by Linda Mooney
“Our answer?” he barely managed to croak.
“Yeah,” Tamberly whispered, and reached up to kiss him.
Chapter Ten
It was a good thing he wasn’t holding anything in his hands because her kiss literally left him numb. She smelled like peppermint. Like a warm, pliable statue of sweet, savory candy. His hands went around her without thought as her kiss drew him in deeper. She reached up to place her fingertips at the neckline of his sweater vest. He could feel her stroking his skin, stoking the fire that was beginning to burn through him. Suffocating him. Making him feel as if he was caught in the center of an oven, and all the air and moisture was being sucked out of him.
Her lips were incredibly soft and sensuous as her kiss became more insistent. She parted her mouth in invitation, and Jonathan eagerly dipped past her teeth to find her tongue.
She must have eaten some of the candy cane. Her breath was spiced air, deliciously filled with a minty fragrance. Tamberly moaned as he drew her tongue onto his and began sucking on it, pulling gently on it with long, slow strokes. At the sound of her reaction, he felt his cock stiffen again, until there was no way she couldn’t avoid being prodded.
And apparently she didn’t like being poked in the stomach. Reluctantly, he released her mouth and let her pull away from him. But her gaze remained on his face, especially his eyes. Her own green eyes literally twinkled, surprising him. He had heard of such a thing, but this was the first time he’d actually seen someone’s eyes sparkle.
“Did I shock you?” she murmured.
“Huh? Umm, no. I mean…” He chuckled softly, then cleared this throat. “What did you mean when you said I wasn’t seeing things?”
“The candy cane. You’re not imagining that you’re seeing the stripes whirling around on it.”
Her comment got a raised eyebrow out of him. “I’m not?”
“No,” she giggled, shaking her head slightly. A length of hair fell over her shoulder and across the back of his hand. He fought the urge to pick up the russet lock and feel its silkiness.
It took another moment for him to get his head back on straight as her confession sunk in. “The stripes are really moving? You‘ve seen it, too?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Care to tell me how?” he asked just as another thought struck him. “Is it… Does it have something to do with you being a witch?”
“Witchlet,” Tamberly corrected him. “Half witch. And, yes, it has everything to do with me. With us. With tonight.”
Taking a deep breath, Jonathan steeled himself. “Okay. Give it to me straight. I’m cursed, right?”
She glanced back behind her where the table was prepared. “The food’s getting cold. After all the work you’ve put into making it, I would hate to see it go to waste. Why don’t we eat, and I’ll explain things to you while we enjoy our meal?”
“Please tell me I’m not cursed,” he insisted.
Laughing throatily, Tamberly assured him, “No. You’re not cursed. But in a way, you can say you’re predestined.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Mm-hmm. I think you could say that.”
He helped her into her chair and took his own seat across the table, facing her. “Tonight’s meal is typical of what I plan to serve at my restaurant.”
“It smells so good,” she complimented him.
“Thank you. It’s not fancy or avant-garde. We’re having meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans, but each of these dishes has something added to them to give them a bit of a twist. My personal touch, so to speak. A’ la Jonathan.” At the mention of the word “twist”, Jonathan’s thoughts went back to the candy cane. A quick search discovered the confection sitting next to Tamberly’s plate. He stared at it for a few seconds, but the stripes didn’t move again.
Tamberly served herself, which reminded him about the bottle of wine he had stashed in the refrigerator. He started to get up to retrieve it, when she commented, “If you’re getting us something to drink, I’d prefer water.”
Okay. Water it is.
She was already eating when he returned with two glasses of water. “This tastes better than it smells, Jonathan. Do I detect garlic and a bit of sage in the potatoes?”
“Bingo!” he grinned. “How about the meat loaf?”
“Sorry.” She shook her head slightly. “Either I’m too hungry to notice, or I’m not that adept at detecting subtle flavors.”
“That’s all right. As long as you’re enjoying it, that’s all that matters.”
They ate in silence for another minute or two, when Jonathan got to his feet again. “I forgot. I have a holiday CD I was going to play as background music. Do you mind?”
Tamberly sat her fork down beside her plate and gave him her full attention. “Yes, I do mind, because we need to talk.”
“About the candy cane.”
“About us.”
He sat down. “Okay. I’m listening. By the way, I have to be honest. Those aren’t my candy canes. In fact, I don’t know where they came from, much less how they’re able to move like that. They must be some kind of electronic—”
“They’re real candy canes,” she told him. “You can even eat them.”
He remained silent and continued to stare at her, waiting for the punch line.
Clasping her hands together, she placed her elbows on the table and leaned toward him. “Jonathan, what would you say if I told you you are my intended? My destined love?”
“I’d say you were either delusional, or… Forget that. You’re a witch, so I have to suspend disbelief. What does that have to do with the candy canes?”
“They’re what led me to you. They’re what makes me believe that what I’m feeling inside for you is the real thing.”
“How? Because the stripes on them actually move?”
She smiled in obvious relief. “That’s exactly how I knew. You see… Oh, hell, how can I explain this and still make sense? I told you about what it means to be a tempus witch, right? And that the most important events in our lives revolve around the time of year when we’re born.”
“And that you were born on Christmas day.”
“Right,” she nodded. “Well, one of the most important events in our lives is the finding of our one true love. Our lifelong love. When we find that one person, something will happen to let us know we’ve found him.”
“Are you telling me that candy cane reacted to me because I’m supposed to be your one true love?” Jonathan asked. Her story sounded so incredible, yet she was deadly serious. And because he had already witnessed a taste of her power, he knew he had no choice but to believe her. Oddly enough, though, he wasn’t having any difficulty with that.
Tamberly scrunched up her nose slightly. “Wellll, reacting to you isn’t exactly…” She paused, then gave a deep sigh. “Jonathan, I didn’t come here tonight just to have dinner with you. I came because I have to know if you pass the sex hex test.”
“The what?”
“We have to have sex. If you pass the test, then it will prove we were meant to be together.”
“What kind of test? A sex hex?” he repeated. At the mention of having sex, his body had gone into instant alert, including a jump in both his heart rate and blood pressure.
“The sex hex test,” she clarified. “I’ve been waiting and searching for some sort of sign to prove to me that you are my intended.” Picking up the candy cane from beside her plate, she held it up. “The stripes moving on this are my sign. The candy canes are my guide.”
“So all we have to do is have sex, and that’s it?”
“We have to have sex with the candy cane,” Tamberly told him. “And if you pass, it will let us know.”
“How? I mean, how will it let us know?”
She shrugged as she grinned. “I don’t know, but I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”
Chapter Eleven
Jonathan stared at her, unable to believe what she had just told him. To think that all
day he had been fighting a raging hard-on while praying tonight might lead to some heavy groping, if not a home run. And now she was telling him they had to have sex to see if he passed some sort of witchly test that would determine if he was meant to be her one true love.
Who did he have to thank for this miracle?
Before he could think of a reply, Tamberly got to her feet and rushed over to the little corner where Lyle had set up his miniature tree. Snatching several of the candy canes, she gave him an impish smile then disappeared into the back bedroom. Jonathan was right behind her.
She slipped away from his arms when he reached for her, whirling around and tossing the candy canes on top of the bed. “Take your clothes off!” she giggled.
“Hell no! Let me take yours off first!” He reached for her again, and this time she didn’t resist. Tamberly wriggled her hips to tempt him, showing him enough leg to make him believe she was either panty-less, or wearing one of those bare wisps of a thong. He kissed her as she melted against him, but this time she didn‘t seem to mind his cock grinding into her bellybutton.
Slowly, he ran his hands down her back as her mouth opened up for him. Following the smooth curve downward, he felt the firm fullness of her buttocks in his palms, and he gave them a gentle squeeze. She giggled again in response, and her warm, minty breath filled his lungs. Emboldened, Jonathan pressed her harder against his erection. Tamberly sighed loudly and rose up on her tiptoes until his cock bent slightly downward and eased into the juncture between her thighs.
He raised the dress higher, sliding it above her hips and waist until he could feel her flesh. His fingertips encountered the thin elastic string of her panties, and he playfully snapped it.
“To hell with this,” Tamberly muttered sexily as she pulled slightly away. Grabbing the hem of his pullover sweater vest, she lifted it above his head, and Jonathan ducked down to let her remove it. Underneath he wore a long-sleeved shirt. He started to unbutton a cuff when she stayed his hand. “Uh-uh. Allow me.” Giving him a playful grin, she ran her forefinger down the row of buttons on the front of the oxford. The closures slipped out of their holes of their own accord.
Like magic. He chuckled at the analogy.
“What’s so funny?” Tamberly whispered. Before he could answer, she spread back the fabric and immediately latched her mouth onto one of his nipples, sucking and pulling on it with her lips until he groaned. She moaned in response, and the vibrations zapped more currents of desire straight to his cock.
“Oh, God, Tam.”
She continued to playfully abuse his nipple. At some point she reached up and hung a candy cane on the other one. Jonathan felt his nipple elongate and harden to provide a stable enough base to hold up the confection. He stared—not so much at the sight of her suckling, but at the way the red stripes from the cane undulated off the candy and proceeded to dance their way around his areola before wrapping his nipple in minute curlicues. The cool sensation of peppermint raised goose bumps in their wake.
Somehow he managed to get the dress up over her head. As he’d suspected, she wore no bra. Her breasts lightly swayed once they were free, full and perfectly natural. Jonathan smiled to see the tips were a succulent raspberry red, just as he’d suspected.
“No fair.” Tamberly tapped him in the chest with a candy cane. “You still have your pants on.”
“So do you,” he teased and snapped the bit of elastic on her hip.
“So do I what?” She glanced up to give him a playful, narrow-eyed look.
“Still have your panties on,” he repeated.
“What panties?”
“These—”
He stopped as his fingers couldn’t find the thong’s thin string. Peering down, it was evident she had disposed of the bit of fabric with witchcraft. Jonathan smiled and took a step back so he could see her full-on, including the lovely tangle of reddish curls covering her muff. “You’re making my mouth water, Tam.”
“What’s stopping you?”
He didn’t need an invitation. Quickly, he lifted her off her feet and swung her over the bed to let her drop onto the mattress. Tamberly laughed with joy, and the infectious sound also made him laugh aloud.
He started to reach for his belt to begin undoing it, but was stopped again when she scrambled onto her knees and reached up to tap the buckle with the candy cane. The leather strap popped open, and Jonathan stared in amazement as the zipper lowered itself, followed by the pants. Once they reached his ankles, he stepped out of them, and the clothing slid across the floor to the wall. He raised an eyebrow at her. “You forgot my briefs.”
Tamberly grinned mischievously. “No, I didn’t. I wanted to take care of those personally. C’mere.”
She was holding a candy cane in each hand and reaching toward him to hook the front waistband of his briefs. A gentle tug brought him to the edge of the bed. Snagging the sides of the underwear, she gave them another tug, and they were gone. By this time Jonathan no longer cared how he got undressed. The simple marvel of watching her use her powers was entertaining, as well as surprising.
He watched to see her reaction to the sight of his cock bobbing in front of her. She stared at it for a few seconds, then reached up to touch the end of it with the piece of candy. Instantly, a thread of coolness wove its way into the center of his erection, chilling his balls until they scrunched up inside his body cavity. A moment later, Tamberly leaned over and lapped the flushed head. “Mmm. Odd.”
“Huh?”
“You taste like a candy cane. I mean, your pre-cum, it’s pepperminty!”
She slowly ran the curved part of the cane along the top of his cock. Jonathan blinked. The red stripes from the confection appeared to be streaming across his flesh, curling and swirling around the bulging blood vessels. Tamberly oohed at the sight. Impulsively, she bent down and ran her tongue along one side, dragging across the moving curlicues. “Mmm! And your dick tastes just like the candy, too! Mmm! Yummy!”
He didn’t need to ask her to take him into her mouth. She did it on her own, closing her lips first around the weeping head and slurping, licking the cum dripping from the end of his cock. Jonathan stared at the definitely whitish fluid with the thin red lines weaving through it. “Tam?”
“Mmm. You taste so good. So good.”
A shudder ran through him when her hot, wet mouth enveloped the first couple of inches and began to move forward toward the root. He could feel himself sliding over her tongue that felt like moist corduroy.
Deeper, further, Tamberly swallowed him until he nudged the back of her throat. She paused to adjust, then pushed all the way to his pubic bush. Incredibly, she managed to take all of him.
He started to compliment her on her skills when she pulled away, raking her teeth lightly along the sensitive skin. She hadn’t begun to give him a full-on blow job, and already Jonathan felt himself teetering on the edge of his orgasm. Only by sheer willpower was he able to hold himself back. He couldn’t come now. He had to stay hard for the main course.
Hold on, old man. Hold the fuck on!
Grabbing her by the shoulders, he carefully disengaged her from his cock. Tamberly eagerly lapped at him as she was pulled away. “Mmm. More. I want more.”
“Later. Now it’s my turn,” he insisted, and with a gentle shove, pushed her back onto the mattress.
Tamberly grinned and lifted her knees to spread herself open. Climbing onto the mattress, Jonathan dove for the juncture between her legs, but not before grabbing one of the candy canes left sitting on top of the blanket. “Give me one of those. I want to see if this magic stuff works both ways.”
He bent over her and began to drag the cane through the dark curls, combing the deep, reddish hairs. To their amazement, instead of red swirls running across the glistening muff, the thin lines were white. A candy cane in reverse. The patterns wove and danced like they were playing peekaboo.
Tamberly gasped. “It feels cool. I mean cold cool.”
“I know. I felt it,
too.”
Burrowing his face nose-first into her fragrant pussy was like dipping into a nest of peppermint and spice. He parted her inner lips with his tongue, and was rewarded with a splash of hot sweetness. “Oh, fuck me, you are delicious!”
Her fingers dug into the hair on his scalp, anchoring him between her legs. Encouraged, Jonathan pressed further, swaying his face from side to side in order to find her waiting clit. Once he was there, he latched onto it with his tongue and lips, and it sprang into hard attention.
It was like sucking on a candy drop.
Jonathan moaned, knowing the vibrations would go through her. When she gasped and clutched his hair tighter, he was rewarded with a shot of cream straight onto his tongue. A quick glance confirmed his suspicions—the whitish liquid was interspersed with tiny red filigree. And the taste…
“Don’t think me strange,” he murmured, resting his chin on top of her mound and looking up at her. “But I’ve never been particularly fond of peppermint. But you’re quickly changing my mind, Tam. I’ve never tasted anything so fantastic in my life. Just smelling you down here makes my mouth water!”
“Now you know how you taste to me,” she panted. “Keep eating me, Jon! Don’t stop!”
But he knew he had to at some point. As much as he loved sinking his nose between her pussy lips and burrowing his tongue into her tight little hole as the rich scent of candy canes wafted through his sinuses, his cock was demanding equal time and equal pleasure.
One final pull on her clit, and Jonathan reared back slightly and glanced down. By now the sight of swirling, pivoting, thin red lines of filigree moving across her pink skin no longer surprised him. In fact, he expected it now, because he knew what she would taste like if he ran his tongue again over the moistness.
This was not Tamberly working her powers anymore. This was pure magic. Predestined magic. Magic that proved beyond a doubt that the two of them were meant to be lovers. Lifelong lovers. And, oddly, Jonathan felt ready for such a monumental change in his life.