Colby: September (3 page)

C
olby stared
down at the woman snuggled up in his more-than-occasional bed with a wistful look. Damn, she looked cozy and content. She’d felt even better in his arms than he’d imagined. He wanted to crawl in next to her and wrap his body around every beautiful curve, but he knew that would lead to one pissed off witch. He had no intention of suffering
another
angry witch’s curse. Once in a lifetime was more than enough.

He didn’t know what she’d said earlier, but figured it had to do with whatever she was feeling from the alcohol. He could only hope that it worked and she’d get undisturbed sleep.
And
that her hangover wasn’t as horrible as he thought it would be when she woke up.

Blowing out a breath, Colby took a step back. He needed to put a little distance between him and the minx in the bed. He
was
technically still working, and needed to get his head back into the game. That didn’t mean he had to leave the room though. There was plenty of paperwork that needed to be done. He’d also have to have a talk with the staff about serving White Lightning and letting patrons set it on fire. Heat enhanced. Everyone knew that.

H
e stepped
out of the room, locking it behind him. It took him about ten minutes to let the bar staff know where he’d be and to put out one fire. Not a literal one. Just a mix up with a playroom reservation, which was sorted out in a matter of minutes. He checked on the women Ella had been with, all were fine and either picked up by friends or poured into cabs. Colby gave one last look around the Club then ducked back into the office. All was right in his world again. Maybe even more so, now.

The door slid closed with a hushed click, and he let out a breath. Ella was curled up in the bed snoring lightly. She’d rolled onto her side and tucked the other pillow to her front, arms wrapped around it lovingly. He
so
wanted to be that damn pillow.

“Later, Noble. You can wait until she’s sober and you get to know her better.” He shook his head and settled into the chair. Her witch’s blood called to him through the short distance. He was hardwired to feel it. He’d known after his first encounter with a witch when he was younger that he was destined to have one as his wife. His mate through all eternity.

Pushing the excited feeling at finding the woman who could possibly fit the bill away, he concentrated on work. The stack of papers he’d been avoiding for a week made him the happiest guy around at the moment. There was no reason for him to leave, unless the Club caught fire. Even then, he had a feeling his witch could protect him.

He glanced at Ella again. The Club catching fire was an improbability at the moment. He’d gotten the little fire starters separated and one in particular under his watchful gaze. He would question why he didn’t try harder to find someone to pick her up, he refused to lie to himself. There was a thread linking them together. An attraction, yes, but something more. The draw he felt from across the room earlier was even more potent up close. It intoxicated and made him want things he’d only dreamed of having.

“
G
oddess
!” Ella moaned, pressing her hand against her forehead.
Who the hell was pounding nails into a two-by-four on top of her head?
She pried her eyelids open and tried to look around. Each time she moved though, the pounding got worse. Turned into throbbing and a chorus of woodpeckers trying to break through metal. She closed her eyes and squeezed the pillow tighter against her chest. What she really wanted to do was crush it over her head to make it all stop, it was too bad breathing was necessary to live. But was that what she really wanted at the moment? It would definitely make the pain go away.

There was a dip and the bed shifted, jolting her. Her eyes popped open as she freaked out a bit internally. The girl inside flailed her arms in panic wondering what to do. Thank Goddess, she had better control over her extremities. The pain that would have resulted would have made her wish for death even more. She didn’t remember going home, let alone picking anyone up. Oh
please
say she didn’t pick up a demon, or worse yet, a warlock. They were such prima donnas.

“Hey there,” a soft deep voice rumbled above her head. She expected it to rattle her brain. To intensify the throb or make her cringe. Neither of those things happened. In fact, it soothed the thundering in her head. Sucking in a breath through her nose, she pushed it out through her mouth, doing her best to calm her rioting body down. Her stomach churned slightly, and while she didn’t think she would throw up; it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

When she felt she had better control of things, she looked at the man that belonged to the voice. To her surprise, Colby, the hunky man from before sat on the edge of the bed. A soft smile played on his face, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“Hi,” she croaked. A flush of embarrassment heated her cheeks, making her push her face deeper into the pillow beneath her head.

Colby sprang up from the bed without a word, and was back before she could figure out what happened. Did she look as horrible as she felt? She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Ella?”

It figured, she couldn’t just disappear. She opened her eyes and gave him a wobbly smile. He held a glass of water in one hand and held out his other. It really was a sweet thing to do…if she actually intended on sitting up. Which, she belatedly realized, she would have to do in order to drink the water.

With a sigh, she pushed her snuggle-buddy pillow to the side. Taking his hand, she let Colby help her up. Her world tilted for a second, but she recovered quickly. Colby had yet to let go of her, and she didn’t mind one bit. He felt like an anchor in the storm that was everything to do with her functioning at the moment. That warm, sweet feeling from before wrapped around her. It was comfort and familiarity rolled up into one loving feeling.

Silently, he handed her the water and waited for her to drink. The cool liquid went down her parched throat, soothing her rough voice. She drank half the glass before handing it back to him.

“Thanks,” she said, sounding much more like herself. Her head pounded unbearably, but she could talk. That was good, she guessed.

Colby smiled. “How you feeling?”

Ella snorted, which, of course, rattled her a little. She winced and worked not to shake her head. “Head hurts.”

“A hangover will do that for you. Do you know any witchy spells to banish it?”

“Sadly, no. There are some out there, but they’re a tit-for-tat kind of thing. The pain would need to flow somewhere or to someone. In my coven, we can only do some self-healing spells.”

“Like whatever it was you said before you went under?”

“Yes,” she blushed, her cheeks heating uncomfortably. “The room was spinning. It needed to stop.”

He nodded and got up again. A couple of steps took him to his desk, he opened a drawer, and pulled out a small white packet with writing on it. Sitting back down, he ripped off the top and handed it to her, and then grabbed the glass back. “Lucky for you I keep a little hangover remedy of my own here. Pour it under your tongue, let it sit for a couple of seconds, and then wash it down.”

Ella narrowed her eyes at the suspicious little packet. He’d ripped whatever writing was on it, off. “Magic?”

“No. Over-the-counter pain killer. Works really well.”

She huffed and took the packet from him, doing as he told her. “Thank you.”

Colby’s pleased grin had her blushing even harder. “I aim to serve.”

“I appreciate it.” She didn’t know what else to say. Looking around, she remembered she was in an office. “So a bed…” she trailed off. She couldn’t quite remember if they’d had that conversation already.

“Late nights that turn into early mornings.” He paused and chuckled. “I told you that before.”

“Oh. Guess I don’t really remember much.” Ella swung her legs off the side of the bed. Her head didn’t feel as bad, and the threat of vomiting had dissipated. That was some damn good pain relief.

Colby moved back to his desk, sitting on the edge of it. He crossed his arms across his
very
fine chest.
That
she remembered him doing before. It had the same heart-fluttering effect on her too. The man was dreamy, to say the least.

“Drinking two bottles of White Lightning
and
setting it on fire will do that for a person. I can’t help but think something else was going on too, though. It shouldn’t have hit you guys that hard. At least, I don’t think it should have.”

“Oh. I didn’t know,” she mumbled, “about the heat and stuff. Usually, cooking it burns the alcohol off.” She’d never had an issue with it before. But then, she usually wasn’t sucking down two bottles in the span of a couple of hours. She typically only had one or two glasses before calling it a night.

“Not all alcohols, and especially not that kind.” He continued, giving her a pointed look. “It’s made for Mystics. You should have known better. All of your friends were picked up, by the way. You, kind of, passed out before I could get more than your name out of you.”

Ella’s cheeks had to be on fire and permanently red. She pressed a hand to one and shook her head lightly. “I’m so sorry. I’m sure you had better things to do than babysit me.”

“It wasn’t a problem.” He motioned to the top of his desk. “I had plenty of paperwork to take care of. Stuff I’ve been avoiding for a while. Plus, I wanted to keep an eye on you.” Colby tilted his head, and his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “So…is there a husband or boyfriend I should call to come get you? You probably shouldn’t be driving yet.”

“No,” she squeaked. The sound much more distressed than she’d like. “Um, I mean, no. No boyfriend or husband. Just my twenty cats and me,” she said in a flippant manner. “Besides, I didn’t drive.”

Colby’s eyes rounded in shock, his face turning white. “Twenty cats?”

Ella couldn’t hold her snicker in. “I’m kidding. I only have one. I think they come standard when a witch is born.”

His amused grin had her smiling in return.

“So…thank you for taking care of me.” She looked around nervously. What was the protocol when it came to something like this? She snuck a glance at her watch, shocked to see it was three in the morning. “I should probably get going.”

Colby pushed up off the desk. “Of course. I can take you home. Just give me a couple of minutes to wrap up a few things.”

She waved him off and took a step toward where she thought the door was. She frowned as she looked for whatever panel or etching would open the door. Nothing popped out at her. “No, I’ll be fine. I live close by.”

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw him hesitate, then nod. His gaze dropped to her feet. “Uh, you might want your boots. I took them off earlier.”

“Oh my god,” she rushed. Looking around, she found them at the end of the bed. She sat and tugged them on under his watchful gaze.

Standing, she stepped toward him again and held out her hand. “Thank you, again.”

Colby looked at her hand then back to her face. He slid his hand against her palm. Slow and sensual. It was firm and, she had no other word to describe it but…manly. Sparks shot up her arm and into her chest. Her nipples beaded and she shivered. God, his touch was magic.

He opened his mouth to say something, but squawking from his radio interrupted him.

“
Colby, need you in the dungeon. One of the manacles is stuck and the key isn’t working. I think they poured something with the consistency of molasses into it. The guy is not happy at the moment.
”

“Shit, I have to go.” He swiped his hand over a filigreed design in the wall, and the door she couldn’t figure out how to open, slid open.

Ella nodded. “Of course. We all know how hard it is to get molasses-like substances out of things.”

Colby’s eyebrows dropped down into a frown.

“Kidding. I have no clue, but I’m going to hazard a guess and assume it’s a lot like trying to get wax out of clothes.”

“Candle wax? You can put that in the freezer, but I would have thought you had a spell for that.”

“More like waxing wax. Like for eyebrows and what not.” Her mouth twisted slightly. “You do know not everything in life has a corresponding spell, right?”

A smile quirked his lips, making him utterly adorable. He took her hand, leading her out of the office. “I’d like to see you again.”

Ella opened her mouth to say not only yes, but hell yes, when she was interrupted. A tall raven-haired woman with a Mohawk dashed up to him. “Thank Lucifer,” she gasped. “The nymphs are running wild in one of the water rooms. It’s all hands on deck to wrangle them. They’re trying to flood one of the rooms to turn the hallway into a stream.”

Colby groaned, turning to Ella with regret in his eyes.

“Go. And good luck. Maybe I’ll see you here again, sometime.”

“You will.” He reached into his pocket and pulled something out before pressing it into her hand. He dropped a kiss on her cheek and sprinted away before she had a chance to react.

Uncurling her fingers, she found a piece of paper with his name and phone number on it. With a giddy little whoop, she danced in her spot for a second before heading for the exit and home.