I managed to get out a “Mmm” and shake my head once. Apparently, I was incapable of actual speech since it seemed that all the blood in my brain and everywhere else in my body had rushed to my cock, which was making its presence known in a big way. His hand slid over it, and I groaned and pushed up into it.
Suddenly, he removed his hand and moved forward on the sofa. I thought he was going to get up, but he turned quickly and straddled my legs, pushing his cock against mine. “Well, Detective, it seems that you and I have the same thing in mind.” He leaned forward and kissed me, slipping his tongue between my lips to explore my mouth.
I broke the kiss and began unbuttoning his dress shirt. I slid it off his shoulders and said, “I think we should get more comfortable, don’t you?” When he nodded and backed off my lap, I stood up, grabbed him and threw him over my shoulder, carrying him to the bed.
As soon as I dropped him, I reached for his belt, unbuckling it, and in a flash, I had his pants, underwear, and socks off. He was completely naked and spreading his legs slightly, he reached for his cock, and stroked it slowly as he watched me undress. I, of course, took my time, savoring the way his eyes never left my body and how, with each article of clothing I removed, the rhythm of his hand on his cock increased. By the time I was naked, he was pushing up into his own hand, and as soon as I lay down beside him, he rolled over on top of me. He began kissing his way from my mouth down my neck and body until I felt his lips close around the head of my cock, which by that time was as hard as a steel rod. I allowed myself to enjoy the feel of him taking me all the way to the back of his throat—I mean, he might have been young, but he knew how to give a blowjob. I had to make myself stop him because I was getting too close to the edge, and I didn’t want to finish that way. Besides, he’d been the aggressor so far tonight, and it was time for me to take over. I wanted to fuck him, so….
I put my hand on his head and said, “Stop.” I had to say it a second time before he sat back and gave me a puzzled look. I smiled at him. “That feels great, but I don’t want to come that way. I want to fuck you, so move up toward the headboard, get on your knees and bend over.” I wasn’t sure if he’d be agreeable—we’d never discussed preferences, but when he scrambled to do as I asked, I smiled. As soon as he was in position, I took a few seconds to enjoy the view of his cute little ass up in the air, all mine for the taking.
I leaned over him, reaching under one of the pillows to get the lube and condoms I’d placed there earlier. Just in case. Then, I kissed my way down his spine to the top of his crease. He was whimpering by that time, so when I put both of my hands on his butt cheeks, spread them, and teased his entrance with my tongue, he practically came apart right there. As I licked and laved his hole, the whimper turned into a full-blown whine, and I could tell he was trying to stay still, but he couldn’t.
When I put a finger inside him and located the bundle of nerves I was looking for, he jumped and began begging. “Now, Gage, now. Fuck me now.”
“Give me a minute, baby, and let me get you ready.”
“No. I’m ready. Please, Gage. Fuck me.”
He was wiggling his ass and pushing it back toward me, once again topping from the bottom, but how the hell was I supposed to resist that? I rolled the condom on and slathered it with lube. I began to enter him slowly, but apparently, I wasn’t going fast enough for him because he pushed back quickly until he had all of me inside him. I heard him gasp, and I remained still, allowing his body time to adjust to my cock. When I felt him move slightly, I knew he was ready, and I began a slow rhythm in and out, increasing the pace after a few seconds. It didn’t take long before I could feel a familiar tingling at the base of my spine, but it was too soon. I usually had more staying power than that, but everything was different with Rafe. I sat back on my heels, pulling him with me until he was sitting on my thighs. I had one arm wrapped around his waist, my hand splayed across his abs to hold him there, and I took his dick in my other hand, stroking it in the ever-increasing pace of my cock in and out of his ass. I was struggling to hang on until his release and finally, he dropped his head back on my shoulder and groaned out my name. “Gage.”
That was all it took for me. Three more strokes, and I was done. We sat there for a minute, neither of us able to move, apparently. Finally, I pushed him forward a little and eased out of him before pulling him down beside me on the bed. He threw an arm and leg across me, laying his head on my shoulder. Normally, I would have found all that cuddling suffocating, but not with him. With Rafe, it seemed natural, and I couldn’t get enough of it. After a few minutes, I made myself get up and go to the bathroom.
Rafe made a sound of protest and asked, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to dispose of this condom, and I’ll be right back. Do you want anything while I’m up?”
He smiled and shook his head, and I could feel his eyes on me as I walked to the bathroom.
****
Rafe
I couldn’t take my eyes off Gage as he walked across the room. I was in deep shit, and I knew it. He was gorgeous, the sex was great, and I was in love. It was way too soon, I barely knew him, but it was love nevertheless. I knew it, and I wanted to savor every second of this night because I was terrified that I was going to lose him when I told him the truth. It had to be soon. I knew that. I made up my mind as I waited for Gage to come back to bed that I would tell him the next day. I couldn’t allow the relationship to go on any longer without being honest with him.
I watched as Gage crossed the room, carrying two bottles of water. As he slid in beside me, he was smiling. “I brought you some water, too, since I figured you’d change your mind about wanting some and drink mine.” He chuckled, but when he looked over at me, he began to frown. “What’s the matter, cher? You know I was just teasing you, don’t you?”
“Of course. I’m sorry. I was just thinking about, uh, Loki and hoping he’d be okay tonight.”
Gage reached over and pulled me close, saying, “I’ve told you before—nothing would dare bother that cat. You need to be thinking about me.” He nuzzled my neck and bit my earlobe, and I shivered. Then, he leaned away from me with a worried look. “You did leave him food and water, didn’t you?”
And that was one of the things I loved about Gage—he came across as tough as nails, but he had a soft spot for my cat, or any other helpless thing. “Yes, but I think he misses me when I’m gone.” I knew I sounded stupid, but I couldn’t tell him what I was really thinking about. What was I going to say—I was worried because I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you, and I’m afraid I’m going to lose you because, oh by the way, I’m a witch?
“I’m sure he does notice you’re gone, but he’s a cat, and they’re very independent. He’ll be okay for one night.” He leaned over and kissed me and everything else was forgotten.
I woke up before Gage the next morning. He was lying on his back, and I was draped across his body, which seemed to be the way we always slept with each other. I lay there, enjoying the feel of him as I ran a hand through the hair on his chest and down across his stomach to his cock that was already hard. I knew the minute he came awake because his body moved slightly as I touched his shaft. I chuckled and said, “Don’t pretend to be asleep. I have a question for you. Is that morning wood or are you really, really glad to see me?”
“Three times last night wasn’t enough for you, cher?”
“I don’t think I could ever get enough of you.” Fuck! I couldn’t believe I just said that. If he wasn’t as into this relationship as I was, that would sure as hell scare him away. Besides, telling somebody how you felt when they didn’t return the feeling was downright mortifying. I jumped out of the bed and began rounding up my clothes. I knew I was overreacting, but now that I’d admitted to myself that I was in love, I was terrified of saying or doing the wrong thing that might scare him away. The problem was that there was something even bigger than an admission of love that would send him running, and the pressure
of needing to come clean about it was eating at me.
“Rafe, what the fuck are you doing?”
I was embarrassed at what I’d admitted and was trying to get dressed as fast as I could. “I - I have to get home. To check on the cat.”
He threw back the quilt and showed me his dick. “So, you’re just going to leave me like this?” He smiled and waggled his brows at me. “Come back to bed, bebe. Trust me, that cat will be fine for a few more hours.”
I was tempted, but I shook my head. I had to get away from him and think. “I have to go Gage, but why don’t you come to Ravenwood? Whenever you want—I’ll be home all day.”
He smiled. “I could do that. I’m thinking I could shower, get dressed, and head your way. Would that be too soon for you? Would you rather have some alone time?”
“No, Gage. Come anytime you want to. It’ll be great having some company out there.”
“Okay, then.” He gave me a mischievous smile. “I might even bring coffee and beignets, if you’d make it worth my while.”
I was dressed by then, and I walked over to give him a kiss. “Oh, I absolutely will make it worthwhile for you. I love beignets.”
“Honey, you just love sweets.” He was grinning. “I’ll see you in about an hour, maybe a little longer, depending on how busy they are at the Cafe du Monde.”
“I’m salivating in anticipation of a beignet and some cafe au lait.” I winked at him and walked toward the door, but he stopped me.
“Hang on a sec.” He reached into his bedside drawer and held up a key. “Take this. It’s the key to the front door downstairs, in case Justin hasn’t come in yet. It’s still a little early for him to open, I think, so use that to lock the door when you go out.”
It just so happened that Justin Leclaire was a friend of mine. Beau and I’d gone to school with him, briefly, in elementary school. He was about three years older than me, but younger than Beau. We both remembered him as being a nice guy, sort of quiet and shy. Once he’d opened his shop, we started doing business with him. He remembered us, too, and when I visited his shop I’d usually stand around for a while and talk to him. He was cute and funny and kind of a drama queen, and I enjoyed his company. It didn’t take long for us to become good friends.
He wasn’t a witch like me. He was a mixture of a wealthy old creole family on his father’s side and Cajun on his mother’s side. Members of his mother’s family practiced folk magic, known as hoodoo. It’s also called conjure, or rootwork, but it wasn’t the same as my family’s or the Gaudet family’s witchcraft. It wasn’t voodoo, either, although some people think they’re the same. Real Voodoo is more of a religion, combining Roman Catholic beliefs and African religious rites and magic and characterized by sorcery and demon possession. Anyway, it was that hoodoo-practicing side of his family that he found most interesting and was the reason he’d opened this shop, because he sure as hell didn’t have to work. He was, as they say, loaded—trust fund money to support himself for his lifetime and into the next life.
As I walked down the stairs, I realized I hadn’t even considered that Justin might be in the shop already this morning. I hoped that Gage was right, and it was too early, but no such luck. Just as I stepped through the doorway into the shop, there he was, restocking some of the shelves.
He raised a brow at me and said, “Well, well, well, good morning, cher. Laissez les bons temps roulez, eh, mon ami?”
I frowned at him. “Shut up, Justin.” I could hear his laughter all the way out onto the sidewalk, and I smiled to myself. I hurried down to the Golden Lantern, where I’d left my car. I needed to get home and get a shower before Gage got there. On the drive home, I couldn’t stop smiling. It had been a wonderful night, and I couldn’t help but hope that he would stay with me the whole time we were off work—even after the talk, which I absolutely had to have with him today. It was nagging at me, so I’d made up my mind that I needed to get it over with. If he was going to end this thing between us because I was a witch, it was better for it to be sooner rather than later, before I got in any deeper. And I was already in way over my head.
Chapter Eight
Rafe
As soon as I parked my car and started up the front steps of Ravenwood, I detected a heaviness, almost like a tangible greasiness, in the air, just like it was right before all hell broke loose after Abel died. It felt nasty, like dark magic again. Something evil had been on the porch, but it didn’t look as if it had entered the house—not through the front door, at least. There was no sign of a break-in. With my hand shaking a little, I unlocked the door and went in, closing the door and locking it as fast as I could. I stood in the entry hall for a minute, assessing, but I didn’t identify the presence of anything inside the house, on the first floor, at least. Loki came strolling in to greet me, and he seemed calm enough, so I relaxed a bit. I walked through each room on the first floor and still didn’t detect anything, so I climbed the stairs with a sense of dread, but there was nothing there either. I blew out a breath, relieved that I wasn’t going to have to fight something before Gage got there. I wanted this time with him, and I didn’t want some creature interfering with it. I wasn’t sure what it was yet, but I didn’t think it was a vampire. It didn’t feel like one, or smell like one either, for that matter. It could be a warlock or a demon, but I just couldn’t tell. I needed to see if I could pick something up, but I didn’t have time.
Assured that there was nothing in the house, I hurried to take a shower and get dressed so that I could watch for Gage. I thought about calling him, but what would I say? Be careful, something evil has been on the front porch and may be lurking around, or worse—don’t come at all. Hell no, that wasn’t an option, for sure. Anyway, I was out of the shower, dressed, and walking down the stairs when I heard his car pull up in front of the house. I hurried to the front door and flung it open just as he was about to knock.
As he walked in, he said, “Oh, my God, what is that foul odor on your front porch? Did an animal crawl under your porch and die?” He shook his head and took a deep breath. “I don’t smell it in here, thank God.”
The fact he smelled the odor made me wonder again if perhaps he was a léger. That’s what we called people who had some small degree of magic. The literal translation in French is lightweight. Beau had told me that Taylor, Nic’s handsome driver, was a léger and now, I thought that possibly Gage was, too. I didn’t think he was even aware of it. He’d probably been denying it his whole life, but it might be what gave him his good instincts and made him such a good detective.
It suddenly occurred to me that if he did have a bit of magic in him, it would account for the strong attraction to him I had felt when I first saw him in the Golden Lantern. Maybe the magic in each of us had somehow reached out and touched without either of us being aware of it.
I was definitely going to talk to him about it, but not now. I knew he’d be resistant to the idea, and he’d walked in carrying a box with two large cups of coffee perched on it. I was distracted, so all I could do was follow the scents. He headed toward the kitchen with me right behind him, and as soon as he’d put everything on the table, I went for the box. There were what looked like a dozen beignets in it, and I walked over to Gage, putting my arms around his neck to give him a kiss.
“You brought me beignets and cafe au lait. Thank you, Gage.”
He smiled down at me. “You’re welcome. I told you I’d bring them, and since I know about your sweet tooth, I thought I might need to bring more than a couple.” I laughed, and when I turned away from him to grab one out of the box, he slapped me on the ass and said, “And, after all, for the sake of full disclosure, it wasn’t completely altruistic. Have you forgotten that you promised to make it worth my while?”
I took a big bite of the sweet pastry, powdered sugar dropping everywhere, and mumbled, “No, I haven’t forgotten, and I always keep my promises.”
“Good. I’m counting on it.” He smiled and leaned toward me, licking the corne
r of my mouth, then moving his tongue across my lips. “Mmm! You taste good. Come here.”
That’s all it took for my dick to snap to attention, so I stood up and started toward him with the intention of straddling his thighs, but he stood up just as I got to him. He turned me so that I was between him and the table, back toward him. He put his arms around me and unbuttoned my jeans, letting them drop to my ankles. “Bend over and spread your legs and be quick about it.”
I hurried to do what he said because this big, bad alpha side of him was turning me on. Especially since he was always so tender with me, despite a little dirty talk. As I bent over the table, I felt him sliding my underwear down to join my jeans at my ankles. He took lube and a condom out of his pocket and put them on the table (what a Boy Scout—always prepared), and I heard him unzipping his pants. I was so hot I could barely be still, especially when I felt a slick finger sliding into my crease and teasing my opening. I moaned and pushed back into it. He tapped my ass and said, “Don’t be so impatient. Now, spread your legs as far as you can.” I did as I was told and felt one finger, then two sliding into me, preparing me.
“I’m ready, Gage. Fuck me. Now. I need to feel you inside me.”
He didn’t say a word, just put the head of his dick at my hole and pushed in. It took my breath for a minute, but he remained still until my body could adjust to him. When I gave him a slight nod, he began moving in and out of me. At first, it was slow and easy, but after a few strokes, he was pounding me. It was hard and rough, and I loved it. Pretty soon I felt that tingle at the base of my spine, and I came, yelling his name. His release came soon after.
Haunted (Witches of the Big Easy Book 3) Page 10