statement, “I have had some time to think and, while it wasn’t my intention to summon you, it’s my responsibility that you are here.”
“Lex, you don’t have to do anything you—”
Lex held up her hand. “I know I’m not obliged to do anything. And neither are you. That being said, I am part succubus, and while my... needs ... are nowhere near as potent as yours, I would like to see them... satiated.” I didn’t know how or why, but Lex talking like a lawyer was really doing it for me. “If you are interested, I am open to exploring this”—she gestured her hand between me and her—“further, in a slow and mutual way.”
I wanted to throw her over my shoulder, take her upstairs and mutually fuck the brains out of her. Instead, I curbed my baser needs and said, as calmly as I could, “I would be agreeable to those terms. How do you propose we... commence?”
“I thought that, maybe, we could... I dunno... Maybe we could get ourselves off in the same room as each other? That way, we both get release. You can feed, and we don’t have to touch.”
“I... agree.” I’d take what I could get from my mate. Even if I wouldn’t be the one getting her off, the proximity would be close enough that it would be the first proper meal I had since being summoned.