SweetlyBad

by Anya Breton

  “I’m a witness,” she said stubbornly. “Even if they’re not the mob, I’m sure they won’t want to leave any loose ends dangling. They’ll come looking for me.”

  “Someone might. But it won’t be to hurt you. They’ll only make you forget what you saw.”

  “You can do that?”

  “I can’t. But there are those who can.” He thrust a hand through his hair. These were things she couldn’t know. Yet he wanted her to. He wanted a reason to linger in the two-bar town with her.

  First he needed to deal with the three witches. If he were a Water witch, he could force Erica to leave. But he wasn’t and she was too stubborn to see reason.

  “I need to use your phone,” he said on his way to the office. “If you insist on staying, I wish you’d hide in the backroom.”

  “Hide?”

  He flinched at her lifted pitch.

  Erica stomped behind him. “These people might not be human but I still held my own against them.”

  She had. There was no doubt about that.

  “The female will be wary of you now,” he said. “She’ll warn her companions. You’re not going to have the element of surprise.”

  “No, but I have Pearce Auto-body.”

  “There’s a chance I can end this but I need to use your phone.” He punched in the numbers to his mother.

  Erica had gone quiet. He swung back, checking what she was up to. She rooted around in a large cabinet against the wall and then disappeared behind the pickup truck.

  “Hello.” His matriarch’s voice captured his attention.

  “Three witches are here in Stoddard trying to kill me,” he said. “One kidnapped my mechanic.”

  “I had no idea how imaginative you were, Andrew.” Amanda’s drawl was pure condescension. “If you’d been half this creative growing up, you might have found something better to do with your time than diddle every girl who caught your eye.”

  He ground his teeth. Creativity had never been his failing. Patience and follow-through were. By Aer, he’d follow through with this if it killed him.

  “Please remove my rogue designation, Mother.”

  “No one is trying to kill you. As I’ve said, I’ll remove the designation when you’ve turned your life around.”

  “I’m not going to have a life to turn around if you don’t call off the designation!”

  Amanda exhaled wearily. “No witch would dare hunt a Haizea. They wouldn’t go against me.”

  “Thirty years ago that might have been the case. Your esteem is gone now that Sean is weeks from becoming high priest.” He continued even though her sharp breath implied he’d gone too far when he used her nemesis’s name. “You are a joke and you’re going to be a joke with one less son if you don’t fix this!”

  “I’m a joke?” Each word was punctuated with icy enunciation. “How dare you! You haven’t worked a day in your life. You don’t know what the world is truly like. You are the joke, Andrew. The designation stays until that changes.”

  Panic flooded his organs. Amanda was sentencing him to death because her pride wouldn’t allow her to see the truth. While his life was precious to him, his primary concern was for the obstinate mechanic who refused to go home.

  “I’ll turn my life around,” he said. “Keep the money and my accounts frozen. I won’t come back to Manchester. I swear it. Just remove the designation, Mother. Please.”

  Her voice was stony like the granite their state was famous for. “You will remain rogue until you prove you’re worthy of being a Haizea.”

  Nausea burned his stomach. He was screwed and that meant Erica was screwed too. Drew let out a sick laugh. “If you’re the example of how a Haizea should be, then I hope I never prove I’m worthy.”

  This time he hung up on her.

  His hands shook with fury as he set the phone on the counter. Erica and he were sitting ducks here. If she wouldn’t leave him then he’d simply have to leave her.

  He walked to the door between the rooms and gazed across the space to where she stood behind the pickup truck, working with a large piece of pipe. Her hair was a sweaty mess, her tank top askew and her jeans sported a large oil stain on her rear.

  He’d never wanted to fuck a woman as badly as he wanted her in that moment.

  The right thing would be to walk out and never see her again.

  But Drew had never done the right thing. He wasn’t about to start with this.

  The payload would stun but not kill. Erica hoped. Nuts and bolts would work, wouldn’t they? If not, she had a plan for other things.

  A shoe scuffing against the concrete sent a shot of fear down her back. Her pulse quickened.

  Had they arrived? How long would it take that woman to meet up with her cohorts?

  Erica whirled around and found Drew at the front of the garage. She pressed her chest, willing her heart to settle.

  “Don’t go out there,” she said. “I’ve…set a few things.”

  Oil and a creeper. He’d slip on them if he weren’t careful.

  Drew stepped between the vehicles and started for the back, where she worked on her makeshift air canon. Erica hesitated in her next action. She’d seen that look in his eye before. He wasn’t thinking about fighting. He was thinking about sex.

  Now? When three…not-humans were due any minute and she was a stinking mess, Drew wanted sex? The man really was incorrigible.

  He slowed in front of her. That intense expression flickered as he glanced at the pipe she held.

  “It’s—”

  “Shhh.” He pressed a finger to her lips. “My kind have tricks for hearing things better than vanilla humans.”

  His kind. It was wild to think he wasn’t like her.

  Drew rubbed his finger along her lip, wiping away the moisture from her nervous licks. Tingles wiggled down her shoulders. Her nipples hardened beneath her satin bra.

  Not the time.

  Erica dropped her chin toward the pipe. She waved his attention toward it so she could mime her intentions. Her pantomime lasted two seconds. He gave a nod as if he understood.

  And then he hooked his thumb in her belt loop, dragging her against his pelvis. Despite the bleak conversation she’d overheard in the office, Drew’s erection was still hard and ready against her belly—or perhaps it was again. His other hand slipped under her tank top. The rows of hooks at the back of her bra didn’t deter him for long and then her breast sat heavily in his palm. She bit her lip, quieting a moan.

  He kissed her—a breathtaking embrace of palm to cheek and tongue against tongue, as though he’d consume her essence. Yesterday it might have been awkward. Today it was perfect.

  He released her face though the kiss continued. One-handed, he managed to unfasten the button on her skinny jeans. Erica gasped around his tongue as he pushed the edges aside. Drew tugged the ribbed cotton tank top over her breasts even as he delved his fingers beneath the zipper, slipping them within her lace panties. He groaned, she assumed at the drenched folds he’d discovered.

  Yes, she wanted him. Even though he’d tried to make her leave and even though it was his fault she was in danger, she wanted him so badly her teeth ached. But it wasn’t the ache in her mouth that drove her to grab the waistband to his slacks.

  They desperately shoved at each other’s pants, kicking off shoes as they went. She swallowed a whimper when he pulled back. Drew crouched, fumbling with his garment. He tore something—a condom? One of his hands brushed against her belly as if she’d guessed correctly.

  Erica slipped her arms around Drew’s neck, pressing her breasts to his chest. The rough fabric of his polo against her nipples sent tiny arrows of pleasure to her pussy. She rubbed her throbbing clit along his knuckles as they rolled the condom down his shaft. He moved them side-to-side, teasing her to distraction.

  Drew shifted, replacing his tormenting knuckles with his sheathed organ. He stroked the stiff length against her slick skin.

  He paused, staring into her eyes for a
meaningful beat.

  One swift thrust was her undoing. She collapsed against him, letting him hold her when she should have been strong. But he felt too good connected with her like this.

  “Air,” he whispered against her mouth.

  Though she didn’t know what that meant, she gave him some in the form of a ragged exhale.

  He pulled his hips back and nearly withdrew his cock completely. Erica clung tighter. Drew eased forward until the rough clump of hair at the base of his cock brushed against her clit. No sooner had her breath caught from the bare caress did he slide away.

  Eager for more, Erica slammed against him, setting a feverish pace he quickly caught. Though they swallowed each other’s moans, the slap of skin against skin left little doubt about what they were doing.

  Drew lifted her off her feet, settling her against his lap as if he’d found something to sit on. The Dodge’s bumper? Her bare feet found the cold metal.

  Erica smiled now that she had leverage.

  Pleasure had been the driving force in Drew’s life until yesterday. Now pleasure was bittersweet. It had finally happened—he’d found a woman he needed. But his years of inveterate womanizing had caught up with him and he couldn’t have her.

  He shouldn’t take solace in Erica’s luscious body even for a second. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to go without one last embrace. His ever-vigilant hearing would be little warning if he lingered too long.

  “Aer,” he croaked again as she took his cock inside her slick heat.

  Erica tossed her hair over her shoulders. Sweat-dampened strands stuck to her arched neck. Her breasts glistened in the shop lights as they bounced beneath her bunched tank top. Erica’s sweet buttercream odor, and silky skin sliding along his, sent his senses into orbit.

  Fantasies of waking with her in her big bed beneath the crisp cotton sheets sneaked through his mind. More invaded of sitting in the Shaker rocking chairs on her front porch with glasses of lemonade in hand and of sultry nights spent lazily watching television. He would have laughed if his mouth hadn’t been filled with hers. Wild fantasies should have featured in his mind—of her taking his cock between her full lips or even of him going down on her. But she made him want more.

  She’s too good for you.

  “Mmm,” she said on her next frantic slide down his shaft.

  Drew’s eyes rolled from how fucking good she felt gripping his cock, crushing her breasts against his chest and kissing him so fiercely he could hardly breathe.

  It hadn’t been this way this morning. On the cot, sex had been business as usual. Something had changed. Dare he hope he wasn’t the only one affected?

  Erica quickened the pace, pumping up and down over his cock as fast as her thick thighs would carry her. He marveled at her body—strength and curves wrapped beneath silken skin. Her fist had more power in it than any muscle on any of the anorexic women he usually fucked. In fact he’d be shocked if his jaw didn’t swell up soon from her punch.

  As magnificent as this was, it had gone on too long. The witches were coming. He never should have done more than kiss her. But he refused to have her last memory of him be an unsatisfied one.

  Drew hauled her up and exchanged positions. She hissed at the metal his skin hadn’t warmed. He dropped to his knees, spreading her thighs wide against the truck’s bumper. She stared down at him, wide-eyed and wordless. He’d have sent her a grin if he weren’t feeling so maudlin.

  She froze as his tongue laved along her decadent folds. Sugar and heat exploded across his taste buds while she moaned. Only Erica’s pussy would truly taste like dessert. He pressed his eyes shut, drawing in her buttercream-and-sweetness scent.

  Erica’s tiny gasps at the flick of his tongue over her clit drew on his dormant masculine pride. She clawed into his scalp, waking more than pride. His balls tightened and hung heavily under his momentarily forgotten cock.

  Rather than tug on himself as his body demanded, Drew thrust two fingers within her drenched core. She inhaled a sharp breath he promptly stole with the tongue he coiled around her sensitive nub.

  “Drew,” she pleaded.

  He opened his eyes, taking in the vision of sensuality she cut, glistening against the tailgate. Her heavy-lidded gaze held him in thrall until she blinked, breaking the spell.

  He finger-fucked her in ways his cock never could, finding sensitive points that made her whimper and beg for release. She tugged at more than his cock with her whispery sighs.

  Without warning, Erica’s mouth opened in a silent scream. Her inner muscles clamped down on his digits in waves that made his cock shudder in sympathy. One of her hands flailed out, catching his organ in a tight grip. Drew swallowed down fear that she’d hurt him again. But that wasn’t fury in her dark eyes.

  Twice, she slipped her calloused palm over his sensitive head. Twice was all he needed. His teeth surged against his tense lips, biting back a roar as he came in a mighty spurt in her hand.

  He dropped his head to her thigh while he caught his breath. The scent of sex and sugar was an aphrodisiac he didn’t need—not when he could be ready again in a matter of seconds. Self-control had never been his gift and he had a strong feeling he had none when it came to Erica.

  “I’m leaving,” he whispered against her heavenly flesh. “You’ll be safe if I go.” The selfish boy in him waited for a response, desperate for her to plead with him not to go even though it was the only answer.

  “No.” Her response was lethargic but exactly what he needed to hear.

  He slumped farther into her, stealing a kiss against her quivering pussy. One last lick. His tongue flicked within her folds, zeroing in on her pleasure bud until the music of her ragged sigh slipped into his ears.

  “I have to.” He sighed. “It’s the only answer.”

  Drew tore himself from her, allowing one last caress of her amazing breast before he went for his slacks.

  “I have a plan,” she said.

  He stepped into his boxers. “Does it involve me leaving as soon as my shoes are on?”

  “It involves us working together.”

  Drew stuffed a foot into his jeans and then faced her. “I want to work together, I do. But I want you to be safe more.”

  Erica didn’t smile at his sentiment. She scowled instead. “I’ll be fine. You won’t. That’s why we need to work together. My plan will work if you’ll just trust that I know what I’m doing.”

  “I don’t doubt you know what you’re doing. I doubt our ability to hold off three witches without one of us getting hurt.”

  She jerked.

  What had he said? Witches? He’d not spoken the word to her yet, had he?

  “Can witches be hurt?”

  Drew nodded. “Generally the same things that hurt you can hurt us as well. But you’ll be safe if I—”

  “Rush off by yourself so it’s easier for them to kill you?” She scoffed at him but rather than being offended, Drew had the urge to kiss her. “Stop fighting with me, Drew. We’re wasting time we could be using fortifying my garage. Now just listen.”

  He listened and hoped he didn’t regret it.

  Chapter Eleven

  Too long had passed since the supposedly unconscious witch disappeared from the floor. Drew didn’t like it. Nonetheless he flipped off the office’s lights like Erica had said.

  Her plan was risky, with many uncertain factors, but it was all they had unless she was willing to let him go. And she wasn’t. He was secretly pleased she’d demanded he stay.

  Erica was too damn good for him. If he lived through this, he just might have to become a man worthy of her.

  He peered through the darkness to where she fiddled with her contraption near the open door to bay one. It was unreal how he felt about her after little more than twenty-four hours. But he supposed they’d gone through more in the past day than most people experienced in a month.

  She motioned for him to take his spot. He hit the switch for the garage’s interior lights, plunging t
hem into darkness. Drew waited for his eyes to adjust to the change. He carefully picked through the space around his Ferrari.

  Drew slipped into the Dodge’s cabin. He twisted the key in the pickup’s ignition until accessory mode came on. Next he rolled the windows down so he could hear.

  They waited, listening carefully.

  Where were the witches? Had his mother relented and removed the designation?

  A car rumbled down the road. Though it wasn’t the first since the witch had disappeared, it was the first since they’d been in place. He remained motionless despite the potential threat. There was no sense putting Erica on alert if it was a local or a lake tourist.

  The car continued past them without slowing. Drew exhaled in relief.

  Why was he relieved? They were ready now. This needed to be finished so he could get on with whatever was next.

  But…what was next?

  Erica may have responded favorably to desperate sex before they potentially died but that didn’t mean she’d welcome him with open arms if they didn’t. He’d weaseled his way into many a bed but he’d had little to lose then. Drew couldn’t screw this up.

  A dog barked in the distance—the frantic baying of a canine defending his territory. Someone was someplace they weren’t supposed to be. Drew met Erica’s gaze out the windshield. He gave her a nod and mimed that someone was on foot. She nodded her understanding. He gripped the steering wheel as she faded into the shadows.

  In true Air witch fashion, the first individual appeared silently. One moment the parking lot was clear and the next a broad-shouldered witch landed without a sound in the near darkness. The witch crouched forward and peered at the garage. Drew remained motionless, praying the shadows were enough to keep him cloaked and that they didn’t find the open garage door strange before he had a chance to act.

  A second male appeared much as the first though he was significantly smaller. They gestured to each other in the sign language Drew had never mastered.

  At last the female emerged from the trees lining the parking lot. “It’s dark inside,” she said at full volume. “It wasn’t dark when I was here earlier. They must have fled.”