by T. M. Cromer
“Good, let’s get the hell out of Dodge before Lin and his buddies return.”
They’d cleared the doorway as he finished his sentence. As if Keaton had conjured him, Lin appeared, gun in hand.
“I thought if I imprisoned one of your own, you’d show up, Thorne.”
“Well, I do hate to disappoint,” Alastair drawled. He shifted to stand in front of Autumn and reached a hand back to her.
Keaton felt Autumn grip his hand, and from the corner of his eye saw her slip hers into her uncle’s.
“I swore if you ever returned, I would kill you.”
“You always were so bloodthirsty, Lin. And here I thought we were pals.”
“Hand me the Chintamani Stone, and I will make it quick.”
Alastair gave a careless shrug. “That’s just the thing, my old friend. I don’t have it. Seems neither do you, huh? On that note…”
With a snap of the fingers of his free hand, Alastair transported them all to the Thorne estate.
Keaton almost fell to his knees in gratitude. If it wouldn’t have looked uncool, he’d have kissed the ground. Instead, he hauled Autumn into his embrace.
“I never thought I’d see you again,” she cried.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily, babe.”
“No thanks, necessary,” Alastair inserted dryly.
Autumn drew back and faced her uncle.
Keaton didn’t know what to expect, but Autumn flinging herself into Alastair’s embrace wasn’t quite it.
“Thank you, Uncle.”
The older man closed his eyes and held her tight. “You’re welcome, child.” He pulled back and smoothed a hand down her hair. With his chin, he nodded to Keaton. “Teach this one how to survive, huh?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll be in touch soon. We need to discuss the necklace your boyfriend lifted.”
“He didn’t…” She faced Keaton. “Did you?”
Keaton grinned and opened the collar of his shirt.
Alastair’s laughter echoed around them. “Like I said, I’ll be in touch.”
Chapter 16
“I can’t seem to get the smell of death out of my nose,” Autumn complained a short while later. She’d taken a long, hot shower and scrubbed herself from head to toe—twice.
Keaton had been sprawled out on the living room couch. He sat up as she crossed the room. “I know. I’ve rinsed out the inside of each nostril twice and sniffed a can of coffee grounds in hopes of neutralizing the smell.”
Her shudder wasn’t fake.
He rose and opened his arms. “Come here, babe.”
Because she needed the comfort, Autumn allowed him to cuddle her close.
“Are you truly okay?” he asked softly as he rubbed his cheek against the crown of her head.
“I think so.” She swallowed hard in an effort not to cry. “I feel like such a wimp.”
He drew back a few inches to meet her tearful gaze. “Are you kidding me? You were a fucking warrior! Not only did you fight like a woman possessed, you withstood God knows how many hours in that pit of hell.”
“Goddess,” she murmured the correction.
“Yeah, that term is taking me time to come to grips with. Old habits die hard and all.” He scooped her up into his arms and sank down on the seat cushion. “I was terrified for you. Then when I saw you in that cell, chained like that…” He shook his head and swallowed audibly.
“I know.”
“I’m not sure you do,” he said, squeezing her harder.
“I do,” she insisted. “When you were knocked out, I went a little insane. Lin said they intended to throw you out in the blizzard. All I could think was that you had no way to protect yourself from the elements and that you’d freeze.”
“I froze my balls off. But luckily enough, Alastair showed up.”
“Well, as long as it was only your balls that froze off, I guess that’s okay,” she said with a slight smile.
“Don’t talk about my boys like that. If they hear you, they will shrivel to nothing in memory of the bitter cold.”
She laughed and rested her head against his chest. A few moments passed in comfortable silence before she spoke. “Thank you for coming back for me.”
“Always.”
Tears burned the back of her lids. “Lin was going to reenact the Salem witch trials.”
His arms jerked then tightened. “Good Christ!”
“Keaton?”
“Mmm?”
She took a deep breath and charged forward with her request. “Will you stay with me tonight?” The tension lining his body could be felt under her hand. Misgivings assailed her, and she backtracked. “You don’t have to. I just… it’s just… never mind.”
“I can’t.”
Her heart spasmed, and she imagined she heard the crack as it broke again. “Yeah, that’s okay—”
“No, I mean I can’t stay with you and not want something more, Autumn.”
She shrugged. “Sex is good. I’m okay with sex.” Gah! She sounded like an idiot.
“That’s good to know.” Amusement deepened his voice. “But what I meant was that I love you, and I want to start over again.”
This time, she was the one who froze. Was she ready to go there a second time? While it hurt her heart to have her invitation rejected, she hadn’t planned what to do after the one night.
“Babe?”
She remained quiet as she gathered her scattered thoughts.
The large hand rubbing her back stopped, and she felt Keaton’s withdrawal like it was a living thing.
“I’m scared,” she finally admitted.
“Me, too.”
Any response she would’ve made was cut off by the arrival of her sisters and Coop. Instinctively, she tugged Keaton’s collar closed to hide the amulet with the Chintamani Stone. Her eyes lifted to his, but he didn’t voice the question in his eyes.
“You’re back!” Summer cried happily. Her sister was two steps into the room when she realized the wrongness of the energy. “What happened? Why do you look like you both went ten rounds in an MMA ring? Should I call Aunt GiGi?”
Autumn held up a hand as she climbed from Keaton’s lap. “One question at a time, okay?”
“Don’t keep us in suspense, sister,” Winnie said as she graced Autumn with a hug.
Spring and Summer embraced her in turn, each careful to avoid squeezing too hard in deference to her battered body.
Keaton spoke up, giving a play-by-play account of their time in the Himalayas.
“I’ve never heard of shackles to make a witch powerless,” Summer said after he’d finished. “Do you remember what the runes looked like? Could you draw a few? Maybe we can figure out what to do if we encounter them again.”
Autumn shrugged. “I could try. But the main thing I’d like to know is why Zhu Lin hates our family. Something to do with Alastair, I’m sure.”
“I’ve never even heard the name before today,” Winnie said. She shared a glance with her other sisters who shook their heads to indicate they hadn’t either.
“Well, someone knows about him,” Coop said grimly. “I intend to find out.”
“He knew who and what I was. It makes me think he’s been keeping tabs on our family,” Autumn said. “He’s not a man to cross.”
“We’ll figure it out. Perhaps Dad has answers.” Spring rose gracefully to her feet. “In the meantime, I’ll whip up a batch of Aunt GiGi’s health elixir for you and Keaton.”
“Ugh, no! Please! That stuff tastes like dirt,” Autumn complained.
“Health elixir?” Keaton asked as he shifted to place an arm around her waist.
Autumn smiled inside as all three of her sisters’ gazes bugged out due to Keaton’s gesture. “My aunt swears it cures what ails you.”
“If it takes away my body aches, I’m all for it,” Keaton said.
In all the confusion, she’d forgotten he’d taken a hard blow to the head. She twisted to face him and
ran her hands through his hair, examining his scalp. “How’s the head?”
“Fine. Alastair took care of it right after he showed up.”
“That makes me feel somewhat better. He’s nothing if not thorough.”
Keaton gathered her hands in his and kissed her knuckles. “I’m fine, babe. Promise.”
She took him at his word and faced her sisters. “I’m exhausted. Neither of us has really slept in nearly thirty-six hours. Can any other questions wait until after we get some rest?”
“Of course.” Winnie urged her to head upstairs. “You can take my room if you’d like. I’ll bring up a glass of Aunt GiGi’s medicine.”
“Thanks, but I can conjure new sheets for my old bed. It will only take a second, and I don’t want to run you out of your room,” Autumn told her tiredly. She cast one last glance at Keaton and headed toward the stairs.
“I need sleep, too,” she heard Keaton say. “Good night.”
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, his arms came around her. “I thought you wanted me to stay?” he asked for her ears alone.
“I do. But I can’t make promises about the future.”
He studied her for a moment then nodded slowly. “Then let me hold you tonight and chase away your demons.”
Because gratefulness stole her voice, she simply nodded and clasped his hand. Together, they climbed the stairs toward her old room.
Autumn fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow. But as tired as he was, sleep eluded Keaton. After what felt like a lifetime of want, he finally had the love of his life in his arms again, and he didn’t care to waste a minute of it sleeping.
The soft knock on the door didn’t disturb Autumn, and for that, Keaton was grateful. She’d been through a trauma and needed the rest.
“Come in,” he called out softly.
The door inched open, and Winnie peeked her head in. “I’ve brought you the drink,” she whispered as she set it on the nightstand.
“Thanks,” he whispered in return.
“I’ve only seen her like this one other time. How bad was it really?”
“Pretty fucking horrible. They practically entombed her in the dungeon.” He smoothed back Autumn’s thick hair and caressed the shell of her ear. “She tried to be so brave, Winnie.” He raised tortured eyes. “There were dead bodies and rats. I was only in there a few minutes, and I can’t seem to get the smell out of my nose or the horror out of my mind. She was there for hours.”
Tears welled in Winnie’s eyes, and she placed a hand over her lips.
“They intended to burn her for being a witch,” he growled in remembered anger. “If I ever get Lin alone, I’ll kill him.”
Winnie’s soft hand touched his shoulder. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
As she started to leave, he called out. “The other time? When was that?”
Her pale-blue eyes clouded, and she grimaced. “The day you broke up with her.” She stared at her sleeping sister and brushed away a tear that had fallen. “She loved you with every fiber of her being, Keaton. About a week after she found you and Diane, she showed up here a virtual shell of her former self. I don’t know that my sister has ever fully come back to us.” Winnie focused her attention on him. “She acts tough, and for the most part she is, but I think you still have the power to destroy her. Please don’t.”
“I’ve never stopped loving her, Winnie. Not for one second of one day,” he confessed, and even to his own ears his voice sounded rough. “Sure, I was angry and felt betrayed by her confession and by the spell she cast, but there was never a time I didn’t love her.”
“You had a funny way of showing it.”
“I was a dumbass and didn’t appreciate the gift the Goddess had given me. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“See that you don’t,” she said sternly. “Drink the potion. You’ll feel better soon.”
“I’m always a little leery of eating or drinking anything from any of you,” he confessed with an apologetic smile.
Wicked amusement brightened her eyes, and a grin tugged at her lips. While her coloring was different from her sister, Winnie never resembled Autumn more than in that moment. “I’d find a much more creative ending for you, my friend.”
“You women are scary. Anyone ever told you that?”
Her light, musical laughter followed her from the room.
He chuckled and reached for the drink then grimaced at the taste.
“I told you it tasted like dirt,” Autumn said from her side of the bed.
“You did,” he agreed with a smile. “I thought you were sleeping.”
“I was but…” She shrugged. “I’m finding it difficult to get the image of that cell out of my head—even in sleep.”
“What can I do?”
“You’re doing it,” she assured him. “I don’t want to be alone.”
“I’ll stay as long as you need me to.” He rested his head on the pillow and traced the outline of her face. “How much did you hear?”
“All of it. My sister has a big mouth.”
“Don’t be cross with her. She has your best interests at heart.”
Autumn gave him a sardonic half-smile. “It’s the only reason I’m not turning her into a frog.”
“Can you do that? I mean, is it something a witch or warlock can actually do?”
She laughed and leaned forward to drop a kiss on his lips. “You’re so cute.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“If you ever come across that particular spell in your family’s grimoire, be sure to let me know.”
“Don’t think I’m not going to look for it. If only to know how to turn myself back into a human,” he joked.
All humor left her, and she searched his face. For what, he didn’t know. “I love you, too, Keaton. I don’t know that I ever stopped.”
His heart slowed before it kicked into overdrive. “Why are you telling me this now? Especially after you said you weren’t sure about rekindling what we had?”
“I don’t want to rekindle what we had.”
And just like that, his heart plummeted to his stomach. He rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling. How many times did she have to slam it home that she didn’t want him? He was a fool.
“Keaton, look at me.”
He dragged his gaze back to her face.
“I don’t want to rekindle what we had. I want to start fresh. With you.”
A frown pulled at his brow. He wasn’t sure whether he was hearing what he wanted to or not. “You want to start a new relationship with me? Forget the past?”
She nodded and offered a tremulous smile. “I do.”
“Yes. A million times, yes!”
Her beaming smile propelled him forward and over top of her. She fell back with a laugh and raised her head to meet him halfway for their shared kiss.
He tugged her t-shirt over her head and sighed his pleasure. It had been a long while since he’d seen her beautiful creamy breasts. The sight of the pebbled nipples delighted him.
“I missed you, ladies.”
She laughed and shimmied out of her pajama shorts.
After Autumn was completely naked, Keaton took his time studying and touching all the places he’d dreamed about. He trailed the tips of his fingers along her collarbone, ran them over the smooth curve of her breast. Leaning down, he licked the tight bud and blew softly before fastening onto the tip and suckling her.
Autumn’s deep moan of pleasure spurred Keaton on. He became more aggressive in his sucking and scraped his teeth along her sensitive skin. She rewarded him with another throaty groan as she dug her fingers into the back of his skull to hold him close.
Without warning, she rolled, reversing their positions and putting herself on top.
Keaton reached up to cup her. He kneaded the fullness even as he jackknifed into a sitting position to capture her lips with his. He felt her shift to completely straddle his hips. When she rubbed her slick core against
his straining erection, he released a low gasp.
“Oh, babe,” he groaned. “You don’t know what you do to me.”
“I have some idea,” she purred as she guided his fingers to her wetness.
Having her take control by using his hand to pleasure herself was sexy as hell. Keaton curled his fingers into her and inserted his middle digit into her hot, sleek opening. He slowly pumped in and out as he continued to taste the various areas of her silky skin. The hollow of her throat was a particular favorite of his.
As Autumn’s breathing hitched, Keaton drew back to watch her reaction to his caresses. Their eyes connected. Hers blazed with need.
With his thumb, he flicked the nub of her clit. Her eyes widened, then narrowed with intent. This time when she rolled, he was prepared. He held her arms straight out from her sides. Flat on her back, legs sprawled wide, she resembled a sacrifice. His sacrifice.
He grinned with delight and dropped slow, lingering kisses along the slight curve of her belly. When he reached her mound, he shot her a wink and dove in to taste her. With a desperate cry, she lifted her hips to meet his mouth.
“Yes!” she moaned. “Goddess, yes!”
Keaton toyed with her, working her into a state of incoherent need. But before he could bury himself into her warmth, she disappeared.
“What the fuck?”
Laughter sounded behind him, and he twisted around. There she stood, in all her naked glory, naughtiness dancing in her bright golden eyes.
“Your turn,” she said huskily. “Flat on your back, big boy.”
His dick twitched with her throaty chuckle, and he quickly complied.
Inch by inch she crawled up his body and, with her fingertips, used magic to heat his skin. There was no pain, only a fire that burned within to match her power.
“What is that? Why do I feel…?” He had no words and shook his head in frustration.
“Our magic is reaching out to connect. Amazing isn’t it?”
His blood pounded through his veins as the magic pulsed in his body, looking to connect with hers. He’d never experienced a more erotic moment than when she wrapped her palm around his cock and licked the tip.