Constant Cravings

by Tracey H. Kitts

  “This is beautiful,” I said, gesturing toward the tub. “Did it come with the house too?”

  “Yes. It’s what I call a wizard tub, because I’ve only known wizards to use them. To my knowledge there are only a handful of these in the world and each one is unique.”

  “How does it work?”

  He crouched beside the tub. “See all these quartz stones? Each has a different magical property. For example, everyone knows that rose quartz is used in love spells.”

  “They do?” I laughed at the look he gave me. “I’m kidding. Even I’ve heard that before.”

  “Well, if I was going to take a bath before performing any kind of love magic, I would do this.” He pressed one of the pink stones and it started to glow. “Actually, I’d press several different stones for a better effect. What I just did would activate the rose quartz only.”

  He pressed the stone again and it stopped glowing.

  “Why didn’t you press any when we got in before?” He stood up and stretched his back, making his muscles ripple and my mouth water.

  “That bath was for cleansing your aura. If you don’t select a particular type of stone, they all work automatically. I thought we might as well cover everything.” I knelt to admire the tub again. “How did you ever get a wizard to give up a place like this? Did he die or something?”

  He laughed. “No. He lived most of the time in Europe. He kept this place just in case he ever decided to visit the States. But he moved to the U.S. permanently a few years ago and managed to find another one of these in Florida.”

  “How do you know that?”

  His smile was devilish. “Because he tried to buy this place back and I wouldn’t sell.”

  “Is there anything special about your shower?”

  He looked thoughtful. “It’s got one of those nozzles that can massage your scalp.

  You know the ones with little pulses of water?” I laughed. “That’s not what I meant.”

  His shower was large and custom built out of river rock. Other than its aesthetic appeal, there was nothing special about it. While Liam adjusted the water, I tried to 49

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  remember some of the questions I wanted to ask him. And tried not to be nervous about meeting the wolf king.

  “That language you spoke before, what was it?”

  He stepped underneath the water and it was like time stood still. Maybe there was something in his fairy blood that made him so captivating to watch. There must be an explanation, because no one looked that good standing in the shower. I watched in fascination as his long white hair became saturated, clinging to his body. The water moved over his every curve like a pair of hands. His eyes looked darker when he turned to me, especially against the contrast of his pale skin.

  Water ran down his hair, beading in his long eyelashes. Considering the color of his hair and skin, I was surprised by how dark his lashes were. There was no hair anywhere on his body except his head, nothing to hinder the water’s trail over his collarbone, down his abs and past his sculpted thighs.

  I wanted to follow that trail with my tongue. I wanted to lick him, just to know what he tasted like.

  “It’s Faerie.”

  “What?” I was no longer paying attention to what he said. In fact, I’d forgotten asking a question.

  “The language of the Fair Folk. That’s what I was speaking before. It sounds a lot like Elvish. It’s sort of like Spanish and Italian. They sound alike on certain words, but are two different languages.” He looked at me and waved his hand in front of my face.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Is there something magical about your water, or you when you stand under it?” He looked like he’d just remembered something important. “Shit. I forgot about that.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds, his brows knit in concentration. “Is that better?”

  He still looked too good to be true, but I was no longer entranced by the sight of him.

  “Yes, that’s better. What just happened?”

  “My mother is a weather fairy. Her elements are water and lightning. They are my elements too. Whenever I’m near them, they enhance my…”

  “Sex appeal?”

  “Among other things.”

  “I bet you’re fun to find out in a storm.”

  “Oh you laugh now, but I’ve gotten tackled before. It isn’t something I can completely turn off.”

  “It didn’t affect me like this when you were in the tub.”

  “The bath wash toned it down, plus you spent most of the time looking away from me. I did that on purpose.”

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  “When you appeared in my shower before you were sexy, but not like this.” His smile told me how much he appreciated being called sexy. I made a mental note to tell him again sometime soon.

  “That’s because I knew you were summoning me and I blocked most of the effect, like I’ve just done.”

  I took a step toward him and ran my hand over his chest. “I can look at you easier now. Not that you haven’t always been easy on the eyes.” He smiled as he ran his hands up my arms. “You’re cold.” Liam pulled me underneath the water with him and held me close. I was still surprised at how natural it felt to be near him. It also surprised me how easily I’d begun to accept this new world his potion had revealed. When he mentioned weather fairies I found myself thinking back to the book he’d given me. Instead of saying that fairies weren’t real, I was trying to recall a picture of a weather fairy for a comparison to Liam’s appearance.

  “You don’t look like the sketches in that book of a weather fairy. Aren’t they supposed to look like water nymphs or have green hair or something?”

  “My grandmother is a winter fairy. I inherited my complexion from her.” Well I guess that explained why fairies were all different colors, like the ones I’d seen at The Spot café.

  He ran his fingers through my hair and tilted my face up toward him. “Your hair is really beautiful.”

  “Thanks. Like I said, it isn’t my natural color.” To be honest, I wasn’t sure what my natural color was anymore. When I was in high school it was brown. I’d been coloring my hair since I was eighteen and realized suddenly that it had been eight years since I’d seen my natural hair. I’d colored it black for years because I thought it brought out my dark eyes and went well with my fair complexion. Now it was such a dark shade of red, I think the technical description would be black cherry.

  “Would you like it to be?”

  “You can do that?”

  “No, but Nym can. Maybe you should let him help you get ready for tonight? It sounds like he’s dying to color your hair anyway.” I laughed. “The last time he touched my hair I started having visions of him naked with that she-wolf.”

  He leaned forward and kissed me softly. “Your shields should be stronger after last night.” He smiled again. “And after being with me this afternoon.” After a leisurely shower, I put back on my bra, panties and matching robe while Liam prepared breakfast. We called it breakfast, even though it was now the middle of the afternoon. The smell of fresh coffee greeted me as I walked into the kitchen to find him slicing fruit. He was wearing the long velvet robe once more, only this time he wore black silk pants underneath.

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  I took a deep breath, savoring the rich aroma that filled the room. “What kind of coffee is that?”

  “Vanilla bean with cinnamon.”

  I took another deep breath and sighed. “It smells amazing.” Speaking of amazing, I couldn’t take my eyes off Liam. I was anxious, not knowing what was in store for us. However, I couldn’t have asked for a more gorgeous distraction. The rustle of silk against velvet as he moved enticed me, conjuring many wicked thoughts.

  “I love flavor,” he said. “There’s so much pleasure to be had in simple things like the warmth of coffee with a swirl of cream.”

  He spoke of flavor like a lover.

>   “All magical beings have a preference for one particular taste or another. I love sweets.”

  I remembered the way Aurora liked her coffee bitter. She probably enjoyed things like black rope licorice and vinegar. Yuck.

  “This looks good.” I took a strawberry slice from the bowl he was filling with fruit.

  “Should I be worried about tonight? Because I am. I can barely think straight. We’re going into a club full of werewolves. Isn’t that dangerous?”

  “Of course not. You’ve got me.” He winked.

  “And we’re once again back to the question of what good is a fairy against werewolves.”

  He handed me a coffee cup. “Let’s hope you don’t have to find out.” Liam took a sip from his own cup and licked his lips as if savoring the flavor. I watched him do this again and my heart fluttered. Since when was drinking coffee so damn sexy?

  While I finished my coffee he called Nym to pick me up. “He should be here soon.

  He was already downtown and is ‘loving’ the idea of helping you get ready for tonight.” As he spoke Liam added an entire scoop of sugar to his cup.

  “Great. There’s no telling what I’ll end up looking like.” We waited for about an hour and while Liam drank coffee, I picked the strawberries out of the bowl of fruit.

  He put his cup in the sink, walked around behind me and bent down to kiss my cheek. “They’re here.”

  “They?”

  “He brought Aurora. They’re at the door.”

  “How do you know? I thought you said you weren’t psychic.”

  “I’m not. I can smell Nym’s cologne a mile away.” 52

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  He had barely stopped talking before the doorbell rang. As soon as he let Nym in the elf started complaining, “This place is always so hard to find.”

  “That’s why he brought me,” Aurora said.

  “And why I knew he would bring her,” Liam said, putting his arm around me.

  “Elves sometimes have trouble seeing through a barrier erected by a fairy,” Nym explained.

  I looked up at Liam and watched his grin widen. “Nym is almost magically blind,” he teased.

  This time Nym was wearing skin-tight jeans and a bright blue dress shirt underneath a long white coat. “I can take one look and see what you’ve been doing,” he drawled.

  Aurora looked embarrassed. “Yeah, so can I. So maybe I should go.” Nym slapped her arm playfully. “Don’t be ridiculous. We were invited.”

  “You were invited,” she corrected.

  “You are always welcome here,” Liam said.

  At the same time the elf replied, “Does it look like they want to have sex with me?” He shrugged out of his coat. “Anyway, I could find the place yesterday and today I couldn’t, so I got Aurora to help me.”

  “What kind of barrier do you have exactly?” I asked.

  “It blocks my house from sight. This two-story building used to be rented out as apartment space before it belonged to the wizard. He kept a barrier around it for so long that if I didn’t use one, people would notice. I keep the lower level for storage and live up here.”

  “He built on a really nice porch too,” Aurora added.

  “However, most people see a rundown old building when they look here and some see nothing at all,” Liam said.

  “You mean they see an empty lot?”

  “No. They just overlook it,” Nym supplied. “Like I kept doing.”

  “But you should have no trouble finding me again,” Liam said to me. “Not after what I’ve done.”

  Aurora apparently took his comment to have some sexually perverse meaning and began to choke on her chewing gum.

  Nym laughed as he patted her on the back.

  “And that is why I love taking you with me. You’re so easily ruffled. He’s obviously talking about lifting the veil, not lifting her—”

  “Enough, Nym,” I interrupted. Even though my tone was scolding I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “You don’t have to be such an ass.” 53

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  “Thanks,” the siren said, regaining her composure. “Since you can’t possibly get lost on your way back to Luna’s place, I’m going to work.” She checked her watch. “I may be late as it is.”

  Her blonde hair sparkled as she tossed it over one shoulder, flashed me a winning smile and left.

  Nym shrugged. “Guess she’d rather take a cab than get back in the car with me.”

  “Can you blame her?” Liam asked. “You tease that woman mercilessly.”

  “Because she’s a siren for fuck’s sake and she has no idea how to be seductive. It’s ridiculous. She won’t even let me give her lessons.” I laughed. “I think all Aurora needs to do is stop telling her dates she’s a siren.” Nym’s eyes widened. “She does that?”

  Liam put his hands on his hips as he turned to me. “Well, that’d scare the hell out of me. Especially if I didn’t know her well.”

  Nym waved off the shaman’s comment. “I’ll simply have to work with her. Let her get lonely enough and she’s bound to give in.”

  “You’re awful,” I teased.

  “And you’re going to freeze to death.” He handed me his long coat and directed his next comment toward Liam. “What were you thinking taking a woman out in her underwear in this weather? It’s butt-fucking cold outside.” We both laughed at the expression. The look Liam gave me let me know he was well accustomed to the elf’s vulgarity.

  “I wasn’t thinking about tomorrow at the time. Besides, all I was wearing was this robe.”

  At this the elf nearly choked while helping me into his coat. Liam pretended not to notice but I could see the barely contained amusement in his smile.

  “I’ve got some shoes you can borrow,” Liam said. “But they’ll be huge on you.”

  “Why don’t you just magic her back?” Nym asked.

  Liam walked toward the closet in the hall and we followed.

  “Because it isn’t good to do such things too often. There are side effects.”

  “Such as?” I asked.

  “Weakness, dizziness, loss of concentration, erectile dysfunction.”

  “Good grief.”

  “Sounds like shit I get in my email,” Nym said.

  “Don’t worry, you won’t really get erectile dysfunction even if you had a penis,” Liam said, handing me a pair of boots. “You have to do it several times to experience even mild side effects. Make that several times in a row. You should be fine.” 54

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  Chapter Seven

  I walked slowly down to the car to keep Liam’s big boots from falling off. Nym put his arm around me both for my warmth and his own. November was not normally this cold in Atlanta. According to the temperature gauge on Liam’s porch, it was twenty-two degrees. Not record-breaking, but cold as hell to be outside in a robe and underwear, even with Nym’s borrowed coat.

  “To think, this is the hottest part of the day,” Nym said through chattering teeth.

  The minute I saw his car, I smiled. It was an older model white Cadillac with glitter in the paint. I think the technical term is pearlescent. The seats were leopard print and the steering wheel had a fuzzy purple cover.

  “Looks like a pimp decorated it,” I said, laughing.

  Nym took the keys from his pocket and clicked a button to unlock the doors. Guess he’d had that feature installed, because older model Cadillacs didn’t have auto-lock doors. I should know, I owned one in high school.

  “Your pimpmobile awaits,” he said, opening my door.

  As soon as we got inside, Nym cranked up the heat. We both sat there for a few minutes with our hands in front of the vents, shivering. To my surprise, he handed me a blanket. By the way, it matched the seats.

  “You always keep a blanket handy?”

  He smiled. “Never know when you might need one. Besides, I don’t do well with cold.”

  The inside of his coat was lined with fur and I pulle
d it tight against my throat. As we pulled out onto the road I did a double take.

  Nym laughed. “Still haven’t gotten used to seeing everything, huh?”

  “Yeah,” I said. I tried not to gawk at the blue man jogging down the street. “How is it that you see everything? I thought Liam said you were magically blind.” He smirked before correcting me. “Almost magically blind. I only have trouble seeing things that are hidden by spells. The strange thing is I have no trouble at all detecting the presence of magic.”

  I turned on the seat toward him. “What do you mean? I’m so confused by all this crap it’s giving me a headache.”

  “Example,” he said, pointing toward a woman on the sidewalk. “Those tits are not real and they’re not silicone. They are magically enhanced. I can feel that, but I can’t see past the magic. She has great tits as far as I’m concerned.” 55

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  I looked at the woman in question. She was pretty, but very flat-chested. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Hell, I wished my breasts were smaller. However, according to Nym she’d been “enhanced”. I suppose I could see past the magic. That was a little bit awesome and creepy at the same time.

  “My great-grandmother was a witch. Did she see all this?” As I spoke I gestured toward a couple of pink-haired nymphs waiting for a bus. If I had to guess I’d say they were something to do with springtime. How did I know they were nymphs and not normal young women with pink hair? Body glitter doesn’t sparkle from the inside out.

  “I doubt it. There are people who use magic and people who are magic. Witches are usually the former.”

  While we were at a stoplight he took another look at me. I guess my confusion was pretty obvious.

  “I could feel Liam’s house was nearby,” he went on. “But I couldn’t see past the magical barrier. Most people overlook it entirely, which is why he gets such low property taxes in a relatively nice neighborhood. I’m sure people wonder who owns the old building or why they don’t tear it down. But before they can mention it to anyone, they forget they ever saw it.”

  I took a few minutes to digest this information. Since meeting Liam and his friends, I’d never felt so stupid. Normally I catch onto things pretty quickly. However, in my defense, this was a lot to absorb.