The Problem With Witches: An Arcane Shot Series Novel

by Joey W. Hill

  Marcie could imagine him winding his hands in it, tying Raina to him, yanking on it as he thrust within her. Ben loved doing that with her thick tresses.

  She could see Raina’s breast pressed into the mattress, a tempting swell of pale flesh. Raina’s buttocks were round and soft-looking, quivering with arousal. She had her exotic green-gold eyes lowered, her full lips parted. Mikhael still had his knee on the bed, now between her spread legs. He grasped one of her hands in his own, taking the arm down and turning her wrist so her knuckles pressed into the small of her back. He held her so their fingers twined together, except for his thumb. That nestled between her buttocks, rubbing in a way that had Raina making a soft noise of need, her thighs twitching, her upper body lifting in involuntary reaction and arousal.

  Marcie enjoyed women, though her primary sexual preference was men, and Ben above all. But seeing Raina like this went past gender preference into a whole other realm. That energy she’d received in small waves from the woman was now a full, pulsing wash of heat, holding her in invisible bonds, as if coiling around her wrists, waist and thighs. As it inched up toward her throat, her chin lifted, but something in her soul protested, her heart tightening. Some things were one man’s domain only. Only one…

  A breath left her, relief and shuddering arousal, as Ben’s hand closed over her there, over her collar, so the metal of the solid band pressed into her flesh. He tipped her head back against his shoulder. She could still see, but now her Master had her, his body against the back of hers, his arm strong around her waist. He molded his other palm over her hip bone as his long fingers stroked denim, over her mound and upper thigh. The contact, so close to her sex, had a moan slipping out between her lips.

  “Getting into trouble, brat?” her Master said, a whisper against her ear.

  Chapter Six

  “Always,” she managed breathlessly, and earned a dark chuckle, weighted with desire.

  With his touch, Marcie realized something important. The magic Raina emitted was natural. It wasn’t manipulating or coercing them. This was a familiar energy to her and Ben both. Every intense erotic encounter with him created this kind of energy. In the depths of her heart and soul, Marcie had even called it magic once or twice.

  She’d meant it in the theoretical, symbolic or romantic sense. Now she knew it was real, a raw, wild and powerful force that Raina could weave and use to affect those around her. Marcie had no doubt she could compel with it. But this didn’t feel like that.

  Marcie’s gaze slid to Mikhael. Here was proof, because this male emanated total authority over the situation. He was compelled by no one. Another type of energy she was quite familiar with.

  The Dark Guardian had unbuttoned that exquisitely tailored dark shirt all the way and was shrugging out of it, revealing a powerful warrior’s body, his chest covered with a gleaming layer of dark hair. He stripped the belt from his slacks so they rode low on his hips as he put a knee on the bed again. He had the belt doubled over in his hand and Marcie wet her lips, recognizing his intent.

  She loved Ben in anything he wore or nothing, but he knew what his office power wear did to her. Especially his slim belt, the gleaming buckle, because she’d had that applied to her backside more times than she could count. He could cause unimaginable levels of pain with it, but she craved that pain, and he fed on her need, the two of them sometimes frighteningly insatiable.

  But he protected her from the precipices that existed in that realm, because that was where he possessed breathtaking levels of control over her…and himself. He always called them back from that edge.

  Outside those moments, she returned the favor, holding him back from his own destructive cliff edges. That was what Matt’s last, lingering look had been about. He had no worries about Ben in a physical situation. It was the deeper, darker realms of the soul that Matt knew were Marcie’s jurisdiction, when it came to Ben.

  But right here and now? This was the moment she could relinquish everything to her Master, and she did, melting back into him as her attention clung to Mikhael. He bent over Raina, put his mouth between her shoulder blades and spoke in a low tone, but one Marcie could hear. “They take pleasure in pain, malysh,” the Dark Guardian said. “And you have been teasing them all night. You took inordinate pleasure in it. You’ll need to face the consequences for that.”

  “I take inordinate pleasure in everything,” Raina managed. It wasn’t a practiced, throaty purr, though. It was a raw admission. Especially her next words, uttered with her gaze fastened on Mikhael. “What I hunger for the most, only you provide.”

  He held his gaze on her face a long moment. “Good,” he said. “So now I think you will make it up to them. You will keep everything below your waist absolutely still, unless I allow you movement.”

  He cupped the side of her face, and Raina nuzzled his palm, parting her lips to take his thumb as it pressed in past her teeth. She sucked on it with obvious implication, her tongue teasing along the knuckle. As she raised her lashes and pinned her jeweled gaze on Ben and Marcie, a full wave of that energy hit both of them.

  Fuck. Marcie swayed in Ben’s grip, her nipples hardening and sex convulsing. “Ben,” she gasped.

  “Hold steady, brat.” His voice was rough, but his iron control didn’t fail her. Even with that vibe pulsing manically through her, he held the line. Mikhael had lifted his attention to Ben and the two men were holding gazes. Two Doms working shit out, she thought desperately, just like the K&A guys did in moments like this, that intuition setting the boundaries, even as they mapped out the ways they intended to push their subs into crazy places. All without a word exchanged.

  When Marcie brought her gaze back to Raina, she saw the vulnerable expression that said the witch was no longer in control either. She’d given it all to her Master, too.

  “Ahh…” Marcie dropped her head back further as Ben’s grip on her throat shifted. His long fingers spread out along her jaw, pressed so he tilted her head away from him. When he bit her neck, the clamp of his teeth was fierce enough she felt her carotid beating helplessly against it. She swayed as his other hand slipped the button of her jeans and he pushed his way in, the zipper giving way before his demand.

  Crack!

  Mikhael had brought the belt down, strap making contact with flesh. Marcie knew how that felt. Her buttocks flexed against Ben’s erection, her nails digging into his forearms, seeking blood. When he bit her harder, as if seeking the same, she shuddered.

  His hand moved against her, fingers tunneling in under the edge of her panties to find how wet she was. The thickness of those clever digits reminded her of other ways he could fill her.

  Raina cried out, fingernails clawing at the covers. Mikhael’s eyes flashed, and he gave her three more strikes as those pleading noises increased. Raina rubbed her face fractiously against the spread. Yet she obviously obeyed his command to keep her lower body still, even while the parts of her that were allowed movement showed the effort it was taking.

  Whap! Whap! Marcie was whimpering in Ben’s mouth, her body shuddering. Goddess, she could feel every blow, her mind whirling in the past, remembering her tears on her cheeks, Ben’s lips pressing against them the times he punished her so brutally, then took her for a trip to the moon.

  Mikhael laid the strap aside and knelt on the bed over Raina. Marcie’s eyes came back to them as he leaned over the witch with a powerful curve of his upper body, a flex of his buttock against the strained fabric of his slacks. Slowly, he brought his mouth to her abused backside, even more slowly teased a cheek with lazy movements of teeth and tongue, making his chosen female whimper. Her fingernails were going to puncture those thick cotton sheets. As he bit down harder, her head came up, her hair tumbling down over her shoulder, back along the bed.

  The movement sent another heady wave of energy through the suite. The lines of the furniture, the pictures on the wall, everything about their current reality, seemed to blur, darken, while all the shapes stayed in bold relief. M
arcie’s heart jumped, because dark wings expanded from Mikhael’s back, ragged-edged, sinister looking things with talons at the joints, but also magnificent in their span, the texture like supple leather.

  Ben’s fingers thrust deep into Marcie, wresting a cry from her. Mikhael stopped, held. He didn’t look toward her, but Raina did, green-gold eyes on Marcie’s face, sweeping over her body, Ben’s hold on her. Mikhael trailed his own fingers down his witch’s back, slow, serpentine movements that had her licking her lips, her fingers convulsing on the covers.

  All while Ben fucked Marcie in easy rhythmic circles that were anything but easy. The grip of his hand on her throat controlled the pace, keeping her still the way Mikhael was keeping Raina still. Ben’s thumb stroked her pulse beneath the collar, moving the band so the reminder of his ownership rubbed provocatively against her sensitive flesh. Each pass along Marcie’s sizzling nerve endings, every trail of fingertips down Raina’s spine, wrested a plea from one of them.

  Mikhael slid an arm beneath his witch. In a sinuous movement, she turned in the span of that muscular arm, her back arching over it as her hands latched onto his biceps, her legs rising to curl around his hips. Her expression was hungry. He buried his hand in her thick miles of hair as he lifted her head to take her mouth in a kiss.

  Marcie moaned again, watching them, the way Mikhael swept Raina under with the demand that his mouth could bring to her. Ripples of response told her she might be in danger of releasing just from watching them kiss while her Master touched her, possessed her with his fingers. Ben knew her too well. He shook his head against her neck, a growl against her flesh a warning.

  She didn’t come without her Master’s permission. She’d had that disposition from the first, but he’d taken it even further. He’d trained her so well, literally beaten it into her in ways she’d embraced. Every lesson had created the chain around her will. Even if the flames of Raina’s power were licking full force between Marcie’s legs, she wouldn’t release. Not without her Master’s command.

  Your climax, it’s under my control, brat. Not yours. I let it go when I allow it. It’s why you don’t come until I say so. There is no other choice. It all belongs to me.

  And he was right. Unless he deliberately made her fail for the pleasure that gave him, to reinforce the mandate once again, she could hold onto that edge as long as he demanded she do so. No matter if she lost pieces of her mind doing so.

  Mikhael laid Raina back on the bed again, staring down at her as she let her hands drop over her head, the generous breasts and her throat offered to him, her wet lips parted.

  Marcie swayed toward her and the woman’s head tilted in her direction, gaze fastening upon her. Even in the middle of a haze of lust, Marcie did a double take, because those eyes were like a cat’s now, the pupils a narrow slit in the midst of the brilliant color. The teeth that played over Mikhael’s thumb and drew a drop of blood were needle sharp.

  The energy likewise had changed, subtly, but her Master didn’t miss it. Ben withdrew his hand from Marcie to hold her fast as his head came up, gauging what was happening.

  Then that change became far less subtle, like a sudden wind change on a calm sea, a rising wind that heralded a swiftly approaching storm. Marcie felt the power of it building, expanding. It was all coming from Raina. Suddenly, Marcie knew the chilling truth; that the witch was a creature who could take their lives with the energy she had ribboning around and through them. The non-human eyes staring at them were avid…hungry.

  Ben tensed. Marcie wondered if he was about to draw her behind him and back them out of the room. She couldn’t blame him for his protectiveness, even though her mind was too fogged to want to do it herself. The fatal temptation of a succubus was now alive, present and pulsing in this hotel room.

  There was a flicker in Raina’s gaze, and Marcie was reminded of a wild creature trying to convey something without the benefit of speech. But she had someone to speak for her.

  “She can unleash herself fully under my command and do no harm,” Mikhael said. “For decades, she had to discipline herself, deny herself. Deny the very heart and soul of who she is to cause no harm. And she did so, all by herself, with no one to champion her. That will never be the case again. Do not fear her. She will call forth her energy, tangle it with yours, and take you places you’ve never been before.”

  Marcie met Raina’s gaze. The words opened other things, other currents that fed that energy. Currents that came from the heart and soul of who Raina was. Marcie saw traces of vulnerability in the woman’s gaze, in the way her fingers curved into Mikhael’s shoulders as he bent in what was clearly a protective pose over her. Protecting her from the possibility they would withdraw, not certain of the witch.

  Marcie imagined it, not being able to give herself fully to Ben, reach that soul-to-soul connection for fear that she would do him harm. He’d been worried about unleashing his own darkness with her for a strangely similar reason, but once he’d opened himself to her, trusted her, they’d indeed gone places neither one had thought possible.

  She knew this decision was not hers, that Mikhael’s words were for Ben, but she thought Ben had reached the same conclusion as she had. He had begun stroking her body again. Slowly, yes, as if he were thinking it through, but he wanted to hear her mind on it, because he spoke to her then.

  “You want that, brat? Do you trust her?”

  She moistened her lips. Held those amazing, otherworldly green-gold eyes, that nevertheless held things she understood, in any world or reality. She nodded.

  Something in the woman’s gaze reached out to her, beyond libido, directly to Marcie’s heart. Gratitude. And with that, the sexual bond became something more.

  The K&A men were possessive, monogamous in a narrow, highly defined exception clause kind of way. They might craft sexual experiences for their wives that involved others in their circle, but they rarely opened that option to those outside it.

  This was one of those times.

  She didn’t see the exchange between Mikhael and Ben, but knew it was there, that Ben had the surety of her safety he required, because now he nudged her forward, though he came with her.

  He guided her to the opposite side of the bed and let her put one knee up on it, lean forward, as his other arm circled her waist, holding her.

  Raina stretched out her arms like a cat, and Marcie clasped her hands, leaning down further as the woman tugged her that way, toward her mouth. As they came close enough to sample breath, Marcie let out another little moan. As she’d bent over further, Ben had slid her jeans off her hips, his palm rubbing over her silk clad backside, grasping the crotch to tug, put pressure on her clit when she strained forward.

  “What lies between our legs has its own heartbeat,” Raina said softly. “Have you noticed?”

  Marcie nodded. Raina’s lips curved. “Let me make yours pound.”

  Then their mouths touched.

  She’d kissed Dana, Peter’s wife, before, the first woman she’d ever kissed in reality, not fantasy. Had she ever told Dana that? She should. When Dana kissed another woman, the alpha side of the former Army sergeant showed itself in a way that echoed the masculine power of kissing a Dominant male, though Dana was a hundred percent power submissive. And her lips were full, moist and playful, teasing arousal out of every erogenous zone of Marcie’s body.

  This was…different. Raina’s mouth played upon hers, her tongue teasing. Ben could design the roller coaster of her arousal with his fingers, commanding every level of response from her he desired with that type of touch alone. Raina had a similar skill with her mouth. Marcie closed her eyes as Raina curled her fingers into Marcie’s hair, her nape, and dug her nails into tender flesh, holding her.

  Marcie swayed at the power of the magic that surrounded her, held her. Raina was…feeding, there was no other way to describe it. The witch was consuming the desire coming off her like waves, but she was giving something vital back, not draining vitality away.

&nb
sp; Raina took her mouth away to move to Marcie’s throat, tease the column with her tongue, work her way down. It caused Marcie to lift her face. When she raised her lashes, she found herself staring into Mikhael’s dark eyes.

  It was automatic, to look away, look down. Not merely because he was a Dominant like Ben, though that was reason enough. It was because of what he was, something in control of things way beyond her understanding. The need to respect that was as clear as a slap with a tawser, and too difficult to stare in the face.

  But she realized in that brief look that Mikhael hadn’t been looking at her. Though she had no doubt Mikhael was aware of every shift she and Ben made, every touch between Raina and Marcie, the Dark Guardian’s gaze never left his mate. He’d opened up his slacks again, taken himself in hand, and Raina’s body reacted as he thrust deep. Slow. As his wings arched back and spread.

  Air from the wings’ movement rippled over Marcie’s forehead, her parted lips. She tipped her face up with a desire-suffused smile.

  Her head in that position made it easy for her Master to coil his hands in her thick hair, add the pull to her scalp. The rush of sexual energy was indescribable. A river of heat flowed through her, the current getting stronger and wilder, even as their bodies were moving slow, savoring, absorbing all of it.

  It might not make sense, but Marcie was seeing transparent colors swirling in the air around them, a mix of so many palettes, the reds rising and falling into the embrace of a vortex of blue, rushing along a current of greens, dark, light, and every shade in between.