‘I want to learn to do that,’ Heather thought.
“Thank you for reaching out to us, dear. I know that took bravery, and that was something else your father never lacked. I look forward to getting to know you better.” She smiled and stepped out the door. Sarah and Karen and Denise each hugged her in turn, talking about how next Sunday would be even better. More magic, more lessons, and more stories about her family. Blake shook her hand and gave her a real smile, whispering that she had done better than Karen had when she’d first started learning. As the door shut, Heather breathed out against the wood and turned to find Rick leaning against the wall.
“So?”
“They’ll be back next Sunday, every Sunday actually. They’re going to teach me how to use the magic, to control it.” Heather felt the smile tugging at her lips. She was still surprised by how they had instantly accepted her. It had taken Angela Brandt only a few seconds to know she was a member of their family, the daughter of Billy Brandt, and the others had followed her without question. The warmth in them was so much different than the Pritchetts. The Pritchett witches had mostly been cold, power hungry. Even the kinder ones, even Theresa, had distanced themselves from anyone outside the family and viewed them as lesser, treated them as lesser. The Brandts seemed open, warm, accepting.
The difference between natural magic, and stolen magic.
And which side had Heather taken after? She still couldn’t tell.
“Well, I like them. That flu made me feel like death.” Rick grinned and pushed off the wall, and the way his abs shifted drew her attention. “Thanks to them I feel much, much better now.”
She laughed. “It was a cold, not the flu.”
“Do you really want to argue with me right now?” He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her sharply against his chest. Oh yes, he was feeling much better now.
“Depends. What happens if I argue with you right now?” Heather grinned and he laughed low, his dark eyes meeting hers as he looked down at her.
“I’ll spank you over the end of the bed like the naughty, mouthy little submissive you are.” His words, in that voice roughened by arousal, sent chills over her skin.
Heather licked her lips and leaned up on her tiptoes so she was closer to his mouth. “It absolutely was not the flu.”
“Sir,” he added, and she felt the shift between them like a rush of heat up her spine.
“Sir.” As soon as the word left her lips his hand was in her hair, twisting until her neck craned back, and the ache made her moan softly.
“Oh, pretty girl. I was so hoping you’d be mouthy.” Rick stepped back and turned down the hall, keeping his hand in her hair to pull her with him. Her pussy was wet already, and her skin tingled in anticipation, but like always the dynamic of BDSM kept the magic subdued. When he stopped her in front of the bed she felt the magic wanting to surface, recognizing the static electricity as it bubbled up inside her and buzzed beneath her skin like a current. This time when she breathed, she remembered Angela’s voice.
Breathe, Heather. There is a center inside you where the magic comes from, focus on it. Focus on the center and tell it to be calm, tell the magic to recede.
Tell it you will call it when you need it.
“Strip. Slowly.” Rick’s voice only added to her concentration this time; it provided a new level of clarity. Obey. She lifted the bottom of her shirt, moving it slowly upwards as she took deep breaths. With each inch of skin she revealed, the magic calmed further, and when the shirt cleared her head the center was quiet. Beautifully quiet. Without the buzzing in her head she was able to focus on the way her pussy grew wet, on the heat of his gaze across her skin, and on the promise of his punishment. As Heather dropped the last item of her clothing on the floor his hand gripped the back of her neck and pressed her down over the end of the bed. The footboard dug into her bare thighs and she clenched her hands in the comforter in preparation.
He pressed her harder into the bed with one hand and let the other trail over her ass. She shifted the weight between her feet, not wanting to beg yet, but wanting him to start.
“My pretty girl.” Rick’s voice had a growl to it, a delicious rumble that made her squirm. “We could have had a very nice evening… but you had to let that mouth run away from you, and you know I can’t ignore that.” His hand came down hard, and the sting made her gasp even though she’d been expecting it. The heat spread, and his hand came down again on the other cheek, and a third time where her ass met her thighs and the skin was even more sensitive. A whine escaped through gritted teeth and then she pulled in a breath as he paused.
“But I like this version of the evening, sir.” Her words made him chuckle and tighten his grip on the back of her neck. She moaned into the bedding, loving the release of submitting to his strength, of accepting what he wanted to do with her.
“Let’s see if you like it when I’m done with you.” He said it like a threat, but they both knew she’d like it. She was already soaked and squirming under his hand. The spanks started to land hard on her skin, and like always the sting was tolerable at first. A delicious sharpness that came like a spike of pain, but receded quickly into a heat that washed over her skin and left her aroused and craving his touch, wanting more. He made sure to place each spank in a new place, sometimes dipping down to the tops of her thighs where the skin was even more delicate. Each time he did she lifted onto her toes, crying out into the bedding in surprise. Eventually her skin was throbbing and hot and ultra-sensitive and each spank had tears in the corners of her eyes and a stream of pleas fleeing her lips as she twisted her hands in the comforter.
“Please, please, please, sir.” Heather tried to twist her head to the side as she felt tears cross the bridge of her nose, pooling against her other temple, but his grip on her neck was immovable. An even harder spank landed on one cheek and she yelped, pleading as he repeated it on the other. She was lifted onto her toes, her hips rolling as she writhed in an attempt to ease the pain without reaching back to soothe the skin. He would normally be rubbing her, letting the sting absorb into heat faster, but he’d made sure this was clearly a punishment for her smart mouth and she wasn’t sure if she was happy about her choice, or not, as the throbbing in her skin continued.
“Now these are some lovely handprints, pretty girl. I think I want a picture.” Rick’s hand released her neck and she immediately turned her face into the bedding to dry it from the tears and stretch her muscles. She fought the urge to reach back and soothe her ass, because she knew that would result in him bringing out the strap and she didn’t think she could handle that at the moment. “Spread your legs a bit, heels flat on the floor, and stretch your arms out… gorgeous. You are so incredibly hot, baby.”
There wasn’t a noise, but she knew he had his phone out to take pictures, and a rush of pride flooded her along with the curiosity of wanting to see them later. To see her ass and thighs red, to be able to identify his handprints on her skin, to be able to look at the evidence and have him kiss her and tell her how he felt so lucky. Heather felt like the lucky one though. How many men would take a girl back who suddenly stopped seeing them with no real explanation? How many men would still take that girl back when they found out she was a real, live, witch? And then when she set fire to his curtains? Broke his things? Acted like a crazy person, with an even crazier family, who now had an entire new family full of witches?
And somehow he was the one to say he was lucky. Ridiculous.
A chill ran over her skin when his fingers trailed up her spine. He was naked behind her, his hard cock slipping between her thighs to brush over her pussy lips, and she lifted her hips against his on a moan. His fingers dug into her waist and he thrust inside her without warning, splitting her and stretching her until she was groaning into the bed. There was no gentle introduction, he started fucking her hard, but it felt incredible. Each forward thrust woke up the handprints and she found herself pushing back to meet him. Tension coiled around the base of her spine a
nd she bucked trying to get a little friction to her clit, fighting to throw herself over as his pace increased. He knew what she needed, and he slipped one hand over her hip and between her thighs to find her clit. Pleasure exploded when his fingers began that incredible rhythm over the little bundle of nerves and she ground herself against his hand as he continued to fuck her. It was a race, both of them breathing hard, coated in sweat and reaching for that precipice that would give them oblivion. She felt him still inside her and increase the pressure on her clit. “Come for me, baby.”
At his command it was like her body let go, snapping the tension inside her as she came and he thrust again and again until he followed her into the haze of orgasm that had lights sparkling behind her eyes and a giddy hum in her skin. Heather relaxed into the bedding, her breaths rushing in and out against the meter of his own.
“Whoa, now this is new.” Rick slid from her and stepped back and Heather opened her eyes to find small pinpoints of light floating around the bedroom like fireflies. She stood up on shaking legs and watched as they floated, barely moving at all, just suspended in the air.
Apparently those lights hadn’t been just behind her eyes.
“I don’t know what they are.” There was a blush in her cheeks as the acrid burn of magic met the smell of sex in the room. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and swayed gently. She reached out to one of the little dots and her hand passed through it, her skin lighting up before and after it like it was really there, but there was nothing to touch.
“Who cares? It’s beautiful, and it’s not burning down the house.” He nipped her shoulder and she laughed. “Come on, get in bed.”
She climbed forward onto the bed, tugging the comforter back to slip under the sheets. Rick turned off the lamp and the room was suddenly completely dark except for the little lights. It was as if they were floating inside the night sky, out in space where an infinite number of suns were somehow within reach, but still small enough to be viewed as stars. Heather leaned her head on his shoulder as he snuggled down in the sheets next to her and tucked her against him.
“You are incredible, Heather. I’m just… so lucky.” His voice was full of awe, and when she looked up at his face she found his eyes flicking around the room to track the different little stars.
“I’m lucky you haven’t run screaming yet.” She laughed and he did too before pressing a kiss into her hair, and then he tilted her chin up and kissed her for real. His tongue parting her lips and delving into her mouth until she was moaning softly against his.
“I’m not going to run. I love you.” Rick’s eyes bored into hers and she bit her cheek so she wouldn’t make some stupid joke to break the seriousness of the moment. Instead she let her eyes move to the floating balls of light, and she had to admit that of all the weird side-effects of her magic, this was by far the coolest one yet. When she looked back at him she found him smiling.
“I love you, too.” She kissed him softly and he returned it before relaxing back onto the pillow.
“I’ve always wanted to fall asleep under the stars, but I never wanted to deal with the bugs.” He had a dreamy quality to his voice that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. “If I’d known all I had to do was fall in love with a witch, I would have looked for one much sooner.”
Heather stared up at the ceiling, letting the myriad of lights float in front of her vision like she was laying under the night sky and she snuggled a little closer to him. The magic didn’t have to be a terrifying thing; she had found people to help her with that. Her family didn’t need to know her secrets, but she could still be around them; she could go to dinner with Theresa and her boyfriend, and go to Jenny’s book club without consequences. She could be honest with her mom and Michael. She could have a boyfriend.
She could love a man without the world ending.
“If I’d known you’d be so happy about it, I never would have run.” She felt the exhaustion that always hit her post-session coming fast, but she didn’t want to close her eyes to the little lights even as they started winking out. Rick pressed a kiss to her hair and she yawned before forcing her eyes open again. Each little light was flickering and then disappearing, the room growing darker and darker as she slowly slid into sleep, struggling to keep her eyes open until she couldn’t anymore.
The magic was quiet.
She was in the arms of the one she loved.
Happy, content, and without her knowledge, in the closet behind a small stuffed octopus and a collection of comics, there was a ring box waiting to be offered and opened.
The End
Books by Jennifer Bene
Dark / BDSM Romance:
Security Binds Her (Thalia Book 1)
Striking a Balance (Thalia Book 2)
Salvaged by Love (Thalia Book 3)
Taken by the Enemy
Lethal Sin (Dangerous Games Book 1)
Early Sins (A Dangerous Games Prequel)
Black Light: Exposed (Black Light Series Book 2)
Tying the Knot (Thalia Book 4)
Destruction (Fragile Ties Book 1)
Imperfect Monster
The Thalia Series: The Complete Collection
Corrupt Desires
Deviant Desires: A Dark and Dirty Boxset
Inheritance (Fragile Ties Book 2)
Damaged Goods (Dangerous Games Book 2)
Dark / Paranormal Romance:
The Rite
Fae (Daughters of Eltera Book 1)
Tara (Daughters of Eltera Book 2)
BDSM Ménage Romance Novellas:
The Invitation
Reunited
Anthology Appearances:
Black Light: Valentine Roulette (Black Light Series Book 3)
Black Light: Roulette Redux (Black Light Series Book 7)
About the Author
Jennifer Bene is a USA Today bestselling author of dangerously sexy and deviously dark romance. From BDSM, to Suspense, Dark Romance, and Thrillers—she writes it all. Always delivering a twisty, spine-tingling journey with the promise of a happily-ever-after.
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http://jenniferbene.com/newsletter
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You can find her online throughout social media with username @jbeneauthor and on her website:
www.jenniferbene.com
Deviant Attraction: A Dark and Dirty Boxset Page 33