Suddenly Spellbound

by Erica Lucke Dean

  I licked my lips in anticipation. I longed to taste him, to feel him fall apart from my touch.

  “Turn around.” He gripped my shoulders with a grin, guiding me as I spun away from him to face the sofa. I waited with butterflies teeming in my stomach while he unfastened the hooks and let my bra fall to the floor. “Now, bend over, and grab on.” His tone was harsh and his demeanor abrupt, but his touch was gentle as he eased me forward until I was holding the back of the couch. Without further preamble, he dug his fingers into my hips and thrust into me from behind with a growl.

  I held on for dear life as he slammed in and out of me like a man possessed. I didn’t know what had come over him, but especially after the morning I’d had, I wasn’t complaining.

  Jack leaned in to brush his lips across my ear. “Touch yourself.”

  I hesitated for half a second before reaching between my legs to seek out my slick center. My earlier arousal had barely diminished, so it didn’t take long to bring me to the edge. Images of Liam forced their way out of my subconscious, and I fought to send them back to where they’d come from. I refused to fantasize about my father’s apprentice with Jack inside me.

  “That’s it,” Jack purred as he sank his teeth into my shoulder. “Faster.”

  My fingers swirled over my heated flesh, matching his rhythm stroke for stroke, until tingles sparked over my skin. My entire body screamed for release. I bit my tongue to keep Liam’s name from crossing my lips. “Oh, God,” I panted out the words as he shifted his hips, making me see stars again.

  “Come with me.” He shoved his hand into my hair, wrapping his fist around a clump and pulling me upright as I shattered around him.

  I twisted my head around to meet his lips in a searing kiss. My heart ached with how much I loved him, and tears filled my eyes as I considered how close I’d come to destroying everything we had, how close I came every time thoughts of Liam distracted me.

  “Hey…” Jack slipped out of me and captured my face in his hands. “Are you crying?”

  I turned the rest of the way around and laid my forehead against his. “I just love you so much.”

  “I love you too, sweetheart.” He brushed his lips to mine again before scooping me into his arms. “In fact, I’m going to take you to our bed and show you exactly how much.”

  The afternoon sun streamed through the slats in the blinds as I stretched my deliciously sore limbs. I rolled toward Jack’s side of the bed, reaching out for him, but my fingers came up empty. I heard him breathing, but his spot had gone cold. “Jack?”

  “Were you ever going to tell me?” He stood with his back against the doorframe, arms folded across his bare chest, unforgiving eyes trained on me.

  I sat bolt upright and untangled myself from the sheets, fear twisting my insides as I gaped at his icy expression. “Tell you?”

  “The truth.”

  Oh, God. I couldn’t begin to guess which of my secrets he’d uncovered. Before my father had come back, I’d had no trouble keeping to the straight and narrow, but since his return, it seemed as if I told one lie after another. I couldn’t keep them all straight. “I—I don’t know what you—”

  He slammed his fist into the wall, making the windows vibrate. “Damn it, Ivie! Stop lying to me.”

  “I’ve been doing magic?”

  “You’ve been doing magic? That’s all you’re going to say? I already know that. It’s written all over your hair. Why don’t we start with the most recent lies and work our way back?” He pushed away from the wall and stepped closer to the bed. “What really happened at the bridal shop today?”

  A flash of heat rippled over my skin, and my mouth went dry. I had to squeeze my hands into fists to keep them from shaking. The words tumbled past my lips, barely making a sound as I reluctantly confessed my sins. “Chloe made me try on every dress in the place. They plied us with champagne until I wasn’t thinking straight, and I-I turned the stylist into a poodle. But in my defense, she was a horrible person. And I did turn her back.”

  “And what about the fire?”

  I bit my lip. “I may have started that too. By accident. I don’t know exactly what happened. One minute, I was trying to conjure up a copy of the wedding gown, and the next, the sprinkler system had gone off.”

  “I see.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and fiddled with the buttons. “And when did Liam show up?”

  I sucked in a gulp of air. “Liam?”

  Jack shifted back on his heels, popping up an eyebrow.

  Flashes of Liam’s lips on mine clouded my thoughts, and my stomach clenched for an entirely different reason. “He, uh, just showed up after the sprinklers went off, while I was trying to change the stylist back.”

  Jack frowned down at me for a long moment, the wheels turning behind his eyes until I wanted to shout at him to get to the point. “Convenient.”

  I almost asked him how he knew, but since he still hadn’t addressed the worst of what happened, I wasn’t going to bring it up. Instead, I sent up a silent prayer to the gods that he’d never find out what really happened.

  As if he’d read my mind, his face twisted until I could almost feel his pain. “Was it worth it?”

  “What?” A twinge of something unfamiliar gripped my insides: an overwhelming sensation of dread. “Was what worth it?”

  “I got an interesting email while you were napping.” He tossed the phone onto the bed beside me. “It came with an eye-opening video attachment.”

  It took me a moment to recognize the sounds coming from the device. Is that my voice?

  “Liam, don’t. Please don’t look at me that way.”

  “What way?”

  “Th-that way. Like you want to eat me.”

  My blood ran cold as the reality of what I was hearing sank in. “Where did you—”

  Jack’s eyes flashed with fury, and I bit my tongue.

  “Maybe I do want to eat you. One. Bite. At a time.”

  “Pick it up,” Jack snapped before smoothing his features into an eerily calm smile. “You don’t want to miss the next part.”

  I reached out but stopped just short of grabbing the phone. I knew exactly what happened next and flushed at the memory. “Jack—”

  “Save it.” He snatched up his phone and held it out for me, but instead of looking at the screen, I watched his tortured face. “Make me understand, Ivie. Give me one good reason for what I’m seeing here.”

  “It…” I swallowed back a sob. “It wasn’t me. Not really. It was the spell. You know what happens when—”

  “Are you saying the magic made you do it?” He shook his head. “That’s a lousy excuse.”

  The sob broke free, and I clutched the sheets in my hands. “I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean—”

  “Don’t say you didn’t mean to do it. I’ve watched the video at least a dozen times. You kissed him.” He leaned down until his hot breath slapped me across the face. “You. Kissed. Him.”

  “I know.” I swiped at the tears running down my cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I told you magic was dangerous.” His jaw flexed like an elastic band stretched to the breaking point. “I begged you not to work spells.”

  I worked to get my breathing under control but failed. “I tried to stay away from it, but it’s… it’s part of who I am.”

  “Well, I can’t be around that part of you right now.” Jack grabbed a shirt from the floor and yanked it over his head.

  “Wait!” A jolt of adrenaline spiked through me, and I leapt off the bed. I reached for him, but he flinched away. He was leaving me. The reality of the situation sat like a block of ice in the pit of my stomach. “Where are you going?”

  “Anywhere but here.” Every drop of emotion drained from Jack’s eyes unti
l he seemed to stare right through me like I wasn’t even there. “And do me a favor. Don’t be here when I get back.”

  Chapter 11

  “I don’t know who sent him the video,” I whined into the phone as I navigated Chloe’s rented convertible through the congested midday traffic. An ancient yellow Cadillac, plastered with blue and red Atlanta Braves bumper stickers, cut across two lanes, nearly taking off my passenger-side mirror and making me miss my exit. Why did it have to be baseball season?

  “Well”—Chloe huffed—“I have a pretty good idea.”

  I let out an exaggerated sigh and took the next off-ramp, looping around until I came to a stop at the light. “You think it was Liam.”

  “Who else had a motive for sending Jack a YouTube video of you climbing Liam like a beanstalk? Hell, who else would have even known the footage existed? It’s not as if you made the twelve o’clock news. Not that flooding the most exclusive bridal salon in Atlanta isn’t newsworthy—that was truly epic. But really, Ivie, of all the embarrassing recordings that could have been made of you over the past year, this one doesn’t even rate. It must have been Liam, and he did it specifically so Jack would find out.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it.

  “And I’m sorry to come at you like this, but you only have yourself to blame. What the hell were you thinking, kissing the guy in a public place? While wearing a wedding gown, no less.”

  I winced. “I have no idea what I was thinking. It’s as if I’m in a trance whenever Liam’s around. At first, I thought it was just an innocent crush or something. I mean, he’s cute, but I don’t love Liam. I love Jack.”

  “I’ll admit it, the guy’s gorgeous. I’d probably do him, too.”

  “Chloe!” I frantically checked my mirrors as if the cars around me could hear what she was saying. “I didn’t do him.” Though the thought did cross my mind. More than once.

  A scruffy guy in a mud-covered red pickup pulled up beside me and blew me a kiss. Gross! The instant the light turned green, I gunned the engine and squealed tires as I pulled through the intersection, leaving my not-so-secret admirer far behind me. Was I suddenly giving off super pheromones?

  “Hey, I just meant I would have… if I was single.” She barked out a laugh then cleared her throat to cover it. “But I’m not, and neither are you. And let’s face it, as cute as he is, he’s not hot enough to send you into a tailspin at the mere sight of him.”

  Chloe’s words reverberated in my brain. She was right. It wasn’t only his looks that drew me to Liam. It was as if the guy was a high-powered tractor beam, drawing me into his personal space station. Maybe he was the one giving off super pheromones, not me. “Then there’s something wrong with me because, ever since that first day my dad introduced us at the lab, I haven’t been able to get him out of my head.”

  “Wait.” Several seconds ticked by before she finished her thought. “When you say the first time, do you mean before or after your dad blew up the lab?”

  “I don’t know. Why is that important?”

  “Just think about it. When your dad introduced you, did the guy make you weak in the knees, or did that happen after all the hocus pocus and broken glass?”

  “After? Maybe? I’m not sure.” I wracked my brain to remember the events leading up to my short stint in the slammer. The car behind me honked, and I realized I’d stopped moving. I jerked the car forward. “Yes, I think it was after.”

  Chloe’s breath came out in raspy puffs. “Do you know what this means?”

  “No, what does it mean?”

  “You really need to pay attention. I think your father did something to you during that spell. It’s like they roofied you or something.”

  “No…” I groaned.

  “Oh my God! Ivie, that’s it!”

  I let out a breath. “I’m telling you, my dad wouldn’t do—”

  “No! Listen. I’m not talking about drugs. I’m talking about magic. Can’t you see? They put a spell on you.” Her voice climbed an octave, excitement oozing from her every word. “You said the guy keeps showing up at the most inopportune moments. And you can’t stop thinking about him. And you’re drawn to him like a swan to a vampire. There’s really no other explanation.”

  “But that’s my dad you’re talking about. He wouldn’t do something like that to me.”

  “Sweetie, your dad was a house pet for twelve years. There’s no telling what he might do.” I could practically hear the gears turning in her brain. “You need to tell Jack.”

  Jack. My eyes welled up with tears. “Why? He basically dumped me for kissing Liam.”

  “True, but that was before we found out about the spell.”

  “Alleged spell. I still can’t believe my father would use dark magic on me.” Would he? This was the same man who’d read me bedtime stories and tucked me in at night until I was twelve.

  “Didn’t your mom tell you he was acting strange? Well, maybe this is why.”

  “I don’t know.” I pulled up in front of Chloe’s three-story brick townhouse and cut the engine.

  She waved from where she waited for me on the front steps. I could see her mouth moving as she spoke into her phone. “Ivie, if you won’t tell Jack, I will.”

  “Chloe, please don’t. Give it a few days. I haven’t even talked to my dad yet.” Once we were close enough for me to hear my voice in stereo, I ended the call.

  “Oh, look. My line’s finally free.” She punched Jack’s number into her cell then switched the call to speaker.

  I followed her through the front door, waiting with a lump in my throat for Jack to pick up.

  “What is it, Chloe?” His brusque tone sent shivers down my spine. Any thoughts of him forgiving me evaporated like a water droplet on a hot skillet.

  She glared at Jack’s smiling face on the caller ID display. “Well, it’s nice to talk to you, too, Houdini.”

  “What do you want? Just cut to the chase.” His voice cracked, and I could almost see him tugging on his hair.

  Chloe rolled her eyes. “I’m calling about Ivie.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” He blew out a breath. “I don’t want to talk about her right now.”

  I paced around Chloe’s House Beautiful-worthy living room with my stomach twisting into knots. I snatched a silk throw pillow from her white linen sofa and was tempted to use it to knock the phone from her hand. I knew Jack was angry, but I wasn’t prepared to hear him sound so ambivalent.

  “Fine, then just listen.” Chloe perched like a dainty little bird on the arm of the sofa. “Whatever’s been happening between Ivie and Liam isn’t her fault. We’re fairly certain her father put some sort of spell on her.”

  A burst of hollow laughter came through the speaker. “Oh, really, more blame shifting? Well, I guess it all comes down to the magic factor, doesn’t it?”

  “I’m serious, Jack.” Chloe’s cheeks flamed. “I don’t think she has any control over what’s happening.”

  “Come on, Chloe. We all know Ivie can’t control her urges when she’s doing magic. But that hasn’t exactly stopped her, has it?” Venom dripped from his voice, and the sound broke my heart.

  “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying.” She exhaled then flashed me a sad smile.

  “Oh, I understand perfectly. Ivie knows what happens when she does magic, but she still can’t seem to resist the draw.” He growled through the line. “She’s like an addict.”

  Chloe winced. “Come on, Jack. Don’t you think it’s odd that Liam always seems to be around when she’s doing magic? It’s not as if she calls him. He just seems to materialize at the perfect moment.”

  “I don’t know what to think anymore. In fact, I don’t want to think about it at all. I’m sorry, Chloe. I know she’s your friend, but I need s
ome time to process everything.”

  “Jack, wait!” Chloe yelled, but it was too late. The line went dead. Just like my relationship.

  After riding to Jack’s house with Chloe to retrieve my car and every other worldly possession I owned, I cranked up the romantic playlist Jack had created for me on my iPhone, flopped down on her guest bed to stare at the ceiling, and broke down in tears.

  Chloe burst through the door with a bottle of Fireball and two matching floral teacups. “Okay, I’ve had just about enough of you feeling sorry for yourself. You’re a grown-ass witch, for crap sake. Now drag your carcass out of this bed and deal with your troubles like an adult.” She poured a cupful of the cinnamon whisky and shoved it into my hand.

  “I’ve decided being an adult is overrated.” I threw back my drink with a shudder, letting the burn warm me all the way down, then fell into the fluffy duvet to search for cracks in her perfect ceiling again.

  She refilled my cup. “A few more of these and you won’t even remember Houdini’s name.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to forget his name. Maybe I don’t want to forget a single moment I spent with him. I miss him so much.” I watched her in my peripheral vision.

  Chloe poured herself a shot and tossed it back. “Don’t worry. The memory loss is temporary, but trust me, well worth it.”

  “Maybe Jack was right. Magic is a curse.”

  “Don’t listen to him.” She scoffed. “Magic is part of your heritage, and as much as you might want to pretend you’re just a normal twenty-something, unemployed schoolteacher, you’re not.”

  “Gee, thanks for reminding me.” I held out my cup, and she refilled it.

  Chloe giggled, clinking her cup to mine before bringing it to her lips. “Don’t mention it. Now, drink up!”

  Half a bottle later, we lay facing each other on the pink duvet with the smell of cinnamon heavy in the air around us. “I feel better already,” I slurred. My tongue felt like a wad of bubble gum in my mouth—a wad of spice-flavored bubble gum.