Chapter 15
L ily noticed a delicious soreness to her core as she bent across one of her corner display tables to add more candles. The deep pinch brought sensations from the previous night to her mind. Which, in turn, brought heat to her cheeks and a sly smile to her face. The smile died a quick death, however, when she spun from the display and saw Madison standing at her front door.
The woman had yet to knock, but she sure as hell saw Lily look her way. She gave a silent gesture for Lily to open the door. With a sigh, Lily walked that way, dreading whatever snark might be on Madison's morning agenda given what happened the night before. Still, she was raised right, so she let the woman in out of the freezing cold morning.
Madison stomped her feet on the welcome mat inside the door as she shivered. "It's colder than a well-digger’s behind out there."
Lily made an affirmative noise but stood waiting in silence, letting Madison get to whatever she needed to say so early in the morning.
"How you doing today?" Madison asked, and Lily noticed her rubbing her hands together not for warmth now, but in a nervous jiggle.
"It's early, Madison, and I still need to get my prep work done before I open. Can I help you with something?"
Madison huffed out some air and looked Lily up and down. "Last night was...odd." Lily snorted a laugh, and Madison powered through. "Yeah. Odd. And after you and the big guy left, it got... odder."
"How so?"
Madison brushed a stray hair from her face and straightened, as if preparing herself. "I didn't start dating Ryan or anything, just so you know. Last night was the first time we went out."
"Okay..."
"Well, we flirted, okay? I knew the stories. Heard the warning you gave. I just--I didn't think I needed to worry, you know?"
That sounded more like the usual Madison so Lily nodded along.
"Anyway, after the Christmas Masquerade, he asked me out. He's cute. Has good money. He's from a good family. Why wouldn't I say yes?"
"Because I told you."
Another loud huff of air. "Yep. You sure did. I didn't listen."
"What happened, Madison?" Lily suddenly thought maybe something bad happened to Madison the night before, and the fear of it made her reach out for the other woman's hand. "Did he hurt you?"
"Oh, no. No. Nothing like that. Scared the shit out of me, sure, but he didn't lay hands to me or anything. He got all fired up after the confrontation y'all had at Hickory. Talked about nothing else the whole night and kept calling that goodlooking guy you were with dangerous." Lily swallowed a lump in her throat at that little tidbit, but bit her tongue so she could get the full story. "We had drinks, dinner. The whole time, he talked about nothing but you. How he needed to save you."
"That sounds annoying," Lily said, trying to empathize, but Madison stopped her with a hand.
"Sure as hell was, but that's not the half of it, Lily. He rushed us through eating and got me back to his car. From there he drove us not to my house, but to yours."
"What?" Lily whispered.
"Yeah. It was jacked." Madison shook her head at the memory, but kept going. "I called him on it, said he was behaving like a stalker or something, but he acted like I wasn't even there. Like he pushed out anything that wasn't about you. He parked up on the wide shoulder along O'Bryan's Curve then got out and tracked down to your place without his car. He came back after about twenty minutes looking fit to be tied, muttering again about you being in danger and drove back down to town like a maniac. I couldn't get out of his car fast enough when he dropped me off."
Madison gripped her hand tight and looked deep into her eyes. Lily saw the regret reflected there before she even spoke again. "I should’ve called you last night when he left me in the car by your place, but I don't know, I felt weird and stupid and scared of what he might do if he found out."
"Madison, don’t take that on your head. You can't control him, and you shouldn't try. Also smart to make yourself safe before you did anything else. The important thing is you came and told me first thing, and I appreciate that. No need to be down on yourself."
"No, there is lots of need. I've been too lost in my own selfishness and judgements for too long. Time for me to grow up and stop being the same mean girl who ran roughshod in Holly Hollow High. Last night shook me up a bit, had me up thinking through a lot of things."
"Madison, you've always been good–"
"For your business, yes. I'm good at my job and help people who pay me to do so, but I tend to be nasty in other ways. A lot like Ryan, actually, which is what made me start thinking hard on it."
"You were never as bad as Ryan," Lily tried to reassure, but the woman let her hands slip away and waved them in the air.
"I was stuck in a certain attitude and Ryan shook me loose from it. Can't say I'll change overnight, but I'll try. First thing first? This. Warning you to keep an eye on Ryan and let you know what he did. I for sure wouldn't want him skulking around my place in the dead of night."
"I sure do appreciate it, Madison. It's a good start, for you and for us." Lily offered her hand again, in a handshake. Madison stared at it a moment then took it, firm and quick, before giving a megawatt smile.
"Enough about the dirtbag Ryan. Now that we're friends and all, you wanna tell me about your new man?"
Lily barked out a laugh. "I'll hold off on that for now, Madison." She didn't add that she wouldn't be telling Madison any deep secrets anytime soon. The woman might be on a road to change, but Lily wasn't about to test drive on it.
"Fair enough. The way he looked at Ryan and took care of you last night, I'd say I'll be seeing more of him around anyway."
"Sure hope so," Lily muttered.
"Me, too." Madison whispered. When she caught Lily's gaze, she gave a firm nod. "I mean it, Lily. You need anything, let me know. You want to go to the law about Ryan, I'm happy to serve as a witness."
"You sure about that?"
A bit of the old Madison came through in the look that fell across her face. "That man deserves nothing less, and I'd like to help you give it to him."
Okay, then. Seemed definitive on her end. "In the meantime, you need anything–"
"I'm good," Madison waved her hand toward the door. "Need to get going, start my own workday."
"Again, thanks a lot, Madison."
Madison bundled herself back as tight as she could, and said her goodbyes as she swept back out the front door. Lily watched her walk down the street to her car. She'd gotten up early to tell Lily this, to warn her, and in the cold of winter in Holly Hollow. The woman walked the same, eating the sidewalk with each step, firm and sure of herself. Maybe she wanted to become a new Madison, and Lily hoped so. For Madison's sake.
She bit her lip, thinking on things. What Madison told her and Ryan's increased obsession. She needed to talk to Boreas about it more seriously, and soon. They needed a plan, and quick. She didn't want this ruining her Christmas when it now looked so bright in so many other ways.
Thinking on that, she slipped back on her coat, let herself out the front quickly and relocked it, before she shuffled to meet with Mitch down the block. She'd be opening a few minutes late, but it'd be worth it, come Christmas Day.
"A nd I said to him, I said, 'Now look here, Ralph. You're acting like you ain't got a lick of sense. We've been doing business this way for decades, ain't no reason to change it up now just because you saw some random video on the Facebooks."
Lily tried to hide her smile at Betty's rant. They both had a lull in business, and the older woman had taken the opportunity to come chat with her friend about her husband's "tomfoolery" as she called it. She gave Betty her ear, nodded, ohed and uh-huhed when necessary, and tamped down her laugh. The older woman huffed and puffed in anger, but Lily knew it was really more annoyance than anything else. Getting it out made her sweet as pie for her husband after they had their little disagreements. She was happy to lend the ear Betty needed.
The tinkle of her front doorbell sounded and Betty stopped her rant to look over her shoulder and see who entered. Lily didn't need to do so, because as soon as the first note struck, she also felt the soft stroke of wind and smelled the pine and cold scent she'd come to love.
"Oh, now, look at that," Betty said, and Lily figured she spoke about Boreas, who she watched enter the shop in long, sure strides. When she looked to her friend, however, Betty studied Lily's face, not the door. She cocked her head and Betty twirled a knobby finger a few inches from her nose. "That there is the look of someone plum smitten."
Lily couldn't deny being smitten with her godly mate, so she just chuckled and moved from around the counter to meet Boreas halfway. He bent down slightly to land a sweet kiss to the top of her head as he put his large, firm hands to her hips and gave them a gentle squeeze.
"Hi," he said, close to her face, his breath sweeping over her in a gentle breeze.
"Hi," she echoed, the smile she felt stretched across her face coming through loud in clear in her tone as well.
A throat cleared behind them and Boreas's icy eyes crinkled in amusement when Betty started. "Good to see you again, young man."
He stepped around but swung Lily's arm into his own so she came face to face with Betty at his side. "You as well, Mrs. Booth. How are you today?"
Betty waved her hand, "Fair to middling, I suppose. Would be better if my Ralph listened to me more. Or maybe looked like you. Not that he wasn’t a looker himself back in the day, mind. Age gets the best of us all."
Lily giggled but slapped her hand over her mouth to rein it in. Boreas shifted on his feet, as if Betty's words made the god uncomfortable. Or maybe the intense gaze she swept over him had him twitching.
"You sticking around then?" She asked as Lily tugged his arm and they moved from the center of the floor back toward the sales counter.
Boreas looked down at her a beat and said, without looking away, "Of course."
"Good." Betty clapped her hands and said, "You got plans for Christmas Day? Lily, and her brother when he's in town, usually come by mine for dinner. You're welcome to join."
"Oh, no, Betty, we don't want to impose,” Lily said.
"Psshht. Ain't no imposition. The more the merrier, they say, and we all want to have a Merry Christmas. Right?"
Boreas looked like a beast frozen by the sharp gaze of a predator, the way he wide-eyed Betty at her direct question. Lily decided to put him out of his misery. "We'll let you know, Betty. Okay?"
"Sure, sure. Don't wait too long, though. Gotta go pick up the ham from Edgar's Farm and want one big enough for everybody."
"Will do," Lily promised.
"Welp, seeing as it's about lunch, and this man seems to have something for you two, I'll leave you both to it. Try to go talk Ralph out of more foolishness." The older woman shuffled toward the door and Boreas laid down the brown paper sack in his hand before hurrying to open the door before she reached it.
"Why thank you, young man," Betty said, giving him a maternal pat on his arm as she left.
Before he could speak, Lily said, "Betty's a bit of a firecracker. Something you might need to get used to if you are sticking around."
In a flash, he popped up beside her, folding her into his warm arms and leaning in close. He didn't reply to her words. Instead, he brushed a stray strand of hair off her face and dove in for a quick, searing kiss she felt all the way down to her toes. She may have still been a little wobbly when he righted her and moved to unpack the sack he had with him.
Lily watched as he brought out fresh sandwiches from the deli down the street and two bags of chips. Only half-thinking, she asked, "Is it weird for you, not having your claws when you're in human disguise?"
"No. It is simply another form of me."
Lily reached over, taking his hand in hers and tracing the veins there. It looked an awful lot like his godly hand, but slightly smaller and without the clawed tips. She brought his finger to her mouth and gave it a kiss. "Well, I miss the claws. And the wings. They're so pretty."
Boreas didn't answer, and she looked up to find his ice-blue eyes blazing white. "Lily," he growled out and she felt heat pooling at his look and tone. He grabbed her up again, holding her tighter than before, and gave her a hungry, roving kiss that lasted a few minutes. Luckily, no one came through the front door as he used his lips on hers to tell her exactly what he wanted to do with her.
When he finally broke away, he set her bottom on her stool and pulled it closer to the corner of the counter, where he distributed the lunches. He stood beside where she sat and gently unwrapped his own sandwich as she continued to stare at hers in a daze.
"Eat," he said, firm command in his voice.
"You want me to eat, you shouldn't kiss me like that right before you set a sandwich in front of me," she quipped. However, she managed to shake herself out of her lust fog and start her food. "Thanks, by the way."
Boreas gave some masculine sound she took to mean a combination of "you're welcome" and "no big deal" and left it at that. She unwrapped what turned out to be a warm chicken panini. "Madison came by this morning before I opened."
He arched a perfect white brow in question as he took a bite of his sandwich.
"Madison and I have a complicated relationship. Well, more like Madison has a complicated relationship with a lot of people in this town. That may change, though, after what happened last night."
Boreas set his sandwich down and stared at her, waiting for more info. "Seems Ryan ranted a whole lot about you being dangerous. He drove her out to my house, left her in the car, and went snooping while we were home last night. Together." She didn't need to say what they were doing as they both likely remembered it vividly. Lily sure as heck knew she wouldn't look at her dining room table the same ever again.
"Thank you for telling me," he said, then went back to his sandwich. As if she hadn't just told him Ryan may have pulled a peeping Tom act on them last night.
"Boreas, he could've–" Seen him rip off his spell necklace. Seen them having sex on her kitchen table. Both not things she’d want him to see.
Boreas stopped her worry spiral quickly. "No, he could not," he said around mouthful of panini. "I warded your home after I found the camera in your carport. He would not be able to see anything or get within ten feet of your house."
"You didn't think to tell me about that?"
"You did not ask."
"How'm I supposed to ask about magical stuff I don't even know is possible? Like, what even is a ward anyway?"
He wiped his mouth with a brown paper napkin and explained. "A ward is a simple spell, usually used to repel certain people or groups from a specific location."
"Okay. Straightforward enough. How'd you cast it?"
"I told you I can perform basic spells. Wards are basic spells."
"Okay. Still. Doesn't explain why you didn't tell me."
“I would have, Lily. It happened only two nights ago. A lot of other things have transpired since. I was not purposefully keeping it from you or magically monitoring you. I am not Ryan."
The itch Lily'd felt along her skin at the mention of him doing something to her house eased. She hadn't even realized the issue, but he had. She had a bad taste left from Ryan's shenanigans. But, as he said, Boreas was not Ryan. She knew this. "Sorry," she muttered, looking down at her cooling sandwich.
A warm finger stroked her cheek, and she lifted her gaze to meet Boreas's. "You do not owe me an apology. Your history makes you hesitant about such things, which is reasonable. I should have told you as soon as I did it, but I have been distracted. For that, I apologize."
She grabbed his hand at her cheek and gave it another swift kiss as she held it. "You're nothing like him. I hope you know I know that."
He nodded and went back to eating. Lily decided to drop the conversation. They'd talk more if Ryan made a move against them again. Just then, she wanted to focus on tasty food, her luscious god, and teasing conversation that ended with them both hot and ready. Sadly, no afternoon delight occurred. Lily did agree to meet him on the gravel road close to his cave that evening. She assumed delight would be had then, which she could hardly wait to savor.