“There’s a good chance Deidre’s read the books already,” Ash smirked. “Of course we’ll teach them the old ways, love. And in a few years, they’ll outgrow the trick-or-treating and realize the significance of honoring the dead.”
“I hope so,” I breathed.
Seth stood and rounded the table to kiss my cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. This time of year is so much better when you’re an adult. As kids they just don’t understand it yet. But they will.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there.” I looked up at him. “What was Samhain like, growing up as a witch in human society?”
“Honestly? I was just like our kids.” He pulled another beer from the fridge before sitting down. “I wanted to dress up as the red Power Ranger for one night, go around the neighborhood, then come home with a pillowcase full of candy.” His eyes gleamed. “And my parents were just like you. They wanted me to know the real Samhain, not the cheesy, human version pushed by candy companies.”
“So naturally, you rebelled,” I purred.
“Damn right I did,” he smirked. “I wore my costume to bed, waited until all the adults were at the ritual dinner, then snuck out my window to meet my friends.”
“How long until they caught you?” Raum asked.
“We got in two good hours of trick-or-treating,” he laughed. “I already ate most of my candy by the time they found me, because I knew they’d take it away. I got my ass handed to me, but that sugar high was totally worth it.”
“Such a bad boy,” I murmured, leaning over to nuzzle him.
“You know it, sweetheart.” He captured my mouth in a rich, possessive kiss that tasted of Guinness.
“Alright, then,” I said to the entire table. “We let the little hellions have their fun. Safely and supervised, of course.”
“At least one of us will stay with them the whole time,” Raum assured me, then leaned forward to cup my nape and whisper in my ear.
“And they won’t be the only ones getting tricks or treats that night.”
CHAPTER SIX
SAMHAIN EVENING
“Spirits of Earth, hear my plea.” Deidre’s golden eyes danced as she pinched the soil between her fingers and raised her hand over her head. “Mate with Fire and show me your faces this All Hallow’s Eve.”
With a dramatic flick of her fingers, she cast the dust into the bonfire. The resulting crackle and poof made her eyes widen and her jaw drop.
“I saw her!” she cried out in disbelief. “Just for a second, but I saw her face in the fire!” She looked at me, giddiness on her face. “She’s beautiful! She looks just like you, Mom.”
“Aw, thanks, hun.” I kissed the top of her head. “You know that means she looks just like you too, right?”
“She’s still there,” Dani whispered, her eyes locked on the flames. “She’s dancing in the fire. She feels so happy to be connected to her family.”
My throat tightened up and a strong, comforting arm wrapped around me. Ash.
“I see glimpses of her, too,” he added softly. “Although my sight isn’t as strong as yours, Dani.”
“I see her, too!” Raven cried. “She’s dancing like this!”
Dressed up as a dark faerie, my youngest twirled around like a ballerina, her glittery black wings sparkling in the fire’s light. Raum grabbed her tiny hands and started dancing around with her.
I, too, saw glimpses of my mother’s face and dancing form in the bonfire. While I always felt her in the Earth magic that vibrated all around me, I only ever saw quick flashes of her face and form on Samhain.
My mother Deidre, my daughter’s namesake, turned to me and smiled. I felt the pride shining through her like a light in my chest burning brightly. She loved her grandchildren and enjoyed watching them grow up. She died before I ever got a chance to know her, but this time of year made me grateful that I could feel her protective, motherly presence and see her on occasion. It gave me peace after everything I did to avenge her death.
“We’ll leave a plate of food out for you, Mom,” I smiled through the happy tears glittering in my eyes. “Thank you for coming to see us tonight.”
As a festival for the dead, it was customary to leave an empty seat with a plate of food for those who had passed on. Poor Sal, our resident chef, nearly worked himself to death every year for our Samhain feast. This year we were joined by Astrid and her three husbands, Chase, Orion, and Conan. All of them were predator shifters and promised to bring meat dishes so all we’d need to worry about were sides.
This year, we decided to eat dinner before the kids left to go trick-or-treating, so they would experience a true Samhain and also not spoil their dinner with candy first. With all the kids home and then Astrid and her men piling through the door, it became a full house indeed.
“Hi Dani! How are you, sweetheart?” Astrid hugged the dark-eyed girl, who wore a simple costume of a horse skull mask and white sheet. “You’re looking a little thin. Is Deja feeding you enough?” She playfully poked through the eye sockets of Dani’s skull mask.
“Yes, ma’am. And Raven is my new best friend.” She pulled my youngest into a hug, who smacked a kiss on Dani’s skull-mask forehead.
“You’re my best friend. I wish you could stay living with us.” Raven gave me her best puppy eyes.
“That doesn’t work on me, young lady.” I shook my head. “But Dani can come over whenever she wants, and you’ll see each other at school every day too.”
“On that note, I have great news!” Astrid looked between me and Dani.
“I know a family who would love to meet you, Dani. They see the dead like you do sometimes. They even have a little cat spirit in their home who is especially feisty this time of year. Would you like to meet them tomorrow?”
“Will I meet the kitty?”
“Sure, if you can see her. I’m certain you’ll be able to.”
Too excited to speak, Dani nodded enthusiastically. Her head bobbing made the jaws of her skull mask clack together as if chattering.
“What did you bring for us, Orion?” Sal clapped Astrid’s silver-haired wolf shifter mate on the back.
“Y’all are gonna love this,” he drawled in that sultry, southern twang. “Ham from a wild boar. Conan and I brought him down ourselves. And without Chase’s eyes in the sky, we almost tumbled off a cliff with this bad boy.”
“All three of you are gonna me the death of me,” Astrid rolled her eyes. Then to me, “Got any wine?”
We settled around the large table for dinner while the kids gathered at their own, smaller table. I speared a chunk of boar ham, sweet potatoes, and corn bread and set the plate next to me for my mother.
“Deidre, what the hell are you supposed to be?” Conan, Astrid’s fox shifter mate, peered at my daughter’s elaborate costume. “Feeling a little blue, are we?”
“I’m Kali, Hindu goddess of the dead.” She raised her hands to demonstrate the extra two fabric arms attached to the back of her top and connected to her real arms with some string and safety pins.
“Is your skirt made of… arms?”
“Yes!” she declared proudly, shifting her hips to make the plastic arms dance and dangle. “I made it myself. And this is my garland of severed heads.” She held up the necklace of baby doll heads strung together in a long chain that hung down to her waist. Red eye make up and blue body paint on her face and arms completed the look.
“Interesting,” Chase, the hawk shifter, chuckled. “This Kali seems like one hell of a lady.”
“She is,” Ash remarked casually as he poured whiskey and beers for everyone. “I see her from time to time. She’s a good friend of Lucifer’s.”
“Astrid, where’s Jacob tonight?” Seth asked.
“At a party, like a typical twenty-year-old.” She rolled her eyes, but I saw the pride in her son beaming through her. “Oh, I didn’t tell you. He got a grant to study and excavate tombs in Egypt as part of his PhD work!”
“Yes, I knew he would nail it
.” Ash pumped a fist victoriously. “He’s still one of my favorite students, and I’m not just saying that.”
“That’s wonderful, Asti!” I exclaimed. “Maybe he can find my jewelry box that somebody lost there.” I shot a pointed glare at Sal.
“Beautiful, I love you, but it’s been over two thousand years.” He tapped me on the nose playfully. “You need to get over it.”
“I still can’t believe you came home from a battle and burned down an entire wing of the palace!”
“We lost. I was pissed off,” he shrugged.
I opened my mouth to continue arguing, but he shut me up with a kiss. As dinner went on, conversations flowed as did the drinks. Every so often I glanced to the empty seat at my left and noticed the food disappearing. Small, delicate bites had been taken out of the corn bread and ham, with the sweet potato being left for last like a desert. When everyone’s eating slowed and we all leaned back to rub our full bellies, the plate next to me had completely cleared as well.
“Glad you liked it, Mom,” I said softly.
Astrid and her men lingered for another hour before the kids started getting antsy. Brax, in his adorable vampire makeup, started going around the adult table and saying, “trick or treat” to everyone.
“Here’s a trick, little man.” Orion brushed his knuckles across my son’s face. “I got your nose!”
“I don’t fall for that anymore,” Brax declared, his chin tipped in defiance.
“Unfortunately.” Sal picked up his mini-me and set him in his lap. “Is it time to go trick-or-treating, bud?”
“It’s past time,” Brax whined. “We’ve been waiting forever.”
“Alright.” He ruffled our little vampire’s strawberry blonde hair before setting him down. “We’ll get going here in a bit.”
We all rose from the table to say our goodbyes and chit-chatted by the door until the kids’ whining became unbearable.
“Remember if you get Milky Way Midnights, save those for mommy, okay?” I said, kissing all of their cheeks.
“I’m going to eat all mine!” Deidre laughed.
“Yeah, now who’s Hitler?” I tweaked her nose until she squirmed away.
Sal and Ash each gave me kisses goodbye and promised not to keep the kids out too late. I moved to follow them onto the porch to watch them walk away, when a strong arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me back inside.
“Where do you think you’re going, baby?” Raum purred in my ear.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Raum pulled me tight against him with one arm and shoved the door closed with the other. With one large step forward, he pressed me between the door and his body. Two hard, unforgiving surfaces. Actually three if I counted his dick growing in hardness and size as it pressed against my ass.
“You knew this was coming, didn’t you, baby?” He spoke so softly but his voice rumbled like thunder in my ears.
“Yes,” I rasped, arching with need into the little wiggle room he allowed, which just happened to grind my ass against his crotch.
He groaned his approval, moving my hair from the back of my neck to let his breath feather across my skin.
“This is my favorite night of the year to take you, you know that?” he whispered. “The Mother of Witches as my sacrificial lamb, giving up her control and pleasure to me. I’m dying to see you worship my cock so beautifully on your knees.”
I couldn’t help but release a small snort of laughter.
“We know who really worships who.”
His reaction came swiftly— fingers closing around the front of my throat as he pressed me harder into the door. My cheek squished up against the wood and my pussy became soaked just from his words.
“Are you going to be feisty tonight, baby, or are you going to be a good girl?”
“I think you know the answer to that.”
His chuckle vibrating against my back sent goosebumps all over my body. He wasn’t angry or even annoyed. He was utterly relaxed and enjoying this as I trembled in his grip. We always played this game. He demanded my submission, and I pushed back. This push and pull was our foreplay. He hadn’t even kissed me yet, and I already craved the fullness of him inside me, matched with the harsh sting of his hand on my ass.
He never gave me what I wanted right away. And that made it so much better.
“Seth,” he called to the only other one at home. “Get the bed ready.” At my resulting shiver, his lips widened into a grin on the back of my neck. “Oh, nothing to say? Out of sass already?”
Any retort I had lodged in my throat. I just wanted relief. I was dying for him to touch or kiss me to ease this pressure and anticipation building inside of me. But knowing him, he would draw this out for as long as he could stand it as well.
I was so wound up, the gentle suction of his mouth on my ear sent a wracking, full body shudder through me. His breath brought back them goosebumps as he laughed, thoroughly amused at the effect he had on me.
“Get on your knees and suck me.”
He released me, and I whipped around, unzipping him like a needy, desperate addict. Just his thick, hot flesh in my hands provided such a relief. We moaned in unison as I took him in my mouth— at least one empty part of me was filled.
My tongue danced and swirled around him, tasting and memorizing every way he twitched and throbbed between my lips. He groaned curses as my nails raked down his thighs, then massaged his heavy balls to delay his own pleasure.
“Get up, baby,” he rasped.
No, I wasn’t done yet. I opened wide and took more of him down my throat, grabbing his hips to anchor him to me.
He grabbed my hair with a growl, holding me in place, and pulled out of my mouth, just as I knew he would. The grimace on his face told me he fought his every instinct. He wanted more than anything to fuck my mouth and feel the back of my throat. But I disobeyed him, and he couldn’t let me get away with that.
I flashed him an innocent smile as the round head of his cock rested on my lips. He sucked in deep breaths, trying to control himself and hold back. Just to fuck with him some more, I stuck my tongue out and licked the sensitive underside of that delicious cock.
“You wicked fucking witch,” he moaned, jerking away from me. His fist still wound in my hair, sending intense tingles of pain across my scalp.
“I learned from the best,” I said with a wink.
With a defiant grunt, he pulled me to my feet. The pain was just sharp enough to make me hiss and send a jolt of sensation straight to my nipples and clit. It only made me crave more.
“Go upstairs,” he commanded.
“Should I go to my room and think about what I’ve done?”
“You’re pushing your luck, baby,” he warned, his lips curving into a smirk. “I have half a mind to just leave you tied to the bed all night, naked.”
Fuck, he looked serious.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
Without another word I turned towards the stairs and began taking slow, measured steps up. I felt him behind me like an ominous spirit, not close enough to physically feel him, but my body knew he was there. My every muscle remained tense as I walked up. If it had been any other person, I might feel genuine fear. But somehow Raum knew how to test my limits while still making me feel safe.
“Stop,” he ordered.
I froze on the middle landing of the stairs. The bedroom was just a few steps away.
“Pulling your leggings down.”
My fingers shook as I peeled the waistband down over my hips. I fought the impulse to lash out, to tell him to take them off himself if he wanted me so badly. But we were reaching that tipping point where my stubbornness gave way and my submissive side craved his dominance.
“Get on your knees. Hands on the steps.”
With my leggings rolled down to my calves, I lowered myself to all fours. The softest groan of appreciation escaped him as my bare ass lifted into the air. The seconds ticked by, and I waited on pins and needles
for any kind of touch from him, any relief at all from this tension. The smug bastard seemed content to just look, to watch my inner thighs grow wetter with need as they waited for him. Kneeling here doing nothing acted as its own kind of torture.
His palm swept over my ass so quickly I barely had time to gasp at the fleeting touch. When it came down with a hard smack on my flesh, my breath felt stolen from my lungs. The sting was so crisp and deep, I blinked back tears, and yet, my back still arched for more.
“Look at you, greedy girl,” he cooed as he methodically spanked each cheek, alternating sides. “So addicted to my punishment. What if I made you come just from smacking this sweet ass, hm?”
I bit my lip to hold back the desperate whimper that threatened to escape. My nipples and clit rang out with sensation from each blow that came down with such sweet, painful, delicious fire. If he kept this up, he just might succeed.
“If only you could see how wet you are,” he murmured, pausing to pull aside the thin scrap of fabric covering my pussy. Cool air kissed my slick, swollen folds, providing temporary relief from the heat that burned through me like a fever.
“Seth, come down here,” Raum called up the stairs. “Our girl might need some help.”
Even the vibration of footsteps on the landing made me moan as my pussy clenched unbearably around nothing.
“Couldn’t even make it to the bedroom, I see.” Seth sat on one of the steps above me, spreading his long, athletic legs wide near the level of my face. He cupped my cheek, lifting my chin to look up at the gorgeous storm in his eyes. “Enjoying your punishment, sweetheart?”
“Maybe a little too much,” Raum chuckled behind me. “She’s a fucking waterfall back here.” He smoothed his palms over the tender, stinging flesh of my ass before bringing them down hard, making me jolt and yelp.
“Damn, you’re so close, sweetheart. I can see it.” Seth stroked a thumb along my cheekbone. I was so desperate for something inside me, I sucked his thumb into my mouth.
“Oh, you want cock that bad, baby?” came Raum’s teasing voice behind me. “I want to see you come just from spanking. Seth might help you if you’re good.”
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