by Black, Tasha
Where her kitchen had been, the abandoned swimming pool now glimmered, frogs sitting on the edges.
A pumpkin patch sprouted in the fireplace.
She was taking them back, back to the beginning, back to the day she’d walked around the corner of the abandoned house in the abandoned section of town known as Sycamore Woods. She’d been looking for Ainsley Connor and instead had fallen in love at first sight with a beautiful man who was more than a hundred years her senior.
Julian Magie.
“I thought you bewitched me that day,” he breathed.
But Grace couldn’t answer. The illusion was complete, and she was helpless now with desire as the weight of the magic’s price pulled her down like the undertow.
“Oh, my poor darling,” Julian crooned to her, understanding. “Come, my love.”
He led her to a bank of soft grass.
She followed gratefully, enjoying the pulse of her blood through her veins, the feel of the overcast sun through the clouds that had taken the place of her ceiling.
He pulled her close, kissed her as he let her hair down out of the bun that was her signature hairstyle.
She loved his delighted intake of breath as her hair swirled down over her bare shoulders. He reacted the same way every time. She imagined a stooped Julian gasping over her long silver hair coming down from a bun one night, fifty years from now, and tears prickled at her eyelids.
“Are you okay?” His voice was filled with compassion.
She smiled and nodded. The price of the magic had her tongue.
“It’s the magic, isn’t it?”
She nodded again.
“This is so beautiful,” he told her, kissing her again. “I’m so glad you did this. Do you know why?”
He pulled back and her whole body screamed at the loss of his decadent heat.
She shook her head.
“This is what I wanted,” he told her. “All I wanted that day was to lie down with you, right here.”
She smiled. She had wanted that too. And it had astonished her.
“Do you want that?”
She nodded.
“Put your arms up, love,” he told her.
She did as she was told and he slid the dress down to her ankles.
When she stepped out of it he shook it out and hung it carefully over the picnic table by the pool.
He returned to her, wrapping his arms around her sliding them down over her panties, then sliding them off as well.
She was naked now and he was fully dressed, though his shirt was unbuttoned to reveal the planes of his lightly muscled chest.
“Please,” she managed, afraid that he would tease her. She wasn’t sure how much she could take. This was more magic than she used in her day-to-day life.
He smiled a lazy smile and began to take off his clothes.
“Lie down, love,” he instructed her.
She lay in the thick grass. Her senses were so heightened with desire that she could feel the individual blades tickling her thighs.
She watched as he carefully removed all of his clothing, hanging it with hers over the picnic table.
He walked slowly back to her. His body was so beautiful, all lean muscle and the stiff, proud part of him that told her she was not the only one squirming with desire.
He knelt at her feet. “Spread your legs for me, my angel.”
She did as she was told.
She watched as he rubbed his rough jaw against her inner thighs, and nuzzled her curls.
She whimpered but tried to hold still.
“Good girl,” he breathed.
And then the tip of his tongue was on her sex, sliding gently up and down her opening.
“Ohhh,” she sighed.
His fingers tightened on her thighs and she fought the impulse to lift her hips for more contact with his teasing tongue.
“Mmm,” he hummed against her.
The vibrations were so pleasurable she thought she would burn alive with need.
He must have taken pity on her. All at once she felt his tongue right on her clit, lapping, sucking, as he eased a finger against her opening, pressing it inside her so slowly.
She grabbed handfuls of grass, clung to them for dear life, trying not to float away with the intensity of the pleasure.
Then his tongue moved downward, lightly tracing a line away from where she needed his touch, his finger easing out once more.
“Ohhh,” she whined.
“Easy, love,” he whispered, the touch of his lips against her driving her insane.
As soon as she calmed slightly, he began to lick his way back upward again, lavishing her every fold with slow and careful attention.
When he reached her clitoris once more she was frantic with need.
He circled it slowly, then pressed his lips to the swollen little bundle of nerves and sucked gently as he eased his finger back inside her.
Grace cried out, desperate in her need.
But Julian was working his way downward again, withdrawing his finger to lap and tongue at her opening.
Grace could feel her whole body swelling and opening for him. Waves of yearning crashed over her and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold still as he liked her to do.
“Please,” she begged.
She felt him smile against her.
Then suddenly he was licking her clit into his mouth, flicking and sucking at the same time, and hooking his finger inside her to massage a small and secret place that drove her wild.
And then she was exploding, locking down on his finger and breaking into pieces as he accentuated her ecstasy with the slow movements of his mouth.
The room flashed back and forth between her apartment and the outdoors as she climaxed. Even her magic was lost to chaos at Julian’s touch.
At last she opened her eyes to see him crawling up to her.
She reached her arms out to him and he rested himself on his elbows as she twined her arms around his neck.
He gazed down at her. His smile was full of love, but his eyes were hazy with lust.
“I need you, Grace,” he told her.
“Yes,” she whispered greedily. She needed him too.
“I’m too heavy to be on top of you out here on the ground,” he said through clenched teeth. “Shall we go back home to your bed?”
She shook her head. “No, please let’s stay here.”
He smiled. “We’ll try it your way.”
She lifted her hips eagerly and felt him throb against her belly.
“You’ll be the death of me girl,” he hissed, lifting her hands over her head and pinning them there in one of his.
This was what he loved, testing her discipline, holding her down and making her beg.
Grace bit her lip and watched his blue eyes flash an impossible cerulean as he eased himself inside her.
“My god, Grace,” he sighed.
She closed her eyes, savoring the stretching ache that always precluded the joy of having him inside her.
He held himself still, his jaw taut.
After a moment her body accommodated him. And then the inexorable pull of desire followed.
Julian began to move slowly, tenderly inside her.
“I wanted to do this with you the day we met,” he told her. “I wanted to be with you because you were beautiful, because there was a spark of life in you like no one I had ever met.”
Grace’s heart swelled and she fought back sudden tears.
“But I had no idea,” he went on. “I had no idea the depth of your bravery, the color of your soul. Grace Kwan-Cortez Magie, I love you. I will always belong to you.”
She nodded, smiling up at him through her tears.
“You’ll always belong to me too,” he added, speeding up his movements and sliding a hand between them to toy with her.
The pleasure was too much. Stars began to swim before her eyes.
“Do you belong to me?”
“Yes,” she whispered, lost in a sea of need again.
“Then come for me,” he commanded.
He went still and she convulsed around him just as he exploded into her with a cry of abandon.
The pleasure seemed to go on and on.
When her tremors finally ceased, he pulled her on top of him and she tucked herself into the place between his arm and his chest.
She must have begun to drift while listening to his heartbeats.
“Don’t sleep, darling,” he crooned. “We’ve got somewhere to be.”
Later - Ainsley
The day seemed to go by too quickly for Ainsley.
A happy rush of smiling faces, wet diapers, formal words and warm kisses, all under the leafy branches of the trees that lined the college amphitheater.
Ainsley had never really thought about getting married. Her bond to Erik transcended the piece of paper.
But little Michael’s arrival had brought a surge of sentimentality over them both. When Erik caught her gazing fondly at her parents’ wedding photo, baby Michael snuggled in her arms, he insisted that they do something like a normal couple for once.
Plans were surprisingly easy to arrange. The mayor of Tarker’s Hollow offered to preside over what was supposed to be a small ceremony. Though neither Ainsley nor Erik were alumni or faculty, exceptions were made for a wedding on campus, due to Ainsley’s father’s legacy.
And what had been meant as a quick and quiet celebration of their love turned into the usual circus of any big event in the sleepy little town, with wolves from both packs and humans who had known the couple since childhood all pitching in with their own ideas to make the event special.
Ainsley was happy to hand over the reins to Grace.
“Is there anything you’d like to happen?” Grace had asked, leaning forward, her clipboard and pen at the ready.
Ainsley cradled Michael’s chubby face in her hand. He was dreaming about nursing, his perfect pink lips moved slightly in his sleep.
“Nope,” she said, smiling down at the baby. “Just make sure there’s plenty of food and the ceremony isn’t too long.”
Erik laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Haven’t you been dreaming of this day since you were a little kid or something? Just ask for what you want.”
“No,” she smiled up at him, placing her hand over his. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment ever since I was a little kid.”
They paused a moment and Ainsley closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of her son in her arms, her mate behind her, her best friend beside her, the bubbling of the tea kettle, the scents of peppermint and baby powder.
If only…
If only it weren’t going to be taken away.
Michael was good during the ceremony. He was always good, a contented, funny baby who wanted nothing more than to nurse or to wrap his fat little fists around chunks of Ainsley’s hair while gazing wonderingly at the world with his beautiful dark eyes.
The biggest disruption he had ever caused was by arriving male when Ainsley had been convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that she was carrying a girl.
But the boy named after her father had stolen her heart. Ainsley had no doubt that he would usher in a bright future for both packs, assuming he did inherit the wolf.
And if he didn’t, there would be more babies. And there was always the possibility of a magical heritage.
The day was hot, but the shade of the trees was perfect, especially after Grace and Julian had applied a few well-placed cooling spells.
Ainsley was just glad it didn’t rain, as the weather report had threatened. There was nothing she could have done about that. Although, with the strength of her magic recently, and Grace back in town…
Carol Lotus, her father’s old colleague, came onto the grassy stage to read a bit of Tolstoy for them, and Ainsley snuck a glance at her best friend, who was in her own world with Julian.
She had never seen Grace happier. The sight of them together lifted her spirits.
Ainsley wasn’t entirely sure how Julian had made it back from wherever he was. Grace had explained it to her - something about how his soul was trapped inside the crystal and Grace’s magic had sustained him until she was able to sacrifice his energy to open the portals. Grace had thought she was letting him go, but she hadn’t counted on the boost of magic she got from the open portal being strong enough to restore his physical form.
To Ainsley, it all sounded like a lot of metaphysical magic mumbo jumbo, when she knew exactly why Julian was standing before her. It was really pretty simple. Grace loved him too much to let him go. And Grace got shit done.
Seeing her best friend’s joy was just one more blessing in an already perfect day. She tried to memorize the light on the faces of the people she loved smiling down on her, the lift of the leaves in the breeze, the delicious contrast between Erik’s dark hair and his white shirt, and the scent of his pride for their small family.
Though of course with Cressida here there was no danger of any of them forgetting any of it anyway.
From the instant of Michael’s arrival, Cressida had gone about ensuring that he was the best-documented baby that ever lived. Each mundane instant of his day-to-day life had been carefully photographed until Ainsley had to ask Cressida to take a couple of days off.
She’d left without making a particular fuss and returned three days later with a stack of 8 x 10 black and white glossies that made Ainsley shiver with their insightful perspective of her son’s emerging personality and their uncanny beauty.
Cressida and her camera were then allowed free access whenever she chose. Ainsley also helped sign her up for summer photography classes at an art college in the city.
Cressida hadn’t been anywhere without a camera since she and Grace had returned from Fletcher’s Cove. It was thrilling to see her getting herself together. For the first time since Ainsley met Cressida, the young woman seemed to have a purpose and a mission of her own to go with all that confidence.
In addition to the photography, Cressida was learning more about her true nature from Tokala. He had pulled Ainsley aside to tell her that there hadn’t been a shifter like Cressida in generations. Ainsley could have told him that herself before Cressida ever turned into anything besides a wolf.
Cressida was taking thousands of photos today. Her athletic tendencies meant she was as likely to be hanging out of a tree to get her shot as she was to be setting up a tripod.
Javier followed closely behind her, retrieving items from the camera bag slung over his wide shoulder.
“Who gives this woman to be wed?” the mayor asked.
On the first row of granite benches, Grace’s parents stood, smiling, to indicate that they were the ones giving Ainsley away.
She felt tears threaten as she smiled back at them. She was lucky, so lucky.
She gazed into Erik’s dark eyes to anchor herself and the rest of the ceremony went by in a blur of questions and I do-s.
“You may now kiss the bride,” the mayor said kindly.
Erik smiled down at her, blinking his impossibly long lashes to hold back the tears.
When he took her in his strong arms and kissed her like there was no tomorrow, Ainsley felt that she would die of happiness.
Then Michael piped up with a funny little growl and everyone laughed and the ceremony was over.
They all headed to the Cortez house for a big picnic dinner afterward. Someone had hung fairy lights in the trees and Eva’s hand stitched quilts were laid all over the lawn.
Mr. Cortez flipped burgers affably by the big grill while everyone mingled and sipped champagne. It was good to see the friendly faces. Especially those she had found in the clearing with the spider-things. Owen and Brian sat together on a bright quilt under the big tree. And Megan held Jenny’s baby boy as she fixed herself a generous plate of food.
Ainsley was amazed that they had all made it out okay. But Tokala was a gifted healer, and his powers had gotten a big boost as well.
“Ainsley,”
Cressida called, bringing her thoughts back to the moment. “I want to get one more shot of you and the baby. I have a new lens.”
Ainsley smiled and turned to her friend.
“Sure, where do you want us?”
“Right here is good,” Cressida said, gesturing to Javier for something, which he handed to her.
She began to shoot.
“Javier,” Cress said lightly. “My class is cancelled tomorrow night. Are you busy?”
“No, do you want to come to my place?” he offered immediately.
“No,” Cressida shook her head.
“Where then?” he asked. “Your place? The woods?”
Cressida stopped shooting.
“No, I don’t want to get together just to f— just to do that,” she corrected herself. Ainsley was endlessly amused that Cressida would not curse in front of the baby.
Javier stared at her, stunned.
Ainsley watched quietly. This was seriously better than a soap opera. Or a nature documentary.
“I was thinking we could go into the city for dinner,” Cressida suggested. “Maybe dancing or something after?”
“You mean like… a date,” Javier said wonderingly.
“Yes,” she nodded. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
Javier’s handsome face broke into the sunniest smile Ainsley had ever seen.
Cressida grabbed his hand and dragged him away to take more pictures.
Grace approached just as they left. “What was that about?”
Ainsley opened her mouth and closed it again. “You know, I don’t think I want to jinx it.”
Grace nodded slowly, a grin splitting her face. “I wondered when that would happen.”
“He’s a patient man,” Ainsley noted.
“Hi, Michael,” Grace cooed. “Want to come see your tía?”
Michael burbled happily and Ainsley handed him off. He always looked so big in Grace’s arms.
“Go find your husband,” Grace winked. “I think he’s saving you a dance, if we can get my dad to get out his fiddle.”
Ainsley wound her way through blankets of friends to find Erik.
She found him at the edge of the picnic area and the huge side yard.
A lump rose in her throat when she saw who was with him.