by Tara Quan
To think he could have had a hot, occasionally naked chick in his house this entire time instead of a cranky feline. He folded his cuffs to under his elbows. “So, what changed today?”
She lifted her index finger. “I get one night off. All Hallows’ Eve.”
Whoever had first drafted this contract needed to be burned at the stake.
She crouched and began to untie his laces, prompting him to yelp and follow her down. “Let me do it.”
Once done, he carried his shoes and socks to the far corner of the elevator. Unable to shut his neat freak down, he reached for her boots.
She stood up, shook her head, and lifted her gaze to the ceiling. Without warning, all the loose items in the elevator levitated. Her socks rolled themselves into a little ball and slid into her duffel’s side pouch, along with both their masks. The bag somehow unzipped itself, and a pair of flat sandals flew out, settling on the floor near his shoes. Folded dark denim, a T-shirt, pink bra and panties, and a rather large cosmetics bag lifted into the air, remaining there as her boots slid into the duffel. Re-zipping itself, the satchel landed next to their footwear, her change of clothes floating down on top. His suit jacket and tie soon followed. She topped off the pile with his BlackBerry.
Certain he hadn’t performed magic in the past ten seconds, something clicked. “I have heard your voice before. You’re the maid.” After a moment’s thought, he added, “You’re also Nonna’s—I mean, my accountant. Why didn’t you say something over the phone?”
She pointed up. “I conjured four illumination globes, which is a high-level illusion spell, by the way, and you reacted by searching for a camera.”
In his defense, it was what any sane person would have done in his shoes. “So, you used your holiday to track me down?”
“Of course not. I decided to get laid. I planned on riding out my last eighteen months of service after having some no-strings-attached sex.”
He had no idea why the revelation irritated him. “You should have at least given telling me the truth a shot.”
She marched forward until they stood toe-to-toe. “I have some sense of self-preservation. All of my notes to you went up in smoke, my e-mail made your computer go bye-bye, and you almost barbecued me five minutes ago. Oh, your eyes are now green instead of blue, which is kind of creepy. Please tell me you’re not jealous of yourself.”
He stared at his reflection in the mirror. It took a few blinks and some concentration to make the almost-fluorescent color go away. “Point taken. And, of course, I’m not jealous,” he lied. Her wanting to sleep with anyone else after living with him for six months irked him to an absurd degree.
“Very convincing.” Her tone gave a whole new meaning to the word facetious.
He decided to change the topic. Maintaining eye contact, he tried to imbue his voice with the utmost sincerity. “You have no idea how sorry I am for the—umm—spontaneous combustion incidents. Let’s get this out of the way. You’re a free woman—cat—familiar—whatever. You can come and go as you please, and you don’t need to be a cat in front of me ever again.”
She tapped his temple with her index finger. “Do you seriously think it’s that easy?”
He had, yes. “Is there something more elaborate I need to do?”
She crossed her arms and looked him up and down as if he were daft, which, from her point of view, made some sense. “You need to get the contract from the safe in the basement, sign it in blood to take ownership of me then read out the incantation as written in the document.”
He furrowed his brows. “What basement?”
Her mouth twitched from side to side, reminding him of her cat form. All she needed were whiskers. “The door is under the first floor staircase. It’s warded to appear as a concrete wall.”
“Of course it is. And this safe…?”
“You’ll see it as a standard-issue cauldron. I’ll lead you to it when we get home. Any other questions?”
He had a nagging suspicion he’d donated several very dangerous items to the Salvation Army. Maybe he had time to buy them back. It wasn’t like a crescent headboard, blood-red carpet, and gargantuan mirror would have flown off the shelves. And how dangerous could magic candles be? “Why in holy hell would anyone want to have or be a familiar?”
She pointed at the pile of stuff stacked in one corner. “With my powers alone, all this telekinesis would have drained me, making any further tricks out of the question for days.” With her index finger, she drew a circle in the small space between them. “But you leak so much power, I can do this,” she snapped her fingers, “and teleport these from my bag without even thinking twice.”
She handed him one of the two wet wipes before cleaning her own face and hands. Once he’d followed suit, she grabbed his and placed both in the center of her palm, holding it between them. “You might be the source of all my juice, but you can’t do any of the things I did. All you have is raw elemental power. You can manipulate energy molecules to lift stuff off the ground, which more or less sums up your repertoire of useful spells. You can, however, make this trash go up in smoke. Go ahead. Try it.”
He cast an uneasy glance at her hand. “Shouldn’t you put those someplace safe?”
Her cheeky smile was equal parts unnerving and encouraging. “Your magic was going haywire because you rejected it. We’ve solved the problem. Now, think about a cold fire, with a low burning point, and focus on not hurting me.”
With a sigh, he gave it a try. To his surprise, green flames consumed the wipes less than a second later without creating any smoke or doing damage to the person holding them. Now, that was cool.
Before he was done patting himself on the back, she smiled and spun on her heel. “Since we’ve established your newfound control, help me take this damn suit off.”
Chapter Five
Leo froze. Instinct told him where this was heading, but due to the odd location, he’d rather have verbal confirmation. “You want me to take your clothes off?”
She tapped one bare foot on the marble floor. “Pull the zipper down, please. I’m going to pass out from heat exhaustion any moment now.”
Talk about ambiguous. “So, this is for comfort purposes?”
“Don’t be so jumpy. I’m changing into something more relaxed. I’ve seen you in the shower plenty of times.”
The reminder she’d seen him naked, watched him undress, and slept next to him messed with his head. Intense attraction and uncomfortable erection aside, the logical course of action was to take a step back and slow things down. He hadn’t quite figured out the whole warlock-familiar business yet, and he didn’t think it wise to complicate matters right this instant. Of course, the possibility of sex in an elevator with her would make him take the risk in two seconds flat. “I want to make something clear. You stripping in front of me here will have serious repercussions.”
She tapped the side of her neck, her fingers pointing to the suit’s collar. “You’re being paranoid. If there were surveillance cameras in here, you’d have fried them along with the rest of the electronics.”
He hadn’t even thought about the possibility of being videoed. “It’s not what I meant. As we’ve learned, my self-control is on the iffy side. I should tell you—”
“You burned away something on my palm without hurting me. It’ll be fine. I can’t stay in this thing for two more minutes, let alone hours. I don’t see what the big deal is. I’m wearing a sports bra and cycling shorts.”
“Oh.” He must have misinterpreted the entire situation. Talk about setting a sexually frustrated guy up for a huge letdown. “You should have led with that.”
She grunted. “I told you about it at dinner.”
As he yanked the tab down, the metal hinges came apart with a soft whirring sound. “I can’t be expected to remember a conversation from hours ago.”
The zipper seemed to go on for miles, ending halfway down her butt. The leather separated to reveal a lower back with enough flesh to give a
smooth finish to what appeared to be solid muscle. His gaze followed her spine to the flimsy black lace circling her hips.
His jaw dropped. “You’re wearing a thong.”
“You know your female undergarments.”
As far as unmistakable invitations went, this fit the bill. “You said you were wearing shorts.”
“I lied.” She faced him. Pulling her arms free of the sleeves, she pushed the suit down to her waist. “What?”
Plain black sports bra or no, he couldn’t peel his gaze from her luscious breasts. His mouth went dry. As they were, they’d overflow his hands. How big would they be without the flattening undergarment?
Kneeling, he hooked his fingers under the leather. “Let me help you take this off.”
Cat released a pent-up breath as Leo pulled the leather suit down to her ankles. Thank goodness he’d taken the hint. How could any man be so dense? Any more obvious, and she’d be flashing a bright neon sign saying get me naked.
And while recent revelations might be exciting and life-changing news to him, for her they were mundane. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the next two hours yapping about boring energy dynamics, contracts, or employment terms. She had a much better idea for wiling away the time.
With him so close and no longer fighting their connection, her body buzzed with excess energy. She could use it to move the elevator up a few feet, open the doors, and leave, but why waste a golden opportunity?
She’d always fantasized about having sex in a quasi-public place. Modern-day surveillance technology stripped most avenues of viability, but her warlock’s little power explosion had taken care of the biggest hurdle. Once she’d confirmed his full control over magic and subsequently decreased the risk of accidental combustion, the single remaining barrier was the psychic link turned possible melodrama or potential soul mate conundrum. After pondering the associated downsides for about ten seconds, she decided to deal with the repercussions later. Some opportunities were meant to be grabbed, kissed, and tempted into doing kinky things.
She stepped out of her suit and teleported it into her duffel. If the man had dilly-dallied for much longer, she would have snapped her fingers and dematerialized the darn thing from her body, potential disaster from lack of experience be damned. She kind of wished she’d done it on the off chance he’d have fainted from shock.
Then again, if she’d rendered him unconscious, she wouldn’t have been able to witness the stunned, worshipful expression he wore right now. “Like what you see?”
“You have very nice legs.”
She was rather partial to them herself. Keeping her limbs toned had always been a piece of cake. Her boobs and butt were another story.
He closed his fingers around the backs of her knees, pressed his lips against her inner thigh, and nibbled. “I warned you about serious repercussions.”
She had to give it to the warlock. Once his head was in the game, he seemed capable of some creative moves.
Batting her eyelashes, she laced her fingers through his dark curls. The strands flowed like silk over her skin. “I’m sooo scared.”
He bit her, hard enough to elicit a yelp. “Doesn’t this damn contract have a clause about respect?”
“It’s my night off, for me to do with as I please.”
He blew a hot breath over the mark he’d left, making it nearly impossible to stay upright. “And what do you want?”
It took every ounce of self-control to maintain a half-joking tone. “I was promised multiple orgasms.”
He kissed another patch of skin, higher up on her leg, this time. “I doubt Madame Eve would be so crude.” His tongue lashed over the crease where her thigh and torso met. A shiver rolled down her spine, the sensation interfering with her balance even more. “But I think we can come up with a mutually acceptable arrangement.”
Shifting to grip his shoulders, she braced her weight forward. “What can I give you?”
He slid his palms up to rest them on her bottom. “Complete obedience would be nice.”
She clawed his deltoids. “I’ll think about it.”
He caught the scrap of lace between his teeth and pulled it to the side, causing heat to kindle between her legs. “Think fast.”
She wondered when the power dynamic had shifted. “How about I let you take off my panties, for now?” If he didn’t soon, she’d go insane.
An amused male chuckle preceded a sizzling sensation along the sides of her hips. Her thong drifted to the floor. Glancing down, she noticed singe marks on the fabric. “Show-off.”
He met her gaze with a crooked grin. “You’ve heard the warning about playing with fire.” Eyeing her bra, he cocked a brow. “You’ve been flirting with it all night.”
And she was about to get burned—in the most delicious way possible. Deciding not to risk the more expensive undergarment, she reached one arm behind her and undid the clasp. A bout of shyness hit, and she clutched the separating straps, managing to hold them together in a shaky vise. While she might be at peace with most of her body, her breasts were a problem zone. The thought of exposing them made all her bravado go up in smoke.
“Allow me.” Her breath caught as he stood. Why had she thought stripping in an enclosed space surrounded by mirrors would be a good idea? She’d been serious about looking better with clothes on.
Pulling her into his embrace, he grabbed her hand. With a truncated breath, she let go. A moment later, the pressure around her chest eased and the thick straps fell off her shoulders. She closed her eyes as the smooth material drifted down.
He cleared his throat. “I never pegged you as shy.”
She snuck a peek and found herself in complete darkness. “Huh.” She’d conjured the illumination globes, so it made sense they’d go away when she wanted to hide. Being a witch had its perks. “We don’t need light, do we?”
Hearing soft footsteps and the rustle of clothing, she pivoted and tried to figure out where he’d gone. After a few aborted attempts to find him, hard muscle warmed her back, his short chest hair rough against her skin.
Hot breath grazed the sensitive spot behind her earlobe, making her toes curl. Strong fingers circled her waist. When he pushed her forward, she blindly reached out until she brushed a cool surface. The complete lack of texture made her guess a mirror rather than the brass doors. His larger body surrounded her, pressing into her until her elbows bent and her nipples grazed the wall. His trousers slid over the back of her legs, his belt buckle digging into her butt. Being seen made her feel vulnerable. Not seeing rendered her helpless.
His palms slid up her belly. She trembled, her breath catching when his thumb traced the side of her chest. Tortured by heightened awareness, she shifted to escape and found herself trapped. His mouth pressed against the back of her neck. He sucked, his tongue pulsing over the spot and distracting her from his progress.
After what seemed like an eternity, he took possession of her aching breasts. She whimpered at the spine-tingling sensation when he cupped the heavy mounds. “I could play with these all day.” He rolled one nipple between his thumb and forefinger, making her gasp at the duality of pleasure and pain.
Nudging her thighs apart, he slid his fingers along her torso, pushing down to trace the abdominal muscles hidden beneath her flesh. When he reached the apex of her legs, he used the heel of his palm to apply pressure over the already sensitive bundle of nerves. Parting her labia, he circled her wet opening. “I want to see you.”
Panting, her arms dropped weakly to her sides. He traced her folds once more, teasing, touching, taunting, and never once pushing into her. She shifted her hips in search of relief. It felt as if static electricity coated her skin, making her hairs stand on end and her nerve endings go haywire wherever his arms and chest made contact. His zipper dug into her butt, reminding her of his growing arousal. She couldn’t take much more.
“The lights, kitten.”
With a surrendering moan, she used the last flickers of sanity to conjur
e a single yellow globe. She no longer cared what he thought, as long as he finished what he started. Her vision adjusted, her reflection coming into focus. She stared at it with disbelieving eyes, the naked apparition appearing as a stranger.
She’d lolled her head back, resting it against his shoulder. Her amber skin contrasted with his paler shade. Sweat plastered her short hair to the sides of her face. Her lips were blood red, her cheeks flushed. Lowered lids obscured her eyes beneath a curtain of lashes.
Her nipples had puckered into sharp points. A large male hand, covered in a light dusting of hair, enveloped her right breast. A muscled arm snaked down her torso, visually cutting her in half. Against the backdrop of his much larger body, her curves trapped within his almost predatory hold, she appeared vulnerable and distinctly feminine.
Blue eyes gleaming in the dim light, he brushed a kiss onto her temple. “Damn, you’re beautiful.”
She hadn’t thought it possible, but her cheeks darkened to a more intense shade of coral. She met his reflection’s gaze, her tongue wetting her parched lips. He shifted his head and bit her earlobe.
“Stop it. I almost came just looking at you.”
The muscles she hadn’t realized she’d been tensing relaxed, momentary trepidation replaced by a more urgent need. She wiggled her bottom, brushing his arousal.
He made a low sound in his throat and slid a finger inside her. Pinching her nipple, he added another digit, stretching her as slick moisture eased his entry. Forced to witness his every move, she bit down on her lower lip, embarrassed and aroused by her body’s natural response.
He drove into her in a slow steady rhythm, his palm grinding a circle over her clit. Her breaths grew shallower with each inhale. Not accustomed to the dual stimulation, she had no defenses. She’d never been with a man experienced enough to remain in complete control, one intent on driving her to orgasm.
Needing an anchor, she bent her elbows and held onto the broad shoulders behind her. When her legs no longer supported her weight, she leaned against him, rested her cheek against his chest, and closed her eyes.