“True.” Mother Stone glanced over at the pyre. When she looked back, her expression had changed. “I’ll contact the team and have them divert to the zoo. I’ve got a connection there, perhaps they can house—”
“No!” Mina’s face flushed. “I mean, with all due respect, Mother Stone. I’ll work all night if I have to to get the Dungeon ready for the Saviors.”
“She won’t be working alone. I’ll make sure she has what she needs to get it done,” Bas added.
Mother Stone nodded slowly. “As you wish. Spare no expense.” She moved on, heading back toward White Willow, the rest of the Sin Eaters trailing behind.
Bas put his arm over her shoulders. “We’ll get it done.”
“I don’t know how.” Mina’s shoulders slumped; she rubbed the back of her sleeve over her face. “It’s such a mess and the sanctuary… It’s awful. I should have been working on it already.”
Bas looked down at the dark circles under her eyes and the way her shoulders curled. She needed sleep.
Bas motioned to Tate, Chanda, and Hazel, who were walking together away from the pyre. “Hey, guys, this is Mina.”
They took turns shaking hands.
“Mina, these are my friends. That’s Chanda, and Tate.” He motioned to Hazel. “And I’m sure you’ve heard of Hazel.”
Mina nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” She turned to Bas. “I’d better go. Lots to get done.”
Her anxiety was spiking again. He saw the wild look in her eyes and felt it jabbing at her nerves.
He put his hand on her arm.
“Mina, wait.” He motioned to the others. “You guys have a few hours to donate to a good cause?”
Mina turned back toward him, a flash of hope on her face.
“I’ve been working on the sanctuary. It’s almost back to the way it was. Just a few more things to get up and running.” He smiled. “But if we had some help, between all of us, we’d get things ready for the Saviors.”
“We heard what happened to the Dungeon,” Tate said. “Whatever help you need, we’re there.”
Hazel smiled. “I’ll get Duke to rearrange his schedule. He’d be happy to help.”
“Oh no, don’t go to any trouble,” Mina said, her cheeks red.
“More hands will make things go faster,” Tate said. “And besides, I’d love to pick your brain about the familiars. I’ve always had a soft spot for ferals.”
Mina’s smile widened.
“You can’t turn down these guys. They’re super witches or some shit. Way more powerful than I am.”
“Shut up, Bas.” Hazel rolled her eyes. “Let’s do this!”
Mina motioned toward the mansion. “We can go that way. There’s a walk out.”
Hazel and the others started walking ahead. Mina and Bas fell back a bit.
“Thank you,” Mina said, her eyes sparkling with more tears. “I couldn’t do this without your help and I know there’re other things you could be doing.”
Bas leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Anything for you.”
“I wish I could keep you forever.” Mina was looking straight ahead. “But I understand that you need to continue your training. Caring for familiars is my passion, not yours.”
“Hey, I’m not going any where. I can do my training and continue working with you.”
“Come on, Bas.” Mina smiled. “You’ll kill yourself. Can’t burn the candle at both ends and I wouldn’t want you to. You need to be the best Healer in the program. Your ego wouldn’t tolerate anything else.”
Bas laughed. “True. But I’ll still have time for the familiars. And I’d much rather sleep in your than the hard bed I’ve got upstairs.”
Mina laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. “I do have a kickass feather mattress.”
Bas swatted her ass. “Yeah, I’m totally in it for the mattress.”
He pulled her to a stop, wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her. Deep, loving, putting everything he felt into that kiss.
“I do love you, Mina,” he said when she pulled away. “You’re the family of my heart and I’m not going anywhere.”
“I love you too, Bas.” She smiled. “Now, let’s get some work done.”
26
“And if you apply pressure in this way, the familiar will fall asleep, thus reducing the amount of stress from any medical intervention you need to administer.” Mina wrapped up her lecture and smiled at the small group of students seated in front of her.
“Thank you, Healer Knox, very informative,” one of the young Healer students said. “Will we be working in the sanctuary tomorrow?”
Mina nodded as she closed her laptop. “That’s the plan, so wear comfortable clothes. You’re going to be helping me acclimate the new familiars.”
“Excellent!” The Healer students were all beaming as they filed through the main doors and out of the Dungeon.
“All done for today?” Bas was leaning against doors leading to the patio. He was wearing his scrubs, pulled tight over his bulging muscles.
Mina really loved those scrubs.
“Yep, that was my last rotation.”
Mother Stone had invited the local university to attend a weeklong learning camp where they’d experience some of the more interesting aspects of becoming a Healer. Mina had been stunned when Mother Stone informed her that the familiar clinic would be included in the offered sessions. Much to Mina’s surprise, all of her sessions had filled up when the sign up opened.
“You want a drink?”
Mina laughed. “You off duty or something?” She moved to intercept him, her arms going around his waist the second she got close enough.
“Hell yes, I don’t have to go back until tomorrow.” He leaned down and kissed her softly.
“Wow, that gives us all night… Whatever will we do with all that time?”
Bas squeezed her ass and lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his body, her hands in his hair. “We’ll think of something, I’m sure.”
He kissed her deeply, his tongue probing, licking, sucking. Devouring her until her toes curled.
“Hmmm, you taste good.” He tasted like strawberries.
“Hazel went berry picking. She brought you a pint.” He nodded toward her suite. “Shall we?”
“Lead the way.” Mina giggled when he wouldn’t let her down and instead carried her, his hands spread over her ass, his lips on her neck, nipping her so that she shivered.
“I brought some chocolate sauce,” Bas said. “To rub on your tits.”
Her nipples tingled at that idea. “Oh yeah?” She wiggled her ass. “I’m sure it would taste good on lots of things.” She rubbed herself along his cock as she slid down his body.
“That’s what I’m talking about.” He kissed her again.
There was an angry yowl from the other side of the room. Bas pulled back and cocked his head.
Mina turned her head to look at Zeus.
“He’s pissed because I won’t give him any chocolate. I hope you don’t mind an audience.”
“That would be like kitty crack for him.” Mina smirked. “But I’ve got something that might please him.” She disengaged from Bas and moved back into the clinic. When she returned, she had a pouch with her. “Zeus, I found wild catnip in the Dark Forest. I dried some of it for you.”
She opened the pouch and let him sniff. Zeus stuck his nose into the little bag and meowed again. Mina laughed when he tried to stuff his whole head in.
“I think he likes it,” Bas said.
“Hey, Zeus, do me a favor and take this to your pack. Give us some privacy and I’ll make sure you get the fresh stuff in the sanctuary.”
Zeus pulled his head out and studied her, judging, no doubt, if she was being honest.
“By tomorrow afternoon, promise,” Mina said.
Zeus looked over at Bas, then snatched the pouch out of her hand and trotted off toward the door.
“That’ll give us some peace for a while.”
Mina laughed. Zeus could be as demanding as a baby when he was in a mood. She was always on the lookout for ways to distract him, especially since time with Bas was sacred. His intern training kept him busy for days at a time.
It was working though. He crashed at her place and even if they weren’t working together every day, when he had some time, he spent it with her.
Mother Stone had also started a rotation of volunteers to help Mina. Not a group of Healers—that was a bit too much to ask of her just yet—but willing Pagans who were interested in learning more about familiars.
Mina had more than enough help so she couldn’t complain.
“Come here, would ya?” Bas flicked his finger and suddenly Mina was standing there naked.
She gasped then laughed. “You and your tricks.”
He lifted the bottle of chocolate sauce and waggled his eyebrows. “I can warm it up, too.”
Mina put her hand on her hip and flicked her fingers with the other hand. Bas’s clothes flew off.
His eyes were wide as he looked down at himself. “Wow, you learned that spell too, huh?”
“Seemed like a good one to know.” She moved toward him, swaying her hips. “And I learned this one, too.” She flicked her hand toward the jar of chocolate and the top spun off. She dipped two fingers into the jar and pulled out a gob. “Smells delicious.”
With a wink, she slid down to her knees, right at mouth level to his bobbing cock. The chocolate dripped on his skin. She slathered it all over his shaft and blew on his cock so that it heated as she worked.
“Ohhhhh, yeah. You’re quite the tricky witch, aren’t you?”
She nodded once, looking up at him and grinning. “You have so much to learn about what I can do.”
She licked him from tip to balls, her tongue flat against his cock, her hands up to clench his ass, slurping up the chocolate and gulping it down before she glided her whole mouth over him.
“Baby, that feels so damn good.” He gripped her hair, urging her to go deeper so the tip of his cock nudged at the back of her throat, the chocolate making it easy to take him all in.
She looked up at him in that moment. His eyes were hooded, and she didn’t look away as she slowly, with lips clasped tightly, sucked him off.
“You keep doing that and you’re going to have some chocolate flavored cum shooting down your throat.”
“Yummy,” she said as she licked around the tip of his cock, flicking the ridge of his crown with her tongue.
“My turn to eat you.” His eyes sparkled as he waved his hand, lifting her with a spell and depositing her on the bed with a bounce.
He climbed onto the bed like a tiger hunting prey, his muscles flexing, his body gliding, slowly, dangerously. It made Mina shiver to see that look in his eyes. She spread her legs for him, watching as he locked in on her pussy and smiled.
“I don’t want chocolate sauce there. You taste too good for that.”
He leaned in and licked her from ass to clit and back again. She was up on her elbows, her head falling back as he latched onto her clit and sucked her hard, his fingers probing deep inside her pussy. It felt so good when he pumped her like that, his tongue flicking at her clit, his fingers digging into her g-spot, her body trilled, her nipples ached, and her whole body shuddered with pleasure.
He lifted his other hand to her tit, cupping her roughly while licking away at her pussy. He was such a good multitasker. She started to giggle but moaned instead.
She let her upper body fall so she could reach up to play with her other nipple, flicking and pinching so that her body revved up and pulses of her climax mounted. She closed her eyes and willed it to rise.
“Nah uh, baby.”
She cracked open an eye and looked down at him. He was moving up her body, kissing his way along her stomach, his fingers no longer in her pussy but holding the jar of chocolate. He shifted her hand away and then smeared some chocolate onto her tits.
“I’m going to crank you up before you explode on my cock.”
She gasped as he covered her breast with his mouth, his hot breath making the chocolate tingle on her sensitive nipples. He sucked her, swirling his tongue over the bud, nipping with his teeth to scrape away the sauce. He moved from one nipple to the other, sucking and licking until all of the sauce was gone and her nipples were pink and tingling. She played with his nipples, too, knowing how much he loved it when she tweaked them hard.
“Mmmmmm, I’m going to fuck you so good, baby.” He slurped at her nipples one more time then flipped her onto her stomach.
He could get so much deeper from behind.
With one hard thrust, he encased himself and didn’t give her a chance to brace her arms before slamming her again. He slipped his hands under her, gripping both of her tits, lifting her back so that she was pressed to his chest, his lips at her ear.
“You’re a dirty girl, aren’t you? You like it when I fuck you hard,” Bas purred.
She moaned as he pinched her nipples.
“You like it when I slap your ass, too.” He shoved her down, and smacked her hard on the ass, making her cry out, her skin stinging with his handprint, no doubt.
“Yes, yes,” she moaned. She did like it when he got rough. She liked it when he was tender. Fuck, every moment that Bas was with her, she liked. A lot.
He slapped her other cheek, rocking her forward, fucking her hard and deep. Each stroke abraded her clit. Each time he pulled out, he rubbed her g-spot just the right way. And her climax was cranking up higher and higher, her body vibrating with desire from all the sensations.
He slammed her again and again until she couldn’t keep her orgasm at bay.
He knew exactly when she was going to come and pulled out so he could flip her over to face him, his body on top of hers, crushing her down into the mattress, his cock buried deep once again and his eyes locked onto hers.
“I love you, Mina,” he said, his eyes shining with lust and love and magic. It sparked between them, blue and purple streaks of electricity, jolting their skin, amping their nerves.
She arched her back, moving her hips up.“I love you too, Bas.”
And then her orgasm crested and stars burst across her vision and her body vibrated with so much emotion, her pussy spasming around his glorious cock until he was bellowing his own orgasm as well. Their bodies moved in unison, pulling every last wave of pleasure from both.
“That was just the beginning,” Bas purred against her ear. “I hope you weren’t planning on sleeping tonight.”
Mina giggled, then nudged him with her hips, loving how his cock stirred back to life, just with a flick of her body.
“Who needs sleep?”
27
“Uh, Mads, I think you’ve got someone following you,” Hazel nodded over her cousin’s shoulder, trying not to make it obvious that she’d once again noticed the big guy who was doing everything in his power to look busy.
Mahdyia rolled her eyes but didn’t look up from the chart she was reading. “Croft again?” She sighed. “I swear that guy just won’t get the hint.”
Hazel’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously? I saw you making out with him the other day in the storage room.”
Mahdyia cringed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You might be able to lie to yourself, dear cous, but you can’t lie to me.” Hazel slid her chart back into the file holder. “I don’t know why you keep denying it. He’s sweet.”
“Yeah, like a teddy bear.” Madhya glanced over her shoulder. “Gah, I told him to be less obvious.”
Croft smiled and waved, his eyes lighting up.
“I think it’s cute,” Hazel said.
Mahdyia rolled her eyes as she turned back to Hazel. “He’s too sweet and too old. Seriously, he brought me roses the other day with a coffee.”
“And what’s the problem with that?” Hazel walked with her down the hall to their next patient.
“The problem with that is he’s all about the wining
and dining, dating, wooing… You know, old people stuff? I’m all about the hook ups and not settling down.”
“So tell him that.”
“I did!” Mahdyia threw her hands up. “But all he says is that he won’t stop me from seeing other guys.”
“So, sounds like a green light to me.”
“Have you looked at those eyes of his? He could put a puppy to shame. I can’t be with another guy for a hook up and face Croft afterward. The man is in love with me!”
“Ohh…” Hazel still didn’t see a problem with this.
“Yeah, ohh,” Mahdyia said. “I can’t be the nasty bitch who breaks his heart.”
Hazel stopped to grab some syringes. “And yet you continue to sleep with him.”
“Hazel, honey, have you seen the size of the man? He’s a giant…and his cock—”
Hazel’s cheeks burned. Duke came around the corner just at the moment.
“Whose cock are we talking about?” he drawled. “Hi, sweetheart.” He kissed Hazel on the cheek.
“Croft McKinnon’s cock, if you must know,” Mahdyia said. “And he’s really good at using it to—”
“Sorry I asked,” Duke said, his hand up to stop her from continuing.
“All I’m saying is that he’s too good to toss aside but every time we do it, he gets closer and closer to telling me how he feels,” Mahdyia huffed, crossing her arms.
“Oh yeah, he was talking about you the other day,” Duke said.
“What did he say?” Mahdyia leaned in closer, her eyes wide.
“I don’t think I should tell you now. Seems like you’re not on the same page,” Duke said.
“Oh come on, Duke! You can’t not tell me.”
Duke snickered. “He said that he could see himself marrying someone like you.”
Mahdyia threw her arms up. “You see, Haz? You see? What the hell am I going to do?”
“Well, I think you’re going to have to tell him the truth and cut him loose,” Hazel said as she reviewed the next patient’s chart one more time.
Feral Heart: A Witch Hospital Romance (The Witches of White Willow Book 2) Page 22
