by E. M. Moore
What did I say to that? I bit my lip and turned away. We’d taken a city road out of town and were now headed into the country in a small sedan that Randy could barely fit into. I was kind of hoping we’d be taking his bike again, but he’d said we’d probably be tired by the time we got done and he’d rather not see us get in trouble with the bike. I had a sneaking suspicion it had more to do with the fact that he didn’t want to be that close to me. It probably would be awkward to have my legs wrapped around him after what he’d told me yesterday.
Randy pulled off the road into a small clearing. Tiny stones flew up as we ground to a stop. In front of us, a trail headed up over an embankment and disappeared.
“Where are we?”
“We’re headed into a clearing I know. It’s out of the way and we won’t have to worry about anyone coming across what we’re trying to do.”
“So, we need a wide open space for this?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, tucking his body so he could get his legs out of the car. Watching him unfurl himself was like watching a giant stand up from a kiddie pool. He motioned for me to head toward the trail, so we did so. I walked in front of him up the embankment, but once we got to the top, there was enough room so we could walk side-by-side. After a short walk, we got to a huge clearing. The grass was still matted down from the winter and it was surrounded on all sides by trees, trees, and more trees.
“Wow.”
“I know. You’d never know this was here. We’ve been training up here for years and have never come across anyone else.”
I swallowed, imagining the four—or five of them, I guessed—here training for their Enforcer jobs. “Was Jax any good?”
“What?” Randy said sharply. When I blanched, the corners of his mouth turned down. “Sorry. We don’t talk about him much anymore, but yes, Jax was good. As good as Travis.”
“Travis is good?”
Randy chuckled. “Probably the best.”
“Wait. We are talking about the same Travis, right? The one who can’t stand the sight of me?”
“He’ll get over it.”
“So you guys keep saying.”
“Travis and Jax were best friends. It killed him to do what he had to do, and then with Jennie…”
“His sister, right?”
Randy nodded. “He was only supposed to take one of Jennie’s abilities, but the power he wanted to take was attached to everything she had. So, when he pulled that one out, he ended up stripping her, too.”
I gasped. All of her powers. Everything. I hated to feel bad for Travis, but hell, he’d devastated his sister and I was sure he wasn’t immune to that. “How awful.”
“It was.”
The hairs on my arms stood on end as we walked further into the clearing. When we were somewhat in the center, Randy turned toward me, “Okay, I want to start with just a basic defensive spell. So, if someone were trying to blast you with some negative energy, you’d need to block it.”
“Liam said something similar, but I’ve never had to do anything like this before. We don’t do negative stuff in voodoo.”
Randy’s eyebrows crinkled. “I thought voodoo was all negative.”
“No,” I said, probably a little more snottily than I’d meant to. I hated that voodoo got a bad rap. It was all that Hollywood bullshit. “I don’t even know how to hurt someone with magic like those two in the cafe were doing. I understand spells, but not spells without tangible things.”
Randy rubbed his forehead. “Right, okay. We’ll have to start from the true beginning.” He looked around the clearing and then moved toward me, turning me toward the far corner of the clearing. “See that stick there on the ground?” He pointed, and I nodded once I saw what he was trying to show me. “I want you to try to send a negative spell toward it and hit it.”
“But—”
“Don’t say you can’t do it,” he said, totally stopping me from saying the exact thing. “I saw you send that coffee mug to Travis’s face. That’s basically doing the same thing except you’re not using the mug. Think of it as like a virtual mug and you’re sending it right at that broken branch. Instead of an actual mug though, you’re sending a blast of magic.”
I took a deep breath and stared the branch down. While I stared, Randy moved my arms and legs into a somewhat fighting position. Narrowing my eyes, I sent what I thought was a pretty good blast of magic toward the branch. Nothing happened.
Randy moved my arm up a little higher and flattened my palm. “Nice try. I could feel you doing something. The magic came out, but it kind of dispersed, and it wasn’t negative. Act like that branch is trying to hurt you and you need to keep safe. Take a deep breath…”
I did as he asked.
“Imagine a ball of magic forming from your palm. Visualize it growing and growing in power until it’s vibrating so much, you can barely contain it. When you’re ready, open your eyes, and look at that branch with the intent to keep yourself safe from it. Do it like your life depends on it.”
I did as Randy suggested, pulling the magic into my palm, feeling the way my fingers tingled with electricity. When I thought I had enough, I opened my eyes and stared the stick down. Leaning slightly on my front foot, I brought my hand back, then forward, in one quick movement.
My mouth dropped as purple magic streamed from my palm. The branch flew in the air and hurled clear across the wide open space in front of us, spiraling on end until it landed with a thwack against the thick trunk of another tree.
I gasped and turned my hand toward myself. It looked normal. I’d half expected to see a ring of dark or purple still streaming from it, but it looked like my hand except my fingertips still buzzed.
“Fuck,” Randy breathed.
I turned toward him. His face was ashen white as he stared where the stick hit. “Was that good?”
He turned wide eyes toward me. “Was that good? Are you fucking kidding?” His eyes trained on me and he took a step forward, grabbing my palm up and staring at it like I had done. A zap passed between us and Randy held on tighter at the welcome intrusion. “Shit, Norah. I’d never seen anyone do that on their first try before. Hell, I don’t think most of us could do that now. I physically saw your magic. It was purple.”
I shrugged. “I like purple.”
“You like purple?” He shook his head and stared at me as if I was an enigma. “Girl can kick ass and she just shrugs and says she likes purple,” he said, mostly to himself.
I smiled, loving the praise he gave me, but also feeling like such a total badass myself.
“What can you do?” I asked.
Randy smirked. He took the same stance he put me in. Sitting back on his back leg, he shot forward, his arm outstretched. A second afterward, the ground shook and Randy fell back a couple steps. He turned his palm toward himself and looked down at it in amazement.
Excitement curled in my belly. “I’m guessing you’ve never been able to do that before.”
A few feet from us, wisps of smoke rose up from a two-foot gaping hole Randy had just made in the ground. He shook his head.
“What does that mean?”
“I have no fucking clue.”
With Randy struck with surprise, a wave of fear swept over me. I didn’t want to have to hurt people. Magic wasn’t about hurting people. This was a mistake. I didn’t want to have to send a branch clear across this space. Imagine if that had been a person. At the same time, I wouldn’t use it on just anyone. It was for defense. That was the Order’s decree. Harm none. This wasn’t about hurting people, it was only about keeping others from hurting me.
“Okay, well,” Randy started. “I was going to show you how to block magic, but with both of us sending off some really crazy shit, I don’t want to do that right now. I’m afraid one of us might toast the other.”
“We should be able to control it,” I offered. “In theory.”
“In theory,” he agreed.
So, that’s what we did. We spend the rest of the after
noon trying to harness the way we used magic. Randy had told me to wait and gather as much magic as I could in my palm, not realizing that I could apparently gather a lot. Instead of doing that, I started closing my eyes for only an instant, visualizing little purple specks and sending them. Eventually, I figured out how much power I could put behind certain things to inflict a lot of damage, all the way to just burning the edge of a blade of grass. Randy, too, was getting better at it, but he had to unlearn a lot of things that had come naturally to him before.
At the end, he just stood there and shook his head. “This has got to be because of you.”
“But, you had Jax? Wouldn’t you have been that strong with Jax?”
“I honestly don’t know. Logic would say yes, but I’m telling you nothing has ever been like what we’ve just been working on. It’s as if you amplify our powers. It’s fucking cool.”
“Scary,” I said, trying to finish his sentence. I frowned at him when I’d understood that he’d said cool.
“You’re just not used to it, Norah. You’re a stronger witch than you think. We’ll have to get the others to come out here and practice. If we’re attacked again when you’re there, we don’t want to burn down all of Salem.”
Yeah, I’d prefer it if we not do that either. “What are you all expecting to happen, anyway?” I asked.
Randy’s gaze focused on mine, the color deepening until he was his tense self again and less like the kid in the candy store like he’d been acting. “As Enforcers, we never know. We just know that we have to be ready for anything and to keep people safe. The use of magic to harm anyone is strictly forbidden.”
“But you just taught me how to do just that, didn’t you?” I asked, prompting him.
“That’s for protection,” he said, his face even more earnest. “There’s a definite difference. The dark isn’t a good place to be, and the Order can tell the difference. They know whether you’re using magic to defend yourself or to hurt someone. Defending yourself, or others, will not get you stripped. The other will. We’re not the bad guys, Norah. We’re the good ones.”
In my heart, I knew he spoke the truth. His face was open, caring, and staring at me as if he wanted—no, needed—my approval. I walked up to him and placed my hands on his chest. From under his shirt, I could feel the nipple piercing, and he hissed as my thumb passed over it. I imagined a nipple piercing was sensitive. Just thinking about it made my nipples peak and harden. Facing him, the tie that connected us tightened, bringing us closer together. My body craved more, much like that first night.
“Norah…” he said, a slight warning to his tone.
When I looked up, his eyes were shut tight as if he was trying to fight against the pull. I immediately stepped away from him. With each foot between us, the less the urge was to attack him except that I was on edge. My body was already tight with want as if he’d fired me up just to leave me panting for more.
I barely spoke as I turned toward the trail and followed him all the way to the car. It felt like a lifetime before we hit the city limits again and an eon before we pulled up to the house. The closer we got, the more my magic swirled around me. I gritted my teeth, cringing, as if he could hear me grinding my jaw down each time. I needed release from all this. I tried to keep calm as we walked up the porch steps and in the front door. I sucked in a sharp breath when all of them were in the same room. It was as if it was that first night again when we stepped into the circle. Liam was the first to get to his feet and come to me, his hands outstretched. When he touched me, he pulled back right away.
“What happened to her?”
“I don’t know,” Randy said, clearly concerned. “She didn’t speak at all on the way home.”
Travis’s eyes were furrowed as he stayed in his seat on the couch, but Gabe now, was coming over. I walked past them and grabbed his hand. I knew what I needed, but I was too embarrassed to say anything about it in front of everyone. Randy had tightened the connection, but didn’t do anything to release it. Now I was wound too tight to even think as Gabe followed me into his room and shut the door behind us. “What is it, Love?”
“Don’t laugh, but I think I just need you to touch me.”
His gaze narrowed, but I shot him a warning look.
“It’s the connection. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I just need—” I groaned in frustration and pulled Gabe to me. Sparks of electricity flew between us as our mouths met. He hissed in pain. “Sorry,” I said, around his lips. “I think it’ll get better if—”
He picked me up, forcing my legs around his hips. I gasped at the contact, and a little of the magic fell away from me.
A knock sounded on the door. “Not right now,” Gabe called out, pulling my shirt over my head.
“Unless you want to join,” I added, smiling.
Gabe growled, capturing my lips again with a forceful kiss. The pain subsided, and it started to feel amazing again. He unhooked my bra and threw it to the floor. Bent over, his lips immediately found my nipple as his hands kneaded my ass.
“Fuck yes,” I told him, arching my back to give him ample room. “Please tell me you have condoms now. I want to feel your cock inside me.”
Gabe pulled away, his hands coming to rest on my cheeks. His chest warred against mine. After a moment, his right hand dropped to play with my nipple as we stared at one another. Finally, he nodded, his breath hitching as he shot forward again to claim my lips. I moaned into him, reaching my hands up under his shirt to feel his sexy chest before helping him pull it off. In the next instant, I was freefalling to the bed and Gabe was on me, unbuttoning my jeans and pulling them off along with my panties. I sat up, streaming kisses along his belly button as I worked his pants off, finally throwing them clear across the room.
His dick stood at attention and I licked my lips. Gabe put a hand on my shoulder. “Not this time.”
He reached into the drawer and pulled out a square package. After ripping it open, he slid it down his cock and climbed on top of me. He pushed one knee to the bed, then the other, leaving me wide open, my thighs soaked with my own juices. His finger glided up my thigh and pushed inside. My hips rose off the bed as I welcomed him. Our gazes collided, and a new heat started. This wasn’t just the magic anymore. This was about Gabe and I—together like this.
I reached up and gave him another searing kiss as he played his finger inside me. After a few minutes of that, I pulled away. “I want to feel you. Please.”
“Fuck, Norah.”
He pulled his finger away and poised his tip at my entrance. I bit down on my lip as he pushed inside. “God, yes,” I said, squirming, wanting all of him inside me.
“Christ,” Gabe said, pushing forward, slamming his whole cock into me.
My fingers dug into his backside as he started a fierce rhythm, the mattress creaking underneath us. “Fuck, I wish this would last.”
Gabe bent over and bit my ear lobe, sending a spark through me. “All good things must come to an end, but that doesn’t mean we can’t just do it again…” He slammed inside me. “And again…” With his next thrust, his thumb flicked against my nub. “And again…”
“Oh fuck,” I screamed, baring down as my orgasm hit me fast and hard. The promise of more sex like this along with Gabe overwhelming my body was just too fucking much. As soon as I clenched around him, Gabe’s jaw set, then his hips pushed forward with his release.
He rocked into me for a few more strokes, prolonging both our orgasms a little more until we were spent. I pulled him down, kissing him, needing that intimacy after such an almost primal act. My lips fell apart, and he deepened the kiss as he collapsed on top of me. After a moment, he chuckled. “What does it say about me that I kind of liked the pain at first?”
I bit down on my lip. “What does it say about me that that turns me on again?”
He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “If you ever need some help releasing some energy, you know who to come to.”
I hooked my leg around his
and pushed him over until I was on top. “Next time, I’m riding.”
He pinched my ass. “Don’t tease me with a good time.”
A knock came on the door again. “Come in,” I called.
Gabe chuckled. When I looked back, I was a little embarrassed to see that it had been Liam who’d come in. His cheeks flushed. Aw, my poor guy. I shimmied away from Gabe and stood, realizing I was fully naked, but feeling extremely bold at the moment. Liam blinked at me, his jaw tensing as if he was trying really hard not to look below my eyes.
“Hey,” I said, walking up to him and grabbing his hands. “Are you okay?”
At that point, I didn’t care that I was fully nude, I was just worried about Liam.
“I don’t think there’s actually something wrong with him, Love. He may have just lost himself in his pants though.”
I took a quick glance down and noticed Liam had grown hard. So much so that his pants tented in front of him. I leaned over and kissed his cheek before whispering into his ear, “Don’t listen to him. I’m ready when you are, Big Guy.”
At that, I winked at him before pulling my clothes on. Well, my borrowed shirt of Gabe’s and my other clothes.
It wasn’t until I was fully dressed that Liam could bring himself to talk. “I was just worried about Norah. She looked a bit of a wreck when she and Randy got back, and he won’t say anything.”
“Yeah,” I said, drawing the word out. “We may have a bit of a problem we need to discuss.”
Liam arranged his glasses on his nose. “I’ll get the guys together?”
“Thank you,” I called after him as he slipped from the room, his cheeks still pink and his eyes as wide as saucers.
Gabe leaned forward and kissed my neck. “I’m glad he’s fallen for you. He’s too good for most people out there, Love. Way too good.”
14
Feeling a million times better, Gabe and I walked out into the living room hand-in-hand. Liam avoided us, but Randy’s eyes were affixed on us both. Travis sidestepped us as he made his way into the living room for the meeting.