The Lightning Prophecy (The Lightning Witch Trilogy Book 1) (9 page)

“Delaney, look at me,” Reid said in a low and very controlled tone. It was a tone that demanded action be taken and god help you if it wasn’t the correct one. I looked at his blazing green eyes. “Delaney, we will finish this. This won’t be something I will let you forget or regret. I don’t want to be drawn to you, but I am, and I know you're drawn to me.”

I was breathless, mainly because he was right. I was drawn to him even though I didn’t want to be.

He leaned closer until our noses were almost touching. My breathing became ragged. Just being close to him like this had my body aching for his touch and ready for other, more enjoyable activities.

“I can hear you!” Troy bellowed through the door, eliciting a snarl from Reid. “Come on, I—”

“She will be there in a minute!”

Well, that shut Troy right on up.

“I don't think anyone has ever gotten him to shut up so comp…” He moved so fast I couldn't even react other than to take in a gasp of breath. His mouth covered mine and he swallowed whatever words I was going to say. It was a fierce kiss full of promise. When he broke it, I was light-headed and my lips felt swollen, and I knew they were a shade of dusky rose. He slowly brought his lips to my ear, leaving kisses along my jaw. I could hear his ragged breathing and it sent heat throughout my body.
Oh, but I can’t; Troy is here, but damn Reid is just so much male
.

Reid drew in a breath and whispered low, “I want to be inside you.”  

I stopped breathing. My heart began racing like a wild thing.
Wasn't there someone I needed to be thinking about?
He drew my earlobe in his mouth and suckled it
. Oh sweet mother of God
.

I gulped air and managed to pant, “Reid, I ... I…”

“You, you what, Delaney?” he said with a low chuckle. What was I going to say? It was important.
Oh fuck it.

“I don’t want you to stop,” I said, pushing my naked breasts against his chest. He drew in a sharp breath and made a low growling noise.

“If you keep doing that I won’t stop and whoever that is outside is going to have a long wait.”

“Oh shit, Troy,” I said. God, this man fogged my mind beyond belief. “I, uh, need you to get off me. I need to go let Troy in or he will make a scene.”

Reid smiled and nipped me on the nose, then licked my bottom lip. He slowly lifted off and sat astride me. His eyes still blazed green as his gaze slipped from mine to my breasts. My heart rate and breathing increased. A look of fierce hunger flashed across his face. This man did things to me that did not yet have a name!

His eyebrows raised slightly and he looked at me with an expression of challenge. I raised my hands to touch his face, but he caught them in midair. His hands wrapped around my wrists and he pinned them above my head, causing my back to arch and my breasts to jut out toward him. He looked at them as if they were a delicacy he had never been offered before. I swallowed the lump in my throat. His hands were like an iron vice around me. And, oh God be damned, if that wasn't turning me on more. If that was even possible.

“Reid.” It came out a scant whisper.

His head dipped to my left breast and he flicked the pebbled flesh with his tongue. He moved and did the same to my right breast.

“Just something to remember me by,” he said as he released my hands and eased off of me.

Panting. That man left me aching and panting. I just lay there trying to calm my heart and regulate my breathing. Troy! Crap balls. Where was my bra?
Shit. Damnit, where is that thing?
I found my shirt and tossed it on. Well, let’s hope I didn’t get cold. I looked up to find Reid buttoning up his shirt. It should be a crime for him to wear clothes at all. Then I had a vision of him causing all kinds of car accidents because others couldn't keep their eyes off of him.
Yeah, maybe not
.

I pulled open the door to find a rather pissy-looking Troy staring back at me. Pissy he may be, but I knew he wanted to see who I had in here as I never had men over. Well, besides Troy. It’s not that I had never dated, but with my secrets and the small fact that I could possibly electrocute someone, I just stayed away from men. And the sex thing, well, I have never wanted to try that, until now that is. I had never been attracted to someone enough to risk them finding out about me or hurting them.

Troy's eyes widened and lifted several inches above me and I knew he was looking at Reid. As if I couldn't feel him pressed against me. The heat radiating from his chest to my back made my nipples harden. His hands rested on my shoulders and I didn’t think anyone could miss the gesture as being anything but possessive.
This man is just too much
.

A little breathless I said, “T-Troy, this is Reid Jamison. Reid, this is Troy Tipton. He’s taking me to see Mil.”

“Well. Oh my day-um. Delaney girl, don’t we just have things to talk about,” Troy said, eyeing Reid. Troy licked his lips and said to Reid, “Hello, tall, dark, and big.” I felt myself stiffen at his remark. Troy flirted with anything that moved and was male, but for some reason I wanted to rip him apart for looking at Reid as if he were his next meal. I never heard Reid’s laugh. I only felt it in my back.

“Hi, Troy, don’t mind me I was just leaving. Nice to meet you,” Reid said with an even tone.

I felt him move from my back and slide sideways through the doorway. My back felt entirely too cold after his warmth was stolen from me. All the while Troy’s eyes never left Reid. Was I feeling possessive of Reid?
I need to calm the hell down.
Before Reid got too far from me he leaned down and put his finger under my chin, drawing my face up to his, and kissed me deeply. With that one finger he held up my entire weight. When he ended the kiss we were both a little breathless. And by both, I mean Troy and I. He gave me a cocky smile that said, “That’s right, I’m staking my claim.”
But, that can’t be right. Can it?

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Delaney,” he said as he turned and walked down the hallway.

We both stood there, staring at the back of him.

“GIRL, THAT ASS
, that back ... You better get your skinny white ass in that apartment and tell me everything. And I mean everything, like the size of his co…”

“Oh my God, Troy! Okay, I’m going,” I said, backing into the apartment, holding the door open for him to enter.

Troy entered my tiny apartment and turned to me not five feet from the door. His hands were on his hips and he was leaning on one leg, tapping the other foot as if he were waiting for something.

“What?” I said, giving him a sheepish smile. I walked past Troy to sit down at the small kitchen table, and crossed my arms over my chest. It was at that moment I remembered I did not have a bra on. Ugh, where was that thing. Troy plopped on the couch and yelped.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yes. I think one of your springs is busted. It poked me in the ass,” he replied, digging in the sofa. His eyes widened then narrowed at me.

“What? Look, I don't want to talk...” I trailed off as he pulled out my bra from the couch. It had been ripped right down the middle and was still clasped in the back. My mouth fell open in shock as heat flamed in my face. I closed my eyes.
When I open my eyes he will not be holding my bra
, I mentally chanted. I opened my eyes and found Troy studying my mangled bra.

“Lucy, you got some ‘splaining to do,” Troy mocked in his best Cuban accent.

“Ugh, okay. Look, you go take a shower and I clearly need to change and I’ll tell you about him on the way to Mil’s.”

“Okay, but this,” he said, holding up my bra high above his head for me to see, “had better be a hell of a story.”

I rolled my eyes at him and went to the bedroom to dress.

Mil lived about an hour outside of Savannah proper. She typically refused all things city of any kind. When I was growing up, Mil and I moved every nine months to a year. According to her, it was because she did not want the Coven to find me and use me for my “Ne’er before seen powers.”

Mil was a member of the inner circle of the all-powerful Coven. When I was about four years old, she left the Coven to help my mother train me with my newly discovered talents. My mom really had no idea how to handle a child who kept blowing things up and electrocuting the cat. My poor parents were not witches and they had no clue how to keep me from barbecuing our pets and burning down the house, so they called Mil.  

Scientists said the gene was random and not hereditary, but I didn’t buy that. The “witch gene” did seem to be stronger in our family. Mil would always gloss over the witch origin and say something like, “Ah, what need do you have to know such things?” Only a year or so after Mil came to live with us and left the Coven, my parents died in a car accident. A car accident I caused.

“Okay, girl, you need to spill about Mister Tall, Dark, and Oh My God Sexy!” Troy said as he slipped into the black-and-pink Mini Cooper.

Lord this man just could not wait for answers. I went over how I met Reid and how I interjected myself into Sierra’s case. I skipped over our heated encounter in his hotel room and in my apartment.

“God, I miss her, D,” Troy said as a tear rolled down his café-latte-colored cheek. I did not want to cry. I put my hand in his, lacing our fingers together. We sat in silence for about thirty minutes.

“Well so what was HE doing in your apartment and why did he kiss you like he was in hell and you were a glass of ice water. And damn, did you see the way he looked at you? Shit, it was intense.”  

My face must have been a light shade of red because Troy pushed on with his look of,
“Girl, I will not stop asking so give up now.”

I sighed in resignation. “I don’t know what to say. He’s so overbearing, so male, so, ugh, I don’t know. But whatever he is, I am drawn to him like a moth to the proverbial flame. Troy, I can’t explain it! I don’t want to be attracted to him, but I can’t seem to stop myself.”

“Does he know that you could possibly electrocute his ass?” Troy quested with an amused look on his face.

Troy had only known about my abilities after some drunk guy started harassing us one night when we were out and I lost my temper. I only ended up giving the guy a slight electrical charge as I slapped him, but it was enough to knock him out for a solid ten seconds and it was enough for Troy to question what I was. When I finally told him he made me call forth my lightning and show him. What was his response? “Holy shit, girl, so you don’t have to pay an electric bill? Can you room with me so I don't have to pay one?”  

“Yes, he knows. I kind of freaked out when he told me just what he was.”

Troy stared at the road ahead of us and asked, “Well, what is he? Now you have to tell me.”

“Um a werewolf,” I said, the words hidden in a garbled mess as I cleared my throat.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Troy replied, never taking his eyes off the road.

I sighed and said in a resigned tone, “He’s a werewolf.”

The car suddenly swerved into the oncoming lane. “Troy!” I yelled at him, trying to get him to put the car back into the appropriate lane. With a quick jerk of the wheel the car was back on track.

“Shit, girl, you can’t just drop a bomb like that,” Troy said, breathing rapidly.

“Sorry.”

“But, you did say w-werewolf correct?” Troy asked. Clearly his normal was just stuffed in a rocket and shot to kingdom come. Boy, did I know the feeling. I nodded at him. His hands grasped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. His lips were a tight white line on his face and his beautifully plucked brows were drawn.

After a few minutes he said, “Nothing is ever normal with you, is it? I love you, but I think I am going to stop asking you questions before you tell me Mil is a vampire and the president is a zombie.”

“Well, if there are vampires and zombies I don't know about them, but I didn’t know about werewolves until a few days ago.”

“Great, your confidence is overwhelming me,” Troy said with a scoff. “Speaking of Mil, does she know I am coming?” said he continued with a tight smile. Mil did not like Troy. She couldn’t get over him being gay and acting more feminine than I do. And, Troy being Troy loved every second of making her squirm.

“Nope, not a clue,” I said with a big smile.

“Fan-freaking-tastic.” Troy parked in Mil’s driveway. There was a devious sparkle in that man’s eyes and I knew I should be worried.

Mil lived in a small two-bedroom, ranch-style brick house. Her closest neighbor was about three acres away. Mil would always say how she could not be close to the earth if people were on top of her. I could see her standing in the doorway and she did not look amused at the sight of Troy.

Mill stood at the great height of five foot even and could not be ninety pounds soaking wet. While Mil may look not a day over ninety, even though she’s eighty-seven, she was fighting with the amount of power within her. She looked like a strong wind may set her adrift to the sunset.

“Aye, I see you brought the girly boy with you!” Mil yelled
. Sweet mother of God she did not just say that
. Mil’s small frame seemed to fill the doorway in an unnatural way. She had her best Peter Pan stance going on, hands on her hips and her feet spread.

“Aye, Professor McGonagall, she did. And you know you love me, so stop pretending!” Troy bellowed in his best Irish accent. Which, by the way, was pure awful.
Oh sweet hot sauce
. I needed to put these two in a room and let them fight it out battle royale style. But, Troy did have a point; she did look a bit like Harry Potter’s professor, but there was no pepper to her hair. It was all stark white. As we got closer to the door, her gray eyes narrowed at Troy.

“What are ya wearin’, boy? It looks like women’s clothing.”

Troy looked down at himself. He had on a black tank top. Not too bad until you got to his bottom half. He had on a pair of tight blue jeans and over that he wore a black sheer skirt. A long one, too. I think he did it just to get a rise out of Mil.

“There’s no such thing as women’s or men’s clothing. It’s just who can rock it should wear it. And I,” he said while twirling, “rock it.”

“Boy, I wouldn't be so sure about that.”

“Mil!” I said, pushing past both of them, getting inside the house before a tree mysteriously fell on Troy. “It’s good to see you.”

“Aye, girl, I did not know you were bringing him,” Mil said as she closed the door behind her and Troy.

I opened my mouth to tell her, but was abruptly cut off by Troy’s words, “Oh Mil, her car broke down and she needed a ride and when I found her she was busy with—”

“That’s fine!” I gave Troy a
“say another word and I’ll make you a real woman”
glare and he looked amused.

“Sorry, Mil, I was getting busy. I mean, I got busy.” Heat rushed to my face. Could this visit get worse, please? With sugar on top? Troy was trying but failing to stifle a laugh. I shot him a murderous look that only seemed to make him laugh harder.

Mil raised one eyebrow at me, but didn’t question, thank God. She held out her small arms and her eyes squinted with a smile. I embraced my great aunt. She hugged me so fiercely I feared the tiny woman would break me.

“Mil, what's wrong? Are you okay?” I asked, pulling back and searching her eyes for some kind of emotion. But, like always, there was little to be found in her gray eyes.

“You act like you haven’t seen me in a few years when it has only been a few weeks.”

“Aye, don’t worry yourself. I am fine. But, we have a lot to talk about. So, let’s eat,” she said, smiling. But, the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Something was wrong, I just didn’t know what. I’m not sure how much more bad news I could take.

Dinner was a beer-battered pot roast with carrots, potatoes, and onions. Mil would marinade everything in beer if she could. I could have done without the onions, as they are spawn of the devil, but it was what it was.

“Whew, girl, I am glad I brought my big girl panties because Mil it’s a flat-out sin for you to cook the way you do!” Troy said with a very satisfied look upon his face.

Laughing, I said, “You gonna be able to drive home? There was an awful lot of beer in that.”

“Pfft, don’t you worry your pretty self. I got this.”

“Ahem, Lainey girl, I need talk to ya about…” she paused, “...private things,” she finished with a scowl directed at Troy.

“Oh, you old bat, you mean witchy things?” Troy said while picking his teeth with a toothpick.
Oh my God, he did not just say that! Did he?

Mil shot me a murderous glance. All I could do was shrug and smile in apology. She threw her wrinkly arms in the air in an act of exasperation.

“Ah girl, can you not keep your mouth shut. And to HIM nonetheless. Sierra, God love her, I could understand, but HIM, ach!” She spat the word
him
as if it were a curse word.

I quickly glanced at Troy and saw him seething in his seat. Before he went all Mount Vesuvius I said, “Mil, I know you love Troy because I love him. I would never keep what I am from him. Please respect that it was my choice to trust him. I love you, Mil, I would never knowingly put us in danger.”

Mil and Troy seemed to ease at my words.

“Okay, Lainey girl, well there are something’s in regards to Sierra I need to tell you.”

“I’m all ears and Troy is, well, he won’t say a single word,” I said with a bright smile. Troy raised his right hand with three fingers up and with his left he drew a cross over his heart, then mock zipped his lips closed. Clearly I needed to check the sky for flying pigs.

“Okay, girl, I need to tell you the history of our people. I know I have avoided this, but I can no longer.”

“Our people were not always known as witches. We can date ourselves back to near 800 BCE. We were called Druids back then. Our abilities were passed down in blood lines back then, but now the lines have gotten so diluted it’s rare if there are two or three in the same line. Back then our powers were more than they are today. Just about every Druid’s power level would be about seven or eight whereas today it’s about a three or four. Also we could change our forms in to that of a beast.”