She hadn’t missed Arion’s caution, or the twins’ for that matter. She might not know what kind of things she was capable of, but it made them nervous, and she found she wasn’t above a little experimentation. She was not going to let Xander get close again. If she was a different kind of person, she might wish him ill, even if she was sorry he still had a few blisters on his hand. Jolene well knew where those had come from, as hard as she tried not to think about it. They must have stung from the water while he groomed her, so perhaps he would remember not to touch her again.
* * * *
Xander stared after Jolene’s towel-covered little form as she marched down the hall. Her innate grace detracted from her determined movements. She couldn’t look rigid and unyielding no matter how hard she tried, but he appeared to be destined to see her walking away from him, and he didn’t like it at all. He shook his head as though a pesky fly was circling him instead of the mounting awareness that he was enamored with a human. He had no time for this. He had a job to do, a mission to accomplish, and then perhaps he could consider this little witch. He pushed away the negative feelings, those of guilt and shame that he might even think of using her so. He asked Arion to magyk the lock on the bathroom door, ignoring Sulieman’s smirk, because he needed to take care of her and make amends. He’d treated her badly, he knew. She gave over to his ministrations, his grooming, and it wasn’t until he hadn’t been able to control his need for her and began to touch her intimately that she resisted him. Xander somehow managed to curb his intense desire and not take her down onto that old tiled floor onto the cushion of the bath mat to fill her with his weeping cock, to fuck her into submission. He would have been taking a huge risk, too, but hadn’t really cared about his safety.
Perhaps if he had met her elsewhere, and not in the middle of this thing with the Caprines…but no, Xander would not consort with humans, witch or not. He was simply not going to allow his lust for her to cloud his thinking. And if his chest hurt at the thought of never seeing her again, and if his hand itched to spank her sweet little bottom red for going into that house full of horny goatheads without a thought to her safety, well, he would get over it. Possessiveness was new to him, quite unfamiliar, but he would cope and be happy to live without it. His brother was delusional, forgetting what a witch could do to their kind if he or she chose, if they didn’t mate her first, and that he would not do. Sulieman was going to give him a hard time, but he would convince his brother Jolene was not their mate, that fate had not sent her. This was an aberration. Xander found himself standing at his witch’s bedroom door at the end of his musings, his hand raised to knock, when it flew open and he nearly stumbled inside.
Jolene gave him a look that chilled him to the bone and actually made his cock quiver, pushing past him to head toward the kitchen where the others waited. Xander sucked his self-control back into place and went after her. Her sweet little ass, clad in some tight-fitting black garment, protruded from the open fridge as she bent to look inside, and Sulieman’s eyes were intent on it. Xander felt a flicker of jealousy before it faded into acceptance and satisfaction. Sulie was entitled to take her ass, for he had her twice, three times if one counted the lesson he’d given her for testing his mastery. Xander stopped short. Chiron! It was happening again. He could not resist her, and yet he must. It made him abrupt in what he said next, for Sulie’s ears only.
“Put your attention back on the mission!”
Sulieman’s eyes snapped to his, a flame of anger flaring, before dimming and being replaced by a hint of what Xander feared was pity. He wanted to smash something, preferably his brother’s face. Arion stretched, and the wooden chair creaked under his weight, breaking the moment. Xander took another empty chair, and the three of them watched silently as Jolene flitted around the kitchen, making tea and assembling a small meal of yogurt, granola, and fruit. She didn’t offer them anything, and appeared oblivious to them, but Xander could see the fine trembling in her hands and her bottom lip. He felt worse, if that was even possible. Arion gave him a glance, and Xander sat back. Arion might succeed where he wouldn’t right now, and Xander thought Sulieman was contaminated by what he had done, as far as Jolene was concerned.
Arion’s deep voice broke the silence, and Jolene jumped, spilling the golden tea she was pouring into a white mug all over the counter. She grabbed a cloth to mop it up, but Xander could tell she was listening to Arion.
“I would help you understand your magyk, Jolene Phillips.”
Her silver eyes, those witch eyes, framed by impossibly long, black lashes, looked at Arion, and Xander wished they were trained on him. She didn’t blink. “I’m going to dance practice, and when I get back you and I can talk about it, Arion. But right now you need to leave me alone.”
Arion nodded. “We will escort you—”
“No! You can stay here, seeing as you’ve already broken into my home. But I don’t want you at my dance studio. I need to be free of you, all of you. I need to get my head back on straight. And that means these other two should not be here when I get back. Just you.”
Xander flinched at the emotion in her tone, the plea, and he felt Sulieman shift as if to go to her, but his twin must have thought better of it. His reserve helped Xander maintain his own. Arion shrugged and appeared to accept Jolene’s direction, but Xander knew they would follow her and guard her. The Caprines weren’t stupid and would have figured out that something was going on, because both Jolene and Becky left that house this morning without any sexual interference. They might not suspect Jolene was a witch but would hardly pass up the opportunity to fuck her if they figured it out, for variety was the spice of their lives. Caprines didn’t mate with witches that Xander was aware of, but there was always a first for everything. The thought of those goatheads touching his witch made Xander’s teeth set before he remembered he wasn’t interested in having her as his own. If she was his, there would be none of this nonsense. Jolene would do as he and Sulieman instructed. Right, and Hinds and Fauns would fly, although the ancient teachings suggested that Fauns once had…he was slipping again! He would do his best to instruct her, encourage her to do what was best for her and her safety, even if it meant regular discipline and correction if need be. Just in the short term of course, and nothing to break her fine spirit.
He watched her take her meal into the living room where she sat on the floor, her dishes on the little table in front of the couch, her back to them. He could hear the little noises she made as she consumed the food, although the amounts were hardly enough to keep her healthy, and the sounds made him want to feed her his cock. Sulieman, reading his mind as usual, gave him another smirk and went back to watching their witch, his gaze intent and full of lust and interest. Xander thought he would back off and let his little brother ally with Arion to convince her to aid them on this mission. Sulieman would work his own kind of seductive magyk on her, and with Arion’s guidance, they could probably get the job done and return to their realm. Once he was back home, Jolene Phillips, kind lover of horses, would fade from his thoughts and become irrelevant. It could not be any other way.
She stood in one fluid movement, arresting his thoughts and making the true mockery of them apparent as his body and something in his chest swelled in concert for her. She gathered up her dishes, going to place them into the sink. She ran water over them and when she reached to grab a paper towel to wipe her mouth Xander again found himself across the room, standing beside her, without ever telling his feet to carry him there. She flinched away from him, and he fumbled with the napkin to pat her lips. Her eyes shimmered, and her pouty bottom lip trembled. Xander realized she was trying hard not to cry, and he found himself awkwardly reaching for her hand. He knew what to do when females cried with passion, but other forms of tears undid him. Jolene pulled her hand back and walked away, ducking her head as she did so. It made Xander want to bite her nape as he comforted her. Shit, the mating ritual was in his head, no matter how he denied it. He looked t
o Sulieman, but his twin was lost in his own carnal thoughts, his tight jeans leaving nothing to the imagination. Jolene picked up a bag from the floor and nearly ran toward the door, pausing only to slip on a pair of little black shoes.
The door slammed, and they gave Jolene a ten count before filing out to follow. Arion cast a cover spell, and while Jolene would likely see through it if she knew where to look, Xander counted on her relative newness to magyk to buy them this time. Her little figure wove swiftly in and out of the people filling the sidewalks, only the bright pink bag slung over her shoulder making it possible to easily keep tabs on her. She made her way to an old stone building reminding Xander of those occupying the old walled cities of his realm, the ones that were no longer utilized for defense because his people had evolved, unlike those here. She disappeared inside, and he felt Sulie respond to the loss just as he did. They hurried to follow.
Chapter Eleven
Jolene found every action, every leap, every studied move, absolutely effortless. Even the stretch at the bar during warm up was unusually easy, despite her short stature and the placement of the wooden rail. She lost herself in the dancing, and Dustin, her occasional partner, was carried right along on her enthusiasm and flawless performance. Miss Minagre, the instructor and beloved inspiration of the group, literally crowed over her improvement and how she inspired the rest. Jolene found herself preening under the praise, no longer concerned she would be relegated as usual to the supportive cast for the next production. Dance was only her hobby now, but it meant far more to her than her job. Being an event planner had its moments, but as an entrepreneur, well, sometimes the jobs didn’t come up frequently enough to earn a living, and she hated to rely on her family for help.
She made her way to the change room after her long chat with Miss Minagre, and found she had the area to herself, the other dancers already gone. Her leotard was sweat soaked, and she quickly stripped off the damp garment along with her underwear, as her skin was now cooling uncomfortably, and hurried into the tiled shower room to rinse off. The truth struck her there, and she heard herself sob out loud in both denial and despair. She huddled into the corner, leaning her forehead against the tile wall and cried bitterly. A warm, hard body blanketed her back, and she shuddered at the contact.
“My little one, I have you.” Sulieman’s kind voice flowed over her abused senses. Jolene cried harder, and he turned her to face him, tucking her head beneath his chin as he wrapped himself around her. She registered his nudity and the fact his cock was sandwiched between them, hard and jumping against her stomach, but despite that very evident indication of desire, it was real comfort he offered. Jolene took it, and let everything out until she could cry no more. She finally gulped her sobs into submission and turned out of Sulieman’s embrace, lifting her face to the spray so the water could wash away the evidence of her emotional outburst.
Sulieman led her out of the shower and tugged her towel from her duffle bag. He sat on the bench and pulled her between his spread knees. He tenderly dried her face and wrung the water from her hair before patting her dry. Jolene felt numb and quite exhausted, and simply stood under his care. She should be showing some modesty or outrage that this man or shifting horse person or whatever, was seeing her this way, touching her in this manner, but it just felt right. Even when he efficiently slid fresh panties up and over her legs and settled them around her hips, followed by her sweats, Jolene didn’t react. The sports bra seemed to perplex him, so he tucked it back in her bag and pulled the oversized shirt down over her head. She felt it drift into place. Only then did Sulieman dry himself with her damp towel and put his own clothes back on. Jolene vaguely wished he hadn’t covered his lithe body and amazing erection. She accepted she was impossibly drawn to him, just as she was to his prick of a brother. The play on words wasn’t lost on her. She was just too drained to do anything about it, which was probably a good thing, seeing as they appeared to come as a package deal. Her thoughts went flitting off in that sexual direction, but she dragged them back to the task at hand.
“Come and sit with me, little one,” he said.
Jolene obediently walked with Sulie to the dry bench against the far wall and sat, now aware her legs were sore and tired. She leaned her head back against the cinderblock and closed her eyes.
“I was so amazing at practice today because I’m a witch,” she said flatly.
“You were amazing, Jolene, no matter who you are. We have never seen the like!”
Jolene squinted at him. “You watched? From where?”
Sulieman nodded to the far corner of the studio, just visible through the open door of the change room, and Jolene looked past the shimmer of what she now recognized as a cover spell to see Arion and Xander looking their way. Arion was sprawled in a relaxed position against the wall, but she could see the tension in Xander’s stance.
“I had to threaten him with extreme violence so I could come to you instead of him, my witch,” Sulieman advised. “Xander is not pleased you became so upset.”
“How did you know?”
He shrugged. “I cannot explain it exactly. But we knew you were in emotional pain. It is perhaps because you have been intimate with Xander and aided him when he needed help. You have shared your magyk, and I have been a fortunate recipient by dint of my oneness with Xander.”
Jolene sighed and decided to ignore the intimate part. “I thought I had a shot at this. I felt it, and things went so well, no matter how tall I’m not. And Miss Minagre thought so, too. But it would be under false pretense. I can’t do it. I can’t take this thing, this magic, and usurp the other dancer who earned it through talent and hard work.”
“You have honor, my witch, and I would have expected no different from the one who is to be our mate.”
Jolene instantly felt exasperated and suddenly wasn’t so tired. “Stop it with the mate stuff, Sulieman! You keep blithering about it, but Xander is obviously of a different mindset. And no one asked me.”
Sulieman slid off the bench, going down on his knees before her and took both of her hands. He lifted them to his lips and whiffled across the back of each. The hair on the back of Jolene’s neck literally stood on end. Her pussy promptly soaked her panties.
“I am asking, my witch. I am pledging to you. Xander will fall. It is his destiny no matter how he fights. He has, uh, issues with your kind, but you will prevail.”
Jolene stood up right into Sulieman, and he nearly fell over backward, her hands slipping from his as he flailed for balance, his eyes widening in surprise. She nearly laughed at how his supple, graceful form looked as he tried to recover, even as she longed for him to ask her again. He was beautiful and way nicer than Xander and probably equally awesome in bed, and she was a total slut.
“I don’t care to prevail,” she said abruptly to cover her need, although he probably scented her arousal. “He can get over himself. I need to talk to Arion and get a handle on this magic witch deal.”
Sulieman rose lithely to his feet in apparent assent, but Jolene didn’t miss the way his eyes flashed or how his nostrils flared. He even tossed his head a little. He might be the nicer brother, but it covered a will of steel, and she had better watch herself. And for sure he scented her arousal. Damn it. She stomped out of the studio, ignoring Arion and Xander, knowing they would follow. She heard Sulie huff behind her and looked back to see him catch up her bag.
* * * *
Arion walked alongside her, back toward her apartment, clearly making a considerable effort to adjust his much longer strides to her now dragging ones. She was so tired. Xander and Sulieman flanked them, and Jolene was aware of the attention they were garnering. She felt like a little elf princess being escorted by her guards on the way back to the castle. She smiled wearily to herself. It was a kind of intoxicating feeling, this interest and care in her well-being, even if it was a means to an end, but that was just because she was worn out. She was certain of it. Jolene never lacked for male com
panionship, but it usually changed to the friendship kind in short order. She had secretly wondered if there was something wrong with her, something about her that put men off, and apparently she was correct to wonder. It appeared this magic stuff made her more appealing to nonhumans. Wasn’t that just freaking wonderful? How would she explain that to her parents and her siblings? Only Uncle Marshall would understand, and he was touched.
She padded along, thinking wistfully of her family and earlier times, times where she didn’t have to worry about the future or how she was going to make a living, or why fate hadn’t smiled on her and given her a dancer’s height and body. Jolene was the baby in her family. Her mom and dad now ran a successful bed-and-breakfast in Medford, Oregon, having semiretired there several years ago from the frantic pace of the ad industry in L.A. Uncle Marshall stayed in Yreka, partly because he wouldn’t leave his cabin, and partly because the rest of her family anted up to stay in contact with him, take care of him, in shifts. Yreka was close enough to Klamath National Forest for everyone to want to take their vacations there, so it all worked out. Her sister and brothers were married and scattered across the country, as were most of her cousins, but Jolene moved to Sacramento because she liked the place and it wasn’t too far from her parents. Just as it wasn’t too far from Uncle Marshall, who she obviously was closer to than she’d previously understood.
Jolene herself recently spent three weeks with her uncle and one of her cousins, and the peace and tranquility of the place had almost soothed her soul. She could have stayed with him, lived with him until he passed on, and no one would blink, least of all Uncle Marshall. He doted on her, and now she knew why. He knew who she was, really, although hadn’t ever tried to tell her. Perhaps one just had to come to it on their own, or maybe one never did find out unless something happened to make it so. Jolene pondered the intricacies of her situation, even as she walked home without fear, without her usual vigilance in this bustling, sometimes dangerous part of town. Her inner self assured her without words she was safe, protected, and could wander and think at will, and Jolene accepted it without question.
Riding Magyk Page 7