A Witch In Time

by Robyn Peterman

  “Don’t bet on it, Bermangagmeshitz,” I shot back evenly and handed him the money.

  “But I’m a gambling man,” he informed me with a laugh so hideous I blanched. “Till we meet again.”

  With that, Bermangoggleshitz poofed away taking his snakes and his stench with him. I dropped to the floor and curled into a ball. Mac shifted back and took me into his strong arms.

  “Is everyone okay?” I asked, shaking like a leaf.

  “Yes, we are,” Baba Yaga said as she stroked my hair. “You might be ready sooner than I thought.”

  “No,” Mac growled, starring daggers at Baba Yaga. “She’s got enough on her plate right now. Leave her alone.”

  “It’s not my choice to make,” Baba snapped in a voice would give all of us nightmares for a couple weeks. “And you’re being insolent.”

  “My apologies,” Mac said with respect. “But she’s only thirty. Let her live a normal life for a while.”

  “It’s okay,” I told Mac as I stood and faced the leader of the witches. “I’m not ready yet. I have no clue if I could have taken that freak show out. I was bluffing.”

  “He knew that,” she commented mildly.

  “And he let me live?”

  “He knows as well as I do how powerful you will become and now you owe him a favor. Bermangoggleshitz may be evil, but he is not stupid. However, the chipmunks are another story,” Baba Yoscary said as she turned her attention to the rodents. “How did you get involved with the warlock?”

  “He seemed really nice at first,” Chad offered up with an embarrassed shrug.

  Baba’s eye roll beat all the eye rolls I’d witnessed in my short life. “Sassy, can you handle these simpletons and teach them good from evil?”

  “Yes, I can. I will also smite their asses if they get out of line,” Sassy replied as she stood proud and tall. “I will be a good mother.”

  “I believe you will.” Baba Yaga sighed as she took my father’s hand in hers and leaned on him. “Fabio, I’d like to go to Paris. I need some crème brulee and a good bottle of red. Can you arrange that?”

  “Your wish is my command, darling,” he said, kissing the top of her braided head.

  “Zelda, I’m proud of you. You deserve some peace. However, I shall be watching. Always,” Baba Yaga warned in her I am the ruler of the world voice.

  Fabio crossed to me and took my face gently in his hands. “Are you really okay, my sweet? What you did tonight was nothing short of amazing and I’m not talking about the play.”

  “I am,” I told him truthfully. “As awful as it was, it needed to be done. And just so you know… I love you.”

  “And I you,” my dad said as he pressed his lips to my forehead. “I’m assuming this means I’ll be getting a new son-in-law?”

  “Possibly,” I mumbled as I felt heat crawl up my neck.

  “Yes,” Mac corrected me. “You will.”

  “That’s all kinds of hot,” Sassy cheered as she pulled her still shell-shocked new family toward the exit. “I want all the details, bestie!”

  “Well, we’re off,” Fabio announced as he and Baba Yobearerofscarynews poofed off to Paris.

  “So I take it Bermangoggleshitz is not a lesbian?” Fat Bastard asked as he, Boba Fett and Jango Fett waddled after Sassy and her crew.

  “Correct,” I muttered with a stifled chuckle, hoping we were done with the ambiguous sexual references for a while.

  “It’s still a shitty name,” Jango grunted as he grabbed the plungers from the prop table and followed the group.

  I had to agree. It was a shitty name, but in the end it had not been a shitty night—not at all.

  “You ready to christen the tree house?” Mac asked with a sexy lopsided grin.

  “Yes. Yes, I believe I am.”

  CHAPTER 19

  “Why do I feel like a virgin on her wedding night?” I blurted out as I glanced around the charming tree house with delight.

  The interior was as lovely as the exterior. It was one large, open room dominated by a king sized bed—definitely a sex pad. The colors were light and airy and all of the windows were open letting in the cool evening breeze. My stomach clenched in nervousness and excitement. I was going to do this.

  “You are a virgin on your wedding night,” Mac replied as he set an enormous cooler full of food down next to the bed.

  “I’m not a virgin.” I giggled as I hopped on the bed and bounced. Little sparkles of golden magic danced around the room as my joy overwhelmed me. “And we’re not getting married.”

  “You’re a virgin to the Mating Frenzy,” he commented as he grinned with pure masculine satisfaction and caught some of the glittering enchantment on his fingers.

  “So are you,” I reminded him feeling a little possessive. He was mine now.

  “Yep.” His grin grew wider and he stripped off his clothes so fast my head spun. “And mating is far more bonding than marriage.”

  “For Shifters,” I reminded him as I admired his hot bod and tried not to drool.

  “For us,” he corrected as he sat on the edge of the bed and took my hands in his. “Zelda, we don’t have to mate tonight if it’s too soon for you. We can make love till the sun comes up and go slowly with the till death do us part section.”

  “I love you,” I whispered meaning it even though the thought of mating still unnerved me.

  “And I love you. We’re mates, but this has been a long and emotional day. If you’re not ready, I’ll wait.”

  As I searched his eyes I knew he was serious. Goddess, he was all kinds of perfect. I was terrified, but did I want to wait? The simple fact that he insisted on it as an option even though he was a bossy, alpha-male, he-man made me love him even more. The bite was probably going to suck, but I’d dealt with plenty of pain in my life. What exactly was I scared of?

  I loved him.

  He loved me.

  I was certain I wanted to spend the rest of my long not boring life with him.

  He was good inside and out.

  He would be a great father for puppies, which I was still concerned I would blow out.

  He thought my crazy was sexy.

  He had an ass to die for and a very fine Bon Jovi.

  I was in—all in.

  “I don’t want to wait. Bite me, wolfman,” I said on a single breath as I tore my clothes off and jumped him.

  “You’re sure?” he asked as his fangs dropped and his body hardened underneath mine.

  His eyes glowed with desire and love as he gently laid me back on the bed. Millions of thoughts of ways to tell him I loved him swirled through my brain, but all I could do was nod.

  “It will only hurt for a second,” he whispered as his fangs scraped the soft skin of my neck.

  I shuddered and moaned then pressed even closer to his body. Every part of me felt like a live wire. Goddess, the anticipation was hotter than hell, I wondered if the bite would make me explode.

  “How does it work?” I gasped out, wriggling like a cat in heat against him.

  “I think it will come naturally.” His warm breath tickled my neck sending me into a mini orgasm.

  How on earth did he do that? He’d barely touched me and I was already having mini explosions. As his hands began to roam my naked body, I arched into them. There was no possible way to get close enough.

  “Should we just do it fast and get it over with?” I asked breathlessly as I ran my hands greedily over his broad shoulders and chest.

  “Never done this before so I’m not sure,” he mumbled as his mouth began to trace the path that his hands had just taken.

  Oh. My. Goddess. His lips found my aching breasts and tingles shot through my body right to Little Red Riding Hood. Mac’s hand caught my wrists and trapped them above my head as he went back to work.

  I dragged air into my lungs and tried to think, but my mind was a blur of pleasure and need. My breathing grew ragged as his open mouth slid lower. All rational thought ceased.

  “So fuc
king hot,” he whispered against my skin.

  My hips rocked and his growl of lust sent chills through me. His wolf, as close to the surface as I’d ever seen it, sent my body into overdrive. Mac’s mouth found the spot that made coherent anything impossible and I whimpered and writhed.

  Just as I was about to detonate he stopped abruptly and eased his way back up my body. His eyes were unfocused and he was close to going over the edge. I felt bold and fearless. The power I held over this beautiful man was only matched by the power he had over me. In his arms was exactly where I wanted to be. I’d never been so sure about anything in my entire life.

  I slowly ran my tongue over the seam of his mouth and tangled my fingers in his thick hair. Pulling him closer, I nipped and bit at his full lips.

  “The next time you come will be with me buried inside you,” he informed me with hooded eyes and a wicked sexy smirk.

  My magic burst in little golden bubbles and rained down on us as my use of language still eluded me. Mac’s laugh of delight made my heart tighten in happiness.

  “Goddess,” I heaved out on an uneven breath. “The Mating Frenzy rocks.”

  “Baby, the Mating Frenzy hasn’t even started yet.”

  “Oh shit.”

  I felt his hardness on my thigh and heard his harsh intake of breath as I guided him into me. I moaned as he pushed and my body softened to accommodate him.

  “Holy hell,” I hissed as he continued to move. “Did Bon Jovi get bigger?”

  “He’s anticipating the frenzy.” Mac groaned and every muscle in his body went taut. “I’ll go slow,” he promised gruffly. “Tell me if it hurts.”

  “It hurts good,” I hissed as I rotated my hips taking as much as I could. He was very well endowed on a good day, but this was freakin’ awesome.

  “I’m so in love with you,” he ground out as his hips jerked and he buried himself to the hilt. “You’re mine.”

  Stars ripped across my vision and my body jerked uncontrollably beneath his. His sharp fangs grazed my shoulder as his body moved in rhythm with mine. Need consumed me like I’d never known and I grabbed his head and pressed his mouth to my neck.

  He needed no more invitation.

  The sound of fangs puncturing skin should have been gross, but it was hotter than Hell in July. Mac’s scent and the sexy sounds coming from deep in his chest undid me. Stark need—naked desire. I screamed at the animalistic invasion and then sobbed as I came harder than I ever had in my life. The burning made me go rigid for a brief moment, but the sheer pleasure that roared through my body replaced the pain quickly.

  Mac’s body trembled as we performed a ritual more magical than any spell I’d ever cast. We belonged to each other for eternity and nothing would undo our vow. It was as exhilarating as it was terrifying, but it was so right.

  I thought I loved him before. That was nothing compared to how I felt now.

  “More,” he demanded as he pulled out, flipped me to my stomach then entered me again.

  The aftershocks of my orgasm continued as a stronger one consumed me… and he didn’t stop.

  Nope, he went all night long and I went happily with him.

  Oxygen wasn’t necessary as we went from position to position that should have put both of us in traction for a year. The bed broke in half after one acrobatic go ‘round so we just yanked the mattress off and continued on the floor.

  It was all kinds of crazy and every kind of hot.

  I wasn’t sure if I would live through the night, but it was a hell of a way to go.

  ***

  “I think I came fifteen times,” I purred happily as I lay like a wet noodle next to the greatest lover the Goddess ever created.

  “You came twenty-one times,” Mac corrected me as he grinned with well deserved cocky male satisfaction.

  “I half expected to wake up in the Next Adventure this morning. I can’t believe we lived through that.” I giggled and snuggled up to him.

  “You woke up exactly where you’re supposed to. In my arms and in my bed—well, on my mattress on the floor,” he informed me as we both took in the splintered king sized wooden frame with glee.

  “I feel kind of funny,” I mused aloud as I touched the bite mark on my neck. It was sore, but I liked it. “Will this leave a scar?”

  “Nope,” he said as he hopped up and started unloading the food from the cooler. “You hungry?”

  “Dumb question,” I said, sitting up and then falling right back down as dizziness overtook me.

  Mac continued to pull out food, unaware that I wasn’t quite right. I kicked him in his naked butt with my foot to get his attention.

  “Something’s wonky,” I told him as I tried to sit up again only to lie right back down. “I feel weird.”

  “You’re just hungry,” he said avoiding eye contact.

  “I’m always hungry,” I snapped.

  Why was he being evasive and a dick? We’d just had the best sex-a-thon of our lives and he was frantically yanking bagels and cream cheese out of a cooler. Oh. My. Goddess. Was I going to turn into a wolf? Did he leave out some pertinent information? I liked being a witch. I did not want to go furry on full moons.

  “You just need some protein and you’ll be right as rain,” he said nervously as he slapped ten hardboiled eggs on a plate and put it in front of me.

  “Right as rain?” I repeated with narrowed eyes. “Did you turn into my dad?”

  “Um … no,” he replied as he began to straighten the room. “Eat. You need your energy.”

  “Because I’m going to turn into a wolf?” I hissed as I yet again tried to sit up.

  I had more success this time, but I was still strangely shaky.

  “No, of course not.” His laugh was hearty, but he was still in avoidance mode. “You have to be born a wolf.”

  “Interesting,” I commented as I inhaled the eggs and the bagels as if I hadn’t eaten in a month. “I’m still hungry.”

  “On it,” he said as he unloaded fruit, coffee cake and pickles from the cooler.

  I grabbed the pickles and shoved them into my mouth followed by half the coffee cake and then went right back to the pickles. Damn, pickles and coffee cake were a delicious combo.

  “Did you bring ice cream or raw steak or maybe some bones to chew on?” I asked with a mouthful and then froze.

  Bones to chew on? What in the Goddesses name was wrong with me? I didn’t eat raw steak and I’d never gnawed on a bone in my life. Mac was now cleaning windows like his life depended on it and had worked up a sweat. It was kind of hot to see a sexy dude doing housework, but the windows were already spotless. The wolf had some explaining to do.

  “You wanna help me out here?” I asked him as the truth I was firmly in denial of began to dawn on me.

  “Sure,” he said as he grabbed an enormous raw steak and six bones out of the cooler and shoved them onto my hands.

  “You knew I’d want this?” I shrieked in disbelief as my mouth watered at the disgusting pile of formerly inedible food in my lap.

  “I thought there was a possibility,” he admitted sheepishly as he backed away cautiously.

  “Of …?” I questioned with narrowed eyes, knowing the answer but unsure I could hear it without passing out.

  “Of us making a baby,” he mumbled and quickly raised the raw steak to my lips.

  I ate it as my brain and my emotions ping-ponged around like a spray of bullets from a machine gun. This was not possible. I just figured out I could love people and accept their love. I’d broken a bed during a sex marathon with a man who turns into a wolf. I call my woowoo Little Red Riding Hood. I couldn’t be anyone’s mother. I was a materialistic Shifter Wanker who used profanity in my spells.

  I had no clue how to change diapers or weave fairy tales without sex in them. Taking care of cats was a challenge for me. How in the hell was I supposed to raise a baby? I was a magical, irresponsible, walking clusterfuck in Prada wedges. Tears blurred my eyes as I thought of all the ways I woul
d unintentionally screw up my kid.

  I didn’t deserve a baby.

  “It doesn’t usually happen this quickly,” Mac said in a rush as he took me in his arms and held me close. “I felt the magic in the air, but I was so blinded with lust and love that I pushed it aside.”