Twisted Magic

by Holly Hood

  “Well, I’m for sure one of those people.” I laughed. “I am totally that person who gets down on occasion. I have been down for a long time, actually waiting to be happy again.”

  “When do you think that will be?” Hutch sprawled out on the love seat, his long legs hanging over the side, his arms behind his head as he listened to my stupid rant.

  “I have no idea,” I sat up. “I don’t think anyone knows the answer to that. However, I’m sure they know it when they feel it.”

  “You haven’t felt it yet?” Hutch asked.

  I shook my head. “I thought I did. Have you ever felt it?”

  He looked away and then back to me, his eyes connecting with mine, a sheepish smirk on his face. “I’d say there was a time or two or three.”

  “Wow, big man. What I would give for just one time that was more than only fleeting.”

  Hutch smiled a handsome smile from his spot on the love seat. It drew me to him. Suddenly, I found myself beside him on the love seat, his legs behind me, still in the same relaxed pose not overstepping any bounds as he watched me watch him.

  “You’ll know them when you feel them.” He licked his lips, bringing my gaze to his mouth.

  Kiss me. My mind screamed, but he wasn’t budging. He wasn’t going to give in unless he knew I wanted to. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He was going to wait until I made the first move since I rejected him before.

  Eagerness played on his lips. I leaned in, my hair falling against his chest. It’s just a kiss.

  His arms slipped around me, his thumb grazing my waist. I grinned.

  “You’re a very big tease, Hutch,” I said, Hutch nodded, his head in the perfect position for our lips to meet when I was ready.

  “Remember, I said I like to leave those things to the imagination,” he said coolly making my insides melt.

  I trailed a hand down his red t-shirt. “I’m drunk. It would be very bad if anything happened between us right now.” My fingers trailed further, egging him on.

  Hutch concentrated on my hand. “I haven’t made a move, doll.”

  It was me making the moves. He was right. And I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stop. I looked at him. “There is just something about you.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. But, it’s there.” I pulled away, trying to control the urge to touch him again.

  “Why the doubt?” Hutch sat up, close enough to make my heart pound in my chest, but still he didn’t make a move. “Why are you so afraid to give into your natural urges?”

  I scoffed. “We know the answer to that.”

  Hutch raked his hand through his hair. “Because you have a boyfriend.”

  I nodded. That was the reason why being around Hutch was so difficult. You weren’t supposed to be attracted to other guys. Slade doesn’t care about you if he did he wouldn’t hang around with Audrey. I told myself.

  “So then you admit there is something you want from me.” Hutch sat back satisfied, dropping his legs across my lap getting comfortable. “It would imply maybe your feelings for your boyfriend aren’t as sincere as you think.”

  I rolled my eyes, him and his words, although fancy, they were only words. “You just want to get in my pants.”

  “I’m a guy of course getting into your pants sounds like a good time. Nevertheless, that’s not it,” he sat up, planting his feet firmly on the floor.

  I didn’t know how to respond. He was cocky and confident, but also honest. And not afraid to open up to me, he expressed his feelings a whole lot more than Slade that was for sure.

  “So if you don’t just want in my pants, what do you want?” I raised an eyebrow, studying my hands waiting for an answer from Hutch. Maybe I was being foolish to ask such a thing.

  “I want to help you. Show you that being capable of unexpected things isn’t all that bad. I want to teach you how to embrace it, because I can tell you’re special.” Hutch stood up. He slipped a stone from his pocket and put it in my palm.

  I rubbed my fingers across it not sure why I was even holding it and what he was trying to show me.

  “What is it?” I asked confused.

  “A stone…nature.” He took it back and steadied it in his palm. “My brothers and I use everything around us to harness energy. If you open yourself up to nature you will be surprised at what you are capable of.”

  I didn’t understand. “I thought you said what I was, was dark and part of something evil?”

  “I did, but I never said you were dark or evil. You were given power, Hope. You need to learn how to have control over what you’re capable of, or else it will control you.” Hutch sat down beside me. He rubbed the stone between his palms, and then he brought the stone to my cheek. I pulled back, surprised by the coolness of the stone. He rubbed it in his hands again and quickly touched my hand.

  “Ow!” I exclaimed at the unexpected heat attacking my skin. He chuckled, laying the stone in his palm. He closed his eyes and slowly the stone hovered above us.

  “What would you do if you could? Let’s start with the stone.” He flicked his fingers bringing the stone to rest again in his palm.

  “I-I don’t know,” I stammered. I was never good with magic. Slade had promised to teach me everything I needed to know. And then that just never happened. I was left with the ability to do amazing things, but no way to know exactly what to do with it.

  “Change its color, imagine the color, feel the color.” He pushed the stone in my palm acting like it was that simple. I brushed my hair off my shoulder determined to do something right for once, my fingers encircled the stone as I concentrated. I opened my hands smiling at the lovely shade of lavender staring back at me.

  “What a great choice,” Hutch said with a smile. He took the stone back. “Now I want you to tell me something, but with your mind not your words, Hope.”

  This was familiar to me. Like the moment in my bedroom when I was thinking about Slade all alone, and he had heard me. I wondered if it was similar to that. And I wondered if Slade was capable of that why he didn’t do it all the time to communicate with me.

  I nodded, thinking something I never would have the guts to say out loud to Hutch. Knowing that more than likely he was going to prove me wrong when he told me what I was thinking, but I didn’t care, I thought it anyways.

  Hutch studied me closely, concentrating hard, his expression stern. I waited, my insides fluttering with the exhilaration of what was to come. I concentrated on the words, the unspoken message I was trying to communicate to him. I saw the words dancing around in my mind like tiny butterflies, and suddenly the corner of his mouth curved upwards a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

  He moved in, not tearing his eyes away from mine. “Are you sure you’re dying for me to kiss you?” he teased. I nodded eagerly happy that it worked.

  His hands tangled in my hair. He inched towards my lips, and I was so ready it was making me crazy. I touched his neck, lifting my head prepared for the kiss; it was the only thing that was on my mind. I could smell him. A fresh scent coupled with aftershave, and at last his lips met mine, delicately at first making my heart skip beats.

  His tongue teasing me forward right into his arms, I wrapped my arms around his neck falling back on the couch. He followed. My insides blazed with desire. My body was running on pure adrenaline and liquor. I wanted him, and I didn’t care if I was drunk or foolish. I just wanted him.

  I didn’t want to think about my problems. At that moment, there were no problems, no dad to worry about, no so-called boyfriend who ran around with other girls behind my back. It didn’t matter, all that mattered was the taste of Hutch’s lip and how his hands felt against my skin. And I liked that.

  Hutch backed off, his hands trailing down my spine. His fingertips teased my flesh. My body throbbed with desire for this guy. “I think you’re beautiful, and I swear this isn’t me trying to sweet talk you. The things you do to me, Hope.” He pushed my hair from my neck. I closed my eyes at the de
licious feel of his lips on my skin.

  “You don’t have to say those things.” I kissed him. “I want you as much as you want me right now.” I panted, tugging at his hair, our lips colliding, our breathing, passionate and labored. My lips throbbed from the intensity of his kiss, and I wanted more.

  “I like the sound of that. Say it again for me,” he coaxed, slipping his hands beneath my shirt. I raised my hands freeing myself from my tank top.

  “You want me to tell you that I want you?” I asked, letting him undress me. I pulled his shirt over his head, and he didn’t fight me. He let me free him from his shirt. I touched his muscular stomach, reveling in the smooth tan skin free of tattoos beneath my fingertips.

  Hutch pulled me close, winding a hand through the length of my hair. He tugged my head back planting a mind-numbing kiss on my lips. My body trembled. I felt like I was about to explode. He had a way about him. He did things to me that I never felt before. He liked control, and I was willing to give it to him just to be free, for the moment.

  He dropped back on the couch, helping me into his lap, his hands skimming the length of my body. I smiled as his fingers slipped between the denim of my shorts and my skin. He watched me with a satisfied grin on his face.

  “You’re such a beautiful girl.”

  I kissed him again, feeling nothing but excitement that this stunning creature was enamored by me. By me, a simple brown-haired girl with so many problems on her shoulders and he didn’t care.

  I pulled his hands up to my stomach, coaxing him to touch me. Dying to know how it felt to have his hands on the parts of me that was dying for his attention that quite honestly needed it. He took hold of the string of my pink bikini pulling it free from my neck.

  I flushed scarlet, exposed and uncertain if I was all that he was hoping I was. His hands touched my breast, making them insignificant in his big grasp. Our eyes locked, and he tugged me to his chest.

  “Please tell me this is what you want to do, because I might go mad if I’ve got it all wrong,” he whispered against my jaw. His breath tickled my neck sending shivers down my spine.

  We kissed, breaking apart for a few useless seconds, his thumb brushing my lower lip as he waited for my reply. I grabbed his hand placing it on my bare chest.

  “Do you feel that?” I asked, referring to the pounding chaos taking place on the inside. Something that told me I wasn’t wrong, that I was feeling something other than disappointment or betrayal. I needed to feel it.

  Hutch nodded.

  “I want this. I want this so much,” I moaned against his mouth.

  “Promise?” he asked, pulling me against him, his hands in my hair. Everything was so intense. Even so, without warning my heart was saying STOP!

  A set of headlights illuminated the room shocking me into panic. I covered my chest frightened that we were about to be caught in such an intense and intimate moment. Hutch lifted me effortlessly from the couch into his arms heading for his bedroom. He kicked his door open not bothering to turn on a light. I stumbled toward his bed, but he yanked me back pushing me up against the door. It shut, leaving us alone in his room. Free to do what we wanted without fear of being caught by his brothers.

  I pulled at his hair accepting his passionate kiss; he moved closer his hips holding me in place against the wall. He guided me and rubbed against me teasingly.

  “You still want this?” He said his voice tranquil and eager for the next step.

  What more could I want at that moment. My body was dying for relief, so teased and turned on there was nothing I wanted more. However, I couldn’t get Slade out of my mind.

  I looked away as Hutch smoothed my hair. He lifted my chin. “Tell me what’s wrong, Doll.”

  “We shouldn’t be doing this.” I wasn’t the kind of girl who cheated on their boyfriend. Even if he wasn’t doing right by me, that meant I was just like my mother and didn’t want to be anything like her.

  I closed my eyes and let out a troubled sigh. Hutch pressed his lips against the top of my head. He squeezed my arm assuring me things were okay and left the room returning quickly with my clothes.

  “Thanks, and I am sorry.” I secured my top on. “I wasn’t trying to lead you on. I think I am confused. It’s just not the right time to be making this kind of decision.”

  Hutch nodded a small smile on his lips. “Slade’s a lucky guy. You’re an amazing girl.”

  A CHOICE

  It didn’t matter that I turned Hutch down. I was still drunk, and I couldn’t go home.

  Hutch offered me his bed. I gladly climbed in knowing things were not going to go anywhere, and that it was nothing more than a harmless sleep over now. It just felt good to be near someone who seemed to enjoy being around me as much as I enjoyed their company.

  I turned on my side lifting his arm and slipped beneath it. I was exhausted. And I quickly fell asleep to the sound of his breathing and his heart pounding against my back, holding tight to his arm.

  Morning came too soon. I raised my head looking around the room for something to jar my memory. I knew I wasn’t home. I knew I was with Hutch, but it hadn’t hit me just how awful I was about to feel.

  I threw off the covers, staring at the empty spot beside me. I raked a hand through my tangled hair and gasped as I caught sight of myself in the mirror across from his bed. I covered the marks on my neck in shock of what took place last night.

  “Morning,” Hutch said, coming in the room wearing nothing but basketball shorts and a smile. He handed over a box of doughnuts, all glazed with white icing and sprinkles. He leaned against the doorway, his shorts hanging off him in that sexy way that always drove me wild in magazines. He toyed with his hair, the untidy look making him even more attractive.

  “Brought you some fattening food to settle the hangover,” Hutch said.

  I opened the box and snagged a doughnut. “Thank you.” I sighed. Was I really about to yell at him for the marks on my neck?

  The problem was now there was proof of our encounter, and I wasn’t sure how I would hide it or if I even wanted to.

  I took a bite out of the doughnut. “What time is it?”

  Hutch smirked, “almost ten.”

  I looked around his room, bare walls, and a couple of suitcases in the corner. A laptop sat on a rather simple desk, there wasn’t a single photo or personal effect on his wall.

  “Your room is so bare. Don’t you have any pictures or sports memorabilia to hang up?”

  Hutch took a seat. “I like to travel light. All my worldly possessions are back home in my real house.” He smoothed a lock of hair behind my ear as I stuffed another bite of a doughnut in my mouth.

  “So you have a home?” I dropped the rest of the doughnut in the box a little queasy. “What’s it like?”

  Hutch’s eyes brightened at the mention of it. “Lovely, doll.”

  “Why do you do that?” I said, fighting against the butterflies.

  He stroked another strand of hair behind my ear again, his fingertip's grazing my cheekbone. “Do what? Call you doll?”

  I nodded feeling a bit bashful suddenly.

  “It’s a term of endearment.” He leaned in, catching me off guard as he planted a kiss on my forehead.

  “If you would like to take a shower before you go you’re more than welcome,” he smiled and quickly left the room. My heart pounded in my chest. My stomach dropped, what was I doing?

  I was lying in another guy’s bed, enjoying myself and his affection. He was so sweet and polite, downright charming.

  I looked in the mirror, and rough.

  I drifted off into a daydream of what it would have been like if we had slept together, scolding myself for even thinking about it.

  As I hurried to shower and make it home with a good excuse about why I was missing all night I was overwhelmed. I suddenly realized that the choice I made was a bad one even if it felt really pleasurable, even if I hadn’t gone all the way. I made a mistake; all because I was so confused about S
lade and what to do.

  I lathered my hair with the only shampoo in the shower and started to cry. I felt horrible in every way imaginable for liking Hutch. Even so, I knew that I did, I could feel the connection. I could feel the desire to be around him, the sadness that soon I would have to leave and figure out a way to hide what we did to the world. Nobody else would understand or see what I saw. They wouldn’t feel how I felt.

  Hutch understood me. He also wanted to help me learn how to be a witch—a good one, not an evil one like Audrey.

  I moved through the hallway afraid to run into his brothers, but at the end of the hallway. I realized it was just Hutch and I. He looked up from the television and smiled.

  “Feel better,” he asked as I sat down beside him on the love seat.

  “A little.” I looked away. “You said you wanted to help me. Do you still want to help me?”

  He searched my eyes confused by my uncertainty. “Of course I want to help you. I thought we settled that last night.”

  “What do you mean settled?”

  Hutch cracked a smile. “Have you forgotten that fast?” he lifted my hand kissing my knuckles.

  The almost sex that occurred last night, I hadn’t forgotten, but I didn’t know what that had to do with anything else. “We almost made a really big mistake. And you gave me this reminder.” I pointed to my neck where the reddish mark rested for the world to see.

  “I can be a handful sometimes when I like what I’m doing, and I like you,” he smirked; I slapped him teasingly on the shoulder. “I thought last night we both were under the same understanding that you wanted my help. That you wanted to steer clear of the dark side.”

  “Hutch, please don’t tell me that.” I looked out the window. It made things so much different.

  He sighed. “Don’t think of it as anything more than I think you’re a great girl. We barely know each other right?” He shrugged it off, making me feel more at ease.

  I twirled a strand of wet hair around my finger thinking about our conversation. About what I wanted, I didn’t want to have anything to do with the dark side. “I want no part of anything evil. But, I also care about them.” I didn’t finish my sentence.