“I need you to help me get a warlock,” I began.
“Why do you want this warlock?” he wheezed.
“He’s my warlock,” I replied quickly. When he said nothing, I continued. “He will be my warlock. I love him, and we’re meant to be together.” The whiny quality of my own voice annoyed me.
“I don’t deal in love potions,” he hissed.
“I don’t need a love potion,” I spat out. “What I need is to get him under my control, and then I’ll take care of the rest. I also need to get his half-demon slut out of the way. She is what I’m offering you.”
“Half-demon, you say?” Zahrel sounded intrigued. “What is this half-demon’s name?”
“Melina Blackwood.” Her name sounded like a vile curse.
Zahrel let out a wheezing laugh and clapped his bony hands together in delight. “This deal pleases me very much. First, I must feed. I need death magic. Tell me, female, are you willing to kill to get your warlock?”
“I will do whatever it takes to get Trevor.”
Chapter Ten
Melina
I awoke to a talon batting at my face.
“Play with me!” Mr. Whiskers demanded.
Only another witch can truly understand the bond between a witch and her familiar. Mr. Whiskers is my best friend, my child, and the most annoying familiar in the world. I wouldn’t change any of that. I was prepared for this sort of thing and reached into the drawer of my bedside table where I kept a variety of cat toys. Tossing the jingling ball across the room, I waited expectantly, but he simply stared down at me.
“I really thought that would work,” I grumbled.
“I’m lonely,” he whined, leaning in to rub his face against mine before he started purring. If you’ve never heard a California condor purr, you’re lucky. It’s one of the most disturbing sounds in the world.
“Just give me a few more minutes to sleep,” I pleaded, peaking at the time. “It’s only nine in the morning!”
For those with day jobs, that might not seem too early, but I was the head writer and creator of Night High. Since we had several vampire actors on the show, we filmed at night, which meant I slept until at least ten, unless I absolutely had to get up in the morning.
“Your phone keeps making noise,” Mr. Whiskers complained.
I cursed under my breath and grabbed my phone, surprised I’d slept through six messages from Trevor. I scanned them, somewhat anxious because I was now awake enough to remember I’d agreed to move in with Trevor for a month. This was one of those times when I’d have loved to blame alcohol for my bad judgment, but I hadn’t even been a little tipsy at the time. Maybe I could blame horniness. Then I had to wonder what I could blame for the fact that I wasn’t dreading it at all. I was actually excited about spending time with Trevor.
TREVOR: I can’t stop thinking about you. You have no idea the things I want to do to your body tomorrow.
TREVOR: It’s two in the morning and I’m still awake. I feel like a kid the night before Christmas. I can’t wait to unwrap my present.
TREVOR: That sounded much less embarrassing before I sent the text. I hope that message somehow got lost, and you never see it.
TREVOR: I hope you’re not answering any of my messages because you’re dreaming about me. They’d better be dreams about me fucking you until you can’t walk because that’s what I’ll be dreaming about.
TREVOR: I’ll be by your house about ten to help get you moved. I know I said in the afternoon, but I want to see you. I hope you’re awake then. I’ll bring breakfast.
TREVOR: I’m picking up breakfast now. See you soon.
Based on the time Trevor had sent that message, he’d be here before ten. I probably had thirty minutes to shower and get dressed.
“Play now?” Mr. Whiskers asked hopefully.
I cuddled him close. “Not yet. Trevor is coming over, and I need to shower first. We also need to pack.”
That had my familiar bouncing around my bed. “Trevor’s coming? I love Trevor. He’s nice to me. Why are we packing? Are we going on vacation? Can Trevor go on vacation with us? Did I tell you I love Trevor? I missed Trevor so much when he stopped visiting us at work.”
“We’re going to stay with Trevor for a little while,” I explained as I slid out of bed and dragged myself to the bathroom, leaving Mr. Whiskers dancing around my bed excitedly.
“We should live with Trevor forever!” he called out. “He loves us, and we love him.”
I let out a frustrated sigh. After reading Trevor’s texts and listening to Mr. Whiskers go on about how excited he was to stay at Trevor’s house, I was beginning to see why they got along so well. Trevor had a lot in common with my familiar.
“Fuck me, I’m so screwed,” I grumbled.
Chapter Eleven
Trevor
I felt like a complete idiot after rereading my texts to Melina. I couldn’t even use the excuse that I’d been drunk texting her, because that wasn’t the case. The truth of the matter was, I’d cheated some with Melina at the reception. While I wasn’t licensed to perform an affinity test, my natural abilities were in that area. What I wasn’t trained to do was understand less clear results. I’d tested Melina’s magic with my own, and it had been explosive. Even knowing it wasn’t a perfect test since we both had magical items on our persons, I was confident we’d pass our affinity test. I was more than a little curious to see how strong the reaction would be if we were both naked. Lying in bed, imagining Melina naked, had done nothing to help me get to sleep. It had been close to three in the morning when I’d finally dozed off, and I’d still been awake at eight, ready to pick her up.
In the past, I’d been excited about moving witches into my place because of my tendency to feel an instant connection to the witches I dated. Meeting Melina changed everything. Not one witch has spent the night at my house since the day I met Melina because no matter what I did, I couldn’t get her out of my head.
After making sure my house was clean and nothing embarrassing had been left lying around, I went to pick up breakfast. I’ve always been a breakfast person, and I was hoping Melina shared my love of the most important meal of the day. One thing I’ve learned is that I hate living with someone who tells me she’ll just have a yogurt in the morning. Yogurt is not breakfast. Who wants to start their day with something that has the words active and cultures in the description? That does not sound the least bit appetizing.
Standing at the door to Melina’s house, I was actually nervous, which was something I’d also only experienced with Melina. While she wasn’t the only witch to ever turn me down, she was the only witch I’d ever wanted to fight for. When I rang the bell, I sensed the dampening spell on her place, an unusual thing for a witch to have. Witches had a tendency to rely on magic to do even the simplest things. I had spells to open my garage door, start my dishwasher, and even one to turn on my laptop. Most witches would not be happy living in a place with a dampening spell, but when I was around Melina, I was constantly reminded that she’s not like other witches.
From the other side of the door, I could already hear her muttering, and that actually helped with some of my nerves. I might sound crazy for admitting it, but Melina in a bitchy mood has always been a huge turn on to me. It made me think about angry sex with Melina. Admittedly, most things made me think about sex with Melina, but I was currently focused on my angry sex fantasy. She would claw at my back, while I thrust into her body over and over again, until we were both panting and moaning.
The door opened to reveal Melina in a bathrobe. Her dark hair was wet and hanging down her back. If I had to guess, I’d say she’d just gotten out of the shower and had nothing under that robe, a thought that had me biting back a groan.
“You’re early,” she remarked, sounding annoyed before she inhaled deeply and sighed. “Is that bacon?”
“Sure is,” I confirmed, holding up the three large bags I was carrying. “I also have pancakes, eggs, cinnamon rolls, and thr
ee types of juice. I figured you’d have a coffee maker here.”
Melina stepped aside to let me into her condo, looking much more inviting than she had when she’d opened the door. Although, I suspected she was most happy about the bacon. As for me, my mind was no longer on food; it was focused on what Melina had under her robe.
“I should get dressed before I eat,” Melina told me after she led me to kitchen and I set the food on the counter.
“Not so fast,” I murmured, snaking an arm around her waist to pull her closer. Her lips parted to speak, and I used that to my advantage, covering her mouth with mine and sliding my tongue past her lips. She tasted of minty toothpaste, and I drank in her moan, loving the fact that she was so affected by my touch. My hand itched to slip under her robe and explore her sexy body, but I held back.
Breaking the kiss, I rubbed the pad of my thumb along her lower lip. “Wanna know what I was thinking about while I was waiting for you to open the front door?”
“Bacon?” she guessed.
I shook my head. “I heard you grumbling, and it got me thinking about angry sex. I can’t fucking wait to get inside of your body.”
Melina moaned.
“Tell me to fuck you,” I ordered her.
Chapter Twelve
Melina
I don’t take orders from warlocks, but I was seriously tempted to make an exception this time. In fact, I might have been begging Trevor to take me in the kitchen if it weren’t for one thing. “I don’t have any condoms.”
Trevor’s grin turned downright predatory. “Is that the only thing stopping you?”
“Honestly? Yes, it’s the only thing holding me back. I want you in me so bad, I’d be willing to beg at this point, but I’m not willing to risk getting pregnant.”
“Where’s Mr. Whiskers?” Trevor asked, looking around for my familiar as if just noticing he wasn’t in the room.
“I locked him in his play room so he wouldn’t get into trouble while I was packing,” I replied.
When Trevor took a step back and reached into his front pocket to pull out a condom packet, my breathing became more labored. “Now, why don’t you show me what you’ve got under that robe?” he suggested. “It took every ounce of self-control I possess not to rip that dress off you yesterday. I think I deserve a reward. Take the robe off for me, honey.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You want me to strip naked while you stand there fully-clothed?” I asked.
The slow curl of his lips made my body clench with desire. “I’ll make you a deal.”
“What’s that?” I was trying to sound only mildly interested in his response—not that I was having much luck with that.
“You eat your breakfast,” he began, before reaching out to play with the tie on my robe. “Then you let me open up this robe and eat you.”
“You want me to sit down and eat after an offer like that?” He had to be joking.
“I wouldn’t want your food to get cold,” he insisted, with a sexy grin.
I might think Trevor was unaffected by what was going on if I hadn’t looked down and caught sight of his erection straining at the zipper of his pants. There was no denying it; the warlock had impressive self-control, and I was curious to know how good his self-control really was. Since I’d never been shy, I decided to simply ask. “Did you go home and take care of yourself last night?”
“Whatever do you mean?” he asked, with a teasing grin.
“Did you go home and wrap your hand around your dick, while you thought about me?” I asked and then added. “I suppose you might have needed two hands.”
Trevor let out a startled bark of laughter. “Two hands? While my ego loves this conversation, I’m not that big.”
“Are you kidding? There was a short time while you where pressed up against my ass when I thought you’d brought your pet anaconda with you.”
Trevor had started to unload the bags of food, but he turned to give me a lopsided grin. “Did you want to pet my anaconda?”
“I should probably say something about what a horrible line that is, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m dying to get you in my hands.” I enjoyed the look of surprise on Trevor’s face. While he’d spent enough time around me to know I wasn’t afraid to say what I thought, I’d gone to great efforts to avoid discussing sex. It seemed like the smartest thing to do when I’d had no intention of letting things go that far with Trevor. All that had changed, and I could finally open up to him.
“Fuck,” he hissed, sounding almost like he was in pain. “Are you trying to make me embarrass myself?”
“Maybe a little,” I admitted with an impish grin. “Are you telling me you didn’t take care of yourself after you got home?”
He chuckled. “Three times,” he admitted, and my mind was suddenly filled with images of Trevor’s long fingers wrapped around his dick as he stroked himself. That was something I definitely needed to see. “All I have to do is think about you, and I get hard. I’m not sure I could have you enough times in one day to stop that reaction, and my hand is a poor substitute for your hot body. What would you say if I told you I want to tie you to my bed and fuck you over and over again to see if I can ever truly get enough of you, or if I’ll be craving you every second of every day, like I have since we met?”
Heat rushed between my legs, and my breathing became labored. “Are you trying to make it hard for me to eat?”
“Yes,” he admitted. “You’ve teased me for months.”
“I haven’t done anything to tease you,” I argued.
Trevor slid my food across the counter, keeping his eyes locked on mine. I found it impossible to look away from his hungry gaze. “That’s just it, honey. You don’t have to do anything to tease me. I’ve been dying to have you for months. Even when you stopped letting me see you, I still woke up hard and aching for you. I still dreamt of you, and nothing could truly take away that need. I know you think I’ll have you and then I’ll be bored with you.”
“Not to sound like a bitch,” I began.
“But you are a bitch,” he finished for me, and I laughed when I saw one corner of his lips kick up with amusement.
“Ass,” I shot back. “I was going to say that you can see how your history would lead me to the conclusion that you’ll be bored with me soon.”
I waited for Trevor to get angry over my assumption. I knew he didn’t like people bringing up his many relationships because it embarrassed him, but it was a big part of why I didn’t fully trust his feelings.
There was a brief flash of something I couldn’t place in his eyes. It might have been embarrassment or even anger, but it was gone too quickly to identify. “Do you have any idea how much I’m going to enjoy proving you wrong?” he asked.
I swallowed hard and looked away, not sure I wanted to continue this discussion when I needed to focus on eating. Something told me Trevor was going to be a big distraction. “Maybe you should tell me after we eat breakfast.”
Trevor chuckled. “That might be a good idea.”
I moaned when I saw the pancakes, cinnamon rolls, eggs, and bacon Trevor had set out for me. “I am so glad you aren’t one of those idiots who think I want yogurt and fruit for breakfast.”
Trevor’s bark of laughter surprised me.
“Why is that so funny?” I asked.
“When I was standing outside your door, I was wondering if you’d like what I brought and hoping you weren’t one of those women who eats yogurt for breakfast,” he explained.
“Ugh! Never,” I assured him. “There is absolutely nothing appetizing about a food item that boasts having live cultures in it. I have zero interest in eating yogurt, and I need something with more substance to get me moving in the morning.” I bit down on a piece of bacon and closed my eyes as I made happy humming sounds.
“Has anyone ever told you how sexy you are when you talk about hating yogurt?” he asked.
“Nope,” I told him after I swallowed my bacon. “Then again, most guy
s seem to be laboring under the misconception that every woman wants yogurt for breakfast and a light salad for lunch.”
“I like a woman who will eat with me. It annoys me to take a witch to a steakhouse and see her order a salad and then say she’s full after only a few bites. What the fuck is that about?” He sounded truly baffled.
“No need to worry about that with me,” I assured him. “If we go to a steakhouse, I’m ordering the prime rib.”
“Damn, you are hot,” he murmured, and the craziest thing was, I knew he wasn’t joking. Trevor seemed to love the fact that I enjoyed food. This wasn’t exactly a surprise since he’d brought me dinner at the studio before, and he’d always seemed oddly thrilled when I ate the food rather than picking at it.
This was the first time I’d ever had a truly relaxed conversation with Trevor. When he’d been pursuing me, I’d been trying hard to avoid getting attached to him in any way. I was honestly enjoying myself, and it wasn’t all about the bacon.
“Are you done eating?” Trevor asked when my plate was almost empty, and I’d set my fork down.
“I couldn’t eat another bite,” I told him. “Go ahead and finish up the food if you’re still hungry.”
“Oh, I’m hungry all right,” Trevor practically growled. Coming around the breakfast bar, he spun my stool so I was facing him.
Chapter Thirteen
Melina
Before I could say anything, Trevor tugged at the tie on my robe and pushed it open. His breath hissed out as his eyes moved hungrily along my body.
“You’re gorgeous,” he praised, his words sliding along my skin like a caress.
With the dampening spell on my condo, I knew neither of our reactions had anything to do with magic. At the wedding reception, I’d felt our magic interact, and it had been hard to keep mine in check while Trevor drove me over the edge. Thankfully, I always kept a few spelled items on my person to help control my demon magic so I didn’t end up hurting anyone. That wasn’t necessary in my own condo.
Shamelessly Spellbound (Spells That Bind Book 2) Page 5