Chick with a Charm (28 page)

“Has it?” He angled his hips, increasing the friction. Tonight he had the presence of mind to make those slight adjustments. Tonight he was less of a wild man and more of a lover.

“Yes.” She arched her back so his strokes came in closer contact with her clit. “I can feel you . . . thinking.”

“I am thinking.” He moved a little faster. “I’m thinking about making you come.”

She gasped. “Exactly.”

He looked deep into her eyes, wanting her to hear him. “I can’t let you be in charge forever, Lily.”

Her gaze didn’t waver as she dug her fingers into his hips and met him thrust for thrust. “I know.”

“Then let go.”

She was breathing hard. “I want to.”

“And you will.” Pumping faster, he tilted a fraction more, and felt the first ripple move over his cock. He’d brought her there without losing his mind, without letting a haze of lust obscure everything. As the first ripple turned into waves, as she cried out in surrender, he allowed himself to come.

It was good . . . very good . . . but not like before. He would miss that hedonistic rush that had claimed him when he was fully under the spell. But the price for that kind of tumultuous passion was losing control of his body, his mind, perhaps even his soul. And that was a price he was unwilling to pay.

 

They made love again that night, and Lily could tell that Griffin was less in control the second time. He’d weakened the effect of the elixir with some sort of countercharm earlier that day, but apparently good sex would eventually tip the balance in the other direction. He would need to keep using countercharms to keep the spell from overwhelming him. . . . Or give up sex.

The countercharm idea sounded a lot better. She wondered what he’d come up with, but didn’t dare try and find out while he was still in bed with her. She waited until morning and pretended to sleep when he got up and headed into the bathroom.

She listened to the sounds of splashing in the sink, which meant he was shaving. She didn’t want to begin her search until he was in the shower. Once the water was running and he was whistling away, she began her investigation.

Although she didn’t want to interfere with his work to dilute the spell, she needed to know what it was. He and Kevin weren’t wizards and they were messing around with things they didn’t completely understand. Better that she discreetly check it out for them.

First she looked under the bed and found nothing, although she had to brush off the salt from her knees when she stood. Just the salt couldn’t have created this change in Griffin, though. For one thing, he hadn’t been surrounded by salt all afternoon and evening, when he’d found the intestinal fortitude to keep his distance from her.

There had to be something else. She ran her hand between the mattress and box spring, but nothing seemed to be there, either. Whatever it was had to be small, something he’d carried throughout the afternoon and then transferred to . . . then she knew exactly where it was. Grabbing the pillow from his side of the bed, she stuck her hand inside the case and found the stone.

She recognized immediately that it was jet, which would bring him more emotional stability and self-confidence. Good choice, whether it was his idea or Kevin’s. The stone had been working hard and had a slight crack in it that she’d bet hadn’t been there originally.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed and holding the stone between her palms, she closed her eyes.
“Piece of jet stone, black as night, be whole again so you can fight
.
”

Secretly helping Griffin dilute the spell that she’d cast on him was totally weird, but she didn’t know how else to handle this awkward situation. How ironic that she’d given him the elixir because she’d wanted a respectable boyfriend around when her parents came home to celebrate Anica’s engagement and wedding. Her plan had worked perfectly with her dad, who now saw her as having the maturity to accept more family responsibility.

Her plan had also worked well for her sex life. But her heart—her heart ached with the knowledge that she’d enslaved this man. Love from a bottle, so to speak, wasn’t love at all. Sometimes she could almost convince herself that Griffin really cared for her, but as long as the spell was still in effect she couldn’t trust any of his behavior as being genuine.

She opened her hands to find the crack in the stone gone. As an excellent witch with good magical skills, she’d expected as much. It was a small spell she’d created, so her adrenaline level would spike for only an hour or so.

But it was spiking, which meant that climbing in the shower with Griffin sounded really good right now. Talk about counterproductive. She’d just repaired the jet in order to bring him back into balance after the sex they’d had during the night.

“Lily?” He came to the door of the bathroom with a towel draped around his hips. “Were you talking to somebody just now?”

She closed her hand over the stone and glanced up. “Just saying my morning . . . affirmations.”

“Here’s an affirming idea.” There was a definite gleam in his eye. “Hop in the shower and I’ll wash your back.”

And wouldn’t she love to do that? But she had a responsibility to him now that she’d created this situation. “Nice idea, but I have to get going. I’m meeting Anica and the folks down at the Bubbling Cauldron in . . .” She glanced at the bedside clock. Yikes, it was later than she’d thought. She couldn’t dally with Griffin in the shower even if she could justify having more sex with him. “I’m supposed to be there in an hour to decorate.”

“I’ll come with you and help.”

She recognized the signs of dependency returning. “Oh, Griffin, that’s sweet, but I’m sure you have plenty of things to—”

“Nope. I’m coming with you.” He walked over to the duffel he’d brought with him and rummaged through it. “Let me get some clothes on and I’ll take Daisy out while you shower. We can pick up some breakfast on the way over there.”

“Uh, okay.” She started to put the jet back in the pillowcase, but he stood and turned toward her. She jerked her hand back.

“How about we pick up muffins and coffee for everybody?”

“That would be nice.” The jet was warm in her hand as she sat on the bed, trying to decide how to replace it so he could find it again. He needed that stone. He was reverting back.

“Go on.” He made shooing motions with his hands. “Get in there and shower. I’ll take care of Daisy. I’ll feed her, too.”

She couldn’t leave the room without putting the jet back inside the pillowcase. Once she went into the bathroom, he’d get dressed and look for it, so he could put it in his pocket. But he was standing right there, watching her.

The door was still closed, so Daisy couldn’t come in and occupy him for the few seconds that she needed. But wait. If she concentrated very hard, she could make the front doorknob rattle, which would cause Daisy to bark like crazy to alert them to a potential intruder. Lily didn’t do telekinesis very often, so she was a little out of practice, but she needed a distraction and she needed it now.

“I appreciate all your help with Daisy.” She remained where she was, because she needed to be quiet and centered to accomplish this. Besides, the minute he left the room, she should be right by the pillow so she could replace the jet in a hurry.

“No problem. I like her. She—”

Loud barking—Daisy sounding the alarm—came from the living room.

Griffin spun toward the closed bedroom door. “What the hell?”

She forced herself to sound scared. “I don’t know. From the way Daisy’s barking, she must think somebody’s trying to get in.” She started to stand up. “I should go see if—”

“I’ll go.” Griffin knotted the towel more securely around his waist.

She gave him points for chivalry. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had been ready to defend her against an unknown enemy.

Griffin’s protective stance was sexier than she’d figured. She wanted to jump his bones even more now. But she’d created a diversion so she could replace the stone he’d hidden inside the pillowcase. There was no real threat, although now she’d jacked up his adrenaline level as well as her own. Bad combination.

“Stay here.” The low command thrilled her to her toes, even if there was no danger.

“I will.” She played the meek maiden in distress, although in a true emergency she would have been right beside him, ready to face whatever he might encounter. She wasn’t a fan of shrinking violets, but in this case it suited her purposes to adopt that role.

He opened the door. “Hey, Daisy. What’s the matter, girl?”

Lily stopped the rattling at the same moment she shoved the jet inside the pillowcase.

The sound of Daisy’s whine drifted through the partly open door.

“Go to Lily, girl. Stay with her while I check this out.”

Lily was doubly touched. He could have kept the dog with him, but he preferred to have Daisy watch over Lily instead. One glance at the clock told her this little maneuver would make them late to the Bubbling Cauldron, but it couldn’t be helped. He had to have that piece of jet, and he couldn’t know that she’d discovered it. She scooted to the side of the bed so she could pet Daisy.

“We have a winner in that guy,” she told the dog.

Daisy wagged her tail vigorously and smiled her doggie smile.

“Yeah, I know you like him, too. Let’s hope this works out for all of us.” Lily hadn’t considered the impact of bringing Griffin into Daisy’s life when there were no guarantees he’d end up staying. In a sense, she was toying with Daisy’s affections by allowing Griffin to become the dog’s friend. If he left, Daisy would probably mourn his loss.

That was one more reason why Lily couldn’t arbitrarily break the spell. She’d traumatize her dog. Jupiter’s balls, what a complicated situation. She’d never anticipated things would get so messy.

Griffin came back in. “I checked the peephole, and nobody was out there, so I opened the door and took a quick look around. Nothing. You have good locks, though. If someone tried to get in, they wouldn’t have much luck.”

She nodded. “True. Still, that was brave of you, to go out there virtually naked to scout around.”

“Brave or stupid, I’m not sure which. I’m glad it was a false alarm, because I’ve never tried to fight someone while I was wearing nothing but a towel.”

“Have you ever had to fight someone at all?”

He looked somewhat wistful. “No. I was big for my age, so nobody ever picked on me. And I don’t have brothers or sisters, so I didn’t have those kinds of fights, either.”

“I had some knock-down, drag-outs with Anica.” Lily remembered wands had been raised and half-baked spells had been used, which only got them in bigger trouble with their parents.

He smiled. “I’ll bet you were a fierce little fighter.”

“I don’t like to lose, I’ll tell you that.”

“Neither do I, Lily.” He gazed at her with a million questions lurking in his hazel eyes. “Neither do I.”

She hated that they were on opposite sides of the fence, but then, she’d been the one who’d put them there.

Griffin rode the bus with Lily to the Bubbling Cauldron. He didn’t want to show up looking like a snob who only took cabs. With his jet back in his pocket, he felt more in command and ready to take on her family. By now he assumed the whole kit and kaboodle were magical, except Jasper, of course.

Although he hadn’t wanted to go along with Kevin’s conclusions that Lily was a witch, he couldn’t very well deny it now. He was relatively sure she’d made the door rattle so Daisy would bark, thus getting him out of the room for some reason. He was guessing she’d found his stone and then wanted to put it back while he wasn’t looking.

He’d never before had a sexual relationship with somebody who kept huge secrets from him. And that forced him to keep huge secrets from her, too, although he doubted either of them was fooling the other. They were both too smart. So instead they played this complicated chess game to see who would blink first.

He was determined it wouldn’t be him. If he was in luck, Jasper Danes would be on the decorating committee this morning, and he’d have a chance to talk to him, man to man, about what to do when the woman you were sleeping with happened to be a witch. Griffin didn’t know if Jasper would talk or not. But surely he’d take pity on another guy who found himself trying to navigate this unusual landscape.

After they got off the bus, Griffin had to hurry to keep up with Lily, who was barreling down the sidewalk as if she’d taken up race walking.

Griffin had never seen her move that fast. “Does it matter so much if we’re late?”

She slowed down. “I guess not. But I’m always late, and I’m just . . . tired of being labeled the screwup of the family.”

“Blame it on me.”

She glanced over at him and smiled. “Thanks, but there’s no way it was your fault, and hiding behind you wouldn’t speak very well of my maturity level, now, would it?”

“Who said you’re not mature?”

She sighed. “Nobody’s said it in so many words, but look at my life compared to Anica’s. She owns a business and she’s been working toward that goal for several years. She’s getting married to a guy who adores her, and she adores him. Her apartment is always cleaner than mine—well, now she has the condo that she bought with Jasper, but it’s always clean, too. She—”

“Lily.” Griffin took her arm and pulled her around to face him. The street was nearly deserted this time of the morning, and he was tempted to kiss her and see if that made her feel better. It probably would, but this wasn’t about endorphins.

She gazed up at him, her jaw set in a belligerent line. “Listen, I didn’t say all that just so you could tell me how wonderful I am, so don’t start.”

“You are wonderful, but I’m not going to harp on that if you don’t want me to. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, so maybe I don’t get the whole sibling rivalry thing, but it can’t be good to compare yourself to Anica. She’s a different person from you.”