Chapter 14 #2
But she’d seen what he could accomplish when he focused and believed in himself. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, her lips soft and coaxing as she silently urged him to see the truth of what could be.
“Malcolm, a hedge witch has never been allowed to sit on the Council. But if you were able to sit on the Council, you could make real changes. Maybe even convince the other members to appoint a hedge witch for the next opening.”
There wasn’t a witching world law that prohibited hedge witches from being on the council, but the natural prejudice in witching society had kept them shut out from so many decisions that affected all of witches and warlocks.
His eyes widened slightly. “I hadn’t thought of that.” He grasped her waist. “I suppose I could do a lot of good, couldn’t I?”
“Yes, you could,” she agreed. You’re certainly brave enough, she silently added.
* * *
“You are so beautiful and brilliant,” Malcolm said before he kissed her again.
She moaned and closed her eyes as the idea she’d presented continued to sink in.
Being on the Council to create change—to make the witching world a better place, and close the gap that those prejudices kept open. His gorgeous, thoughtful, hopeful hedge witch had opened his eyes to what was right in front of him, and it both scared and invigorated him.
It would be an uphill battle. Malcolm wasn’t familiar with the laws surrounding the council, but even if there wasn’t an actual rule preventing a hedge witch from joining, getting the others to agree was a completely different matter.
Calli moaned softly as his palms swept down and cupped her bottom.
He was definitely ready to show her what shower sex was like now.
He nipped her chin, then her throat, and then returned to her lips.
He nearly lost control when he remembered how it had felt for them to wrap around his cock.
She’d drugged him with ecstasy and almost killed him with pleasure.
Now he wanted, no, needed to return the favor.
“Turn and face the wall,” he said softly.
Her autumnal eyes raised in confusion. He repeated his command and gave her bottom a gentle squeeze.
Heat flared in her gaze as she understood he was going to do something wonderfully wicked. She did as he asked and braced her hands against the white tile.
“No coming until I say you can, all right?” He leaned forward and kissed her neck, then her shoulder. “The longer you hold out, the better it will be. Trust me.”
She arched her back and lifted her ass up a little. He gripped his shaft, guiding himself into her from behind. Calli made a soft sound, almost like a whimper, as he started to push into her. All around them the water still poured over their bodies, heating the air and fogging the shower door.
“You okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah, it just feels different at this angle.”
He slid one of his palms around the front of her body to find her clit and brushed an index finger over the little nub.
Her hips jerked as she sucked in a breath.
His little witch was still sensitive from last night.
Malcolm sank another few inches into her and continued to gently tease her clit with his fingers.
She was so wet and hot, her channel gripped him as tight as a fist, and his eyes rolled back in his head with the torturous pleasure he felt by taking her slowly.
When he was in all the way, his hips touching her ass, he urged her to stand up so he could pull her fully back against his chest. He nuzzled her ear and filled his hands with her gorgeous breasts.
Her hands moved away from the wall to cover his hands on her breasts, urging him to keep touching her.
He’d always thought of himself as an ass man, but her breasts were truly perfect.
Malcolm kissed her cheek, then her neck as he played with her breasts, pressing them together, rolling the nipples between his fingers as he let her get used to him filling her from behind.
Hot water sluiced down their bodies, and he swore for a moment the water was almost humming…
or perhaps singing was the right word. There were certainly notes, beautiful patterns filling the air, haunting and captivating.
“Can you hear that?” he whispered against her ear.
“The singing water?” she answered with a dazed nod. “Yes. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” She suddenly giggled. “The water sometimes sings to me… It’s a hedge witch thing.”
If he hadn’t already been falling in love with her then, he would have now. The way she’d delighted in the magic of nature singing to her was perhaps the most wonderful thing he’d ever witnessed in his life.
It was why he’d loved magic as a boy. And why, because of her, he was learning to love magic again.
“Tell me if anything hurts or feels like it’s too much,” he reminded her.
He urged her to brace herself once more on the shower wall and bend over slightly.
He gripped her hips and slowly withdrew his cock almost all the way out before driving back in.
She hissed as he sank back in, but when she pushed toward him, he knew it was okay to continue.
He withdrew, thrust in, and the sound of their bodies meeting echoed off the shower walls around them, in perfect accompaniment to her panting little cries.
Malcolm couldn’t get enough of Calli. Taking her like this, feeling her body connected to his, was a magic of a very different kind.
It was an ancient, primal, animalistic sort of magic.
He claimed her with every thrust and she claimed him right back as she wriggled her hips and tightened around his cock, encouraging him to lose himself in her.
And he was lost, so fucking lost, but it felt incredible to give himself over to her in that moment.
“Malcolm… please…” his little witch begged. How sweet was that sound?
“Tell me what you need, honey,” Malcolm had always liked vocal lovers. It was important for him to know what a woman wanted so he could best give it to her.
“Harder… more…” The words rasped from Calli’s throat.
He reached up, tangling one hand in her wet hair, and gently pulling her head back just enough to create a slight pressure so she arched her back to create a new angle for him to drive into her.
He fucked her hard until his legs shook, and he knew she wasn’t going to stay on her feet much longer, either. And neither would he.
“Come for me, baby,” he urged in a growl.
Two seconds later, her walls clamped down around his cock as she came, and it nearly killed him. He followed her into that orgasm, his body releasing all the built-up tension in an exquisite release, deep inside her. He caught her by the waist when her legs suddenly gave out.
“Hold on,” he whispered as he tried to catch his breath.
He pulled out, and before she could collapse, he turned her around to face him and held her close, keeping her on her feet. The water ran down over their bodies, still hot, and he kissed her forehead as she trembled.
“Mal—Malcolm,” she breathed in a shaky voice that tore at his heart.
“I know, honey.”
The witch-lock was closer than ever. He could almost feel her emotions and sensations now, as though only a thin veil separated the two of them. It was almost too much to take in, but there was nowhere else in the world he wanted to be other than holding Calli in his arms.
“We’re almost bonded,” she said.
He brushed his fingertips over her cheeks. “I know,” he agreed. “And… I think I’m okay with that.” It was such a strange experience to feel such closeness to her, to anyone. What would it take to push them over that last barrier and finally lock?
“We should get out before the water turns cold,” Calli said. Malcolm agreed with a silent nod and kissed her forehead again before turning the water off.
How much had everything changed after last night? He knew he had changed. Hell, he’d almost died last night up on those cliffs. But Calli had saved him. She’d ridden a broom straight up to the edge and pulled him back.
Last night, he could still see the ghostly specters of those old witches when he’d closed his eyes. Would they be there again tonight? He had never known that spells could leave an echo after such a long passage of time.
“Calli, those old witches on the cliffs… have you ever seen anything like that before?”
She had a towel wrapped around her body now, and was drying her hair with a smaller one. She turned to look at him in surprise.
“No, never. But really powerful spells can linger like that. I’ve just never seen it happen myself. If you’d asked me about it yesterday, I might have said that the stories about such things were exaggerated. But now…?” She handed him a towel, which he wrapped around his hips.
“So that was how the protective wards were put into place. The first witches in Moonstone cast their spells on that cliff,” he said. “That might help us find a way to re-create it.”
Calli eyed him seriously. “Not in the same way, I hope. Mrs. Greenlee said the spell needed a blood sacrifice.”
He hadn’t forgotten that little detail. “If there’s one thing I know about magic, there’s always another way to get what you want. We just have to figure out what we need to do in order to work around it.”
He stepped into the bedroom, then headed toward the guestroom where his spare clothes were.
He pulled on a set of jeans and a lightweight black sweater, then met Calli in the hall.
She’d donned a black T-shirt with an old-school illustration of a vampire and coffin and the word Dracula beneath it. He couldn’t help but laugh.
“What?” She glanced down at herself.
“Your shirt. It’s cute.”
“Thanks.” She beamed at them. “Even Byron likes it, and he usually gets fussy about the way vampires are depicted in books and movies.”
“I can imagine,” Malcolm said. Vampires were usually depicted as ruthless killers or tortured souls fighting against their hunger. But they were just like anyone. Some good, some bad, and most in between.
Calli suddenly gasped. “Oh my God! I need to call Sage and tell her you’re okay!
Where’s my stupid cell phone?” She started for the stairs, muttering to herself about the places she might have left it.
He found it amusing that she possessed both a cellphone and a computer, but rarely used either.
She reminded him so much of his father when it came to that.
“Hang on. We can use mine.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Jasper.
“Mac?” His friend’s voice held a note of worry. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” Calli leaned close as he put the phone on speaker.
“Thank fuck. What the hell happened yesterday? Sage has been freaking out all morning because we haven’t heard from either of you guys.”
A shout echoed in the background, along with what sounded like someone banging on an espresso machine. “I’m not freaking out!”
“She totally was,” Jasper said quietly. “So, what happened to you guys?”
“I don’t honestly know. I went to see Mrs. Greenlee, then I left the inn and it’s all blank after that. Calli found me on top of the Black Cliffs outside of town. “We saw the witches who cast the first protection spells.”
“You saw what?” Sage’s voice was much closer now. “Tell me—”
“Tell us everything,” Jasper corrected.
Something in Malcolm’s chest eased because of his friend’s instant involvement. Jasper had his back, no question, ever since the night he’d woken up levitating in the air. Malcolm was damn lucky to have him for a friend.
“Well, they weren’t happy about something, I know that much,” said Malcolm. “They tried to get me to walk off a cliff, but Calli got there in time.”
They recounted the events of last night for Sage and Jasper, what they could remember, anyway. So much had felt like a dark and terrible dream to Malcolm. One he couldn’t wake up from until Calli arrived to save him.
“If those ghosts were the ones who put up the barrier, then this can’t be a coincidence,” Jasper said. “I’m going back to the archives. Finnigan can help me search the magical histories that are hidden from humans.”
“Thanks,” Malcolm said. “I’ll join you. He definitely knew he’d feel better digging through dusty tomes than doing nothing.
“Sounds good. Maybe between the three of us we can find out more about the original boundary ritual,” Jasper said. “Want to meet at the library in half an hour?”
“I’ll be there.” Malcolm hung up the phone. Calli was watching him.
“What’s wrong?”
She bit her lip and let out a soft breath. “Whatever you find out… just remember, we don’t have to follow those spells. Not if it means someone gets hurt,” she said.
He pulled her into his arms, basking in the care and compassion she exuded so easily. It made him feel safe somehow, and in that moment he wanted nothing more than to share that with her, to let her know that he’d do anything to protect her.
“I know. But we still have to understand the original spell.”
“We can find a way to survive even without protective wards. There are plenty of smaller spells we can use to deter humans and protect against hunters. It wouldn’t be perfect, but we’ll just have to be smart about it. I’d rather us do that than resort to something that would get someone killed.”
“I agree.”
“Also, I think the witches in town need to meet with Mayor Thornfield to discuss our options. It will give everyone something to focus on other than worrying about worst case scenarios.”
Malcolm pulled Calli into his arms, holding her for a long moment, savoring the feel of her, the beat of her heart against his chest. The quiet old house creaked as the winter wind blew outside, whistling against the windowpanes.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised her.