“What is it?” Elliot looked up at her, stopping the drum rhythm he was doing. “You okay?”
“There’s someone outside the window.”
He rubbed his nose. “Not possible. No one can get on the grounds that we don’t let in except the Enforcers, and even then, I’ve taken steps to make it harder.”
“Okay, except he’s staring right at me. Dark hair, glasses, overalls.”
Elliot’s smile was fast. “That’s Alan. He’s the ghost gardener.”
She walked over to the window. “That man that I can see as clear as day standing right there staring at us is… a ghost? No, that’s not possible. It’s safe to go outside right?”
He stretched out his feet. “As long as you stay on the property you’re golden.”
She rushed out of the room and down the hall to the front door. Making her way outside, she ran to the window, abruptly stopping short. Yes, there was the ghost gardener. No, it couldn’t just be. There weren’t ghosts running around. Ancient witches that somehow managed not to die and tried to possess Eleanor, okay. That was magic related but this was just… no.
Besides, she had lived here for years and never seen any ghosts. How was this possible?
The gardener moved from the window and started walking through what at some time must have been a garden. Elliot’s mother had loved to keep the house beautiful with things growing all around it. But now those things were gone. As he looked like he dug in the dirt, he wasn’t actually touching any plants or doing anything.
It was possible this was Elliot playing a joke. Not that she could fathom how he did this. A projection spell? Still, she didn’t think so. He didn’t seem to waste power. She reached out and her hand went right through the ghost.
She darted backward as the gardener looked up at her. “It should be a good growth this year, ma’am.”
Okay. This was happening. “How are you here?”
He didn’t answer her but looked down at the ground. Elliot walked up behind her. “He doesn’t really talk. I mean, other than what he says about the growth. He’s not communicative.”
She swallowed, leaning back on him when his arms came around her. He touched her like it was the most natural thing in the world and maybe that’s why it felt like it was. “How did I not see these things my whole childhood?”
“I don’t have an answer for that. Let’s go ask your parents. Come on. He’ll vanish soon. I used to sit out here when I was a kid and watch him. My father apparently did the same thing. Generations of us communicating with ghosts.”
She let him lead her toward the house. “I have to say that freaked me out. It really did.”
“He’s harmless. They all are. Even the one in the attic that we can all hear but can’t ever find. It’s just an… unusual part of the house.”
That apparently she had missed her entire childhood. She yawned. “Sorry. Thought I was doing pretty well.”
He squeezed her hand. “You are. Not one tear yet today.”
“Well, the day’s not over. I could end up sobbing.”
He kissed her cheek. “Only in pleasure today. You’ll see.”
“I want to get through another box before I pass out.”
The best laid plans. She must have fallen right out on the desk when she sat down to organize it because that was the last thing she remembered. She woke up on the couch, her feet on Elliot’s lap. He seemed to be listening to something with headphones on. When she moved, he took them off and smiled at her.
“Are you up?” He kept his voice low, which was considerate if she’d still been sleeping.
“Sorry about that. Guess when it hits me… it takes me down.”
He grinned at her. “I might not have known you were asleep if you hadn’t started snoring.”
Melanie sat up fast. “I did not. Oh, wow. I’ve never heard that I snore but…”
He squeezed her foot. “I’m joking with you. You were perfectly quiet. Hungry?”
Her stomach growled in response. “I guess so.”
As she stood up, a crack of thunder sounded outside so loudly it shook the house. She grabbed onto Elliot, and he laughed. “That’s a loud one. I never think of us as getting rain this time of year.”
The sound of the rain followed fast, hitting the roof. Now this, she remembered. These old houses didn’t hide the noise like the modern apartments did. Thunder clapped again, and she rubbed her arms. “I’ve never cared for heavy downpours. The tsunami that came out of nowhere didn’t help things either.”
“Oh, right. A few years ago. Heard that was a weather witch who got out of hand.”
It was Ava’s father, but Mel wasn’t going to share that. She was good at keeping people’s secrets.
Elliot suddenly pointed at her. “I have a memory of you. It just hit me like a ton of bricks. You were tiny, a toddler. You’d come into the house with your mom; she was supervising some change in the dining room, I think. It was storming, and you were crying your eyes out. She’d left you for a moment so I sat with you on the floor until you stopped. She came running back, told me they thought you really hated the weather.”
Melanie wasn’t certain how she felt about the man she wanted to have sex with remembering her as a toddler, but it was cute he had that memory. “I do hate storms.” She walked up to him, pressing her body against his. “So distract me.”
Edward should be done for the day, and if he wasn’t, well, he could just keep his interruptions to himself. Elliot’s mouth was soft as he met her own. His arms came around her, strong, like they could keep out any storm that wanted to come near her, even with the curse he carried around every second of the day.
“Melanie, I don’t want to disappoint you. I need you to tell me what you want and don’t want, okay? And if you like or don’t like something.”
She kissed his chin. “I promise to make it very, very obvious.”
Elliot floated both of them into the air. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You are so incredible. That’s not a good enough word. How did this happen? How did you come into my life during this… impossible time?”
She was done talking, even though his words were amazingly sweet. She kissed him again, letting him know in no uncertain terms exactly what she wanted.
Chapter 7
Melanie had never been kissed the way that Elliot did. It wasn’t so much that their lips met together as much as it was that he owned her mouth. She followed where he led, not wanting anything to disrupt this feeling. Her body was on fire and they hadn’t done anything more than kiss.
He pulled back, his thumbs caressing her face, tracing the slope of her nose. “You’re okay doing this in the study? I can find us a bed and be civilized about this.”
There was nothing remotely civilized about how she was feeling right then. “The couch. The floor. The top of the desk. Floating in the air. I want you, Elliot. However it happens.”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “Why? I’m such… I’m half of what I should be right now.”
“You’re so sexy, Elliot. White eyed or not. Don’t doubt that.”
His smile was ridiculously huge. “Well, you have been crushing on me your whole life.”
“I didn’t say that.”
She liked how he teased her. Melanie wasn’t sure that anyone had ever really done that before. Her family and friends weren’t teasers. There was something so… intimate about it. Even if she found out he did it to everyone he knew, it would still feel personal to her.
He went back to kissing her, and she lost herself to it. Her head felt lighter, her body on fire. He kissed her all over her face. “I should be seducing you, taking you out to eat, the theater, vacations.” He pushed her hair off her forehead. “I shouldn’t be asking you to do this in my study when you can never leave my house.”
She led him over to the couch. “I don’t need seduction. I almost died this week, and you’re going through hell. Let’s just take our time when we can.”
“Agr
eed.” He kissed her cheek. “That doesn’t mean I don’t think you should have all of those things.” She drew him to her, and Elliot shuddered. “Melanie.”
She did love how he said her name. Melanie waved her hand, and his shirt vanished. He laughed, a great sound. Nestled up against him like this with only better things to come, she didn’t even care that every so often thunder banged outside, slightly shaking the house.
Melanie kissed a path across his chest, stopping right over his heart. She pressed a gentle kiss there. He had a huge heart, giving, and almost never asking for anything in return, except, in her case that she not date anyone else while she stayed at his house. How could he have thought she would want to?
Her own shirt vanished. “You’re not the only one, Mel, who can use magic to get what they want.”
She almost never wore a bra. Her figure had always been on the slender side with her boobs matching the rest of her. Melanie took his hand and led it to her breast. He flared his nostrils, which made her grin. Elliot couldn’t see her breasts but that didn’t mean they didn’t affect him. He pressed his mouth on her shoulder, and he stroked her nipples, bringing them to a peak. They ached, and she smiled. Wow, how she loved this painful need.
He moved to her other breast, and she kissed his chest. He breathed hard, kissing up her neck. It should have been awkward being sort of all over the place and on the edge of the couch, but it wasn’t.
He bent over, kissing her nipple before he took it in his mouth. Elliot sucked hard. She cried out, and he let go. “Too much?”
“No. I really like it. Sorry, it just took me by surprise.”
He shook his head. “I’d do anything to see you, Melanie, but since I can’t wish that into existence, I’ve got to ask you while I am learning your delicious noises. Don’t get embarrassed. I don’t have your face to tell me if that is good or bad. I’ll be a fast study.”
“Guess that means we’ll just have to do this a lot so that we can both learn each other.”
He smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”
He was hard. She could feel it through his pants. Melanie reached down, stroking him. He moaned, bringing her nipple farther into his mouth. She couldn’t decide what she liked more, the fact that she could get that reaction from him or what he was doing to her breast.
A touch of magic took his pants and briefs away. He laughed and did the same to her. Next time, she’d undress him with her hands. There was something nice about that, too. But she wanted him and patience had never been her forte.
He pushed her backward until she lay beneath him on the couch. Her heart rate sped up. What was he going to do? Elliot kissed down her body, stopping just before her pussy to lay kisses on both of her thighs.
“Elliot…” She’d never been great at accepting oral sex as much as she loved giving it.
He lifted his white gaze as though he would meet her own if he could. “I hear nerves in that voice, Mel. I really want to give you pleasure like this. Trust me?”
She leaned back on the couch. “I have a control issue. Yes, I’ll… try. It isn’t that I don’t want to. I tend to just not be able to relax.”
He held out his hand. “Take my hand.”
That seemed a strange request given what they were about to do, but Melanie did as he said and linked their fingers together. He kissed on the outside of her pussy again. This time squeezing her fingers when he did before slipping his tongue inside of her. She cried out, and he held her fingers tighter.
There was something sort of… grounding about it. Elliot found his way quickly to her clit without needing instruction—impressive considering he couldn’t see—and soon she was panting. Why was this working this time?
What did it matter? Elliot was gifted with that tongue. She gripped onto the couch with her other hand. It wasn’t long before she was moaning, filling the room with the sounds of her pleasure. Her mind tried to twist away. She’d never liked being conscious of herself. It went against all the other ways she always felt confident and sure, but there it was.
Elliot lifted his head. “You taste so good, Mel. I could do this all day.”
His voice brought her back to the moment. It helped that he squeezed her hand. She’d never known she needed a tactile experience to keep her present. He pressed his tongue back on her clit, and she exploded. Her back arched, and she practically came off the couch. Pleasure rushed through her, and he pressed their fingers together so hard that for a second, her hand ached. He sighed, pulling back.
“You just gave me such a gift.” He smiled at her. “Thank you.”
She’d given him a gift? No, it was the other way around. “Come here, Elliot.”
She waved her hand, which gave him a magical push toward her. He laughed before catching himself on the couch. Elliot said he wasn’t good at being blind, but he did manage himself pretty well. She’d probably have fallen on her face, and she needed to do a better job of remembering that when she played with him like this.
Melanie kissed him, putting her entire soul into it. Yes, she couldn’t get attached. Yes, this would end when the man after her was caught. Yes, he was cursed and would be gone but… she really was crazy about him. For this one moment, she was going to let herself feel that fully and not worry about it.
There would be later to wish she’d protected herself.
She reached for his cock, and he shook his head. “No. I’ll come over your fingers. You make me feel like I’m fifteen. Next time. Now, if it’s okay, I’d like to be inside of you.”
Was it okay? Yes, it was seriously okay. “Absolutely.”
He kissed her chin. “I’ve had the healers make it so I can’t father a child. A magical vasectomy if you will. But I’d like to make sure you’re covered birth control-wise anyway. It’s important to me that I not leave anyone here to inherit this curse. Even by mistake.”
She nodded, but he couldn’t see that. “Absolutely. I’ll take care of that right now.”
“Or I can.” He smoothed his hand over her skin, a warm feeling following the sensation. “I’d like to. I want to take care of you.”
She blinked. “Are you real? Or have I somehow made you up in my head?”
His smile was huge as he spelled her birth control so she wouldn’t get pregnant. It felt like someone had flooded her with gentle heat. “Better than your crush?”
Melanie groaned. “I am going to regret ever telling you that.”
“Don’t. It gives me an enormous amount of happiness.” Elliot kissed her again before he pressed her legs apart. Skin on skin, she could feel his arousal against her leg. “You’re still wet.”
She bit down on his earlobe. “Well, considering how you just made me come, that isn’t surprising.”
“True.” He pressed himself inside of her. It had been a little while since Melanie was intimate with anyone. Elliot wasn’t small, and it took her body a few moments to adjust to the sheer size of him. He moved slowly, letting her catch up, and finally, he was fully sheathed inside of her.
He pressed their foreheads together. “I should be asking you if you’re for real. I might be hallucinating this whole thing.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “No. This is real.”
They moved together like they’d been doing this forever. None of the jerky, trying to figure each other out feelings of a new lover. She raised her hips, and he followed her in the joining. In and out. Elliot changed the thrust of his hips to rub against her clit, and she was lost. She started moaning so loud she drowned out the thunder, and soon she was biting on his shoulder in some last ditch effort to hold back the explosion he drew out of her.
“Don’t fight it, Mel.” He kissed her all over her face. “Give in. I’ve got you.”
As though his words gave her permission, she lost it in an orgasm that rocked her to her very soul. He followed her fast after she did, coming on a sigh of her name. It was the sweetest moment she’d ever had sexually.
And when the tears came, the fa
ct that he couldn’t see them was helpful. She turned her head just slightly and brushed them aside. He didn’t need to know that this had meant something to her when it had been so clear that there couldn’t be anything more than friendship between them.
Putting on her best pleasant voice, she spoke. He hadn’t lifted his head off her shoulder, and she wondered if he’d fallen asleep there on top of her, still slightly hard inside of her core. “That’s quite a storm out there.”
He lifted his head. “Are we going to small talk the weather?” Elliot kissed her lips. “You okay? Did I hurt you?”
Oh, he had to mean the tears. “Sometimes I cry when I… come. Sorry.”
That had never happened before, not that she would tell him that. She was still wrecked from the attack. She’d go with that. He tilted his head slightly as though he considered what she said. Finally, he nodded. “That was incredible.”
“It was,” she had to agree. “Are you okay?”
He shot his eyebrows skyward on his forehead. “Am I? Never better. Come here. Let’s change places. You on top of me. You’re tinier than I am. You won’t crush me while we cuddle.”
She let him flip them over, and then she settled down to lie on him. Melanie hadn’t contacted her parents, and she was hungry, but all of that could wait. How many chances in life would she get to snuggle with Elliot?
He ran his hands through her hair. When he spoke, it was in a low voice. “I’d do anything to see you, and I haven’t felt that way in a long time. I thought I had sort of accepted things.”
She kissed his chest. “I’m sorry. You stay so happy and pleasant. You are such an inspiration.”
His answer was a hard laugh. “I’m a mess. I’m glad I’m faking it so well.”
So they had that in common. Both of them hid their inner chaos from the world. Her mind drifted to other messes she was involved in. It was impossible to put off thinking of Peter Evans. He’d killed his wife and Melanie was supposed to have protected her as best she could under the law. The Enforcers hadn’t gotten to her in time, hadn’t found out why she had agreed to a loveless soul binding. Now they’d never know.
Tragic Magic: Wards and Wands #3 Page 8