Sinfully Spellbound (Spells That Bind Book 1)

by Lawson, Cassandra

“You’re tired,” I said when he yawned. That probably explained his crankiness.

  “Exhausted,” he admitted with a sigh. “Why is this so difficult?”

  “Driving?” I asked and didn’t wait for a reply. “You’re too tired to drive.”

  Since we were at a stop sign, he turned to give me an annoyed look.

  “I meant, why is getting you to come home with me to hard?” he clarified. “I’ve never had this much trouble with a woman before.” At least, the moron had sense enough to figure out how stupid his comment was. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” he quickly added.

  “Yes, you did,” I said with a humorless laugh. “Women don’t give you problems. Then again, you never want more than sex, so we don’t know if they’d be a problem the next day or not. I think it’s safe to assume they wouldn’t give you any trouble if you asked them to stay at your place.” I let out a frustrated breath. “It’s not that I’m not grateful to you for saving me and wanting to help me. This is just not where I saw things going with us. In case you hadn’t figured it out, I don’t date often.”

  “Who’s Chet?” Dylan asked.

  “Chad is my ex-boyfriend,” I replied. “He’s mostly human, and we dated for about a year.”

  Chad was a strange mix of human and demon that resulted in him having a long lifespan but little else in the way of demon abilities.

  “And he was stupid enough to break up with you,” Dylan added.

  I nearly laughed at the way Dylan sounded almost angry on my behalf.

  “Trust me. It was for the best,” I said, deciding to elaborate. “Chad is the most uptight person in the world. Sex was never anything other than missionary, and I’m just lucky I can orgasm if my partner does.”

  “Why’d you stay with him?” Dylan asked.

  This was the part that was a little embarrassing to admit. “It was just easier that way, for both of us. I didn’t have to find men to feed my sexual energy. Believe me when I tell you that gets old fast. Chad had a date for events he needed to attend. It wasn’t until he started having more involvement with the demon community that we had a problem. He was embarrassed to be with me.”

  “Chad is an asshole,” Dylan muttered, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

  “No, he’s not,” I said. “That’s how it is in the demon world. Sex demons are ranked pretty low. All species seem to want to fuck a sex demon, but they wouldn’t want to marry one.”

  There was a beat of silence before Dylan spoke. “Witches are just assholes in general. They don’t want anyone marrying outside of their species. Hell, most of them don’t want anyone marrying outside of their rank.”

  I already knew that, and this was the perfect opening to tell Dylan how I knew about witch society, but I had no idea where to start. Of course, when I revealed the truth about my father being a warlock, Dylan would probably be ready to drop me at Trevor’s house, which was what I wanted. Or, was it? There was no way this could end with a happily ever after. Dylan wasn’t looking for anything permanent, and I still didn’t fully understand what he wanted with me, other than the great sex we’d been having.

  “Talk to me, Allie,” Dylan said, and it was then that I realized I’d been lost in my own inner-musings.

  “I don’t want to get hurt,” I said, not sure why I’d decided to lead with that.

  Dylan didn’t say anything as he pulled the car into his garage. He actually remained silent as he parked and unbuckled his seatbelt. Finally, he looked at me, and the force of his stare made me suck in an involuntary breath. “And you assume I’ll hurt you? Just because some other asshole hurt you, you assume I will, too?”

  “You’ve hurt more than one witch in your time,” I said softly.

  “What exactly are you basing that on,” he asked, and I couldn’t figure out if he sounded hurt or angry. “Is this based on the two days you’ve known me? Or, could it be based on the short time we went to the same high school?”

  “You remember me?”

  “No,” he admitted. “I was an asshole back then, and I never noticed anyone who couldn’t do something for me. Worse, I was a rich asshole who thought he could do whatever he wanted. It wasn’t until tonight that I realized we’d gone to school together. Fuck! I don’t even know if we ever talked in school.”

  I shook my head, staring down at my hands, which were clenched in my lap. “Not much. I mean, you didn’t hang out with people my age, anyway. I was actually three years behind you. You weren’t really rude to me or anything. If you were, I probably wouldn’t have been flirting with you at Trevor’s. I was quiet in school, and there weren’t many of my kind there, which was hard. Trevor talked to me, but most people didn’t.”

  “So, that’s how you met Trevor,” he mused, as if I’d just solved some great mystery. “I’m surprised he only just recently started talking about you. Wait! I thought he said he met you at SpellBinders.”

  “We reconnected recently. I didn’t talk to Trevor much in school, but he was the first guy to ever tell me I was pretty,” I admitted. Funny, I’d never had a crush on Trevor, even though he’d been nice to me back then, but Trevor had always seemed more like a brother to me.

  “That’s his gift,” Dylan admitted. “Trevor can see the beauty in anyone.”

  “It’s also his curse,” I said, earning a curious look from Dylan. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen how much trouble it causes him.”

  Dylan raised an eyebrow. “I’ve seen it, but I’m curious what you see.”

  “Trevor falls for women based on the good he sees in them,” I began. “He doesn’t see any of the bad stuff until he’s already involved. That’s why he goes through so many witches. I’ve always wondered how he ends up with the craziest witches around. The last witch he dated went through his closet, donated all of his clothes, and replaced them with things she thought were more appropriate. I got a frantic call, begging me to run to the store to pick up clothes so he could go into the office. That is not the sort of thing a sane woman does with a man she’s been dating a week.”

  Dylan’s eyes widened. “I remember that day!” he said with a chuckle. “Trevor never told me why he came in so underdressed.”

  “It’s hard to find business attire at eight in the morning,” I explained. “My options were limited.”

  Dylan looked thoughtful. “I wonder why he didn’t tell me about that.”

  I shrugged. “He was probably afraid you’d tease him about it. It is funny that he only sticks to witches, when he’d have an easier time ditching demons or humans.”

  Dylan shrugged. “Maybe Trevor is secretly a hopeless romantic.”

  I hadn’t expected Dylan to figure that out. Trevor was a hopeless romantic, expecting to find his perfect witch and live happily ever after. He ran his mouth about how he didn’t believe in forever, but if that were true, he would stay far away from witches, just like Dylan. Instead, Trevor practically had every witch he dated living with him within a week. He never gave himself time to really get to know them first. That was the big difference between Dylan and Trevor. Trevor believed in true love to the point of foregoing all logic. Dylan didn’t believe in love at all.

  And there was my wake-up call. I undid my seatbelt and climbed out of the car. “I really need to get some sleep,” I said. The sun was already up, and I’d only had a few hours of sleep in the last couple of days. Despite what this weekend suggested, I wasn’t much for late night parties.

  Dylan nodded and walked around to take my bags out of the trunk before letting me into his house.

  “Where should I sleep?” I asked.

  “My bed,” Dylan growled.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I started to argue, but Dylan cut me off.

  “I am exhausted and really on edge after saving your life,” he began. “At the moment, I’m seriously tempted to put a binding spell on you so you can’t get more than five feet away from me.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath, unable to dec
ide if I was angry or a little turned on. I’d liked the binding spell quite a bit when he’d used it on me before, but this threat wasn’t about sex. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  Dylan moved so quickly, I didn’t have time to react. His hard body pressed me against the wall, and his fingers threaded through my hair, holding my head in place. “Don’t fucking push me, Allie. I’m not feeling very civilized at the moment.”

  I tried to nod, but it was impossible with Dylan holding my head in place. For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. Based on his labored breathing and the way he stared at my mouth, I could tell he was considering it. In fact, I could see him struggling with his own desire just as much as I was.

  Letting out a shaky breath, I worked to get my own body under control. “Let’s just go to bed,” I finally said. “We both need sleep.”

  Dylan released me, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dylan

  Allie was going to drive me out of my fucking mind . . . and I was practically begging her to do it.

  Here I’d been thinking we’d worked things out at SpellBinders. No, she hadn’t sworn her undying love, or even offered me her phone number. Of course, I’d been arrogant enough to assume she’d simply forgotten about that detail after the incredible sex we’d had. She’d agreed to call me when she got home, and I was pretty sure she wasn’t just saying that to get me to leave.

  When I’d called her, I’d expected to find her slipping out of her clothes after work, having forgotten her promise to call me. The really crazy thing is that I’d been looking forward to talking to her until she fell asleep. Instead of finding her safe at home, I’d called to find her about to be murdered. Okay, there was always a chance the guy following her hadn’t been the killer, but he’d been up to no good no matter how you looked at it.

  Nothing was ever easy with Allie, and it made me wonder why I wasn’t giving up on the whole idea of dating her. As I was climbing into bed with sweatpants on, I knew this wasn’t just about great sex. I always slept naked, but Allie was acting skittish around me, and I wanted her to feel safe more than anything right now. Yep, this was definitely about more than sex.

  My stubborn little succubus was still standing next to the bed, arms crossed under her breasts, wearing the same sweat pants and t-shirt she’d changed into at her home. All she’d done was slip her bra off, which made it really hard to be a gentleman and look at her face with those beautiful, unrestrained breasts being pushed up by her crossed arms. I braced myself for her argument about sleeping with me.

  “I need to tell you something, Dylan,” she said hesitantly. “That first night, I didn’t tell you because I figured we’d never see each other again, so it wouldn’t matter.”

  There was a long pause, and I was left wondering if she was waiting for me to say something first. “Is this where you tell me you used to be a guy?” I asked.

  My question had the desired effect of making Allie laugh, and her shoulders relaxed as her arms dropped to her side. “No, but this might bother you more.”

  “Ah, this is the part where you tell me you’re part witch,” I said and enjoyed Allie’s shocked expression.

  “You knew?”

  “I figured it out when I figured out we’d gone to school together. The only succubi we ever had at our school were part witch,” I explained, trying to keep my voice neutral. There was no denying that her admission made me uneasy. I’d avoided witches for a reason, and now I found myself with one staying at my house.

  “And you still want me in your bed?”

  “Yes, I still want you in my bed,” I said, because no matter how much her witch heritage scared me, I didn’t want to give her up. “Let’s get some sleep.”

  Slipping out of her sweatpants, Allie climbed into bed beside me.

  I laughed at the irony of the situation.

  “What’s so funny,” she asked, rolling to face me.

  “You’re the only woman I’ve ever brought back here,” I explained. “The only woman I’ve ever had in my own bed. I was so arrogant that I always figured a woman would be glad I’d brought her here, but the first time you ran out on me, never planning to see me again. This time, I practically had to force you to come here. You aren’t very good for my ego, sweetheart.”

  Allie laughed and moved closer. “Your ego doesn’t need any stroking,” she said as her hand settled on my bare chest.

  “But I really like it when you stroke me,” I teased.

  That won me another laugh. “What are you doing to me, Dylan?” she asked sleepily.

  “Not a clue, but I think I’m becoming addicted to you.”

  “Not funny,” she said, giving me a light swat. “That can happen with a succubus.” There was a hint of fear in her voice. “If we feed on one partner too many times, they can become addicted to us, and you don’t want to deal with the withdrawals when you’re ready to move on to the next woman. Funny how that only happens with warlocks.”

  “I was addicted to you before you fed on our sexual energy,” I admitted.

  “I have a confession to make,” she said.

  “What’s that, sweetheart?” I asked, trying hard to keep my hands to myself, when all I really wanted to do was touch her.

  “I never fed on sexual energy with you,” she admitted. “That was my intention the first time we came back here. It had been a long time since I’d fed during sex, and your bet seemed like the perfect opportunity.”

  “Why didn’t you feed?” I almost held my breath in anticipation of her answer. This was big. She hadn’t fed on me during sex, which meant Allie hadn’t used me. Okay, maybe she had used me in some way, but not the way I’d thought.

  “I had a crush on you back in school,” she admitted.

  “You did?” I asked, my face splitting into a huge grin.

  “Yes, and that’s why I didn’t feed on the sexual energy. This was like a fantasy come to life, and I didn’t want to ruin it by making it about feeding my succubus side.”

  Wow! Hearing that sex with me had been her fantasy made me feel pretty damn good about myself.

  “Ugh!” Allie groaned. “I knew stroking your ego would be a mistake.”

  “But we’ve already established that I like it when you stroke me,” I teased. “Can’t you stroke my ego just a little more?”

  “I promise to stroke you all you want in the morning,” she offered, and my dick was immediately standing at attention and waiting for her hand to wrap around it. My dick clearly did not understand that we needed sleep.

  “You amaze me.” I pulled her closer to my side. “When I first made that bet with you, I was planning to use you for sex,” I told her, feeling a sense of peace with her in my arms. “I’d planned to take you up to one of Trevor’s guestrooms for a few hours and then leave, but I couldn’t do it. After an hour with you, I knew I liked you too much to use you. If you’d told me you didn’t want to go through with your end of the bet, I would have let you walk away, no matter how much my dick argued with me over that.”

  “I like you too, Dylan,” she admitted so quietly, I barely heard her.

  I wanted to say more, but I had no idea what to say. Instead, I allowed myself to fall asleep, trusting Allie would still be here in the morning. Okay, I was a little tempted to cast a binding spell, but in the end, I had to trust her.

  Chapter Twenty

  The Hunter

  That stupid fucking cunt! I had no idea how she’d done it, but I knew that bitch was responsible for my arm catching fire. I was lucky to have gotten it out before the flames spread to the rest of my body. Now, I was sitting at home, picking bits of fabric out of my charred skin. The pain was excruciating, and I had every intention of making her pay for this. That bitch would think what happened to the others was nice compared to what I did to her. I was in so much fucking pain, my dick was still limp while thinking about torturing her. Oh, yeah, that bitch was going to regret this.

&
nbsp; When my phone buzzed, I was tempted to ignore it, but I already knew who was calling. I did not want to talk to that arrogant prick right now, but if I didn’t answer, he’d come over here, and I really didn’t want him seeing me weak like this.

  “There won’t be a ceremony tonight,” I snapped as soon as I answered his call. No reason for small talk.

  “You do realize that we need to finish the spell within three moon cycles or it won’t work, right?” he asked, sounding annoyingly calm.

  “I know how the fucking spell works!” I gritted out. “We still have two weeks left of the second moon cycle. That’s plenty of time. It was stupid to try to grab a succubus tonight, anyway. The plan was to wait longer between each one, and we should have stuck with that plan.”

  “I’m well aware of the plan,” he said, starting to sound angry. “As I recall, you were the one who insisted on changing the timeline for this next kill. It seems you screwed up. I just want to know if this is going to interfere with our timeline.”

  Oh, how I wanted to flay the skin from his body with a dull knife. How dare he act like I didn’t know how important it was to complete the ritual? I, of all people, knew what had to be done and the timeline we needed it done in. I didn’t see that snarky little bastard out getting his hands dirty. The problems tonight weren’t my fault. That bitch was to blame.

  “Are you still there?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I bit out. “I was just waiting for you to finish your useless rant. While I understand that you’re anxious to get this done, there’s no reason to panic. I’ll just have to get this succubus another time.”

  “Find another succubus,” he ordered. “It was foolish trying to take two so close to Spellbinders, anyway. What if the police had been watching the club to see if someone would target the succubi there? Just let this one go and move on.”

  “I want this one,” I snapped. No way was I letting her get away.

  “Does she know you tried to take her?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I reluctantly admitted. “Somehow, the little cunt set my fucking arm on fire.”