Chapter 10
Ten
The wolves perk up as gravel crunches outside and I look up at the gray windows. The wolf I know is Joshua’s is most excited, so I’m not surprised when the man himself comes through my front door.
He looks from the wood to me and his lips twitch with a smile. “Must be nice to open doors without having to get up.”
I’m in the middle of my living room floor, surrounded by books and papers. “Sometimes, getting up means excavating yourself, and a pinch of two fingers is just easier.”
He closes the door behind him and shrugs out of his jacket.
“Ditch the boots and you can come in here. Otherwise, it’s going to be a minute before I can get to you.”
I lay a scrap of twine between the pages of my great aunt’s grimoire and set it aside. There are the appropriate stones and crystals holding down almost everything else, but when I stand, my pen rolls from my skirt onto a loose page I hadn’t gotten to yet.
And it distracts me.
“I didn’t realize you’d have so much homework in this profession.”
I snap back to attention. “I’m sorry. I’m looking for a spell I haven’t used in at least a decade and that keeps leading me down rabbit holes.”
“It looks a little consuming.”
I nod, wondering why I don’t remember the paper in my hand. The handwriting is my grandmother’s but I don’t recognize the ingredients or the paper it’s written on.
The last thing I want to do is perform a spell when I have no idea what it’ll do. I set it under a chunky piece of blue kyanite and make a mental note to research it later.
“Would you like me to make you tea?”
When I look up again, his brow is pinched with concern and he watches me like I might tip over.
“I’m sorry.” I place the pen on top of the grimoire—I’ll get back to it first. “It’s too easy to lose track of time when I fall down one of these.”
I look around my living room and grimace. It looks like a tornado has blown through and… I have no idea what time it is. Picking up my skirts, I hop over the piled spells and notes. I don’t let them go when I stop in front of him and turn my face up for a kiss.
He obliges. “We were starting to think you were avoiding us.”
“Of course not.” I reach up and hook my arms around his neck, stretching out sore muscles. “But I do think I need that tea.”
Grabbing my phone off the end table, I lead the way into the kitchen and can’t help but grimace at the number of missed messages. “Shoot.”
Thomas had had a weekend tournament, Joshua was on overtime to get the buoy set up finished for the December unveiling, and Chase worked weekends, so aside from a brief walk on the beach with Johnny and the wolves, I hadn’t seen any of them all weekend… And I didn’t realize it was already Tuesday.
“We didn’t want to come barreling out here… your space is your space, but after two days…”
“I honestly didn’t realize I’d been in there that long.”
“Pretty sure you’re going to need something more than just tea. Lunch?” Joshua goes to my fridge and pulls it open. “What would you normally eat after a bender like that?”
I have to chuckle at the word. “There’s a green container on the top shelf. And a round one on the middle that’s got a red lid. Grab both of those out for me, please.”
“What are these?” He asks, setting them on the counter and popping their lids.
“That is a tempeh and broccoli salad.” I say, handing him the baster. “The vinegar dressing at the bottom needs to be redistributed. Please don’t stir it.
“And those are some whole wheat pitas.”
“Let me guess, the one goes in the other?”
“Yes please. Don’t dig too deep in the salad. The bottom’s been sitting in that vinegar for too long.”
He goes to the cupboards, and I let him explore while I start typing out an apology for the copious texts I’ve missed.
He finds the plates on the second try.
“Grab a second plate. Unless you plan to make me eat alone.”
“I’ll join you, but only if you text the guys and explain what happened.”
“Already started.” I hold up my phone with the unfinished paragraph of a text back to the group.
“Good girl.”
I finish up the apology and hit send as Joshua puts the plates down on the island. His phone pings, but he ignores it.
“This is good. Johnny is going to want the recipe.”
“Has he always been this into cooking?”
“I mean, he’s always enjoyed it, but I’m not going to lie… he’s hoping to draw you in by keeping you well fed and happy.”
“You all make me happy.”
“Good. When you trickled off there, after our game night, we got a little worried.”
“This is a weird case of it’s not you, it’s me. Sometimes I get a little hyperfocused.”
“What brought that on?” He asks, nodding toward the living room.
“I’m trying to figure out what a few things might mean when added together.”
“The warnaway and that tracking spell?” He guesses.
“Potentially multiple warnaways… and now it seems like the sheriff is hell bent on getting me into trouble.” I sigh and try to stretch some of the tension out of my neck. “I could check to see if he’s bewitched with a simple spell… but that requires getting up close and personal and I do not want to spend any more time with him than I have to. But the spell I want to use is eluding me. And searching for it has… well, you can see how it’s going.”
“What’s Derek, bugging you about?”
“My neighbor—who has been trying to get me to sell part of my land, by the way—complained that I have dogs getting onto his property.”
Joshua glances at the wolf sitting in the doorway, watching us.
“We both know they don’t count. Besides, even if Connor saw them, it would be a bare glimpse in his periphery. He is a normal human. And they can’t see these guys if they look for them.”
“So one complaint about a dog?”
“On my way home last week, he pulled me over. Because he thought I had a dog in the back seat.”
“How could he see the wolf?”
“Another instance of his periphery. And his family has that history with witches…”
“Well, if you need him to, I’m sure we can get Johnny or Thomas to convince him you haven’t adopted any pets recently.”
“The only new additions to my life are four men.”
“Telling him that would just prove you attract strays.”
“Luckily I like them.”
Joshua takes my plate when I’m done and I follow him back to the kitchen. “I can get those.”
“I know.” But he starts washing them, anyway.
Watching the muscles in his back and forearms flex as he scrubs the plates down and sets them in the other side of the sink… “I can think of a better use for those hands.”
He smiles, but his jaw is clenched as he dries off. “So can I.”
“When do you have to head back?”
“I’m the boss, remember? Technically, I don’t have to go back at all.”
His hands grip the counter on either side of me. “I was thinking about it the other day… What if this is all some enchantment? What if this lust we feel is just a thin veneer and when it wears away, we’re left with nothing.”
“It’s not.” I reach up and hook my hand around his neck. “We’d already feel the cracks if it was. I want you. Just as much as I did when I made my offer last month.”
“I think we might want you more.”
“Good, because you can have me.” I drag my finger down the seam of my robe, and the bows holding it closed unravel.
“I know it’s cliche,” He traces down my body with his eyes. “But I’m definitely ready for dessert.”
My laugh comes with a flicker of my stomach as he slides his fingers over my skin. His touch is torturously soft.
Right up until it isn’t.
He sweeps his hands around and pulls me up, gripping my thighs and sets me on the counter top.
“You like picking me up and throwing me around, don’t you?”
He nods, his lips finding mine. “We all do.”
His kiss is so sweet, it makes me melt against him.
The counter is cold beneath my skin, but Joshua is all warmth against me.
Hand on the back of my neck, he holds me in place—even though I have no desire to move.
All it takes is a simple shake of my shoulders, and the robe falls down to pool on the counter and I’m naked for him.
“Have I mentioned how much I love that you don’t wear real clothes at home?”
“Public decency is the only reason I wear clothes when I’m around you at all.”
The growl that reaches my ears makes me shift my hips, adjusting for that ache that’s started to build inside of me, making it easier…
His hand slides over my thigh, holding me open to his gaze, and his thumb drags up me.
“Always so wet for us, sweetness.” His thumb circles my clit and he looks up at me with a dark smile as he steps closer.
His jeans rasp against the skin of my inner thighs and I shiver, wanting them to stay on… and wanting to tear them off as well.
Either way… I reach for the zipper, but he catches my hand. “Not yet.”
“No?”
He shakes his head. “Like I said, I’m ready for my desert.”
When he sinks down to his knees, I lean back, hands on the countertop, but my eyes are on him.
On his big hands, so dark against my skin.
The first lick drags my eyes closed, but I force them open. I want to see him like this. I want to watch as he devours me. Our eyes lock as his lips find my clit for one, long suck.
When his fingers press into me, I can’t help but shake from the pleasure.
Being with one of them reminds me of being with all of them… reminds me that I’ll be with all of them again soon.
“Did it make you jealous?” I ask. “Watching Thomas eat all of your come out of me?”
“Not jealous… But I certainly plan to take my turn.” He meets my gaze with one so dark I can’t tear my eyes away. “Don’t think we didn’t notice just how fucking hot that got you.”
“Everything I’ve ever been told says you should be tearing each other apart for me. Not sharing.”
“Maybe we’ve been together too long for that… or maybe your witch stories are completely wrong.”
I shiver as he sets his mouth to me again. “Mindless beasts, the lot of you.”
He laughs and his stubble grazes my leg as he presses a third finger into me. “Only when we’re inside of you, feeling that pretty pussy clench around us. But you’re just as mindless as we are when it comes to that… aren’t you.”
“Yes.” The word is fractured, broken. I drag him up because I can’t stand to have him there any longer. “I need you. Now.”
His smile is sharp and he leans toward me, pulling his hips back, away from me. “You accused Chase of being bossy last time and now here you are, trying to order me around.
“What makes you think you get to decide how this plays out?”
“Because you want it, just as badly as I do.”
“At least as badly.” He turns his head to the side and catches my thumb between his teeth.
“Now that you’ve got permission, you can’t stop biting me, can you?”
The way he looks at me is all the confirmation I’m going to get.
“Good.”
“I can’t stop dreaming about you. Replaying the other night in my head.” He kisses my shoulder and then works his way up. “We’ve never done that before, but with you… With you, it’s like nothing is awkward. Nothing’s off limits.”
I take hold of his chin and pull him up to kiss me again. “Good, because I can’t wait to do it again.”
His hands go to my thighs, spreading me wider. “Promise me you liked it.”
“I loved it.”
This time, when I reach for his zipper, he doesn’t protest. He lets me drag it down and push his pants and boxers to the floor, freeing his hard cock to spring out at me. A tiny bead already forming at the tip.
I wish I was in a position to lick it off, but I’m not a contortionist. That’s a different kind of magic altogether.
So, I lean back once more, angling myself to take all of him.
He guides himself into me, but only to the point where our bodies are barely joined.
“When I opened my door and saw you standing there for the first time, I wanted you so badly, it physically hurt. ” He growls, looking up at me and sliding a bare inch further in. “And then, you knew what we were and I thought there was no chance and that hurt even more. So tell me how it’s possible I want you even more now?”
“I’ve learned not to ask questions like that. Just accept my blessings and enjoy them.” I wrap my legs around his hips and pull him fully into me. I have to exhale when he fills me so perfectly. “Every last drop.”
I expect him to take it fast, to devolve into that mindless beast he referenced earlier, but he doesn’t.
Joshua loves me soft and slow, his lips distracting me until his fingers find my clit and he moves lower, pulling out of me just long enough to slip those fingers inside, to get them wet enough he can torture my clit with them.
Joshua doesn’t turn ragged at any point. Not even when he steps back to turn me onto my stomach. Not when his hand tangles in my hair, and he pulls me back in a grip that stings but holds me off the counter so we can both see my breasts in the hall mirror.
He takes his pleasure as if he’s savoring it. And he gives me mine in equal measure.
It’s not what I’m used to, and my orgasm comes in a slow and long crescendo. It tears me apart so softly, I don’t know what to do with myself.
I settle for murmuring his name each time he thrusts, until I can’t even form coherent words anymore.
He fills me again and again, and finally, right before I’m about to beg him no more his fingers tighten, sharp points of pain mixed with pleasure, and I can’t do anything but tighten around him as he spills into me.
When he finally stills, he drops his forehead to my spine.
“Who knew a mindless beast could show such restraint?” I nip at his finger, and shiver when his hand comes up to wrap around the back of my neck.
“How are any of us supposed to get anything done when all we can think about is being inside you?”
I chuckle against the counter. “It’ll get easier.”
“Will it?” His voice is soft, maybe even a little scared. “I’m not so sure.”
He kisses my spine, and we stay like this a little longer.
By the time he drags himself off of me, I can breathe normally again.
“Some day,” He whispers against my neck. “I’d like to make it to your bed.”
“Want to place bets on whether I’ll end up in yours first?”
“Nope.” He rakes his teeth over my skin and steps back, helping me off the counter before dealing with himself.
I don’t point out that he’s the one who’s had his teeth on me the most, despite nearly breaking Johnny’s jaw before he knew it wouldn’t hurt me.
“Are you coming to the game this Friday?” He asks as I slip into the bathroom.
“Yes.” Distraction kept me away last week. I won’t let it happen again this time. “I’ll be at your place early.”
“Good.”
When I step back out, he’s leaned against that counter I need to clean. “I’d be remiss if I let the four of you out of my sight after sunset on a Friday the thirteenth.”
“You know, I didn’t even think about that.”
“You’d be fine if I wasn’t there. On the more powerful nights, people will tend to avoid you. They won’t know why, but unless some underlying emotion is stronger, they’ll be a little afraid of you.”
“Yeah?” He kisses me before I can answer, so I nod against his lips.
“Friday,” Joshua says, stepping back from me, but not without considerable reluctance, if the twist of his lips is any indication. “Don’t forget a coat and a scarf. You might want mittens too.”
“You aren’t going to hold my hands to keep them warm?”
“We can’t hold them all the time.”
I twist away from him, “I guess that’s fair.” I grab the dish rag from the sink and nudge him aside, to wipe down the butcher block.
I’ll disinfect later.
“I have to get back to work. We’re so close to being done with the boring stuff… I want to put in the final push so we can do the fun part.”
“I guess I can allow it.” I smile up at him and press up onto my toes when he leans down to kiss me.
But the work in the living room has already started to tug at me.
“Keep your phone close,” he says as he heads for the door, glancing at the living room. “If we don’t hear from you, someone will come out to make sure you’re eating.”
“Thank you.”
Brows pinched, he looks at the floor again. “What would you normally do when this happened? I mean, if you didn’t have us to look after you?”
“Eventually, my body would tell me I needed to knock it off.”
“I don’t like that.”
“It doesn’t either.”
I watch him get in his truck and leave before I go back to the papers and tomes. Their weathered pages and decades old ink—some of which isn’t completely dry yet—drag me under and I get lost in their words too easily.
When I look up again, Johnny is laying on the couch in front of me. A paperback gripped in his hand, it’s cover bent all the way back, and it’s dark out.
“When did you get here?”
“About an hour ago?” He turns on his side and shoves the book under himself to keep his place. “When Josh said you were focused, I hadn’t realized he’d meant oblivious.”
“That’s not nice.”
“I’m just glad you have these guys around to keep you safe if someone they didn’t like showed up.”
“I have wards to keep most people out in the first place.” Though I might want to change them around. After all, I’d rather not ignore the guys when they’re here.
“I’m here to make sure you eat dinner.”
“I can smell that.” I glance over my shoulder toward the kitchen. “And I should definitely take a break.”
“Perfect. I was going to throw a pillow at you in fifteen minutes. If you hadn’t come up for air.”
Glancing at the wolves, I wonder if one of them would have caught the pillow if it had come to that.
“I know people who would want to light you on fire for that.”
He looks at the curled book beneath him. “I promise it was already half destroyed when I got it.”
He holds up his hands as if I’ve pulled a gun. “I got it at Yesterday’s.”
The shop was one of the few places in town that would buy almost anything you had to sell as long as it was small. And their book section—a true fire trap at the back—was full of five cent novels that had seen their fair share of damage.
“When you’ve always got the risk that someone’s going to slobber on it, or tear it up with their little claws, the book you keep in your work truck is one you’re not worried about destroying.”
“Fair enough.” I take his offered hand and step over my ever shifting piles. “What is that delicious smell?”
“I’m trying my hand at spinach and feta puffs and a falafel-like thing. There’s also a salad, in case everything goes wrong.”
“How often does everything go wrong?”
“You know what? Pretend I didn’t say that.” He wraps his arms around me pulling me back against his chest and walks with me into the kitchen. “Pretend, I’m perfect.”
“You sure you want me to hold you to that standard?”
“Fair point.” He nods toward the ephemera glass. “That thing’s been going off every few minutes.”
I look at the glassy surface and for once am happy to see the message inscribed there.
While Johnny checks on dinner, I go to the tablet on the counter and call my best friend as she requested.
“About time!” She says, her smile bright, a dash of blue food coloring stains her cheek.
“Hey, Elaria, what’s up?”
Her gaze moves past me. “Hel-lo.”
“If you’re nice, I’ll let you meet him, now, what’s up.”
“Uh, no. You’ve kept me waiting twenty-eight hours. I think I’m going to meet him first.”
I could argue with her, but Johnny has already started over to us, curiosity cocking his head to the side.
“Johnny, this is Elaria, my best friend. Elaria, Johnny.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” He says with a smile and a tiny wave.
“Johnny is making me dinner.”
“A kitchen witch?” Elaria asks, her eyes shifting to me with a sparkle that I know he won’t understand is teasing.
“Nope.” I look up at him and he shrugs. It’s permission, sort of. “He’s a werewolf.”
Elaria’s face goes completely blank, and then she drops her head back. “Oh, that explains so much.”
“Does it?”
“Your mom has been acting so weird. If you’re dating a werewolf, it’s not surprising.”
“Four of us.” Johnny says and my best friend’s eyes bulge.
But she laughs. “If you’re dating a pack of werewolves, she’s got more than enough reasons to act like the Earth has fallen out from under her feet. Lucky for her, you always know what you’re doing.”
There’s a question in that statement, but I ignore it. “Is that why you called? Mom’s acting weird?”
Johnny kisses me on the temple and goes back to the oven, checking on his puffs.
“Yeah. Remember those tarts? She completely forgot I made them for her. Which is impressive, considering she found those cherries that shouldn’t exist this time of year.”
“That is weird. She seemed like she’s got a lot on her mind.” Which reminds me. “Hey, since I have you on the phone… what can you tell me about Aphrodite Lourdes leaving the coven.”
Elaria snorts a laugh. “Speaking of people acting weird. She was trying to play with spells way above her skill level.”
“What kind of spells?”
“Mariah found an old grimoire filled with blood magic. And we both know how well that would go if someone like Aphrodite tried it. Hell, that kind of magic would consume me .
“If she hadn’t left on her own, I have a feeling she would have been kicked out.”
“That would have been a struggle, with her mom in one of the voting seats.”
“She would have been the only one who voted to keep her. And I’m betting she knew it.”
“Thanks for the info.”
“Wait. Does that mean she’s down there?”
“Yeah. And I get the feeling she wants to start a coven of our own. She hasn’t said as much directly, but she mentioned an ‘opportunity.’”
“Oh dear.”
“Right?”
“Now that I know what’s going on with your mom, I’ll rest a little easier tonight. And you… try to get some sleep.” She winks and hangs up.
“The surprise…” Johnny says as he pulls the tray from the oven. “When you told her what I am.”
“It’s just uncommon for witches to have relationships with non-witches. Even rarer with wolves.”
“So, is it anti-werewolf sentiment in general? Or because of our Halloween shenanigans?”
“The less said about our Samhain ritual, the better. Witches don’t like unknowns, and like I said, this thing we’ve done… it’s had a bad reaction in the past.”
“What happens when someone shows up and sees that you’ve taken custody of our wolves?”
There were a few excuses I could make, but none of them would hold up to scrutiny. “That is a bridge I’ll burn when the time comes.”
Dinner is delightful. We both make a few jokes about Johnny’s perfection, and we make it halfway to the bedroom before we wind up on the floor. But we do manage to lose all of our clothes, unlike with Joshua this morning.
“You know… I didn’t realize how nice it would be to have someone to force me to take food and sex breaks.”
He kisses my collar bone. “I was reminded, before I came out here, to not offer or promise anything… but the idea of being here whenever you need one of these breaks, as often as you need them, has a lot of appeal.”
Yes it did.
“But I’m not going to ask to move in with you… or vise versa.”
“Probably for the best. They don’t actually take up any space, but your wolves definitely feel like they’re here. With nine of us in this house… It’s going to feel a bit crowded.”
“We don’t have to invite the others.” But he laughs when he says it, so I don’t have to remind him that I’m never going to choose between them.
Standing, he pulls me to my feet and then lifts me into his arms. “Point me to the bathroom.”
I do, and he marches to my bedroom and into the attached bath.
“Perfect,” he says, setting me on my feet. He kisses me once, along and lingering press of his lips, and then, he goes to my tub. The water steams against porcelain.
“What,” He says, turning to the shelf and squinting at the bottles. “Do I put in to help you find your answers?”
I pull down the base salt and then a few other jars and let him fill the tub with the mixture as I slip away for a moment. When I’m back, he holds out his hand to help me in.
“I request that you relax… I’m going to go get you something to wear when you get out.”
He disappears into the bedroom and I drop my head back, turning off the tap with my foot when the water finally gets to the right level.
Soaking up the warmth, I wonder if I might fall asleep before he gets back, but I don’t.
Clothes back on, Johnny brings in a small pile of clothes that definitely look like pajamas.
“I can’t stay. Work and what not. But Chase has promised to swing by in the morning to make sure you’ll eat breakfast.” He brushes a tendril of my wet hair back over my ear. “I’d try to tuck you in for the night, but something tells me you’d just be right back to it as soon as I left.”
“You’re not wrong.” I stretch my deliciously sore muscles. “The quicker I find the answer the easier I’ll feel.”
“What if you don’t have the answer? It’s been days.”
“Then I’ll just have to get a little uncomfortable.”
He leaves, and his wolf takes his place, tail brushing through the porcelain and into the water.
I force myself to stay in the bath until the water cools. And when I get out, I put on what Johnny pulled out for me.
The pajama pants are mine… the shirt, he brought from home.
But it makes me smile, so I slip it over my head and head back to the living room, wolfy Johnny still with me.
I search through the pages, ignoring the heavy slumber that threatens, and I almost flip right past what I’m looking for, but two pages later, my brain stops, and like the clicking of a roller coaster at the top of its rise… It suddenly rushes back to me.
I flip back, and there it is… the spell I’ve spent far too long looking for.
And as soon as I see it, all the weight of the past few days falls on me.
Placing a polished howlite palmstone on the page, I scoot up onto the chair behind me. And let out a long breath.
I definitely have to sleep before I try to cast that… Faint rays filter through my curtains. Dawn was obscured by clouds, but it’s already day.
And that means, Chase is going to be here soon…
I manage to hold out until he gets here.
“I found it.” I say as he slips off his jacket and lets his gaze wander around the space.
“Then why aren’t you in bed, silly woman?” He steps carefully over my piles and scoops me up.
“Because I was promised you’d feed me.” I point to the kitchen.
“Is that so?”
“No, it’s because I didn’t want to be asleep when you showed up and have you leave without waking me.”
“I definitely wouldn’t have interrupted your much needed sleep.”
“I know.”
He sets me in one of my dining chairs and slips back to the front, returning with a small bag. “More of Johnny’s experiments in oats. Peanut butter and jelly this time.”
Chase feeds me and then once again, picks me up, following my directions to my bedroom.
“Stay with me?” I ask, not taking my arms from around his neck. “At least until I fall asleep?”
He agrees on a murmur and the bed sinks with his weight.
I hadn’t realized how much I wanted this warmth until I got it…
“You’re still coming to the game?”
“Mmhmm… but I have no idea what I’d wear.”
His eyes trace over me and I manage to bite my tongue, but only for a moment. “Obviously, it’ll have to be more than this.”
“Obviously.” He brushes my hair out of my face. “For one thing, you’d freeze to death, and none of us want that. Go to sleep, witchy woman.”
But I can’t fall into that delicious slumber. Not yet.
There are too many questions still.
“Chase?” I snuggle closer, the question I have to ask, I probably wouldn’t if I was fully awake. “Do they know?”
“Gonna need a little more specificity, beautiful.”
“Do they know how long ago you were bitten?”
He’s quiet for a long moment. “No. They’ve never asked for the specific date. It’s not a memory any of them want to relive. They know I don’t either.”
“You’re going to have to tell them, eventually.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t… Not exactly anyway, but, you don’t look your age… there are other clues.”
“Care to take a guess?”
“Fourteen?”
“Fifteen.”
I nod against him. “It would have killed you before puberty. I imagine it was harder than the others’ too.”
I reach up and pull his face down to mine. “I’m sorry. But I’m happy you found them… and I’m happy I found all of you.”