Calluna
Spell Library Book 4
Jewels Arthur
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Jewels Arthur
Calluna
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected].
Book design by: Josie Cluney
Editing/Proofreading by: Bookish Dreams Editing & Lucy Felthouse
Formatting by: Inked Imagination
Published by Jewels Arthur
ISBN 9798648962972 (paperback)
ASIN B086GFHRZJ (ebook)
Dedication
To Kyle and Charlotte, you both are the best. I love you more than you will ever know. To the farthest planet and back. Wubba lubba dub dub.
To my Silver Springs Library ladies, ya’ll are the best and I am privileged to be able to work with every single one of you.
To my Wampitch and Vampire, you guys are so amazing.
Thank you for dealing with this mermaid.
Thank you to my amazing PA Sarah Klinger. Love you girl, thanks for keeping me sane.
To my alpha readers, Jenni, Mollie, Sam, Rachel, Sherry, Daisy, Janet, Robin, and Voe.
You are all amazing and I am so lucky to have you guys on my team.
Contents
1. Calluna
2. Calluna
3. Calluna
4. Calluna
5. Calluna
6. Landyn
7. Calluna
8. Rhett
9. Calluna
10. Calluna
11. Calluna
12. Landyn
13. Calluna
14. Rhett
15. Calluna
16. Calluna
17. Damian
18. Calluna
19. Calluna
20. Calluna
21. Landyn
22. Calluna
23. Rhett
24. Calluna
25. Landyn
26. Calluna
27. Calluna
28. Damian
29. Calluna
30. Elias
31. Calluna
32. Calluna
33. Calluna
34. Calluna
35. Calluna
36. Calluna
37. Calluna
38. Calluna
Epilogue
Dahlia by Tabitha Barret
To the reader:
Also by Jewels Arthur
About the Author
Follow Jewels Arthur on Social Media
Calluna
“I have never seen something so rashy.” I pause, grimacing at the sight. “Or long, for that matter.”
“He is extremely long for his age,” Lars agrees, stroking along Klaus’ length. “He is so soft.”
“He should be, I just washed him,” I add with a smile, watching Lars cuddle up with Klaus. “I really hope he gets adopted soon. He was in bad shape when he got here, but I’m hoping the rash is the last trace of this curse.”
Lars, my one and only worker, nods his head. “What kind of monster would curse a ferret?” He growls the words, and the rumble they make in his chest makes me bite my lip. Fuck, I need to get laid.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Lars growls again, quirking his brow at me. “You really need to get laid. You should have seen the guy I hooked up with last night. You’d be biting that lip off.”
“Why do you have to be gay? Why do you have to get laid so much more than I do?” I moan, stealing Klaus from his grasp. This is what I get for having a very sexy but perpetually unavailable best friend. His long, sandy blond hair is slicked back on the top and shaved tightly on the sides. A medium-length grizzled beard frames a square jaw and full lips. Pure sexual goodness all wrapped up in a gay best friend package. Isn’t that my luck? His body literally brings new meaning to the disgusting phrase I hear kids using these days—cum gutters.
Lars looks at me seriously, losing his charming smile. “Because I leave this place every once in a while, and go somewhere other than back to my apartment. I’m gay because cock is amazing and pussy freaks me out.”
I purse my lips and continue to pet Klaus’ soft fur. I am definitely in need of a good lay if I am this turned on by my very gay best friend, even if he is super hunky. He does have this all right though. All sex and no strings. That is where it’s at.
“Come to Vee with me tonight. We’ll have a blast, dance all night, find something stiff, long, and definitely not rashy.” He jabs me in the side, causing me to laugh loudly and Klaus to leap from my hands. He runs over to the other side of the store where we keep the pet beds and crawls into them, hiding from the loud noise.
“What kind of man am I going to find at Vee? The only attractive ones are the owners, and Rose locked down those guys months ago.”
“We’re just looking for a bit of fun, not a husband. A good fuck with some random, and then onto a morning of nursing a hangover and a sore pussy,” Lars replies with a grin.
I eye him skeptically. “First of all, I never said anything about a husband, and I don’t want to be nursing a hangover.”
“But you are fine with the sore pussy?” Lars jeers with a glint in his eye.
“Of course I am,” I say without shame.
“So you’ll go?” he asks hopefully, and I just shrug at him.
“Meh,” I reply noncommittally. My living room, shitty TV, and relaxing in only a t-shirt and undies are calling my name.
I look down and see the corny romance book sitting on my table and roll my eyes. Someone left it in the store earlier today. It looks funny with all the half-naked guys and flowers, but it also looks like a silly love story and that is so not my scene. My biggest interest in the book though is that the author is from Silver Springs. Maybe reading the book will help me figure out who C. C. Pines is. Settling on reading it tonight, I look up to see Lars glaring at me.
“What?” I say through my teeth, squinting my eyes at him.
“I believe you have to pick the book up to read it. Unless you have powers that I don’t know about?” he says with a laugh, causing my face to flush a bit. I hate that he saw my interest in the book, hate that it makes me look desperate. It’s easier to convince people that I’m truly fine with being alone when I avoid all the gushy shit.
“I’m just trying to see if I can spot some man cock around the flowers. The guy on the right seems to be holding a pretty small bouquet,” I point out, turning the scene back to a joke. Lars walks over and picks up the book, looking closely at the cover.
“Why does that guy have a sword?” he asks, quirking a brow at me. I laugh and shrug, then snatch the book back out of his hands.
“All these books have to have the Fabio type. Long hair, muscles, a long thick sword,” I muse, barely keeping my grin from my lips.
“Seems like a pretty thin sword to me,” Lars says with a shrug. He turns his attention from the book in my hands to me. “I see what you’re doing. Staring at that crappy book like it’s your lifeline to getting out of this. You promised me a night of fun. It’s time to deliver, Cal.”
I frown at him, since I’ve never liked being called ‘Cal.’ It makes me sound like a small boy or a trucker with a hard-on for lot lizards. “Buuuut I don’t want to have fun,” I groan, setting the book on the table. “I want to get into my pajamas and lounge around. And I have to feed my goats.”
“You don’t have goats.” Lars looks at me with suspicion.
“I could have goats,” I reply with a sniff.
“You are coming out with me and that is final. You never do anything. You have no friends,” he puts his hand up when I begin to argue, “other than me. Customers don’t count.”
I frown and cross my arms across my chest. “One hour.”
“Six.” He counters.
“Six? Gods, Lars, I have to open the shop in the morning!” I growl, stomping my foot like a petulant child.
“We’ll have so much fun, you’ll still be running on a high in the morning,” Lars argues, and I know he’s already won. I’ll be going out because he’s right. I don’t have any friends.
“You’re going to get me literally high, aren’t you?” I ask him warily.
“Oh, don’t be so uptight. Tonight will be a blast,” he says with a smile, and I know that I’ll live to regret this.
Calluna
After an hour, I’m ready for my impending doom. I’ve squeezed my thick ass into the only ‘night out’ dress I have, and it hasn’t been worn in about ten years. I stopped the party phase around twenty-four when I opened Beastie Besties, and now at thirty-four, I feel far too old to be at a nightclub.
The bouncer lets us in quickly, and I notice Lars eyeing him like a piece of meat. “Is he a possibility?” I ask, eyeing the muscular bouncer myself. His thick, corded muscles seem to be bursting out of his tight black t-shirt. Dark black sunglasses cover his eyes and draw my attention to a small silver nose ring, his thin lips framed by a black beard.
“For me, possibly. For you, possibly?” Lars replies, finally returning his attention to the scene in front of him. I look around the dark room that’s lit only by spotlights and what looks to be an old disco ball. Ahhh, Vee. How you haven’t changed.
I whisper yell to Lars over the music, squeezing closely to him to avoid getting tangled in the crowd. “That doesn’t sound very promising.”
Lars shrugs. “Reggie is a confusing guy. I can’t get a good read on him, but there’s a strong possibility he swings both ways and I’m not a fan of sharing.”
“Ahhh,” I say with a nod. I look at my friend and wonder about him. He’s also in his thirties, and it’s probably time for him to drop the bar scene and settle down. Yes, yes. Kettle, pot, black. All that mumbo-jumbo, but at least I’m not still bar-hopping. I own a respectable business, and I’m responsible…for a lot of cats, but we’ll just keep the last part to ourselves.
“Tonight’s mission is to get you laid. I get laid every night.” Lars smirks as the words leave his lips. I’m sure they’re true, but that doesn’t make them any less gross. I can only imagine the type of men he meets at Vee. Men that like bears. Not even the gay sort of metaphor, although kinda. He’s a big gay guy, which makes him a bear in the stereotypical sense, but also, he’s an actual bear shifter.
“I can do just fine on my own,” I growl, joining him in looking over the club. Nada. Blood drunk vampires in their perpetual early twenties. Drunk shifters in their mid-twenties. Everyone is gyrating all over each other. Ugh, I’m sweating just looking at them.
I turn around and look away from the dance floor and over to the bar. There we have some more drunk shifters of different varieties, but all mostly old. Not my type of old either, but the sixty and up crowd. The type that lives in the bars. Then, I spot the bartender and sigh in relief.
“Rose!” I yell, weaving through the crowd to get to the bar. “How is Pumpkin?” I ask, feeling more at home talking about animals. I can deal with animal talk, not all the gyrating behind me.
Rose smiles brightly, flashing a bit of fang in the bright light. “Hey, Calluna! I don’t see you here often. Pumpkin is great! He’s upstairs with Sam, sleeping I’m sure. I’ve been meaning to bring them both for a visit.”
Rose and her mates own this bar, Vee, named as a play on vampire. Since they’re all vampires, the name is kind of punny. A month ago, they brought in their cat that had recently been turned into a vampire. The most bizarre thing I’d seen, and I’ve seen some really bizarre shit. Like the wiener dog, Frank, that won’t stop shitting glitter everywhere. Not as fun as it sounds. Oh, and Bingo the lizard that constantly escapes and brings random animals home with him. Since his current home is my pet store, he has turned into quite the handful.
I smile back at Rose, completely understanding why she has not been to the store lately. Her men, very sexy ones at that, do almost everything for her. They’re the coddling type, and I think Rose doesn’t mind the coddling much. “It’s all good. I can get some more food made for him, how is his blood intake?”
“Are you fucking serious right now?” Lars rumbles as he comes up to the bar beside me. “I’ll take a beer, Rose.”
Rose nods and begins getting the beer. “What about you, Calluna?” she asks.
“Oh fuck, I don’t know. Vodka and something?” I reply, completely clueless. “I’m sorry I don’t drink or do anything really other than pet store stuff, but this asshole forced me out of reclusion.”
Rose laughs and begins mixing me up a drink, then passes it to me. I take a sip and find it super delicious. I mouth ‘thank you’ to her and try to relax more. I close my eyes and listen to the music.
“Did you want to go upstairs? See Pumpkin? I’m sure he’d love it. Logan can handle the bar for a bit,” Rose asks with a smile, like she can tell I’m living in my own personal nightmare right now.
“Yes please,” I moan, following her down the bar.
“Fine, but you better come back,” Lars growls, pointing at me accusingly. He knows that I’m likely to ditch him, and he’s right. This is just not my scene.
“You aren’t coming with?” I ask, feeling bad for ditching my friend, even if it is to cuddle some cats.
“Nope. Never been a fan of pussy,” Lars jokes before he weaves back through the crowd and begins grinding his dick against some man’s ass. Well then. I turn to Rose and see her smiling at me near the door that heads into the back and what I’m assuming is the stairs to their loft.
Calluna
When I get into the loft, I find one of Rose’s mates, Sebastian, walking around in only a towel, and my mouth drops open. “Sorry, Seb. I brought up company. You remember Calluna?” Rose says nonchalantly, like I can’t see the outline of her mate’s cock through his towel.
Sebastian smiles at me, giving me a small wave. “Yup. Hi, Calluna. Sorry about this.”
I smile back uncomfortably. “Oh, no problem at all. Sorry to barge in.”
Rose frowns at me. “You aren’t barging, I invited you.”
“Oh great, the cat lady. Don’t have any more furry fuckers with you this time, do you?” Finn asks, feigning annoyance. I know by the way he looks at Rose that if she wanted one hundred cats, he would comply. Might not like it, but he would comply.
“Actually, it’s ferrets this time. Watch out for Klaus. Super sweet, but he has a horrible rash. Just put the ointment on every two hours,” I explain, barely suppressing a smile.
“You’ll love Klaus, babe. He looks just like you!” Rose teases, causing Finn’s mouth to drop open like he just saw a half-naked Sebastian, cock outline and all.
“But. What? I don’t—” He groans as if in pain. “Rosalie. Fuck. Where is he?” His eyes scan the room nervously.
Rose and I both crack up, and he sighs in relief. “There’s no rashy ferret, is there?”
“Klaus is very real, I just haven’t brought him,” I say seriously. “No, I’m here to see this beautiful boy!” I squeal as Pumpkin sways into the room. I sit in the first chair I see and allow the chunky bundle of orange fur to leap into my lap and give me cuddles. “How is my favorite vampkitty?” I ask, kissing his soft cheeks.
“Fat. Lazy. Fucking his little cat broad all over the apartment. Living his best life,” Finn says in irritation. He frowns at the love I give Pumpkin, and then he turns to Rose. “You don’t really want to get a ferret, do you? Pumpkin would eat him.”
Rose laughs, shaking her head. “N
o, no ferrets for me. You’re probably right. Pumpkin would want to snack on him. I wouldn’t say no to another cat though,” she replies cheerfully.
His face drops a small bit before he’s interrupted by a knock at the door. “Well, who the bloody hell is that? The party is downstairs!” he yells at the door just before opening it. The man that stands on the other side of the door is drop-dead gorgeous. Light brown skin accentuates all the black tattoos rippling against his muscles. I trail my eyes down his muscular body slowly, feeling my mouth water at the sight as I imagine all the dirty things I’d love to do to him. I finally get to his face and find myself continually impressed. A light scruff of black hair shades his chin, connecting to a buzz cut that is just as dark. His eyes have to be the lightest shade of brown I’ve ever seen and seem to have gold flecks in them.
“Calluna, this is Landyn. He works security for Vee. Landyn, this is Calluna. She owns the pet store, Beastie Besties, in town,” Rose says brightly, introducing me to the delicious man in front of me that I recognize as the griffin shifter bouncer for the club. I remember the stories I heard from Lars about the man’s trouble with the sphinx shifter that now resides at the prison in town.
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