Wicked Release-ARE-Epub

by R. G. Alexander

  Please let this work.

  Callie wasn’t afraid of the mysterious Magian they were searching for. They’d given her so much, it was nice to be needed by them for once. And she was looking forward to using the skills she’d been learning at the police academy. Harrison was right, other than Uncle Jackson being her friend’s second father, Callie had an uncanny knack for finding out the truth. It had always been that way. Call it instinct or luck—most of the time it was a double-edged sword. From discovering her foster family believed her a nuisance they’d only kept around for the money, to finding out her math teacher was engaging in extra-curricular activities with the football coach, she’d just always…known. Like a tickle up her spine. And she was always proven right.

  The only thing she wasn’t looking forward to was being Tyghe’s pretend love interest for the next week. She could hardly imagine it. Okay, that was a lie. She didn’t want to imagine it, but since the idea had been presented it was practically all she could think about.

  He was a jerk, but he was a sexy jerk. Always had been. And he knew it too, the arrogant ass. Harrison was always telling her one wild story or another, usually revolving around Tyghe and his kinky predilections. He’d already been reprimanded twice by the Magian law for using his magic in public, and, according to his sister, sex had usually been involved.

  Sex with Tyghe in public. She could never be so bold, so brazen. Her skin heated as she closed her eyes, instantly envisioning the stormy-eyed Magian pressing her against a wall and taking her as a crowd of people looked on. He wanted them to look, to know how crazy she made him. Wanted them to know she was his.

  “Don’t be nervous, Cal. I promise I know what I’m doing.”

  Callie’s eyes popped open and she blushed, shrugging. “I know you do, Harry. I trust you not to turn me into a hamster…again.”

  “Never gonna let me forget that are you?”

  “Not a chance.”

  Jenner smiled, coming to stand on the other side of the bed. “The spirits blessed the two of you when they brought you to each other. It was fate. The bonds of friendship are more powerful than any magic you could name.” She sniffled, and the two younger women rolled their eyes, pretending they weren’t moved by their gentle companion’s words. “I just think it’s wonderful that you’ve agreed to do this, Calliope. That it’s finally happening. I only wish it wasn’t under these circumstances, but I know you’re old enough to take care of yourself.”

  “What do you mean finally hap—?”

  “Please—” Callie reached out to shake Jenner’s arm playfully, interrupting Harrison’s startled question, “—don’t call me that. I’ll never understand why the woman who brought me to the home had apparently been so adamant about my name. Calliope? That’s just adding insult to injury. ‘Here, we don’t want you, but we want to give you a name to ensure you get picked on by the other children.’” She sighed dramatically, knowing Harrison would smile.

  “Calliope was the muse of epic poetry. The hero’s odyssey. It’s a lovely name.” Jenner sounded miffed on behalf of the monstrosity of a name.

  Harrison chuckled at Jenner, but Callie heard an unusual note in her voice. “Yes, well, you can’t be trusted. You thought all our names were wonderful. I don’t believe a woman should be allowed to name her children until she’s recovered from childbirth. Especially not my mother.”

  Jenner harrumphed before resting her hand on Callie’s shoulder. “She knew exactly what she was doing. She named you after a wonderful young Magian. A man who died before his time, and one of her closest childhood friends. And I believe I’ve kept enough of your secrets, Harrison Jennera Abbott, for you to trust me with your life, which should be easy since I helped to bring you to it.” She pursed her lips. “Now it’s time. We should do this soon so she has a chance to recuperate before tomorrow’s salon and fitting appointments.”

  “Salon? Fitting?” Callie’s voice squeaked. The idea of that was far more terrifying than a crazy glamour spell. Enough to distract her from the palpable tension in the air, as well as the origins of Harrison’s name.

  Harrison smirked. “Uh huh. Did I forget to mention that? It’s part of the preparation. What every Magian female about to participate at Triune does. That means the four victims will have gone to the same places we’re going, gossiped with the same old biddies, gotten fitted for the, ah, appropriate attire.”

  “Oh lord. Can I change my mind?” Callie blinked in surprise when her friend gripped her chin between her long, elegant fingers.

  Harrison’s face was somber, worried. “Yes, Cal. But if you’re going to, you need to do it now. Once we start you’ll be on everybody’s radar. The Magian world will sense your presence, sense your magic, real or not. Not only that, this spell is glamour mixed with a kind of soul calling that Jenner has been teaching me for the last few years. Every being has a little magic inside them—it’s just a matter of pulling it out and intertwining the truth with the illusion.”

  Callie smiled. “Sounds complicated. Don’t think you can pull it off, Harry? Don’t think you can turn me into a real, live witch?”

  Harrison smiled, recognizing the challenge for the answer it was. “Oh I can do it, all right. With Jenner’s guidance, I’m fairly certain it will be a perfect success. I’m just not sure what a Cal with magic will be like. You’re already impossible now.”

  “Bring it on, Glenda.”

  “Zip it, or I’ll slip and turn you into a pair of Tyghe’s gym socks.”

  ”Consider it zipped.” Callie let Jenner lay her down on the silken, ruby comforter, watching Harrison set a bag of herbs, a crystal and some kind of liquid with paint brush beside it on the bed.

  This must be a big spell. Harrison had told her once that, though magic was present in every Magian, there were some spells that needed a little extra encouragement. A potion, a ritual, a chant to bring the energy to the surface—to focus the power.

  She could only imagine.

  Jenner began to mutter rhythmically under her breath, and Callie lowered her lids until she could watch them both through her lashes. She tensed a little as Harrison slid the towel down to her hips, but these women knew her as well as they knew themselves. She breathed out, relaxing against the soft mattress.

  Harrison set the small quartz below her belly button, cupping her hands over it and closing eyes that were a darker grey than Tyghe’s, but just as stormy.

  Callie gasped and felt the tiny hairs on her arms rise as an electric blue light began to flicker between Harrison’s fingers. It was riveting. Hypnotic, the way the arcing light circled her hand like a living thing, growing before her eyes until it was all she could see.

  She felt her stomach warm, a pulsing sensation against her flesh where the crystal was resting. When she glanced down she realized it was glowing, mimicking Harrison’s energy. It felt as though liquid heat was being absorbed into her skin, deep inside her.

  Jenner’s chant grew louder, and Callie could see her lit with a sunshine yellow energy, joyous, powerful—so big for her dainty frame. She closed her eyes, but she could still see them both as Harrison reached for the small paintbrush, dipping it in the soothingly scented oil and painting it onto Callie’s skin. Her neck. Behind her ears. Around her nipples.

  It was a sensual feeling. The wet bristles scraping, feather light against her skin. Like a man’s stubble. Once more the image of Tyghe pressing her against an outside wall sprang to mind. Only this time, Callie wasn’t embarrassed. This time she took him with as much ferocity and need as he was taking her. She didn’t care about the crowd. Didn’t care about losing control. She reveled in it. Wanted it. Wanted to claim him.

  Callie was so lost in the fantasy that the flash of blue-green energy took her by surprise, an electric shock whipping through her system and arching her off the bed.

  Something was inside her, reacting to Harrison and Jenner’s energy, reaching for it. Her spine was buzzing, bones vibrating almost painfully. Had something gone w
rong? Was it working?

  As if from far away she could hear Harrison’s gasp and Jenner’s serene response. “There now. You did a good job, dear.”

  “I can’t believe it. All this time.”

  Callie tried to talk. What can’t you believe, Harrison? All this time what? But she felt separated from her body, floating above the bed.

  Jenner spoke once more. “I think it might be best to keep this to ourselves for a spell. Your family may not react well. Especially your brothers.”

  “My broth—oh hell, don’t tell me, Jenner. I don’t think I want to know. We’ll keep quiet. For now. But you and I need to have a private chat. Soon. And Callie—”

  “Will be fine. Let’s let her rest now, shall we?”

  Deserves to know what? Am I dying? It feels a little like I’m dying. Callie was frantically trying to regain control of her body, her vocal chords, but the blue-green energy surrounded her. It began to combine with a lovely violet that calmed her, soothed her. She should sleep. She needed to sleep. Needed to dream.

  At least she wasn’t a hamster this time.

  Available Now!

  Bonus Excerpt: Wicked Bad

  From Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

  Chapter One

  “She’s a royal bitch. Walking around with her nose in the air like she couldn’t be bothered with Triune. Like the men should come to her. Because she’s the special one, right? The Abbott heiress, most powerful Magian in generations, watch her pull a rabbit out of her skinny ass.”

  Harrison rolled her eyes at the snide chuckles she heard as soon as she opened the door to the ladies room. Just what she needed. Jealous witches. No safe haven here. She spun on her heels and walked further down the narrow hallway, looking for someplace she could be alone. If only for a moment.

  Her first Triune, first taste of the club where Magians gathered a few times a year, drawn to meet their perfect magical compliments, to be matched with their triad and begin a life together. For Harrison, it was just another place for her to stick out like a sore thumb. Where the gossip inevitably turned to her.

  Their words no longer had the power to hurt her. She’d spent her life being fawned over in public, and mocked and ridiculed when they thought she couldn’t hear. Besides, they were half right. She had no desire to be at Triune. No desire to become a trophy wife to two Magian peacocks. She already had three brothers and two fathers to boss her around, to keep her from having a life of her own.

  The Abbott heiress. What a joke.

  Tonight it was her cousin Conway that had been given babysitting duty while her best friend, Callie and her two brothers, Tyghe and Tucker, tried to solve a crime. Leaving her on the sidelines again. Only this time she was in a magical meat market surrounded by Magians looking for their mates…and a reason to sin.

  She’d rather be doing laundry like a normal human.

  Human. She sighed. Callie wasn’t human. She was a witch. Harrison was still ticked that Jenner hadn’t told her from the start. Who knew the family housekeeper had so many secrets? All these years she’d let Harrison believe her friend was an average human. A girl with no powers whatsoever.

  When she and Jenner had performed the spell to glamour Callie so she could sneak into the Triune unnoticed, something else had happened instead. Harrison had discovered that her best friend was a Magian like her. It had been blocked by some powerful magic, but it was there. She’d felt it as she’d drawn the natural magic out of her and realized that Callie’s compelling powers had been suppressed.

  Rightly or wrongly, the realization had the bitter taste of betrayal. Not that she loved Callie any less, but her friend had always been Harrison’s only connection to normalcy. To a world where nothing was enchanted. Where everything was real. But it had all been a lie. What she still didn’t know was why.

  The hallway came to a dead end that had Harrison narrowing her eyes. The way the dim light hit the brick looked strange. Charmed. Someone had thrown up an illusion, a challenge, distracting her from her private pity party.

  Had she stumbled across the secret lair of the person responsible for the Triune attacks? Maybe she could catch him before Tucker and the others had a chance. Perhaps then they’d think twice about leaving her out of their adventures. Again.

  The power inside her welled up, familiar and comforting, its electric blue light caressing her fingers with warmth as she touched the brick. It wavered beneath her hand. It was a messy illusion, easy to untangle. There were no obstacles to stop her from stepping through to the other side. The Magian who made this apparently didn’t care if someone found his or her way in.

  A few seconds later and she was in a stairwell. Over her shoulder, the brick looked solid, not showing the hallway she’d just stood in. Where did these stairs lead? Where had they come from? She heard a low male groan and held her breath, instantly cloaking herself from view. It was a spell Jenner had taught her when she was very young, and it had served her well when she didn’t want to be seen.

  “Is this what you wanted, Ric? Why you’ve been distracting me all bloody night long?”

  Another male. This one sounding angry and gruff. She leaned over the railing to look down at the flight of stairs. Her heart began to race at the shockingly forbidden sight. Two male Magians. One dark and one light. One lean and lanky, and one built like a barbarian warrior. Or a rock troll. Two opposite sides of a coin.

  They were locked together, not in battle, but in an erotic embrace that stole her breath. The leaner one was bent at the waist, his white knuckled hands braced against the wall and his pants around his ankles showing off his muscular thighs. The other, his broad-shouldered, massive body towering over the man in front of him, was still fully clothed. Mostly. The powerful thrust of his hips made it obvious what they were doing. She swallowed her gasp.

  She knew this happened. Just because most of the males she knew in Triunes were related, cousins or brothers, didn’t mean all of them were. But she’d never thought about it one way or the other. She bit her lip. That was a lie, she’d thought about it, but she certainly hadn’t imagined the sight of two men locked in a passionate embrace would stir her so completely. She couldn’t see their faces—the stairs were too shadowed. But that didn’t stop her from leaning closer, her curiosity peaked. Her curiosity…and her arousal.

  The man on the bottom let out a chuckling groan. “Have I been distracting you, Jacob? Keeping you from finding the perfect woman? Her Highness would kill me, especially after all the—oh, yes, harder— trouble she went through to get you here.”

  The larger man leaned forward, clasping Ric’s hand on the wall, shafting his lover with long hard strokes that had Harrison shaking. Her body reacted as though she were the one being touched. Taken. She squeezed her thighs together, feeling her hard nipples poke against the fabric of her dress.

  “Shut up, Ric.”

  “Mmm. I love it when you boss me around, babe. Especially when I know I can have you on your knees anytime I choose. Know how much you love it.”

  The other man growled. “Who’s the one being fucked here?”

  “You are. You’re the one who has to give the family an heir. The one who has to find a sweet, well connected girl who will probably burst into tears once she discovers what you’re really like. Your darker urges. How bad you can be.”

  The railing pressed hard against her stomach, keeping her from falling over. This Ric, who she was having a hard time seeing clearly in the shadows, seemed to be taunting the man he called Jacob. And it was working.

  “I’ll show you darker urges.” She heard a smack as the palm of Jacob’s hand connected with the tight ass tilting up as though begging for more. “Fuck, we don’t have time for what you’re begging for. She’ll be your match, too, you know. Why are you trying to piss me off?”

  Harrison heard their words, loving the gravelly voice of the rough man arguing with his lover, but her gaze was riveted to the spot where their bodies were connected. She wished she could see more
. See the larger man, Jacob’s, body.

  His thoughts must have mirrored her own, because his shirt and dress pants disappeared into the air with a groaned phrase. By the holy witches, he was a masterpiece. All man. She couldn’t see his face, but his back rippled with restrained power, the cheeks of his ass flexed with every thrust…and he was marked. A tattoo covered half his back, an enraged griffin readying itself for battle. It looked familiar, but she wasn’t sure why. She couldn’t think. Could only want.

  Her lace panties were soaked, and she ached. Felt empty. Needy. Her hands slid down her body and up beneath the short hem of her black dress. One pressed between her thighs, the other between the cheeks of her ass, imagining being filled there by the man currently riding his lover to ecstasy.

  She’d been prepared, knew she would be expected to take two men when she found her matches. The idea had always been distasteful to her independent mind, but titillating to her body.

  Trapped. Surrounded. Controlled the way she was by all the men in her life. And so she’d shied away from every opportunity to experiment with her over-willing peers. She’d never experienced the real thing. No more than fondling touches with brave boys at the dances she was allowed to go to, and her spells and daydreams. They hadn’t aroused her as utterly as these two had, and they hadn’t even touched her. What would it feel like if they did?

  The men grunted, groaning as Jacob slid his other hand around his lover’s body, taking his, from what Harrison could see, enticingly thick erection into his hand with a sure, knowing grip.

  Harrison felt her body tingling wildly as she rubbed her body in time to their rhythm. She shouldn’t be here. Should give them privacy. But she couldn’t tear herself away. She needed to come with them. Had to. They were all so close.

  “I don’t want or need anyone else, babe. No ball and chain to tie us down, holding us to her with the promise of stronger magic and a sweet lay. Neither do you. Certainly not a Magian hag no one likes. God, yes. Hell, can you imagine if that seer your family hired was right? That our match was that snooty fucking Abbott bi—oh, fuck yeah!”