50 Ways to Hex Your Lover

by Linda Wisdom

  She then turned to Nick, placing her palm over the spot where she knew his heart lay. She allowed her imagination to believe it beat for her. And for the barest of seconds, she was positive she did hear it. Her lips replaced her hand, feeling the soft cotton, and inhaling the scent that was uniquely his. She drew it deep into her lungs as if to imprint it on her memories and smiled when she felt his muscles tighten in response. She knew if she lowered her hand she would feel another muscle just as taut. Instead she raised her head and stood up on tiptoe to brush her lips against his.

  “I remember the first time we made love,” she whispered.

  “That small village outside of Venice.”

  “Small? The inn was larger than the entire town. And the bed had fleas.” She wrinkled her nose.

  “I didn’t notice.” One hand tunneled under her t-shirt. “I gather from your spell we won’t attract an audience?”

  “All they’ll see is an empty pier and they’ll feel no desire to even come down here.” She dropped her tote bag to the ground, ignoring the protesting squeaks from inside. Pulling Nick’s t-shirt up over his head and discarding it was her next task.

  “My apartment isn’t all that far from here.” Nick growled his pleasure when her bra hooks snapped free. “Lots of privacy, big bed.” He used one hand to pull her closer to him as he cupped his hand over her breast, feeling the nipple pebble against his palm.

  “I like it here. Fresh air, and even with the spell there’s still that sense of being discovered.” She made short shrift of his belt before tearing open his jeans, muttering another form of dire curses on men who chose a button fly over a zipper. Another set of words sent the metal buttons flying everywhere.

  Nick heard just the faintest hint of desperation in her voice, felt the skips in her respiration, saw the stark color that stood out on her cheeks, and recognized it for what it was. His fearless witch was afraid. So afraid she was ready to indulge in hot primal sex right here so for a short time she could forget they would be walking into an unknown hell in a few days time.

  He grasped her hands when she started to pull down his jeans.

  “Jazz.” She ignored him and continued tugging to no avail. She may have been strong, but she couldn’t beat his preternatural strength. “Griet.” A muffled sob hurt his ears. Not the sound, but the emotion and despair that overlaid it.

  “I want you. What is so wrong with that?” she asked, keeping her gaze on the ground.

  “Not that way.” He used two fingers to tip her chin up. “What we share is passion. If we have sex the way you want it now, he will win.” He hurt inside when she recoiled.

  She breathed sharply through her nose. He could feel her struggle to center herself. He also smelled the frantic arousal on her skin. He planned to erase the anxiety and intensify the arousal.

  “All you have to do is say no.” She still refused to meet his eyes.

  Nick smiled. “Ah, but I don’t intend to say no.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I just intend to make this all about us.” He didn’t bother pulling her t-shirt off, but tore it from her body as if it was paper. Her bra was next. He bent his head and covered one breast with his mouth, taking the nipple between his lips. He ignored his body’s clamor to drop his fangs and focused on showing her as much pleasure as their bodies could handle. As he suckled, he drove his hands downward into the sides of her panties, fondling her bare skin as he pulled her fully against him. He slid one hand to her front, finding the nest of hair that tangled around his fingertips. Below he found her slick and moist for him. He delved further, seeking her clit and pinching it between his fingers.

  Jazz gasped as the fire tore through her body. She bucked her hips against his hand as she clasped his head, sliding her fingers through the dark silky strands.

  This is all for us, Jazz. Nick’s voice bloomed through her head.

  Magick.

  The mental image was so raw and erotic that Jazz reeled from the intense power that slid around her. Her hips rocked as Nick’s fingers sped up their seductive rhythm within her core and what she saw in her mind’s eye upped the ante to something so strong it was amazing she didn’t fall to the ground.

  She saw herself naked, kneeling on dark-purple silk cushions. Her hair was loose, a fiery nimbus around her pale shoulders. Moss-green eyes glittered with heat that should have seared the man standing before her.

  The Nick in her vision, in all his naked glory, leaned forward, resting one knee on the cushions while Jazz reached up to loop her arms around his neck. She smiled up at him, lips parted, inviting his kiss.

  How?

  I said this was all about us. The least I could do was add something to go with our privacy bubble. His words growled inside her mind, as they watched Nick’s X-rated vision.

  Jazz felt Nick’s fingers dance another form of enchantment along her labia as she watched the dream Nick approach her dream self with the feral grace of the predator of the shadows he was. And what she saw she also felt.

  She felt the hot satin of his erect cock as she circled it with her fingers, stroking the drop of pre-cum glistening on the head with her thumb then lifting it to her lips. She delicately licked the salty drop from her skin. Keeping her hand wrapped around his cock, she slowly leaned back, her long legs bent at the knee. Nick didn’t hesitate in following her, settling heavily between her thighs.

  Jazz shook with reaction. Every inhalation brought the rich scent of her arousal. Judging from the dark lights in Nick’s eyes and flared nostrils, he sensed it too.

  She tipped her head back, feeling his hands buried in her hair, fingers digging in her scalp. The sense of feeling what he was actually doing to her and what she saw in his magickal vision had her whimpering with need as her body tightened to an unbearable tension. She felt Nick standing behind her, his cock resting against her ass even as he continued to stroke her damp petals. She closed her eyes against the unbearable pleasure that rolled through her body. Or was it her vision body?

  Open your eyes, Jazz. Look at us

  She forced her eyes open in time to see Nick’s ass muscles bunch as he reared up and thrust deeply inside her. A primitive snarl escaped his lips as he claimed her while she answered with a feral snarl of her own.

  Jazz’s hips instinctively rose with vision Jazz’s, feeling his fingers strum her ultra sensitive flesh.

  Open your mind to my magick, Jazz. See what I see. Feel what I feel.

  Her eyes widened with shock as for several brief seconds she was in Nick’s mind, looking down at her own face flushed hotly with passion, feeling the heated glove of her body as he thrust deeply within. She felt his power, the bloodlust for her that he tamped down with strength she couldn’t even imagine. He offered her the chance to see their lovemaking through his eyes. And as she looked at her face through his eyes she knew at the same time he experienced their lovemaking through her mind.

  She should have jerked away from his mental intrusion. Demanded he stop. Instead, she craved more. She felt Nick’s body nestled behind her, the coolness of his skin as he inserted his knee between her thighs and nudged them apart. As she flew from Nick’s mind and returned fully to herself, he gripped her hips, lifted her up just enough, bent her over slightly and plunged into her damp core with the same ferocity she saw in their images.

  Jazz gasped at how deeply he entered her from that position then moaned as reality and the magickal scene she viewed blended into one. It seemed both Nicks thrust in tandem while she and vision Jazz burned with the same desire. All too soon, her body tightened to the point of pleasure pain. As Nick’s thrusts increased, so did the fire racing through her body. She pushed back as he pushed forward, rotating her hips and then she was flying.

  She didn’t know if it was the vision Jazz who screamed Nick’s name or if it was she. For all she knew, both of them did as her orgasm ripped through her body with the intensity of a tidal wave. She struggled to breathe, air sawing in and out of her lungs. It wasn’t easy to pull in
oxygen when aftershocks still rippled through her body.

  Jazz’s knees buckled and she would have fallen to the ground if she hadn’t still been enclosed in Nick’s arms. His soft laughter in her ear held the same sense of wonder.

  “Wow,” she finally managed to get out. “How did you do that?”

  “Even vampires can conjure up some magick when they need it. This is why I’m not worried about what we’re about to face,” he murmured. “Together, we can do anything, Jazz.”

  Her hands shook so much when she tried to pull up her panties and jeans, she almost twisted her clothing into knots. Nick brushed her hands away and arranged her clothing, then his own. She whispered a few words and the buttons returned to Nick’s jeans in a neat row. He picked up his t-shirt and dropped it over her head.

  “No reason to have you arrested on an indecency charge,” he told her.

  She nodded. She knew their time was now over.

  “Bring the world back to us and return us to the world,” she murmured. The milky bubble disappeared with a soft pop.

  Nick settled his hands on her shoulders, but she didn’t turn around. What happened still had her shaking.

  She continued staring at the boardwalk. “The trouble is, the kind of magick we’d need at Reeves’ mansion might provide some unwanted attention. I’d rather just blow up the place.”

  “Let’s concentrate on taking care of Reeves, then we’ll see what we can do about cleansing the property.” He rubbed her shoulders lightly.

  No way would Jazz admit that Nick had done an excellent job of taking her mind off her fears and infused her with a new strength.

  “Oh yes, by the time we finish he’ll be toast.”

  Jazz moved around her bedroom suite. Even the soft chatter of Fluff and Puff couldn’t calm her down. She felt as if the energy simmering within her would break out and create havoc before she was ready to release it.

  She and Nick only had three days to complete their plans. She knew he had gone to the Protectorate to inform them Flavius was missing and that he had a pretty fair assumption that Clive Reeves had something to do with his sire’s disappearance. She didn’t ask about anything beyond that and he didn’t offer.

  They knew it wouldn’t be easy to plan for every contingency, so they did the best they could and hoped for the best.

  There was no going back now. Tonight, they would gain access to the estate and the bowels of Clive Reeves’ mansion. Her stomach churned at the thought of returning to the scene of the crime. Since she believed she had killed Reeves back then it was all too easy for her to think of the mansion in those terms.

  This time, she would enter the house knowing just what she would be facing. And she didn’t plan to leave until one of them was dead. Naturally, her choice was Reeves.

  So why did she feel the need for more? To find out why that tiny piece of information seemed to flicker on the very edge of her consciousness?

  She swung about and stared at the blank wall.

  What would it hurt to ask? All they can do is say no. It’s not like they haven’t done that before.

  “No hurry.” She glanced at the clock and winced. “Okay, I lied.” Jazz slipped off the bunny slippers and set them in their favorite corner with some dog treats. They liked anything crunchy.

  Aware she couldn’t put it off any longer, she pulled in a deep breath, shook her arms and legs and faced the blank wall. She closed her eyes and bowed her head.

  “I humbly ask for entrance to the Great Hall.” And then she waited.

  In the blink of an eye she stood in the middle of a room that rivaled many a castle’s great halls. In place of her cotton yoga pants and crop top, she wore a robe the color of morning lilacs that matched the amethyst in her ankle bracelet—the robe she wore in the Witches’ Academy.

  “What is it you wish, Griet?” Eurydice sat at the head of a long table carved with elaborate symbols. A large emerald embedded in a gold pendant glowed with green fire against her chest. Two witches sat on either side of her. Jazz was familiar with them all from her days of training.

  Jazz waited a second before replying. Showing anything but absolute proper deference to the Witches’ High Council promised a swift exit out of the hall and little chance of returning.

  “You were the one to call us,” Eurydice prompted with more than a touch of impatience.

  “The one I believed I destroyed is alive after all,” Jazz began. “He is not only alive but also using baneful magick to extract the life force of vampires in order to extend his own life. Possibly the same magick he used to transfer his life force to his baby son’s body upon the moment of his death. He has managed to keep his life that way. It is time to end it.”

  “There are those who would not miss vampires on this earth,” Eurydice commented with a grim smile.

  “And if this man decides a vampire life force can no longer extend his life he will move on to others in the supernatural community, such as witches.” She slowly raised her head. “I must be assured I can stop him.”

  “Then seek a fortuneteller.”

  And this was why she hated coming here. Hated asking.

  “You sought your answers in The Library,” Eurydice said. “And you continued with your quest without coming here before. Why are you asking us for assistance now?”

  Perhaps she should have thought this through before coming here. “All I received for my efforts were more questions. This man needs to be stopped.” She swallowed the impatience she knew she couldn’t display. “Please tell me that what we plan to do won’t be in vain. If we need to know more, please advise me what I need to do. There is very little time left.” She forced her head up to stare in the witch’s eyes. Jazz didn’t bother explaining what the plan was. She knew that Eurydice was aware of everything that went on. She kept up with everything to do with the witches she’d banished to the outside world. Just because they were out of sight didn’t mean they were out of mind.

  Standing in Eurydice’s presence was the magickal equivalent of being sent to the principal’s office.

  Even if Jazz was no longer a young girl, she still felt the same sting of the authority figure seated before her.

  “Why did you not seek the Protectorate’s counsel on this? This situation would fall more under their jurisdiction.”

  Oh yeah, she was not going to make it easy for her.

  “Because I go to my kind for assistance.”

  No emotion showed on Eurydice’s face. “If you choose to work with vampires, you cannot expect us to help you. You have always had an arrogance about you, young Griet,” the elder witch spoke. “And it appears you have not truly learned humility in the past seven centuries.”

  Counting to ten or even ten billion wasn’t going to cut it. Jazz had asked for an audience because she needed help, damn it! She so did not need this “go help yourself” shit!

  “How dare you say what I have and have not learned!” she spat out. “You were the ones to push us out into the world before we were ready. You were the ones to force us to make our way in the unknown! Only by the grace of the Fates did we not starve those first years.” Her fists tightened by her side.

  “And yet you survived.” Eurydice was unruffled by Jazz’s fury. “And you interact with others who are not of our kind. Yet, when you need help, you come to us. The creature you speak of has been victimizing the children of the night for decades. Why do you come to us now?”

  Jazz reared back as the revelation sunk in. “You knew he was alive? I have lived all this time with the agony of extinguishing a life, even though the one I killed deserved death. At the time, I would have welcomed my own death as payment for the life I took. And now I learn you already knew he survived!” She felt a roaring in her head and forced herself back to the here and now. Passing out in the presence of the Witches’ High Council would so not be a good idea. Plus, her temper was ready to explode if she didn’t break down in tears first.

  She took a step backwards. “You li
ed to me!”

  “Be cautious of your words, Griet.” Eurydice’s words whipped across her like an icy lash. “You must have known that merely requesting an audience did not mean we would help you.”

  Jazz shook her head. “This was a mistake. I don’t need any of you.” Her furious gaze moved from one witch to the other. None looked away. None showed any sense of sympathy. “And this time, I will make sure that Clive Reeves is dead once and for all. I beg your leave.” As she winked out of sight, the scent of something burning lingered in the air.

  “She has found her power,” Zafira, one of the other witches, said.

  “The true test will be when she faces him,” Eurydice said with a soft sigh.

  Jazz’s anger with the Witches’ High Council helped get her through the next hour of making her preparations. She operated on autopilot, dressing in a black silk shirt and black leather pants and pulling her hair back in a tight braid.

  Irma watched her place quartz crystals under the car seats. The magick was strong enough that even Irma sensed it.

  “Something’s wrong,” the ghost said as they drove to Dweezil’s. “You’ve never done this before.”

  “Nothing is wrong,” Jazz quietly replied. “I know you’ve felt a little nervous lately, so the crystals will help you stay calm. I’ll park you in the side garage at the car service. The crew doesn’t go in there and you’ll feel more comfortable.”

  Irma hugged her handbag against her chest. “You’ll leave the lights on?”

  “Yes.”

  Jazz knew Irma was suspicious of her behavior, but she didn’t know what to say to her—that things could go so wrong she wasn’t coming back? Jazz had already made arrangements for that contingency by leaving a letter behind for Krebs telling him where the car would be if she didn’t return by morning and to contact Stasi and Blair. They would know what to do. Anything else, she couldn’t think that far ahead.