Spellbound
A Holiday & Heart Novella
Tracie Douglas
SPELLBOUND
Copyright © 2019 by Tracie Douglas
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cover Photo: Deposit Photos
Editor: Grace Brennan
Cover Design & Formatting: Dark Water Covers
Contents
Prologue
Meredith
Meredith
Meredith
Dimitri
Meredith
Meredith
Epilogue
Trick-or Treat Collaboration
More Books By Tracie
About Tracie Douglas
Trick or Treat
We have something sweet for you to devour this Halloween! These sexy heroes are about to put you under their spell...
But watch out for twists and turns, these new books will have you lusting for more!
TEN brand new stories full of...eye-candy! This holiday collection is just the right treat to get you in the mood for a sinful Hollow’s Eve.
Blurb
It started with one life changing kiss and it left me with a mystery to solve.
The man on the other side of that kiss was wearing a mask.
Every Halloween for the last three years he has appeared and rocked my world.
This year will be different.
I just hope my heart can handle the truth when I break the spell.
To Mayra,
Thank you for always believing in me and cheering me on. Remember, no matter the distance, you will always be with me. Love you chica!
Prologue
Meredith
Halloween, 2016
“Has Prince Charming arrived yet?” Allegra asks with a tipsy giggle. She takes another sip of Spellbound, an alcoholic concoction I created for our first Halloween party last year. I got the idea when I chose my costume for the party—a sexy witch. It ended up being a hit and became a new tradition for my favorite holiday. It also helped to have older friends willing to buy the booze, and hook a girl up with a new fake ID.
“No, not yet,” I murmur softly. Tyler, my new boyfriend, was supposed to be here by now. “I’m starting to lose my patience though.”
He’s late, like usual, I think to myself.
“It’s only been an hour,” she points out, trying to make me feel better. She’s right, but I can’t help feeling like a fool while I stand here by the punch bowl waiting for his ass. “You know, he could be here already, waiting for the right moment. Didn’t he want to surprise you with his costume?”
“Yeah, he did.” I release a frustrated sigh. Tyler did want to surprise me, but he should have been here by now. “I don’t understand. I set the alarm on his phone so he wouldn’t be late—and if he is here, why play a game?”
“Anticipation,” she singsongs with a giggle and turns to the room. “Maybe we can guess who he’s dressed as.”
Alli has always been the kind of person to look on the brighter side of things, she’s the perfect balance to my naturally pessimistic personality. I think it’s one of the reasons why we clicked so well the day her family moved into the house next door to mine, and why we’ve stayed friends all these years.
“What about that guy?” I ask, pointing to a giant black gorilla, making Alli giggle again.
“Maybe, I mean he has been trying to slip you the banana,” she laughs, taking another sip of her drink as she reminds me I haven’t done the ‘deed’ with Tyler yet.
“Please don’t remind me,” I whisper under my breath to her, and she rolls her eyes at me. It’s not that I’m opposed to it, but I haven’t had that feeling with him—the one where I can’t think of anything except ripping his clothes off and doing naughty things to him.
I mean, I’m attracted to him—he’s one of the hottest guys on campus—but when I kiss him, I feel nothing. I probably should’ve broken it off ages ago and moved on, but I keep hoping something will change. It doesn’t help I’m not good at situations like this, and to be honest, my experience with the opposite sex isn’t great.
I didn’t date in high school, the boys were too immature and I found myself wanting to slap most of them before they even opened their mouths.
Alli, on the other hand, had a new boyfriend every weekend. Through her I saw firsthand what dating a high school boy was be like. I never felt like I was missing out on something, even on the nights I felt like a third wheel. There were times Alli tried setting us up on a double-dates but nothing ever came of those moments, and eventually she stopped trying.
I’m not going to lie, there were moments I felt like there was something wrong with me, something broken, but no matter how hard I tried, dating wasn’t important to me.
After graduation, I decided things would be different for me in college. I was going to grab the bull by the proverbial horns and experience life around me. I thought I’d experience a sexual awakening of some kind, but I soon realized most college guys were the same as high school boys, and I didn’t want anything to do with them. I did try, though, and I dated a few guys.
I was bound and determined to lose my virginity freshman year. I had been dating a guy named Cam and one thing led to another, and it happened. It wasn’t everything I had hoped it would be, but it didn’t totally suck either. Cam tried his hardest to make sure it was good for me, but I think I was going through the motions just for the sake of it. The whole experience ended up being a big letdown. He was pretty pissed I ended it with him a few days later, but he got over it quickly enough with some girl down the hall from me.
After my night with Cam, I decided to wait for that feeling, but it’s been almost a year and there’s not been a guy to give me the feeling I know I should be having.
Including Tyler.
“I have no idea why you haven’t boned him yet, Mere—he’s fucking hot,” Alli says, pulling me back to the moment.
“You know why I haven’t.” I sigh, slightly annoyed, because she does know why I haven’t ‘boned’ Tyler.
“Seriously Mere, that bullshit about ‘that’ feeling again?”
“Is it so wrong to want to be attracted to someone in that way?”
“No, but—”
“Look, Tyler is a great looking guy, but when I kiss him—it’s like kissing my brother. Can you imagine kissing Dimitri?” I try to explain to her for the thousandth time. It’s hard for Alli to understand why I am the way I am, and as much as she gives me shit over it, she respects it.
“Fuck you, Mere, that’s disgusting,” she exclaims with a look of horror plastered to her face. Dimitri is her older brother. “Why the hell are you still with Tyler then?”
“Hope?”
“What’s there to hope for if kissing him is like kissing my brother?” She has a point, but she also knows I’m not good at walking away either. I shrug, unable to give her a straight answer because it’s something I’ve been wondering all night myself. “Ugh, and why did you have to bring Dimitri into this? Are you trying to ruin my night?”
I shrug, knowing full well Alli hates it when I bring up her brother. They have the weirdest love/hate relationship. They’re the first to stick up for one another but th
e competition between them is intense and often times downright cutthroat.
“Where is he this week?” I ask because I can’t help myself, plus it’s payback for drooling over my boyfriend. Of course, I’m referring to the jet set career he’s recently been hired for, because it seems like he’s in a new country every week.
Dimitri is five years older than Alli and I, but he’s also been the object of every dirty fantasy I’ve ever had since I started seeing the opposite sex in a different light. He’s tall, dark, and damn sexy. The girls flocked to him in school, and from what I’ve seen on social media, he’s got a new woman on his arm every chance he gets.
When we were all kids, he loved to torture me and did it so often. I spent a lot of time always aware of where he was. Until one day I wasn’t simply looking for him because I didn’t want to be teased mercilessly. I did it because I couldn’t breathe without knowing. It was the day I realized my feelings for him had developed into something totally new and different.
Something forbidden.
Because he’s totally off limits, and not just because Alli is my best friend. When the Markov’s moved in next door, our families merged and became one big family. Our mothers became inseparable. Our fathers spend as much time on their boats fishing as possible. Holidays, birthdays and vacations became something we all did together.
Thusly making my fantasy just a fantasy.
“I think Dubai this time,” she answers. “I don’t know, but Mama’s been going on and on about some woman he’s been seeing.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I reach for my own red solo cup and fill it with the drink special in the bowl, because the thought of him with some random goddess makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs with frustration.
My heart hammers away in my chest, and I try to ignore the jealousy churning in my belly.
Knock off Meredith, you have a boyfriend, I remind myself. But its no use—not when it comes to Dimitri.
I blink, trying to conjure some smart mouth reply to Alli, but she’s disappeared.
Suddenly, I feel an arm snake around my waist and a warm hard body presses against my back. My breath catches as the feeling of someone’s hot breath hits my neck and I nearly drop my drink.
What the fuck?
“Tyler?” I ask as I turn around to face the person behind me. But I can’t tell if it’s Tyler, because this person is wearing black mask and it covers half of his face. He’s also dressed in head to toe black. I try to step back, but his other arm reaches up and cups my face. He’s the same height and build as Tyler, but I can’t be sure. “Is that you, Tyler?”
He doesn’t answer, instead he pulls me in tighter. My stomach flutters and my senses are assaulted with his spicy cologne and the faint smell of soap on his skin. He smells like heaven and it takes everything in me to keep from burying my nose in his chest for a deep inhale.
Fuck, I groan inwardly, feeling a wave of heat travel through my body and making my toes curl.
“Did you change your cologne?” I ask and clench my thighs together as an unfamiliar pulse begins to thrum against my clit. Between his scent and my body’s reaction to him, I’m feeling dazed and warm all over.
Holy shit, I think as a fog settles around us while the world fades until there is nothing and no one in the room but us.
He leans down, and I lift up onto my toes, wanting to meet him halfway—something I’ve never felt the urge to do, and my body tingles with anticipation.
This is happening.
He’s going to kiss me.
The moment our lips touch, a pleasure bomb goes off inside of me. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. At least not of anything but him and his lips pressed against mine. He consumes everything about me.
I wrap my arms around his neck, trying to pull him closer, because even with our bodies already plastered against one another, it still isn’t close enough. I moan as he sucks my lower lip into his mouth and nips it gently with his teeth, telling me what he wants.
Surrender.
I want it too.
Desperately.
I open to him, and his tongue invades my mouth as he deepens the kiss. The taste of cinnamon explodes against my taste buds and I lean into him as my legs weaken from the shock. His kiss is everything I dreamed a good kiss should be—but it’s so much more. Our mouths are fused together as one and for the first time in my life, I have that feeling—the one I’ve been holding out for.
Finally, my heart sings, giving itself over to the moment.
But before I can truly give all of myself over to it, he suddenly stops and pulls back. His arms unwrap from my body, but his warm hands hold my arms to steady me in place. I force my eyes open, needing to see him. but his mask is still in place and his lips are in a tense line of control.
I open my mouth, but the words don’t come. I can tell in the way he’s holding his body, something isn’t right. I fumble, trying to find my way through the fog, but as I attempt words again, I notice Tyler walking towards us.
I feel the masked man’s hands drop away from my body and he turns away, walking directly out of the apartment. And he doesn’t look back.
I bring my fingers to my lips and swallow the sudden lump forming in my throat.
That wasn’t Tyler.
“Hey babe,” Tyler greets me with a large smile on his face—ironically enough, he’s dressed like a banana. I blink up at him as he starts to thrust his hips in a suggestive manner. “Want to peel back the layers and taste my banana?”
Holy shit.
That wasn’t Tyler.
I shake my head, unable to verbally respond to Tyler’s question because my throat is tight and my heart has yet to steady. I look around the room, searching for Alli as I feel the panic set in.
Oh my God, who the fuck did I just kiss?
Meredith
Present Day
“What do you mean you want to cancel the party?” Alli asks, plopping down onto the couch next to me. We’ve spent the weekend at home, helping our parents get ready for trick-or-treaters, and making our final list of items for the party. This year is going to be the biggest yet.
We graduated last year with our degrees, but since neither one of us were ready to enter the real world, we applied for the graduate programs in our selected fields. Thankfully, we were both accepted to them.
“I mean, don’t you?” I ask, looking down at the giant list of items we have to get before tomorrow. Like every year, booze and my special concoction is at the top of the list. “We still have a lot to do.”
“Hell no, I love this tradition. Besides, we’re kind of famous for this party.” She takes the list from my hand, and looks down at it, trying to figure out what is going on in my head. She senses something is going on with me—after all we’ve been best friends for nearly all our lives, and she knows me better than anyone. “What’s going on with you? You seem out of sorts.”
I take a breath, trying to figure out an excuse that doesn’t include me talking about the real reason behind wanting to cancel the party.
“Wait, this isn’t about your mysterious masked kisser, is it?” she exclaims, nailing the subject I’m trying to avoid on the head.
“What masked kisser?” a deep voice asks from behind us. My whole body tenses, recognizing it immediately. Dimitri. He’s home for the week to spend some time with his mother. I’d forgotten he was here when I popped over to talk to Alli about the party this morning.
“Meredith has a secret admirer—” Alli starts.
“Hardly,” I interject and shoot her a look telling her to shut her mouth and say no more, even though I know it’s not going to happen. Alli has a big mouth and no filter. Most of the time I love this quirk about her, but right now, the last thing I want is to hear how pathetic I sound again. “It’s not like that.”
“What would you call it then?” she asks with a smirk. I feel Dimitri step out from behind me, and I watch from the corner of my eye as his tall form crosses the
room and sits down in the lounge chair across from us.
His dark hair is disheveled like he’s been running his fingers through it again, and he’s replaced his work attire with a more casual look. A cream-colored pullover sweater and a pair of dark designer jeans. He leans back into the chair and narrows his gaze on me. For a moment I almost find myself lost in the dark chocolate of his eyes.
“I don’t know,” I sigh, feeling embarrassment creeping over my face. I don’t know what to call what has happened because I hardly know what to think about it. To be honest, the thought of cancelling the party leaves me with a funny feeling in my stomach, but so does the idea of standing there all night, wondering if he shows up. “But I wouldn’t call him a secret admirer. It’s one kiss, once a year—with nothing else to show for it. It’s not like I’m getting flowers and secret notes.”
“A once a year kiss?” he asks with a frown, and Alli launches into the whole story—telling him everything, and much to my horror, all about the vow I made after the first kiss.
After the mystery man walked out and I realized he wasn’t Tyler, I ended things right then and there with Tyler. I realized, with another man’s taste on my tongue, it was never going to be any different with him, and I was wasting both of our time trying to make it work. I couldn’t fake it anymore. Not after such a life changing kiss.
Dimitri takes it all in, and I cringe with each word Alli speaks. The whole situation sounds unreal, but it’s consumed me to the point of making me feel like a crazed loon this time of year.
“I don’t understand why you want to cancel the party,” he turns to me after Alli finished.
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