The Dashing Witch (The Ward Witches)

by Lauren McMinn

  “It was about the worst news for me. The community had expectations of me, and my father had expectations of me. I was trained by anyone who would try, and eventually I started avoiding witches entirely. The Waverly boys were the exception. They seemed to genuinely like me Richard and I made plans, as you remember.”

  “I do,” Justin said darkly.

  “Then I got the letter personally inviting me here. Despite my dislike for Coven politics, when I got the personalized letter, I felt I had to come. Then I met you, and suddenly being branded as powerful wasn't nearly as bad.”

  He grinned. “I'm glad you feel that way.” But he still sensed that there was something about her family life she was leaving unsaid. He wasn't an air witch, but he could tell. If she didn't want to share yet, though, he wasn't going to force her hand.

  “Being around so many powerful people in the summit and in your family, I'm not as much of a freak show. And it seems that we'll be having a powerful baby. I'll make sure he or she doesn't feel the stigma of being too damn powerful.”

  “We'll be sure to do that,” Justin corrected with a kiss to her nose.

  They talked about lighter things through the end of the documentary, which Melanie was frankly amazed she was able to stay awake for. Justin settled in beside her on the bed, and she lay her head on his chest, letting her fall asleep almost immediately.

  The next morning, her cell phone woke her at precisely ten. Blearily, she answered, “Melanie Reed.”

  “Don't you mean Melanie Ward?” Skylar teased.

  “Of course.” She could have smacked herself in the head. She wasn't awake enough for this.

  “Did I wake you?”

  “Yeah, but it's high time I got up anyway. You ready to go to work?”

  “I don't know about you, but I've been preparing all morning with things we can do. Justin called me this morning to tell me to take it easy on you as well.”

  “That was sweet of him. Let me take a shower and get dressed. Can you be by here in about thirty?”

  “Sure. See you soon.”

  Melanie found a note from Justin on the bedside table which said “Hope I didn't wake you up as I was getting off to work this morning. Have a good time with Skylar and don't work yourself too hard. I'll give you a call later to see how it's going.” She grinned, and stored the note in her bags, which she hadn't gotten around to unpacking yet.

  She noticed that Justin's love of the earthly pleasures extended to his bathroom. The shower stall had five separate heads to blow jets at you from all angles. Not to mention the heated towel rack, which already had a towel warming on it for her. She shook her head and grinned as she put her shampoo on the rack and got in. It was, indeed, heavenly.

  Not too long after she was ready, Skylar knocked on the door and they were off to Ward Manor.

  “So what's the plan?” Melanie asked, buckling her seat belt.

  “I'm going to sketch out a general outline for what the book's contents would be. Then I'm going to start writing to the various Covens and sects to see what they can contribute. I'll give them ideas on what I'm looking for based on the outline. I'm going to start with the fire witch handbook first, since it's what I'm best at.”

  “That should keep you occupied for a while.”

  “Indeed. Are you going to help me?”

  “I think I'm going to use my time to set my PR plan into action. I'll start with a press release about the results from the summit. A substantial amount of time has passed, but I'm hoping to keep it contemporary enough to get the story picked up. Then I'm going to start looking for a way to get Seb on television. I'm not sure what he's going to say or what the occasion will be, but I want his face to be associated with witchcraft across the country. I want to put a face, his face, on this inscrutable thing we call magic that most people don't know anything about.”

  “You'll be busy too, then.”

  “I will be. I was going to try to do a lot of the work here, though, mostly for the company.”

  “You're too sweet.”

  They worked all day, taking only a few breaks to eat, to receive Melanie's shipped belongings and to receive her SUV. They'd use the SUV to get the boxes over to the Coven House where they belonged.

  When Skylar brought her back to the Coven House, Justin greeted her with a hug and a smile. “I've got a surprise for you. Skylar, come along too.”

  With a curious look at each other, the two women followed. Justin led them to a door right next to his office and paused for effect. “Ta da!” He opened the door onto an empty office.

  “I don't get it,” Melanie said, walking into the office. It was nicely furnished, similarly to Seb's and Justin's offices, but there was no distinguishing features.

  “You're an official Coven employee now. This is your office as Public Relations Coordinator.” He stood there, waiting for her response.

  “You did that for me?”

  “Well, I had some help from Seb. But based on the proposal you gave, we decided that if you'd accept, we'd make it official. And I won't lie and say it has nothing to do with me wanting to keep an eye on you in your delicate state.”

  “You're a good man, Justin. I like it.” She ran into his arms and gave him a kiss, remembering to keep it PG since Skylar was still in the room.

  “We've got an aide for you as well. Her name's Rita, and she's the Coven's official healer. We don't have a lot for her to do right now, thank goodness, and she's willing to learn from you and help out on your proposal. And then we thought that Skylar has done a lot for us, and she's a part of this whole thing. So we were going to offer for her to work in the office here too on her handbook.”

  “I like that idea. I think there will be room enough for all of us in here,” Melanie said. “Would you be willing to relocate Skylar?”

  “I'd like to. I know I'm keeping busy, but an empty Ward Manor seems awfully lonely. And if you need some extra help on a project, I'll be here. It's not like I'm on a deadline or anything.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And I was going to take you out and get you a fancy computer setup tonight,” Justin continued. “Consider it a welcome to your new job.”

  She kissed him again. “I'm glad your family is so accepting of me.” She meant that she was glad he was so accepting of her, but she didn't want to say that.

  “Hell, we're taking advantage of your abilities.” He gave her a meaningful look. She wasn't sure what it meant, but evidently Skylar did.

  “I know what that look means on Leo,” she joked. “I'm going to hightail it out of here. I'll see you here tomorrow morning, Melanie.”

  “See you then.”

  Justin waited, that inscrutable look on his face, until Skylar shut the door behind her. Then he came over and kissed her passionately, not like the PG kiss they had shared minutes earlier.

  When they came up for breath, Melanie asked “What was that for?”

  “I read your proposal,” he kissed her neck and ear, “It was impressive. It made me proud to call you my wife.”

  That statement was more than Melanie had even hoped for this early in their campaign for their marriage. It filled her chest with hope and love that she couldn't admit to him. Not yet.

  “I'm glad you liked it. I worked all day on a press release, and I was going to run it by Seb tomorrow. If you'd like, you can be there too.”

  “I would like that. You know where my office is, just come get me.”

  “Alright. So you mentioned something about a new computer?”

  “I did. But I've got another plan first.”

  That look came back, and Melanie finally got a feeling what it meant when he hauled her up against him. He was hard and ready, and he clearly wanted her.

  “In the office?” She said, slightly scandalized.

  “Wherever I can get you. You make me hot, Melanie.” While he said that, he picked her up and sat her on the desk. He deftly slid her panties off her legs and discarded them on the ground. “But sin
ce this is your office, this is about your pleasure.”

  She had a moment to wonder what he meant before he pressed a kiss to her hot center. Melanie had to remind herself to stay quiet while he sucked, licked, and played with her clit. He got his fingers involved as well as his tongue, and she was in ecstasy. It didn't take her long to find her climax, and he kept up the work until she was done and gasping for breath.

  “Oh Justin...” She moaned. He drew back, clearly pleased with himself.

  “Consider your office christened.”

  She laughed. “What about your turn?”

  “This isn't about me. If you're offering later on tonight, I'll take you up on it. But for now, let's get you composed again and go buy a computer.”

  They spent most of the evening choosing her computer and getting it set up for her purposes. They laughed and joked, and Melanie could feel herself getting used to having him in her life.

  101

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The next morning, Justin left the room before Melanie was done getting ready. She said she wanted to surprise him when she got into the meeting with Seb, and he wasn't in a place to deny her anything. Especially after their encounter last night.

  It was a good thing he was sitting at his desk alone when that memory refreshed itself in his mind. He was a man who enjoyed sex, and had enjoyed many partners, but something about sex with Melanie was totally new. And along with new, it was nearly irresistible.

  Justin was starting to fear that when the nine months was up, he wouldn't be willing to let her go. He didn't know how she was feeling about their relationship, but his feelings were running much more towards keeping her with him. And if Melanie herself wasn't so delightful, he thought about the baby she carried. His baby. Along with his plans to never settle down with a single woman, he never was going to have a child. But the more the idea percolated in his head, the more he liked it.

  120

  THE DASHING WITCH

  He couldn't help but imagine how Melanie would glow as she increased in size. As a healer, he'd seen many Coven witches go through their pregnancies, both the difficult ones and the easy ones. Melanie's would be difficult, but he knew she'd rise to the challenge. That image was easy to conjure.

  But then his mind would wander to how it would feel to hold his child. A baby that was his and Melanie's. He'd seen the proud fathers, and he already knew part of how they felt. He also knew the feeling would increase exponentially when he finally held his baby. He was in awe of the whole thing.

  As he was gathering his thoughts, and not doing any work, Rita knocked on the door. She was a good-natured woman who worked great with her patients. When he had approached her about working with Melanie, she had jumped at the opportunity. She would continue to see ongoing patients, but as he had told Melanie, there weren't that many of those at the moment. So Rita would be more on-call than full-time.

  “She's ready,” Rita said. Justin knew exactly what she meant, and left to go to Seb's office. He was confident his wife would blow them away, and he wanted to see it. He wanted to see it very badly.

  Justin walked into Seb's office and the first thing that caught his eye was his beautiful wife in a distinguished looking black pin-striped suit. She looked professional and composed. But he still thought she looked sexy as hell. The skirt in particular made him think of their hijinks the evening before. But he was there for business, not just to admire Melanie.

  He sat in one of the chairs facing a whiteboard standing next to Melanie, and Rita handed him a folder with a packet of paper in it. Seb had already been flipping through his, but Melanie started as soon as Justin sat down. “Thank you all for coming,” she started, making eye contact with each of them, Seb, Rita, Skylar, and finally Justin.

  “I've been working on a new strategy for how witches are going to interact with the human community. From the time when Duke Drake introduced the humans to witchcraft, the general idea has been to hide what witchcraft really is from the public. It's as if we tempt them with the idea of witches, but won't tell them any details. That both makes them curious and engenders resentment. How do they know, for instance, that we mean them no harm? It's not strictly true, because of the Dark Order, but we don't want them to suspect all of us based on the actions of a few.

  “When Stephanie's plot was foiled, we had witches in human jails. So far, the police have remained quiet on the issue, but we can't rely on that. So we need to be proactive on this measure. We're going to start with announcing the news of the National Coven's formation. We're going to use that formation as the stated impetus to new community relations.”

  She paused to write “Image,” “Knowledge,” and “Relations” on the board.

  “These are my key focuses. We're going to start with 'Image.' I've drafted a press release, which you will find in your folder. As I put that out to the media, I'm going to contact a good friend of mine. I'm going to offer Tanya Yelman with CNN an exclusive interview with the Duke of the National Coven. If she doesn't bite, which I think she will, I'll go to other friends. I've made plenty of them through my years at KYR.

  “Seb is going to go on TV and tell the world about how we've changed our stance on Public Relations. He's going to be striking as the friendly and sexy next door neighbor. He's going to charm America, and they're going to love him. Seb will be the face of witchcraft in homes across the country. In time, that will lead to the 'Knowledge' and 'Relations' parts of the strategy.

  “So what do you think?”

  Justin was stunned. She had put a lot of effort into the presentation and the packet of materials he was holding. Not to mention that she had some really great ideas. But he didn't want to speak first since he was biased. Luckily, Seb responded.

  “I love it. Do you really think you can get the story out?”

  “Absolutely. And we'll get you on TV as well. Welcome to the future of witchcraft.”

  Skylar and Rita clapped, and Justin eagerly joined in.

  “I'll give you all until the end of the day if you have any comments or changes to the press release, and I'll send it out this evening so that it'll be on desks tomorrow morning. I'm going to call Tanya tomorrow too, so that she'll have some time to read it before she hears from me.”

  “Thank you very much, Melanie,” Seb said, rising. “We appreciate all the work you've done for us.”

  She smiled. “Now if you all don't mind, I'm going to take a short nap while I wait for your revisions.”

  “I'll walk you up,” Justin offered, catching her by the elbow.

  “See you later,” Rita said, and Skylar nodded.

  Justin waited until they got back to his, no, their rooms before he said anything. “You did great, Melanie.”

  She blushed. “Thank you. Do you think it'll work?”

  “I'm sure it will. You know what you're doing and you've put a lot of effort into this.”

  “Now I'm just tired.” She looked it, too. Back in Seb's office, she was the image of professional and commanding. Here in the suite, she looked worn. But she was still beautiful, and the whole effect made Justin feel very protective.

  “Well come here, and let's get you out of that suit. I won't even try anything,” he winked at her, and she managed a smile back. He watched as she exchanged her suit for sweats and crawled into bed. “I'll come get you when everyone's done with their revisions. But for now, let me give you some magic, and that will help you sleep.”

  “You're a sweetheart,” she said drowsily as he put his hands on her and started letting his magic flow into her body.

  “Don't let it get out; it's a secret,” he whispered back. She smiled slightly, and then she was asleep. He just watched her for a minute. She was special, and she was his.

  But he had work that was his as well, and he had to get back to it. After all, he had taken the morning off so he could attend her presentation to Seb.

  Luckily, when he returned to work, the knowledge that she was safe and healthy let him get his
head around what he needed to do.

  The next morning, Melanie was at her desk in her new office at eight sharp. Seb and Rita had both made some good comments on improving her press release, and she had sent it off at six the previous evening. Now she was waiting for any responses.

  Melanie pulled up the news sites she visited regularly, and was pleased to see an article on witches on no fewer than three of them already. The articles were each brief and to the point, pretty much restating what she had said in her statement. She was excited, and sent a link to each page to everyone who was there yesterday. She set a bot up to search for any more news articles on the subject and let it run.

  Rita showed up around eight thirty, and Skylar arrived at nine. Melanie gave them a big grin. “It's time to call Tanya. Let's see what I can manage.”

  Melanie looked through her phone book on her personal cell phone and typed the number into the new cell phone Justin had given her for Coven use. She crossed her fingers, and her assistants did the same, showing their support.

  “Tanya Yelman,” she answered the phone. Melanie was glad she got in on the first call.

  “Hi Tanya, it's Melanie.”

  “If it's not Melanie Reed. Haven't heard from you in a while.”

  “It has been a few months. How have you been?”

  “I'm doing good. Things are pretty much the same here, and I'm still looking for that promotion. What has been going on in your life?”

  “I got married, quit at KYR, and I'm starting a new project.”

  “You've been busy.”

  “That I have. Did you get my press release this morning?”

  “I did. I didn't realize you had broken with KYR though.”

  “Yeah. We're on good terms, but I moved to Massachusetts to be with my new husband. What do you think?”

  “I think it's got potential for a great story. People don't know much about witches, and I like that you're going to break the code of silence. So why are you calling me?” Tanya had always been direct.