“Excuse me?” she said.
He turned those exotic eyes on her as if she were interrupting his concentration.
“I can fix my knee all by myself, but I could use one more minute of your time.”
The freezer door swung closed, and he crossed those beautifully muscled arms over his chest. Tori sat like the invalid she currently was and tried not to be distracted by the male splendor in her kitchen.
“Ice isn’t what you had in mind then?”
“Not exactly.” Tori worked her lips back and forth as she decided how much she should and shouldn’t expose of her witchy nature. “Can I trust you?” she asked plainly.
The smirk on his finely detailed lips should have been a clear warning. “Not exactly,” he said mimicking her response.
“Well then,” She let out a sigh, and her shoulders sank. “Will you please pour me a drink? It will help settle me while the painkillers kick in. And pour another one for yourself as a small thank you for helping me out.” If he didn’t want to help her, then at least she wanted to get the memory potion in him before he left. The memory potion was a bit extreme, she admitted to herself, but so was everything that happened tonight. The potion only worked on short term memories involving Tori, and would otherwise not affect him.
He opened the refrigerator door this time. “Looks like juice or water. What’ll it be?”
“Neither. After tonight and the week I’ve had, I need a cocktail.”
“Do you think drinking is a good idea?” His disapproval over her choice reeked loud and clear.
“Of course it is. I had a perfectly good martini waiting for me at Club Wicca… yet another casualty of Gerard’s deplorable behavior.”
“Mixing alcohol with pain meds is the last thing you need.”
“Well, I’m not taking meds, so that’s not a concern. But I do owe you a drink. There’s beer, wine, vodka, and almost anything else in the bar.”
He grabbed a carton of white grape and peach juice from the fridge. “If you’re not taking meds, then what did you mean when you said painkillers?”
“Pour the drinks, and I’ll show you.”
“Show me? I’m not sure I came prepared for that.”
“I bet you are.” She let annoyance ride shotgun next to sarcasm.
The smirk turned into a grin as he began opening cabinets in search of the glasses. After finding two, he brought them to the small bar between her kitchen and the living room. Leif worked on mixing drinks in silence. Tori used a levitation charm to lower the bottles of extracts and herbs from the shelf to the countertop. Leif returned and set the drinks down. He pulled up a chair and took a seat near Tori’s elevated foot.
“What is it?” She looked at the martini glass and wondered if he’d made her favorite drink.
“Vanilla Martini. Didn’t you say you left yours behind at the club?”
“Yes, but I didn’t specify vanilla.”
“I figured it was frou-frou enough and a bottle of vanilla vodka is sitting on the bar.” He shrugged and lifted his glass.
She sniffed the martini and then took a delicate sip. “It’s perfect. Thank you. What did you make for yourself?”
“Juice.”
“Plain?”
“Yeah. I have to drive.”
“Well… aren't you the law abiding citizen?” She took a larger swallow of the martini.
“I used to be a cop, Tori. Drinking and driving isn’t a game.”
She took a third swallow and peeked at him over the rim of the glass. With this sexy, no frills or fun ex-cop around, she might need a second one before he left. He downed half the glass of juice and set it back on the counter. Tori didn’t want to appear anxious, but if she were to get the memory-erasing potion in him, she needed to do it soon, before his glass was empty.
“I said I’d show you how I can mend torn ligaments if you made me a drink. I’m about ready.”
“What are you planning?”
“This will go a lot faster if you can bring me those bottles and jars.” Tori pointed at the collection she had summoned off the shelf.
Leif slid off his chair and began moving the ingredients closer to her end of the island. “What is all this?”
“The ingredients I need to mix up a magic potion.” She smiled and let her inner devious child shine through.
“Uh-huh.” He made a skeptical sound and grabbed the last couple of bottles.
“One last favor and then I can start.”
“Of course. I’m here to serve the lady.”
She couldn’t tell if his unenthusiastic reply was sincere or sarcastic.
“I’m sorry to inconvenience you. You’re doing me a huge favor. My knee aches and I owe you. How about I buy you dinner after I’m up and walking again? It’s the least I can do.”
“We’ll see,” he said noncommittally. “What is this last thing you need from me?”
“Underneath this island, inside the far cabinet is my Bunsen burner. I don’t think I can squat down to pull it out without a lot of pain right now. I need it and the glass cauldron.”
Leif moved to the other side of the island and bent down. While he was out of sight looking in her cabinet, Tori jumped on her opportunity and summoned his glass of juice. She dumped about ten milliliters of memory potion in his glass and then directed the glass to slide back over.
“I don’t see any burner.” He rose holding the thick glass cauldron-shaped bowl in his hands.
“Oh, right.” She feigned forgetfulness. “Sorry, I forgot. It’s right here.” On the end of the island, the granite countertop switched to a built-in butcher block. Tori twisted her chair to face the counter. She grimaced as she moved her leg and slowly bent her knee to fit beneath the overhang of the counter.
She ran her hand along the seam and called her magic to her. This was her workspace, cleverly concealed within her island. At the moment she didn’t really care if Leif saw her split the wood and call forth the hearth. To a non-magic user, it would appear as if the chopping block slid apart and put itself away via built-in mechanisms. The stone shelf beneath would also look like it was rising via a similar method. As for the fire, well her hearth could easily be explained by a built-in gas line. Her cooking stove was natural gas as well… Leif wouldn’t know the fire she started was fueled by magic and intention.
“Why do you have such a weird little fire in your island when you have that oversized cooktop and range right there?” He gestured with his chin at her fancy, expensive stove.
“That’s for cooking food, silly.”
A single raised eyebrow told her she was venturing into the realm of “questionable sanity.” So be it. She needed to mend her knee and let this night be over.
“Oops. I forgot. One more thing before I begin?” She batted her lashes and tried to look innocent as she gestured to the refrigerator.
Leif set the glass cauldron down within reach and stepped back. Her fire glowed blue and green tipped with white. It’s almost hot enough, Tori thought.
“Can you grab the aloe water from the fridge?” The aloe would make a great carrier and base ingredient for the potion.
A few seconds later Tori poured the softened aloe water into the glass cauldron and gave it three deliberate clockwise swirls. She moved the glass pot to the iron stand over the flame. She proceeded to add the remaining herbs, minerals, and oils for the mending potion.
It didn’t take long to measure, mix, and brew. Leif surprised her as he observed without much comment. However, he stayed on his side of the island and never ventured in for a closer look as the potion changed colors multiple times, sputtered, boiled, and eventually swirled on its own. She thought for sure he would speak up when she picked up the cauldron and poured the green and silver liquid into her now empty martini glass and drank without letting it cool down first, but he didn’t. The potion wasn’t hot at all. It actually had a cooling effect on her as it went down her throat. The cold potion would ease the inflammation in and around her
knee.
“I need to soak my knee now,” she said, thinking aloud.
Amazement showed on his face, but it didn’t come out with his words. “How are you going to do that?”
“I guess the bathtub is my best option. Don’t forget to finish your drink, okay?” Tori pointed at his forgotten juice glass. He hadn’t touched it since she added the memory-erasing potion.
Leif glanced at the juice and picked it up. He brought the glass up to his lips, and she waited for him to swallow some. He set it back down without drinking.
“I’ll run the water for you,” he offered and left the room.
Crud! He needed to drink that potion before leaving. Not only was he in her sacred space, somewhere few people were allowed to see, but now Leif—a non-magic user—had watched her brew.
Tori swung around on the chair and tested her leg. Her knee still hurt like crazy when she tried to put weight on it. The potion wasn’t responding fast enough, which she instinctively knew would be the case and another reason to soak the joint. Tori hopped on one leg toward the bathroom with the tub. Upstairs in her floating loft bedroom was a luxurious bathroom, but only a walk-in shower. Leif had already figured this out, and she heard the water running.
“I don’t really need you to do that for me.”
He popped out of the bathroom and looked at her hopping toward him. It appeared as if he took two long strides to reach her at the end of the long hallway. The man had long legs, she noticed right before he scooped her up and settled her against his chest.
“You’re being ridiculous again.”
“How did you do it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“All the colors and the fire…all of it?”
“Magic. Believe me or don’t. And you should probably finish your juice and leave now. I have to sit here for some time to let my knee soak.”
“Okay,” he agreed. “But you need my help. Want me to grab that scary green stuff you mixed up?”
“Actually,” She sighed. The night’s events were getting to her and dragging her down. The whole week, at least since Delana’s death, had been depressing. Tonight was supposed to be an attempt at thinking about something else and having a good time. That hadn’t exactly worked out as planned. “Yes, please,” she said.
Leif sat her on the edge of the tub and left to retrieve the remaining potion. The outrageousness of the night continued. Tori had never let a stranger into her home, and she had never asked someone to wait on her hand and foot. She already felt indebted to this guy, and for her, that was about as sorry as it got.
“Here,” he said and handed her the mini-cauldron. “I don’t understand why my skin isn’t burning from handling a glass bowl that was just cooking over a fire, but I don't understand a lot of the things that have happened tonight. How come you’re the common denominator to so many strange things?”
Tori shrugged. “What’s your definition of strange?”
“At this point, I’m not entirely sure.”
He passed her the robe that lay over his arm. “Brought this too. In case you want it.”
“Okay,” she said, weariness increasing by the second. “Goodnight, Leif. Will you see yourself out and please finish your drink? It means a lot to me.”
Goddess, she sounded lame, but the pain and the long night started to have negative effects on her. It might be the potion—and concocting it while buzzed on vanilla vodka. He gave her a look, and she was starting to recognize his looks. This one said, he definitely would not be drinking that juice.
She rose from the side of the tub and promptly fell over. Leif caught her under the arms just before she hit the tile.
“What is up with you?”
“Having one of those stellar nights that linger on in the memory for decades to come.” Okay, drinking apparently didn’t mix with brewing mending potions. Had she already learned this lesson and conveniently forgot?
He set her on the edge of the bathtub with the injured leg in the hot water. She didn’t resist his help, not that she could if she wanted to. Wooziness permeated her brain and staying upright required most of her focus. Tori sank down into the hot water and dumped the remaining potion over her knee. Leif hovered near the tub, politely turned away to give her a modicum of privacy.
“I need a minute alone.”
“Are you going to fall over again?”
“I don’t think so.” The vertigo seemed to be passing as the potion inside her stomach moved to the affected knee and concentrated its potency where it was needed. The hot water definitely helped as well.
Leif nodded in a half-compliant manner and slipped out of the bathroom, closing the door softly behind him. The clinging fabric of her dress turned into a second skin that was two sizes too small. Tori shimmied and squirmed until she had the dress peeled off and in a midnight blue puddle on the floor. Without the constricting dress, she took a deep breath and added the words to the mending potion: “To heal thy bones you must find what is broken. And mend all tears, strains, and wounds with these words I have spoken.”
Keeping her voice quiet, she focused her magic on the ligaments and tendons in and near the knee. Like most witches of her generation, and probably for all time, Tori had a basic education in anatomy and physiology. Healing and doctoring weren't her calling per se, but she grasped the fundamentals. And the healing potions and spells complimented her chosen field of providing psychic readings to her clients. In her opinion, healing was a messy job that didn’t appeal to her. She dealt with enough mental and emotional issues as it was. But, Tori wasn’t a fortune telling robot either. Her clients made their way into her heart, and if they needed help with a physical ailment, she always did what she could to help them. Delana had been like that almost from the beginning of their relationship. Delana had been an exception in so many ways, and she had been so worth it.
Grief for her friend’s passing hit her fresh, and she breathed through the worst of the anguish. Fresh tears were held at bay, at least for the moment. Tori’s empathy and openness gave her the natural talent to provide clear and concise readings for her clients, but it had its downside as well. Grief, heartache, and other emotions could consume her in an instant. She mastered the art of masking her empathy and sensitive nature when she was surrounded by people, but in moments like this, when she was alone, and injured to boot, she could feel everything all at once. Except, she wasn’t alone. Leif was inside her home.
Her mind reached out to his, and she only received the sense that he worried for her. The thought was unexpected and made her feel marginally better about him being there. He’d been nothing less than chivalrous, and that was a rare find in a man… well, a man met at the type of nightclubs Tori frequented.
Swallowing all thoughts of Delana, she tentatively bent her knee and found it much improved. Tori lifted herself out of the tub and toweled off. Her leg held steady as she wrapped and tied her short spa robe closed.
Leif waited outside the door. The worried expression on his face might have been the most endearing thing she’d ever seen. It tugged on heartstrings she didn’t know she had and demanded immediate attention. Although she was acutely aware of the emotion, she was even more aware of the way Leif leaned against the wall, muscles rippling down tan arms to hands shoved in pockets.
She stepped in closer, taking in the way his ripped chest met a taut stomach.
“You have been amazing.”
“Not so much. Just concerned for your well-being.”
“Thank you for tonight.” She placed her hand on his chest and reveled in the feel of him. Tori slid in close for a quick, friendly kiss on the cheek.
The pull to stay in his personal zone held her tight and fast. She didn’t step back, but looked up into mesmerizing eyes, gauging his response to her gesture of thanks. Lips slightly parted and her thigh rubbing against him sent all the messages he must have needed because Leif’s mouth lowered to hers and she welcomed him.
If fireworks could
be bottled and swallowed, then she must have inadvertently added them to her potion. Explosions tickled the base of her spine and rose out through the crown of her head. Leif’s hands landed on her hips and traveled up and down her back. He brushed her hair off her shoulder, exposing the open neckline of her robe. Involuntary sighs and whimpers of pleasure passed her lips as his searing fingers caressed her neck. Her body lit like a Roman candle as he took charge of the kiss and left the wall at his back to surround her with all six foot plus of him. Firm hands kept her body pressed to his. Leif’s lips parted and their tongues danced in the most seductive, naughty, and promising kiss of her life.
His skilled lips parted from hers leaving her weak; disappointed the kiss was already over, but anticipating where another might land next. Her body hummed like a precision machine brought to life for the first time. The purring sensation was something new, and she wanted to shift into the next gear. Her hands explored the new territory of his muscular shoulders and neck.
“Someone’s knocking on your door,” Leif said against the sweet spot just below her earlobe.
The heat radiating out him mingled with her own. Holy Mother of Herbs, was it hot in here? Leif backed away, leaving a definite void between them. The rush of cool air helped bring back reality.
“There it is again,” he said.
She didn’t hear a thing, but he appeared convinced someone had come calling at one in the morning.
“They’ll leave.” Tori adjusted the front of her robe and tightened the belt since her robe had somehow come loose. Her knee twinged once and then held steady. The swelling had gone down completely. It would be back to normal after a good night’s sleep.
Leif seemed to take her for her word and turned back around. His gaze traveled down to the healed knee and back up the length of her. He wasn’t shy about looking, but he didn’t linger on her body. Instead, he let her gaze straight into him. There was a pure hunger for her mixed with wary caution. The depth of emotion and soul in his eyes drove her wild. She wanted to see how else she could affect him and his libido. Frankly, the wariness in him turned her on more than it should. That gleaming edge of caution made her want to pounce on him and ride him until he collapsed from exhaustion. Ignoring whatever jolted his attention, he moved back into her personal space and placed his hands on her hips as if accepting her unspoken invitation. He lowered his luscious mouth to hers and stopped just before bringing his lips to hers.
A Witch's Fate: Witches of Lane County Page 5