“Baby, I need your hot sexy body next to mine,” the text message read. Gretchen rolled her eyes while erasing it. In her peripheral vision, she could see Windred and the ‘I told you so’ expression on her face.
Seconds later, another text message arrived on her cell phone. Just like the last one, it contained a lustful message but from a different man. She deleted this one, too, and sighed deeply as reality sank in.
She had always been unfortunate in love. The problem was her mother. When she was young, her mother fell in love with a wonderful man. He was a witch, just like her mother, and she felt like he was a perfect match for her. However, when she learned of her pregnancy and told him, he came clean about a little secret of his. He was married. Mom was devastated and ended the relationship instantly, choosing to be a single mother instead of a home wrecker. Unfortunately, dad told his barren wife that he was leaving her for his pregnant mistress. The wife, also a witch, wasn’t happy about it, and she cast a spell that the child be born unlovable.
That child was Gretchen.
She was beautiful, or at least as pretty as any other woman with nice curves and ivory skin. She had a decent personality, but love always passed her by. Her male co-workers saw her as a sister figure instead of a woman to love. Her male friends saw her as a friend, and just a friend. Strangers on the streets and bars looked at her, winked lustfully, and then when her heart started racing with hope, they’d pass her to approach a prettier woman. She had no boyfriends in her life, and her only form of sexual release came in the form of one-night-stands. She did her research. The only way to break the Loveless spell would be for Gretchen to find her soul mate, the one person who was predesigned to be with her. The soul mate would be the only man to come back after a one night stand. But how could she find him if no one ever saw her as a woman to love?
Was she wrong for casting a love spell? Sure, they could be dangerous, but finding true love and breaking the spell was worth it, right? Besides, witches were always warned about how dangerous love spells really were, but no one ever took the time to explain exactly what would happen. How was she supposed to know this would happen?
She turned off her phone to avoid more calls and messages, and slipped it in her purse which was resting carelessly on the countertop. All of the sudden, she had become a sexual magnet with every man on the face of the earth wanting her.
Gretchen opened the cabinet that stored all spell books and potion ingredients and shuffled through it. Behind the lizard tongues and gator nails, she came upon an empty container with ‘Wolf Fur’ written on it.
“Great,” she said sarcastically, and shoved it aside. “No wolf fur.”
“We’re out of bat blood, too,” Windred said, and opened her math homework. “Mom needed a super speed potion this morning.”
Great! How was she going to break that stupid love spell if she couldn’t find half of the ingredients she needed?
Gretchen looked at the clock and realized it was nine at night already. The only magic supply shop in the whole state closed at six. The idea of waiting until morning came to mind, but she opted against it. With every man on earth being under that spell, she couldn’t wait until morning. She couldn’t let more women find their husbands and boyfriends pining over her. It wasn’t natural or right, and had she known that would happen, she would have never cast that spell. She could break into the magic supply shop, but spending the night in jail didn’t appeal to her either.
“There is another option,” Windred said, as if reading her mind. “You could just have sex with every man on earth. Only your soul mate will come back after the bodily exchange and then the Loveless spell will be broken.”
“Yeah, and in the mean time, I could become the world’s biggest slut. No thanks.” She sat down at the kitchen table across from Windred and tapped her glittery pink fingernails on the polished wood top. When the idea came to her, she rose instantly and poured the partial potion into a glass container and sealed it shut. Then she grabbed a spray bottle from the cabinet and slipped it into her jacket pocket.
Windred stared at her, clearly confused. “Where are you going?”
She donned her light spring jacket and fished her car keys out of her purse. “The forest. It’s the only place I can find a wolf and a bat.”
Chapter Two
Being in a forest after dark was dangerous for anyone, and the chill of fear trickled down her body. Although she was a witch, her powers had been greatly exaggerated by the media. In all reality, a witch couldn’t snap their fingers to make stuff happen, and without potions and spell ceremonies, they were rather useless. In a state of panic, they could make some magic happen, but it was highly unreliable, like flickering lights or switching channels on the TV.
She turned the flashlight on and stepped deeper into the dark forest. It would have been smart had she taken off her stiletto boots, Gretchen realized with a frustrated sigh, as her heels started sinking into the muddy soil.
Crack!
The sudden sound made her spin around, and she tightened her grip on the kitchen knife that was her only weapon.
The sound turned out to be nothing and she breathed a sigh of relief. Continuing deeper into the woods, a profound panic licked at her, and she felt a bone chilling fear as if her skin was on fire but her insides were turning into ice.
Whooo ooh! Whoo ooh!
She jumped, dropping the flashlight and knife on the soft ground. Her hands flew to her speeding heart. She started feeling light-headed and stars danced before her eyes. Then, when the realization hit her, Gretchen laughed. It was just an owl. Feeling like a skittish idiot, she picked up what she dropped and continued walking. How was she to get her hands on a wolf and a bat if every noise she heard gave her a panic attack? She was acting crazy!
I’m strong.
I’m brave.
I’m fearless.
Okay, so none of that was true, but she needed the pep talk to continue on her journey.
When Gretchen was deep enough in the forest, she pulled the spray bottle out of her pocket. It was a potion with a scent designed to attract wolves. She sprayed the air with the hypnotic perfume and then waited. Gretchen turned in a circle, waiting for a wolf to appear, hoping only one would come. She feared what would happen if she came face-to-face with an entire pack.
It felt like hours in that dark, thick forest, but her flashlight finally stumbled across what she needed. She stopped, staring wide-eyed. About ten feet in front of her appeared a wolf.
It was beautiful, with a chest as white as pure snow, and his back glistened in light grey. Its icy blue eyes eyed her curiously. A growl pierced the night’s silence as the wolf caught sight of the knife in her hand. Could it be that it sensed danger from the weapon?
Her first instinct was to run away but she couldn’t do that. She was starting to hate herself for ever casting that love spell. The spell that turned all her male co-workers into stalkers. The spell that made married fathers pick up their children from her class and gaze at her lustfully, announcing that they will leave their wives for her. The worst part was a phone call she received one afternoon from a heartbroken wife, who informed Gretchen that her child will not be coming to school the next day because her husband was leaving her for some other woman. She couldn’t do that to anyone. That spell was starting to ruin her life and everybody else’s too.
After drinking the potion, it would take seven hours for the love spell to be reversed. She couldn’t wait until morning to make that potion. Tomorrow was parent-teacher conference day and she couldn’t watch all those fathers lust after her in front of the mothers. No. It couldn’t wait. It was necessary for her to drink that potion tonight.
Determined, she put the handle end of the knife into her mouth, and carefully pulled out a piece of dried beef jerky from her jacket pocket.
The wolf extended his neck and his nostrils flared slightly at the meat in her hand. She dropped it at her feet as the wolf’s gaze followed the meat. He inched
closer, his beady eyes watching her cautiously. Then he pounced, and Gretchen almost jumped back in terror. Almost. But she stayed where she was, frozen, trying not to make a move. As the wolf devoured the meat, she grabbed a fistful of fur from his back.
His head snapped up and he growled, his body tense as if ready to attack. The white fangs glistened in the light from her flashlight, and she sensed the bright light angered him further. Instantly, she dropped the flashlight and jumped up. She grabbed a tree branch and swung her body upward to another branch, then climbed another and another until she reached the middle of the tall tree where she felt safe. Ten years of gymnastics finally paid off.
It was perfect timing, too, Gretchen realized, as her panicked gaze traveled from wolf to wolf. Two more had followed the scent.
She took the knife out of her mouth and stabbed it into the tree trunk. Then Gretchen pulled out a small bag from her back pocket and put the fur into it. Next was the bat, but with the wolves circling the tree below, she didn’t want to risk her life trying to find the cave.
For the first time in her life, the witch’s sense of panic finally came in handy. She watched intently as the spray bottle slipped out of her pocket and flew through the air. All three wolves jumped and took off after the bottle, its alluring fragrance more potent than human blood.
She yanked the knife out of the tree and carefully climbed down. With the wolves following the scent away from her, at least she was safe from that danger. For now, anyway.
She walked in the general direction of a bat cave she knew of, hoping to find a single bat without being attacked by a colony.
Gretchen didn’t know how long it took to get to the cave, but her heart started to race when she came upon it. Fear licked at her like an icicle inside her veins. She didn’t want to enter the cave, desperately hoped she wouldn’t have to.
She took a couple of steps closer and examined her surroundings. A few trees stood strong by the entrance of the cave and she saw about ten bats hanging upside down on one of the branches.
Instinct warned her she’d be attacked once she made her move. There was no way around it. Her only hope at that moment was to get her hands on one of those bats.
She walked as quietly as she could toward the sleeping beasts.
They must’ve heard her approach, for they unfolded their wings, ready to take flight. She gripped the tip of the blade between her thumb and forefinger, took aim, and threw the knife, piercing one bat’s wing and pinning it to the trunk of the tree. The bat screeched, struggling against the knife.
Gretchen ran toward the bat as the colony began to fly out of the cave interior. She quickly pulled out an empty medicine bottle from her pocket and placed it under the bat’s wing, catching its dripping blood. Tiny, sharp fangs pierced the skin on her neck and hands, and she flung her free arm around frantically, trying to fight them off, but to no avail. They tangled in her hair, screeching and sucking blood out of her scalp.
She knew she couldn’t stay here long or risk serious injury…maybe worse. She had to hurry.
Gretchen put as much of the blood into the bottle as she could and twisted the cap on. Then she pulled the knife out of the bat’s wing.
The poor bat fell down on the soft soil and fluttered its uninjured wing, withering in pain as it screeched. She couldn’t leave it the way it was. As much as she disliked bats, she couldn’t kill one either, although its buddies were trying to kill her. There was only one thing she could do. Spit on it. Although a witch’s spit had healing powers, she’d never tested it. Gretchen was an old-fashioned medicine and band-aid girl, and she didn’t lick her wounds. However, considering the circumstances, she spit on the injured bat wing and rubbed it around with her fingers. Immediately, the wound began to close up. Good enough. She couldn’t wait around any longer, and Gretchen took off running as fast as she could.
As she ran back through the forest, toward the car, Gretchen knew that someday, somehow, there will be consequences for what she did to the wolf and the bat.
Chapter Three
Back in the safety of her apartment, Gretchen showered, made her potion and drank the disgusting beverage. Then she poured herself a nice glass of chardonnay and shortly after, she was ready for bed. The journey into the forest had taken its toll on her. Preferring to sleep nude, she crawled into her sanctuary and snuggled under the sheets.
She had the strangest dreams, erotic fantasies that were beyond her reality. Kinky sex with handcuffs and blindfolds.
Gretchen held the whip in her hands, while her body was covered in imitation leather…
A hand touched her. It snaked up her waistline from behind to curl up her front. Soft fingertips traveled down her navel, right down to her mound, playing with her pubic hair before slipping into her wet folds. Then the erotic heat of a large cock pressed against the back of her thighs, just below her buttocks.
Another hand slid over her shoulder, and traveled down her breast, cupping it provocatively. She didn’t have large breasts and that one hand held her boob like a perfectly fitted bra cup. Then, that hand traveled down her ribcage, her side, to her butt, where it pinched and kneaded playfully.
Everything became dark and her dreams became more senses rather than images. She felt hot breath on the back of her neck, like a lover nestled softly behind her, and then on her breast, like a teasing whisper. She’d never had any physically enticing dreams before.
Her eyes shot open the instant her brain processed what was going on. She wasn’t dreaming of those touches. They were happening while she slept!
It was dark in the room, the only light came from her small bedroom window which was behind her. The light of it illuminated a mysterious man sleeping beside her. His head was lower than the pillow. Actually, it was level with her breasts and when he breathed, his breath tingled her nipples. The sensitive buds rose to attention, extending to the mystery man’s lips, even as ice cold panic engulfed her body. She stared at the rest of him, and he was naked too. Completely naked!
He was tall, his legs dangling carelessly off the foot of her bed.
A soft, warm breeze on the back of her neck made Gretchen look behind her. She noticed an arm draped over her body, and a hand with long fingers curled into the blonde hairs between her legs. Warning bells rang in her ears and she turned her head slowly, afraid of what she was going to see. Behind her lay a man, a tall man with a body ripped with muscle. And yes, just like the other man, he was naked too. She jerked on the bed and screamed, her actions wrought out of instinct. Getting to the phone to call the police was her next thought.
Gretchen grabbed the bed sheet and draped it over her body, doing her damndest not to flash her two naked intruders.
They both sat up in unison, almost like they had rehearsed what was happening. The licks of panic tingled through her and all the lights in the apartment started flickering until only the bedside lamps were on and all the others were off again. The burgundy curtains by the window snapped shut and fluttered for a second, although the window was closed.
“Who…” she said in a shaky, squeaky voice. “Who are you?”
In the lamplight, she studied both men more closely. The one behind her was taller, with jet black hair and almost amber eyes, hinted with green. They were mesmerizing and seductive. She tore her gaze away before she completely lost herself in their depths. He had a triangular face, like that of a prince rather than a modern man. His firm red lips looked like they were made for kissing. There was a cut across his entire right arm where blood had dried into a crimson and brown line. It didn’t appear like he was in pain over the cut, although the sight of it made her wince. Before common sense and logic could take control of her, she asked the first question that came to mind. “What happened to you?”
He looked at her as though she was dumb. “You.”
“Me?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, you. You did this when you pinned me against that tree with that stupid knife.” The stranger opened his mouth and
flashed a pair of fangs.
Great. She had managed to annoy a vampire. “Drinking a witch’s blood can kill a vampire,” she added in self-defense, although the words sounded weak even to her own ears.
“Sure.” He shrugged and his lean muscles rippled. “But having sex with one can make a vampire immortal.”
“What about the bats that drank some of my blood? Did they…” Worry engulfed her. She didn’t want to kill anyone, not even a slimy bat. “Did they die?”
The vampire laughed. “Luckily those were just bats. My vampire friends were out hunting.” Just like that, he ripped the sheet from her body without even touching it. Gretchen gasped, and tried to cover herself with her hands, but it was futile. His soft, yet masculine chuckle made her wet between her legs.
She turned to the other man and gazed into his intense blue eyes. She’d seen those eyes somewhere before. He was tall, but not as tall as the vampire. His face was more chiseled and square, and just as sexy. He had more muscles, and from the look of it, his package was bigger too. He scratched his chestnut colored head. “Don’t bother covering yourself. I’ve seen you naked already.”
“Who are you?”
Instead of answering he turned around, revealing his back. He had an ass that any woman would want to sink her nails into, even bite and nibble on, but she doubted that was what he wanted to show her. She forced herself to look up. A bruise spread over half of his back. Speckles of dried blood over scraped skin looked painful as hell.
“Did I do that?”
He looked over his muscular shoulder. “Yes, when you ripped my fur out.”
“Sorry.” What were the chances to wake up and find a vampire and a werewolf in her bed? Knowing both were mystical creatures, her plan to call the police would be pointless now.
New Title 1 Page 20
