Cassie (The Coven's Grove Chronicles #3)

by Virginia Hunter

  “So sure of yourself, are you?” He reached over her head with one arm, as he had done several times already. But this time, when Cassie moved to block him, he ducked low, and yanked her shorts down.

  Cassie screamed like a little girl, as she tried to cover herself. “My landing strip’s showing, you sneaky jerk!”

  Caleb snagged the pocket out of her hand, laughing. “Sucka!”

  “I take it neither of you are church goers?” Brody said, as he came into the kitchen. He was studying some printouts, but froze in shock, as he caught sight of Cassie.

  Heat rushed to Cassie’s cheeks. She desperately tried to pull her shorts up and get behind Caleb at the same time. The soft material tangled around her legs as she did, causing her to crash to the floor in a half-naked heap. “Shit!”

  Caleb started wheezing he was laughing so hard. Brody snickered and then busted out, joining his friend.

  “Shut up!” she chastised, after getting her shorts over her hips. She wanted to be upset, but ended up laughing with them, once she got to her feet. It was a good feeling after experiencing so much trauma over the past week. “You guys are asses.”

  “I hope we look as good as yours!” Brody snarked.

  Cassie blushed again. “You two really know how to make a girl feel uncomfortable.”

  Caleb and Brody actually bumped fists.

  “Boys.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m in the most dangerous situation of my life, and I’m being helped by a couple of boys!” She snatched the papers out of Brody’s hand. “What did you find?”

  Brody composed himself, and then pointed to some of the images he’d printed. “Any of those look familiar?”

  Cassie scanned through the pictures, but none of them looked like the thing she’d seen. “Nope.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” Brody sighed. “I’m sure the references to the name originated from something authentic. But if none of those images are what you saw, then the likelihood that the information I found being helpful is slim. It’s just people making stuff up.”

  Cassie looked at the pages of text. A few lines referred to Carreau as the demon of heartlessness, and the breaker of men’s resolve. Well, that’s true, she thought. The rest were vague descriptions of how to banish the demon with holy water, crosses, and the equivalent of harsh language. Brody was right, this was useless. Despair began to sink in.

  “This is just the start Cas,” Caleb said. He rubbed her shoulder. “We’ll keep looking. We’ll find something that will help us.”

  She nodded, but couldn’t bring herself to believe him.

  “Well, I’m going to turn in guys,” Brody said. “I’ll be up early to make breakfast.” With that, he strolled off to his room.

  Cassie stared off at nothing, still unable to shake off her blues.

  “Hey,” Caleb said, pulling her close. “Brighten up. We’ll find a way out of this. We have to.”

  She snuggled close to him. “Why’s that?”

  “Because I’ve finally found what I’ve been looking for all my life.”

  “Must be nice,” Cassie replied. When he didn’t respond she looked up at him. His eyes were bright, and filled with life. She frowned. “What’d you find?”

  “You. Foolish woman.”

  Tears blurred Cassie’s vision, as the sudden rush of emotion overpowered her. He’d been what she was looking for too. She’d known it for a while now, but was afraid he didn’t feel the same. She squeezed him tight, careful not to break anything. “About time.”

  He chuckled, “I’m slow sometimes.” He kissed the top of her head. “Sorry.”

  “You’re lucky. I’m going to let you make it up to me.” Cassie reached down, and ripped off his other back pocket. She danced away from him, evading his attempts to grab her, and ran to the room she’d woken up in. Caleb scrambled after her, catching her just before she got to the bed.

  “You’re a quick little minx,” he breathed in her ear. Still holding her from behind, he kicked the door shut.

  “Only when I need to be.” She tried to turn around, but he held her in place.

  Caleb swept the hair away from her neck, and began kissing down to her shoulder. The tingle coming from his lips did its work on her. While his hands roamed under her shirt, and across her belly. He made his way to her breasts, squeezing and rubbing with smooth rhythm.

  She moaned as her nipples hardened. She reached back, and ran her hands along the front of Caleb’s pants. He was so aroused, she thought he might tear free of his jeans.

  His lips moved slowly up to her jawline, while one hand eased down the front of her boxer shorts. She spread her legs in anticipation and want. His fingers probed teasingly, until finally easing into her. She gasped, fighting the urge to cry out.

  He stroked deftly, bringing her to orgasm faster than she thought possible.

  She bit her lip, continuing to prevent herself from calling out. She tore the first few buttons off of Caleb’s jeans in her struggle to be silent. Caleb pulled her shorts down, and bent her over the bed. She arched her back, as the sound of his pants and shirt hit the floor. She rotated her hips, eager to feel him inside.

  Caleb didn’t disappoint when his hardness parted her.

  She cried out in ecstasy, not able to control herself this time. She grabbed two handfuls of bedding, as he plunged deeply into her. His pace was slow and long, gradually picking up in intensity with each stroke. Rough fingers dug into her hips, as his thrusts drove into her, and he cut loose with a ragged moan.

  “I’m coming!” she yelled. The building wave of her climax crashed over her in a flood. Her body shuddered, as Caleb continued hammering relentlessly through her orgasm. Her knees buckled, as she came for the second time.

  Caleb finally slowed, but maintained a steady rhythm.

  “You are such a bad boy,” Cassie breathed into the sheets.

  “I’m just getting started,” he panted, while massaging her ass and lower back.

  “Oh, I think it’s my turn to ride.” She reluctantly eased off of him, as she stood. She took hold of his shoulders, and threw him on the bed.

  Cassie crawled on top of him, taking hold of his thick shaft. The arrow-shaped head bulged from her touch. She straddled his hips, and lowered herself ever so gently. He slid in smoothly, and to the hilt. She gasped again from a sudden spasm in her core.

  “God, you’re so tight,” he moaned.

  Cassie leaned over, placing her hands on his muscled chest. “I’m so going to make you come,” she whispered, as she began to gyrate her hips.

  “Not before you do,” he breathed. His hands ran along her thighs, up her stomach, and settled on her breasts. He pinched and rubbed her nipples, while cupping the rest. A wicked grin crossed his face, as he thrust upward into her gyrating hips. There must have been steel pistons in place of his butt muscles because he took on a rabid pace that knocked her out of her rhythm. His hammering became so intense, all she could do was hang on, and brace herself for the tsunami of an orgasm that barreled toward her. Within seconds the wave was upon her, but this one was huge... like looking down from the Golden Gate Bridge before you jump, kind of huge. Her eyes fluttered, as she wobbled on the precipice of ecstasy, and then she fell. At a thousand miles an hour, she fell into her orgasm. Caleb was lucky she didn’t tear his arms off she came so hard. It was as if she’d released part of her soul.

  He suddenly called out, “I’m coming, oh God.”

  Cassie’s hips had resumed their gyration without her consciously knowing it, but at a much more ferocious pace.

  Caleb’s eyes rolled back, as his mouth sagged open, releasing a cry of bliss. He throbbed with release, his hips rigid from the strain.

  She continued to grind, until he was utterly spent. She lowered herself onto his quivering body, no longer possessing the strength to hold herself up. Her eyelids became so heavy that she couldn’t keep them open. Sleep descended in a rush, and of course, the dream followed.

  Again, Cas
sie found herself in the Garden of Eden, or at least, the closest thing she’d seen to it. The location was different, but the forest was the same, there was no doubt in her mind. The massive trees were a dead giveaway, but it was the energy pulsing in the air that told her where she was. It told her that she needed to be here. It whispered to her that this was home.

  She spun in a circle in the glade, the soft grass tickling her feet. She wore a sheer gown that flared out at the bottom as she turned. Cassie couldn’t help but giggle when she breathed in the warm scent of honeysuckle. Bees of various sizes hummed by, busy with their labors. Birds sang their love songs, and the breeze danced playfully throughout the heavy branches.

  A man was lying in the grass not too far off. Cassie made her way over to him, and found that it was Caleb. He was fast asleep, and quite naked. She nibbled her lip, as she admired his streamlined body, and more specifically, his manhood. The things he could do with it. Her core tightened from the memories. The fun times we will have, my lover, she thought. If we survive.

  She leaned down to wake him, but stopped. Upon closer inspection, the blades of grass that so lovingly caressed her feet, were piercing Caleb’s skin. Tiny bands of golden electricity traveled from the emerald blades up into his body. He didn’t appear to be in pain, but what was happening couldn’t be good. Cassie took hold of his wrist, and pulled.

  The grass did not yield.

  She spread her feet, and prepared to give it a good yank.

  “Stop,” a soft, but strong feminine voice commanded.

  Cassie froze, recognizing the voice. It was the woman that had given her warning from the previous Edenesque dream. She didn’t let go of Caleb, but slowly looked over her shoulder.

  The auburn haired beauty walked into the glade, carrying a blanket made of green leaves. She came to a halt on the other side of Caleb. “You could harm him if you interrupt the guardianship.” She offered one corner of the blanket to Cassie.

  She took hold of the blanket, and was surprised to find it as smooth as silk to the touch. “Guardianship? What’s that?”

  The two of them covered Caleb, and backed away. “A bonding. A special bonding between a witch and her guardian,” the woman said. She smiled down at Caleb. “You have chosen well.”

  “Chosen?” Cassie asked, perplexed. “I don’t understand any of this.” She gestured to the surrounding glade.

  “You will,” the woman answered. “Once you come to the grove.”

  “I’m here now, right?” Cassie replied. “Tell me now.”

  Reddish-brown curls bounced, as the woman chuckled. “No, dear. You must come here in the waking world.” Her expression sobered. “And do so quickly. Danger follows you.”

  “I know!”

  “Come to us.” The woman gently stroked Cassie’s cheek. “We can help.”

  “How?” Cassie pleaded. “How can you help me? How can I find you?” The dream began to fade. The glade was slipping away, no matter how hard Cassie tried to cling to it.

  “You’ll feel its pull,” the woman answered. “Don’t resist, just follow the call.”

  Cassie struggled desperately to stay within the dream, but the more she struggled, the farther and quicker she fell. “Your name!” she called. “What’s your name?”

  Just as the glade faded to complete darkness, the auburn haired woman’s voice whispered in Cassie’s ear, “Miranda.”

  Cassie awoke to Caleb’s hand gliding over her hip. She loved his touch, the energy in it made her feel alive. Actually, just being near him now made her giddy.

  The dream!

  She sat straight up, heedless of her nudity. She glared at Caleb. “Are you okay?!”

  Caleb flinched from her sudden intensity. “I...yeah.”

  She pulled the sheets down, and turned him over onto his stomach.

  “What are you doing?” Caleb laughed, as he tried to turn back over.

  “Stop,” Cassie commanded, as she scanned him. She ran her hands along his skin, forcing herself not to be distracted by the lovely tingling.

  Flawless. Not a mark or pin prick marred his well-muscled back. She quickly checked his nicely rounded backside and legs, as well.

  Nothing.

  “What am I? A horse or something?” he remarked, looking over his shoulder. “I need an inspection, huh?”

  It was just a dream, ya moron, she chided herself. “I don’t know. I just had a weird dream is all.” She laid back down, her head near his feet.

  Caleb rolled over. “You’re weird, you know that?”

  “You keep reminding me,” she replied.

  He laughed, “But amazing too. I’ve never had a night like last night.”

  “Me neither,” she admitted, letting the dream go for now. “That was some magic sex.”

  “You’ve definitely put me under your spell.”

  “I am a witch after all,” she teased. Despite her lightheartedness about the subject, she was beginning to think it was the truth, especially after the reoccurring dreams. It was either that, or she was going crazy.

  Caleb massaged her foot. “I’ve never noticed this before,” he said, his fingers finding her toe ring. The small band was actually three evenly spaced lines of silver that wrapped around her middle toe.

  “I’ve had it as long as I can remember,” Cassie replied, as she stretched. “Supposedly, it’s been in the family forever. My dad gave it to me.”

  He traced around her toes and the ring. “You don’t talk about your family much.”

  “Not much to say.”

  “Mind if I tell you what I know?”

  She eyed him suspiciously. He’d draped the sheets partially over his hips, but she could still see a hint of his thick shaft and rippling torso. Thoughts of their sexual exploits from last evening raced through her mind unbidden. She forced the dirty urges into the back of her mind for later use, and focused on the conversation at hand. “What do you know?”

  “I know your father died when you were twelve,” he said. “The report said something about a mugging?”

  Cassie remembered all too well. “The police called it a mugging gone wrong. He was stabbed to death. They took his wedding ring, but left all his money and credit cards in his wallet. The whole thing never made any sense to me.” She frowned. “It broke my mother. It broke our family.”

  “Sorry, I wouldn’t have brought that up, but considering the circumstances we currently find ourselves in, I have some suspicions about your past.”

  She propped up on her elbows. “Like what?”

  Caleb continued to look at her feet. “Did you know that your father had been in another marriage, before you were born?”

  His words hit her with more power than the Taser he’d used on her the first night they’d met. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  He looked up. “When I was doing some background work on you, before we met, I found a marriage annulment in your dad’s files.”

  “What the fuck?” She sat up. “I didn’t know that shit.”

  “You wouldn’t,” he replied. “Not unless you were really digging for it. The marriage was here in the United States, not Canada. If you weren’t looking for it specifically, it wouldn’t have shown up on a general internet search. But even if you had, you probably wouldn’t have found it.”

  “I didn’t know to look for something like that in the first place. Dad never said anything. Mom never said anything.” Cassie shook her head in disbelief. Why didn’t you tell me, Dad? “Are you sure you’ve got the right person?”

  “Yeah, positive.”

  She didn’t know what else to say. Not that a second marriage was an uncommon thing, but the fact that her father had made no mention of it whatsoever didn’t seem right.

  “You okay?”

  Cassie nodded. “I didn’t know Dad could keep a secret like that from me.” Her father had always been the never-miss-a-soccer-game kind of guy. Honest to a fault. Her mind churned on what Caleb had said, not stopping until a t
hought occurred to her. “Why are to telling me this?”

  He sighed, “I don’t think Diane Gallagher was your birth mother.”

  If the comment about her dad hadn’t knocked Cassie back on her heels, that one sure as hell did. “Are you crazy or something? Did your brain fall out when we were having sex last night?”

  Caleb held his hands up in surrender. “I could be way off here. It’s just the dates don’t add up.”

  “What dates?”

  “Your dad’s divorce, your birth, and his remarriage,” he continued. “It doesn’t add up, unless he was having an affair with Diane while still married to the other woman. But the way you described him, he didn’t seem the type.”

  Her jaw dropped. The only thing that would come out of her mouth was an incoherent babbling noise. The foundation of her childhood was crumbling once again.

  Caleb sat up and pulled her close. “Hey, I don’t know any of this for sure. I thought it might be a place to start looking for some answers. Maybe this other woman knows about your power, or the guys who are hunting you.”

  She sat there in his embrace, numb. “What is her name?”

  “Kianna Holland.” His hand stroked her hair, as he kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t feel right keeping it from you.”

  “It’s okay,” she lied, and patted his leg. “I’m glad you told me.”

  A soft knock came at the door. “Breakfast,” Brody called.

  Her stomach actually rumbled. Despite the shocking news of Caleb’s speculations, hunger had found its way into the forefront of her thoughts. In fact, now that the prospect of eating had been offered, she found herself to be famished. “We can talk about this later.”

  Caleb nodded, “Of course.”

  They rolled out of bed, got dressed, and went to the kitchen. Brody looked dressed for work in his long-sleeve plaid shirt and blue jeans. He was standing at the sink, finishing off a piece of toast with his coffee. “Hey, my favorite doomsayers have awakened.”

  Cassie and Caleb grunted, as they shuffled into the kitchen. She searched for the origin of all the lovely smells that permeated the room.