The Witching Hour

by Liliana Hart

Jenny shook her head and was still muttering to herself as she left the shop. Eloise didn’t waste any time going to the door behind her and flipping the open sign to closed.

  “What’s going on, Minerva? Why did you leave?”

  Minerva shrugged in typical Minerva fashion and went to pour herself a cup of cider to buy some time. Eloise knew the tactic well. Something had upset her sister, but she was going to pass it off as no big deal. Minerva wasn’t one for sharing her feelings overmuch.

  “I just thought it would be a good idea to get away and clear my head for a few days.”

  “And what did you see?” Eloise asked, worry settling in her stomach.

  “Unfortunately, nothing significant other than the fact that you’ve found your soulmate and are being a stubborn witch about it.”

  “You’re lying,” both she and Lily said at the same time.

  A pulse of magic went through the shop—not the gentle tingle they usually felt when one of them was using magic, but something sharper and more uncomfortable. Minerva had always had a formidable temper, and she didn’t like be called a liar. That was more than obvious, considering Eloise’s skin still stung.

  “You can’t get angry when the truth is spoken, Minerva.” Lily soothed them all. “Your visions have always been for you alone, but you usually share them with us. Especially if it’s something as important as this. How are we to prepare for what’s coming?”

  “When I have something to report then you’ll both be the first to know.” Minerva’s voice was stiff with pride, but beneath it all there was fear. And that worried Eloise more than anything. Because Minerva was never afraid.

  The bell over the door jingled, and they all turned to face who was intruding on such a private moment. The sight of Barrett made her breathe a little easier—just by being in the same room with him—but heat rushed to her cheeks as she remembered how her dream had ended this morning.

  “The closed sign is up,” Eloise said.

  “I saw it and decided to ignore,” Barrett said, grinning unrepentantly. “You’ve been avoiding me all week, Eloise. I figure if I’m a customer you have to talk to me.”

  “I wouldn’t bet on it,” Minerva said. “You know how stubborn she can be.”

  “I know.” He winked at Minerva and started browsing the shelves. “Good to see you’re back in town. I wondered how long you’d hide.”

  “I feel like I’m missing something,” Lily said, the hurt obvious on her face. “Do you guys know each other?”

  “I’m sorry,” Barrett said. “I’m being rude. We haven’t met yet. I’m Barrett Delaney.”

  “The writer?” she asked, the surprise evident in her voice.

  “Ooh, I like her,” he said, taking her extended hand and leaning down to kiss it dramatically.

  Lily gasped. “Oh, well why didn’t anyone say so,” she said, glaring at her sisters for keeping the fact that Eloise had once again found her soulmate from her. She pulled back her hand and rubbed it, obviously having felt the connection. “Good to see you again. Time to go, Minerva. Four’s a crowd.”

  “Couldn’t have said it better, sister dear.”

  They were gone as abruptly as they’d come, and Eloise noticed they locked the door behind them this time. Her mouth dropped open and panic filled her. She wasn’t ready to face him yet. She hadn’t had time to think things through.

  “This isn’t a good time,” she said, moving behind the counter. “I’ve got work to do. A lot of work.”

  “Uh huh.” Barrett arched a brow and moved between the aisles, picking up selections of the products and smelling them on occasion. “How’s the book?” he asked, pointing to the one she’d been reading before Jenny Mosely had stopped in.

  “It’s excellent, thank you,” she said between gritted teeth. “If you’re looking for products for yourself I have a section for men. The sandalwood is nice.”

  “Is that what you like?”

  “It’s my personal favorite.”

  “Then I’ll take it. Have lunch with me?”

  “I told you I’m working.”

  “Every day at eleven-thirty you put the sign out for lunch and go upstairs to your apartment. It’s almost noon now. Have lunch with me.”

  “Are you going to stay here and pester me until I agree?”

  “That was the plan. Besides, I think we have a few things to talk about. You can’t hide forever. We’ve always worked better as a team than separated.”

  “Ugh, stop with the past life thing. All we can do is live in the present and look to the future. However much future we have left.”

  “See, you’re as worried about it as I am. Something is coming. And knowledge from the past is how we have to defeat it. I’ve seen the park. It’s getting closer.”

  “We don’t even know what it is.”

  “Minerva hasn’t looked?”

  “No, she’s looked,” Eloise said, her brow creasing with worry. “I’m just not sure what she’s seen. If she’s seen anything at all.”

  “Eloise…”

  She hadn’t realized how close he was standing, so she had to look up to see his eyes. There was worry there—yes—but also a deep understanding and love that made tears prick her eyes.

  “We’re going to be all right,” he said. “I believe that with all my heart. All we can do is take one day at a time. The important thing is we’ve found each other again.”

  “The full moon is tomorrow. We’ll do a protection ritual at the house. It won’t save the parts of the park that have already been affected, but it should keep it from spreading.”

  “I’ll be there with you. We’ll do this together. Like we always have.”

  She laughed and rubbed her hands over her arms. “Doesn’t this feel strange? This feeling of being connected and strangers at the same time?”

  “We’re not strangers. I know your birthday, your favorite color and that you hate tuna salad. And that your parents are in Europe for their thirtieth anniversary and are still as madly in love with each other as they’ve always been. True soulmates. Goodnight women never settle for anything less. You told me that.”

  She felt the blood drain from her face. “Oh, God. I told you that in my…dream. They were real.”

  Chapter Eight

  ‡

  Barrett wondered when he’d stop being amazed at everything this world had brought him.

  “I wasn’t sure we were sharing the dreams,” he confessed. “But they seemed so real.” He took her hand and wound his fingers through hers. “I can feel your magic. As soon as your flesh touches mine it flows into me.”

  She squeezed his hand, and he wondered if she realized she’d moved in closer. She’d been trying so hard to keep a physical distance outside of their dreams. “It doesn’t happen with everyone. Just you.”

  “Soulmates.”

  Her cheeks flushed red and he found her shyness endearing. She hadn’t been shy in the dreams they’d shared. And the thought of how he’d had to leave her earlier that morning had him going rock hard. They’d been so close, only to be ripped apart.

  “I wanted to talk about how we left things this morning.”

  “What about it?” she asked.

  “If the sun hadn’t risen precisely when it had to wake you up, then you’d already know what it feels like to have me inside you.”

  “I’ll take reality over dreams any day.”

  “I’m glad you said that, because there’s no way in hell I can go another second without feeling you wrapped around me.” He leaned down and took her mouth in a ravenous kiss. There was no gentleness this time—the time for that was over.

  Eloise gripped his arms as his mouth touched hers, afraid she’d lose her balance with the way her head was spinning. Her blood hummed and her heart pounded, and energy and desire—some of it from her natural magic, but mostly just a woman’s reaction to a man—pulsed between her legs. She’d been ready for him for days—years—a lifetime. And the reality of what was happening was
so much better than the dreams—more than she ever could’ve expected.

  His hands slid down her body, spanning the dip in her waist and sliding over her hips and down to cup her buttocks. He lifted her so their cores aligned and she moaned into his mouth—grasping for me—twining her legs around his waist until she could feel the think length of his penis rubbing against her clitoris. He moved so the counter supported her weight and then he pressed against her.

  “God, Eloise. I can’t even wait to get you upstairs. It’s going to be here and now, sweetheart. Speak now or forever hold your peace”

  Eloise whimpered, unable to do anything but grasp him tighter. She didn’t care where they ended up as long as they could finish what they’d started. Her hands slid beneath his shirt, feeling the hard ridges along his abdomen and then sliding around to his back. She lifted the shirt higher and pulled it over his head.

  He gasped out as her thumbs brushed over his nipples. “We’re about to give a hell of a show to anyone who happens to be out and about today. I’m not sure Cauldron’s Hollow is ready for what I’m about to do to you, but I’m not willing to stop to test my theory.”

  He emphasized the point by jerking her shirt over her head and tossing it to the floor, leaving her in nothing but a lacy white bra.

  “I like this,” he said, tracing the top edge of the bra. “It’s pretty. It fits you.”

  Her breasts were heavy with need, achy for his mouth. His mouth found the crook of her neck and she lost focus for a minute or two. His tongue was pure magic and his fingers were nimble—flicking open the clasp of her bra and leaving her completely bare. It took her a moment to remember what he’d mentioned just before he started to drive her crazy.

  “They might be watching,” she moaned, her head dropping onto his shoulder.

  “I don’t care. Maybe they’ll learn something.”

  “I can fix it.” Eloise raised her hand toward the front windows of her shop. Lacy webs of ice crackled across the glass until it was frozen over. “There. Problem solved.”

  She brought her hand back down and laid her fingers on the skin just above the button of his jeans. He sucked in a breath and she smiled.

  “You’re very handy.” Barrett’s voice was calm and steady, playful even, but she could see the restraint in his clenched jaw.

  The power was heady—different than other powers she wielded. She tugged at the button on his jeans and it snapped open with a quiet pop. And then she slowly lowered the zipper.

  Barrett dropped his head so his forehead rested against hers, their rapid breaths merging, and she tugged at the denim and his underwear so it slid over his hips.

  “Eloise, you’re playing with fire. I’m about to lose control.”

  “You always were impatient,” she said. And then she closed her fingers around the hot, hard length of him and she felt him shudder. She stroked him from root to tip, her thumb swiping over the plump head of his cock, smearing the droplets of pre-cum that had gathered there.

  He groaned and kissed her again just before his control broke. “Enough,” he rasped. “I’ll come in your hand.”

  He pulled and tugged at her jeans, stripping them from her body in one smooth motion, and then he did the same with her panties. There was something erotic about being completely naked on the counter where she worked everyday, the thought of people passing by and having no idea what was happening only a few feet away.

  Barrett didn’t bother to push down his jeans the rest of the way, and he took his shaft in hand, pressing it against her. She was more than ready to take him—soaked—and her nails scraped his biceps as he pushed into her.

  “Barrett,” she moaned.

  The fit was tight and her muscles clamped around him as he buried himself inside her completely. It had been years since she’d felt a lover’s touch—and never like this. No one ever could fill her like he could—no matter what lifetime they were living.

  “Baby,” he whispered. “Even better than I imagined. You feel so good.”

  “Hurry,” she begged. “Hard and fast. It’s been too long.” Their past and present was a blur in her mind, intertwining until she couldn’t tell one from the other. She only knew she loved him—past, present, and future.

  His fingers tightened on her hips at the demand and she knew she’d feel his mark there for days. He leaned her back across the counter and nipped at her neck just before he pulled out slowly and then plunged.

  Even expecting it, the feel of him slamming into her took her breath away. Her scream of pleasure was silent and colors flashed behind her closed eyelids. All she could do was hold on for the ride. This was mating in its purest form—a remembering—a joining more permanent than any marriage ceremony.

  Magic poured over her skin, covering her in an ethereal glow before spreading to Barrett’s body. They were joined mind, body, and soul, and she could feel what he felt and thought as he raced them both toward completion, and she knew the opposite was true as well. They were truly one.

  She felt the change inside of her—the link grow and strengthen as her body tightened around him. Her back arched as her muscles convulsed and contracted, the pleasure spreading from her clit and through her entire body.

  Her pleasure was too much for Barrett to take and he plunged into her one last time, giving her his seed and heart with a shout of triumph.

  *

  It was minutes before he got his senses and his breath back, and he realized he was probably crushing her against the hard countertop.

  “I meant to do this in a bed the first time,” he said, kissing the spot just above her collarbone.

  “It just so happens I have a bed upstairs that would be excellent for this.”

  Barrett wasn’t in the habit of feeling unsure of himself, especially with a woman. But this was different. She was the only woman who mattered. He knew he’d pleased her. Knew the thoughts and feelings that had coursed through her mind while they’d been joined. It was something deeper than love that they shared. And he also knew she worried for him—worried their life together would be cut short before it could begin.

  She stretched beneath him and he felt his body stir again. “Damn, woman. I’m not a piece of meat.”

  She snickered and he felt lightness fill her heart. He didn’t want her to worry—to be sad—and he considered it his purpose in life to make sure he couldn’t lighten the load she was burdened with.

  “I was just thinking today is an excellent day for playing hooky. We’re going to have time enough for work in the upcoming days. Maybe more work than any of us want.” Her eyes clouded and he stroked her hair with tenderness.

  “Lets enjoy today, love. Tomorrow will be here soon enough.”

  She hesitated, her natural instinct to prepare for the ritual the next night and make sure everything was as it should be. But her body relaxed and she touched the side of his face in reassurance.

  “We’ll take today,” she agreed. “If you’ll hand me my clothes I’m more than happy to give you a personal introduction to my bed.”

  He slipped out of her, missing the connection as soon as it was lost, and they both dressed in silence.

  “I can feel your worry,” he finally said. “But it’s different this time. You’re worried about Minerva.”

  “She’s hiding something. Trying to protect the rest of us.”

  “Well that certainly sounds familiar,” Barrett said, retrieving her bra from one of the shelves. “You’d certainly never hide anything to protect the people you love.”

  “It’s not the same.”

  She dressed quickly and efficiently, and he took a moment to watch her. Her hair was mussed and her cheeks flushed. Her eyes were alive. And her shirt was on inside out. Hopefully they wouldn’t run into anyone on the short trip upstairs.

  “The signs of premonition are more frequent,” she said. “The blood on the moon was like a gun going off at the start of a race. Then the raven came to watch and listen.”

  “The
one on your balcony.” He remembered thinking it strange to see it there. “Is it dangerous?”

  “Not directly, but I don’t know if it’s a spy or just a warning. Like I told you last night, there are others with power in the world. But I think we’d hear something through the network if one of our own started using their magic to do harm.”

  “So you think it’s witch against witch? Someone waging war against your family?”

  “I don’t know. The signs are too much like before The Reckoning, so I don’t think so. The raven is much like the blood moon. It’s a bad omen. A sign of trouble to come.”

  Barrett used his arm to clear a spot in the window and looked out into the street. The weather was messy—overcast skies and a perpetual cold mist—though the way the clouds had darkened just in the last hour or so promised something stronger to come. Hardly anyone was out and about, so he unlocked the front door of the shop and he and Eloise snuck out and upstairs.

  He started laughing before they made it to her door. “Why are we being so sneaky?”

  “Because we just had sex in the middle of the day in my place of business. It seems like something we should be sneaky about.”

  “Eloise…” His mouth went dry and his tongue felt thick.

  She paused and looked at him, her hand on the knob to her door. “What?”

  “I just wanted to tell you that I’ve loved you in all our lives. That hasn’t changed and it never will. No matter how many lives we’re blessed with. We’re for each other and no one else.”

  “I love you, Barrett Delaney. In this life and any other.”

  He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed to hear her say the words, and he pulled her into his arms, hugging her close.

  “You really need to unlocked your door. It’s a little chilly out here, but I’m willing to give it a go and say to hell with Mrs. Robicek down there. I think being sneaky is for naught. And I probably should’ve told you before, but your shirt is on inside out.”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Eloise said. She unlocked the door and they’d just stepped over the threshold when her phone started ringing. She answered and he felt the worry from her immediately, so he took her hand and squeezed it.