Witch Trippin' Page 7

  I said, “Clara! Look at you! Wow.”

  She laughed. “Oh...no need for my elderly Glamour when I am sleeping. That was really for your benefit, to make you feel comfortable when we first met. Now, what is all the fuss?”

  “Boney says he has found them.” I picked up my familiar and held him out toward her. “He says he has found the wizards.”

  I heard Jace’s hard stomping up the stairs, then he was next to me, towering over us. He said, “What the hell is going on? Who is Boney? What has he found?”

  “He is my familiar,” I explained. “He has been busy searching for Clara’s mate, Nathan, and my great-grandfather. He says he found them.”

  “Set me down on the bed,” Boney demanded regally, “and I will show you.”

  I did as he asked, and his skull flopped open wide to display his true self, a Fae orb. “Look now,” he whispered.

  We all bent to peer into the orb.

  At first, all I could see were swirls of colors, rainbow colors, then we took a nosedive into another world. It was lush and tropical. It was filled with all sorts of exotic creatures and birds. Then we were flying past the jungle to a medieval styled castle set high on a cleared hill.

  Then through stone walls and into a modern kitchen, through plaster into another room that looked like a study, and all at once, we saw them. Two attractive and large men dressed in shirts and jeans.

  They were arguing about something. One of them turned away. The other grabbed his arm and was shoved off. I thought they were going to get into a physical altercation when a woman stepped inside the study.

  She was lovely, small, and furious as she came up to them wagging her finger!

  We couldn’t hear what they were saying. It was like watching a silent film in color, and it was all so vivid.

  “They are in another time, in another dimension...not of Earth,” Boney explained. “And one of the wizards has been trying to find a way to get back to Earth, but...they seem to be trapped in this dimension.”

  Clara wiped her eyes and I realized she had been silently crying. I didn’t realize it ’til I turned and saw the tears racing down her cheek. I thought about how awful it would be to be separated from your loved one and not even know where he was.

  I grabbed her hand and she gasped as she held tightly to my fingers. “Nathan. Finally...my Nathan.”

  One of the wizards had turned and took the woman into his arms, and I supposed that was my great-grandfather, Taggard. Curiously, I studied him. He looked so much like my dad.

  Clara tearfully said, “That is Sally, Taggard’s wife. Nathan must have finally agreed and taken Taggard back in time, to the moments before she was killed.”

  “Now what?” I asked. “How do we get Nathan back here?”

  “Where exactly are they, Boney?” Clara asked.

  “A very young dimension. It is called Andromedia,” Boney answered. “Its native population is still evolving. You will have to create a portal to make the journey. Transporting won’t work. It will take time to create the portal to Andromedia. However, if the wizard, Taggard, wants to return with you, he has a problem. He may not bring the woman back here to this realm. He snatched her from her time before her death could occur. Forbidden, even for Fae. Luckily, my research indicates that particular act did not have any great impact on future events because he and the wizard called Nathan immediately used a portal to Andromedia, thereby, she was as good as dead in the human realm.” Boney made a long weary sigh.

  “My Boney is so smart,” I said.

  “Observant is the word. I have learned over time that Fae are so much more logical than humans, but also, more often than not, quite boring. They do not place enough importance on emotions. Also...they forget about their treasures, as the Dark King did me. My beloved Bennie never forgets me.”

  I stroked the orb and Boney purred.

  “Is that what they are arguing about, bringing her here to Earth?” I asked.

  Before Boney could answer, Clara asked, “But...why hasn’t he released Nathan by now?”

  “It appears Nathan can’t leave, as Taggard’s mate and Nathan have agreed she shouldn’t return. Taggard won’t let Nathan leave until he convinces this Sally witch to return with Taggard to Earth. It is forbidden and, thus far, she refuses to leave.”

  “I will go in and bring my Nathan home. I shall create the required portal,” Clara said. “I am very experienced in the art, but...I need coordinates, Bone-Apart.”

  He gave them to her and she hurried out of the room saying, “This will take time, perhaps days! I must get right to work.”

  “Shall I rest now?” Boney asked.

  “Yes, dearest Boney, you rest. I’ll be back in a bit. I need to walk and think.” I turned to Jace, who had been silent throughout most of this, discounting an occasional grunt or two.

  “I’m coming with you...in fact, will you trust me, Bennie? I want to show you something. I want it at this moment more than I can say, more than I have ever wanted anything before,” he said as he took my hips into his large hands and pulled me close.

  I eyed him doubtfully. “What?”

  “Come with me and see,” he said.

  I agreed and flicked my wrist and I was dressed in jeans and a light, black knit top. Hiking boots finished my ensemble. He laughed as he took my hand. “You dress faster than any woman I have ever known.”

  I wiggled my eyebrows. “Advantage of being a witch.”

  He laughed, and as we took the first flight of stairs, he called out, “Clara...taking Bennie to Tomlin House.”

  She stuck her head out of her bedroom and said, “Is that wise?”

  “It is necessary,” he answered.

  “Ah, well, she is in safe hands, but be sure to feed her before you leave, she is hungry. I can hear Bennie’s tummy gurgling from here. There are burgers downstairs already made, heat ‘em up, slap ‘em on bread, and both of you, eat!”

  I laughed. Clara was a natural born mother. I wondered how it was she and Nathan had no children.

  We did do just that. I was so thankful, as the burgers were great and satisfied my inner wolf. I grabbed a pastry that satisfied all of me, then Jace packed me into his Jag and down the driveway we went.

  I asked, “So, tell me about Tomlin House? Was it your parents’ home before it became yours?”

  “No, sadly, no. Bennie, there is so much to tell you, I don’t know where to start,” he said, casting me a quick glance.

  “Start at the beginning. First, tell me how you became the alpha. Don’t you need to challenge another alpha...or...oh, your father retired? Is that it?” I knew nothing about his parents. He had never really spoken to me about them, though I had mentioned mine any number of times during our first meal together.

  “Seventy years ago, there was a pack war. A rogue pack attacked ours. They wanted the small patch of land my father had managed to buy and build on. It was Tomlin territory, and although the witches tolerated us as neighbors, they never interfered with our...politics.” He stopped for a moment and I waited.

  “We were a small pack then, but well trained for battle. My dad suspected that the more successful we became, the more we made our community a target. We were ready for them, but their numbers were great. Ours were not. In the end, the rogue pack was defeated...wiped out, but my father received a mortal wound...his head was nearly ripped off his shoulders. I don’t think even Zelda, who hadn’t arrived in Assjacket yet, could have healed him. Clara couldn’t.” Again, the long pause and his profile appeared stoic, resigned.

  “Bennie, a few days afterwards it was a bad winter night. Snow was falling, but my mother crept out of the house while I was licking my own wounds. I didn’t hear her go out. My dad had been...er, lost to us, as I said, a few days—she wouldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t talk, and just stayed in bed. I thought her exhausted in her room. I was wrong. My mother went out in single digit weather, in the middle of the night, wearing only a nightgown. She knew what
she was doing. She lay hugging the grave of my father...” Jace stopped, and I saw the pain, even though so much time had passed, was still there in his heart.

  He sounded choked when he continued, “She lay there...on his grave, and willed herself to die. I found her frozen and smiling, as though his spirit had come for her. Tomlin legend says that Tomlin alphas go to one another in death.” His voice cracked. “They were imprinted on one another. They couldn’t live without one another, because neither one wanted to. The pack was brokenhearted, and it was up to me to carry on. That is how I became alpha. Clara was there for me. I wasn’t a boy, but I was young, unsure, and lost to grief. After enough time had passed, Nathan took me in hand and said I needed more land to attract more wolf members. He gave me my first stock tip and I made a small fortune with the money my father left me. I acquired the adjacent properties, bit by bit, until Tomlin backed up onto park land and forests that couldn’t be touched. After that, Nathan and I worked together—buying stocks, selling them, accumulating wealth. He was intuitive. I was good at research. We became partners, and because of his intuition and my determination, we both built up quite a fortune. You would never know it, but Clara and Nathan are billionaires.” He cleared his throat. “As am I.”

  I gasped.

  “Am I impressing you?” He gave me a shy smile.

  Oh, I liked this wolf. I liked him so very much. “Do you want to?”

  “Yes, Bennie, I do.”

  “First, even though it was a long time ago...” I touched his hand, which was gripping the wheel. His finger rubbed mine. “I am sorry about your parents.”

  “Thank you,” he said.

  “Do you want to tell me more...about yourself, because money for me is not the making of a man. My dad always says, ‘Man makes money, not the other way around’.”

  He smiled. “Tomlin Retreat, as I called our development, attracted a great many wolves. I screened them before I allowed them to join and build a home. I financed many members’ business aspirations, and gave those who couldn’t afford it free deeds, without asking for repayment. The village is full of charming shops, cafés, and restaurants, all wolf owned. We have a private school for our children. I own a golf course that hires our wolves who don’t wish to own a business, and it pays exceptional wages. I don’t care about profit. I care about my wolves. I have only one stipulation regarding the homes I financed—they can only sell their home, should they choose to leave, to a wolf shifter willing to join our pack. No one has ever chosen to leave.” He grinned and gave me a quick glance. “Unlike the residents of Assjacket, we shifters encourage tourism. Our wolves make a good living, and until Sophie...we have not had any bad actors.”

  “Jealousy does things to people,” I said, then quickly changed the subject by asking, “but no one ever leaves, you say?”

  “No one has ever chosen to do so, yet,” he said, and smiled, much pleased.

  We turned off onto a charming oak tree lined road, which forked away from the main road. He said, “If we had continued down Beta Road, we would have ended up at the village, and our golf resort at its farthest point. I’d like to show you the village one day soon, but first...I want to take you to the home I built after I lost my parents.”

  “Where do the pack members live?”

  “We have two hundred pack members and they are scattered off country roads surrounding the village.”

  “Why would tourists come here?”

  “We advertise our lake for fishing, our trails for horseback riding, and our incredible golf course.”

  “Wow, you built a world...” I eyed him. “You never got lonely, wanted to start a family of your own?”

  “No. I want you to know, right up front, I have never been a man who wanted...just one woman. I never wanted that responsibility or heartache. I never wanted what my parents had.”

  That was depressing. I didn’t say anything. But it wasn’t an awkward silence, as straight ahead was a large and quite stunningly, lovely, two story colonial home. The landscaping along the driveway and around the house was exquisite and quite took the breath away.

  “Oh, holy shit!” I said. “All this...and no one to share it with. I don’t get it.”

  He laughed. “When put that way, it does seem absurd. Bennie...I don’t bring women to my home...instead, I have a suite at my resort.”

  I digested this. Why was he telling me this?

  He stopped the car, put it in park, and turned to me. “From the moment I saw you, I wanted to lay you down and drive myself into you.”

  My girly parts quivered. My brain said, ‘S’okay.’ My heart did flip-flops. I kept quiet and waited.

  “You are desirable in every way. You excite me, and I think of you as my own bit of Trouble, because of all that you are. I know you aren’t a one nighter, but damn, woman, I want you enough to...bring you here, to my home and show you...what we could be together.”

  “Whoa, that is one hell of a line,” I said breathlessly. Did I want to be just another notch on his belt? Was that what this was about? I could, perhaps, make him a notch on mine.

  He put the car back in drive and we made it the rest of the way to his front courtyard in silence. I was deep in thought. I guess he was as well.

  He jumped out of the car, came around and opened the door before I could jump out. The next thing I knew, I was in his arms and his tongue was deliciously down my throat. I held onto him for dear life. I didn’t know what this was, but I knew it was better and more exciting than anything I had ever had before.

  Still, I had to get it together. So I gently pushed off. He let me go at once. I smiled and looked at his front, oak-framed, double glass doors. “This is beautiful,” I said, and he took my hand and led me forward without a word.

  I knew what was going to happen and I was letting it. Damn, I couldn’t wait!

  ~ Nine ~

  A TOUR OF THE HOUSE. That is what Jace said as he led me inside, but the next thing I knew, I was in his arms and he was kissing me long and hard, and pressing the stiff cock I could feel through his jeans into my body.

  That kiss moved into another, then another before his lips, those sensuous erotic lips, and tongue began traveling down my neck to my shoulder. He nibbled there for a while before he picked me up and whispered hoarsely, “It’s time to show you my bedroom.”

  I couldn’t speak, didn’t want to, and that was a good thing, because as he carried me up the wide stairs, he kept nibbling at my lips.

  Oh my, what was I going to do? This man could break me. This wolf could take me to heights I have never experienced, but in so doing...my heart would be trapped in his hands. Was I strong enough to withstand that kind of pain?

  There was something else happening. I know all about imprinting. My mother had told me about it. She is a wolf shifter and imprinted on my father, who I now know is a wizard, not a warlock. There is a difference. She must have known. I am sure that is why she sent me to Clara. She told me I would imprint on someone one day and hoped it wouldn’t be a human...humans are mortal.

  My wolf was howling inside my head. My wolf was demanding I fuck him over and over and make him mine. My wolf had imprinted on him. There was nothing I could do about it. It was a done deal.

  He kicked his partially open bedroom door open wider, then kicked it closed behind us. He carried me to the bed and said, “I don’t want you to magic your clothes away. I want to do it, I want to undress you slowly, very slowly, and then, baby, I am going to make love to you all day and night.”

  I didn’t say a word. Instead, I was panting, my wolf was panting. I saw him remove my black knit top and throw it across the room. He growled. So did I as his hands covered and manipulated my breasts. He pulled on my nipples. I arched my back. He bent and licked and sucked and licked some more. I pumped my body into his.

  “Not so fast, Trouble, not so fast,” he said huskily.

  He undid my jeans and rolled them down to my ankles, so I kicked off my sneakers and he flung my jea
ns aside. He yanked off my socks and bent my knees up, then spread my thighs.

  As he nibbled at my inner thigh, I groaned. I couldn’t believe how badly I wanted him. His finger teased as it slid along my clit and he said, “You are so wet, baby, so ready.” He pulled off his T-shirt and stood in front of me as he took off his boots, jeans, and his black boxer shorts. There he stood, with his hard-on dancing as he looked at me and said, “You are perfect.”

  He went down on me with a ferocious sound, and as he lapped and nibbled, I groaned with pleasure. His finger joined his tongue and brought me to the mountain top, then another finger joined in the party. I exploded from my toes to my head in shockwaves of erotic blasts that shook my entire body. I was still shaking from my climax when he climbed onto the bed and put his cock to my lips and said, “Taste us, baby.”

  I licked his cock, then with more need than I thought I could ever feel, I sucked him into my mouth. I sucked him hard and he growled and moaned, and the sounds sent me into a whirlwind of ecstasy. I loved that I could pleasure him, and I wanted to damn well pleasure him to distraction.

  He pulled gently away and said, “Oh no, Trouble, oh no, not yet.”

  His mouth was on mine again, his hand was cupping my breast, and his kisses took me away and into a land of light and dark, and hunger. I wanted more of him, so much more. I never wanted it to stop.

  “Baby, you are driving me crazy...the way you move, the way you taste,” he said in a tone that was ferocious. He licked my neck then and said, “Forgive me, Bennie. I can’t stop. I have to...” He bit into my neck, just at the shoulder blade.

  I jerked with the sudden pain, then pleasure flooded through me. I knew what he was doing. I knew he was marking me. What was happening here? Alphas only marked their mates.

  He growled and I felt him nearly shift. He pulled me up and set me on my hands and knees on the bed. His hands on my ass drove me wild. I pushed back against him and he rubbed his huge cock against my opening before he shoved himself inside and almost through me!