Close Contact

by Rebecca Airies

  “The witch has made it clear he or she wants you in pain. After failing to scare me away, there will be another attempt. The only question is when,” Evan said as he stopped the car in front of a yellow house.

  “You actually think this person’s going to attack now. You haven’t even had time to think about walking away from me.” She moved across the seat to get out on the driver’s side.

  “I don’t think this person is going to leave me in any doubt that they’re serious. There will be another attempt either on you or me soon.” Evan put his hand at the small of her back and led her up the walk to the house.

  “Since the person found your house, they know who you are. What kind of idiot would physically attack a werewolf who’s a wizard?” She rolled her eyes. The person would have to be stupid beyond belief.

  “The witch won’t be thinking about what I can do. Her, his, only goal will be making you feel the pain.” Evan knocked at the wooden door.

  A moment later the door opened. A dark-haired, petite woman stood there. She stepped to the side and let them into the house. Geneva walked in just ahead of Evan. The woman led them to a dining room. Geneva saw Sonya sitting at the table near a red-haired man and a blonde woman. She didn’t recognize the other two people.

  “I’m Maria Cruz. That’s Stacy Darren and Carver Knowles. We’re going to see if we can find your attacker.” The black-haired woman introduced the others. “Take a seat and we’ll see if today’s the day that spell comes off you.”

  “Thank you. I hope you can identify who set this spell. I’d like to get back to a normal life.” She sat down in the polished, golden wood chair.

  She had high hopes. These people dealt with most of the area’s witches and wizards on a regular basis. They should know local magic. If everything went exactly right, she’d be able to walk out of here knowing that she’d soon be free to go anywhere she wanted. She’d know who her enemy was. Hopefully, that person would be too worried about either the Coven, Council or the Protectorate finding them to cause any more trouble.

  Again magic surrounded her. She put her hands in her lap and watched the witches’ faces as they began studying the magic. They all frowned, but she had no idea what they were thinking.

  “I can’t recognize this magic. With the taint, I’m sure I’d remember it.” Stacy Darren’s fingers grazed the misty magic.

  “So the insanity or whatever it is, is keeping you from identifying the woman or man,” Geneva said on a long sigh. Her shoulders slumped. “Is there any other way to identify this person?”

  “Let’s see if we can find any kind of signature work. A lot of witches work together often. We might be able to recognize how it was done instead of the magic.” Maria put her hand on Geneva’s arm. “Give us a little time.”

  Frustrated, Geneva didn’t reply. She gritted her teeth and waited. She’d have been screaming if she didn’t have her jaw clenched tightly. The delays, the assurances from people who had no idea what being under this spell was like. She’d like to have some privacy again. She’d also love to not have to worry about some witch coming after her with a more dangerous spell.

  “It’s been a long time since anyone’s broken Coven rules so blatantly. She obviously meant to torture you for as long as she could,” Maria whispered.

  “You’re certain a woman did this to me? The others couldn’t be sure.” Geneva bit her lip. Right now, any information, no matter how small, would be welcome.

  “Yes, I know it’s a witch. The spell has matured a little since it took hold.” Maria’s head lifted and her eyes met Geneva’s.

  Geneva’s blinked. A little bit of elation swept over her. Finally they knew something. This hadn’t been a wasted trip. They still didn’t know who had done this, but they now could be sure it was a woman who’d set it. That eliminated half the magic-using population in Dallas. It was a little better than before. She wanted to know more, but she knew she had to be patient.

  A hand settled onto her shoulder. She looked over and saw Evan watching her. His hand tightened. She could see the concern burning in his eyes. She had the impression he was a moment away from stopping this session.

  “Is that all you’re going to do today? If it is, I’d like to get Geneva home.” Evan turned and looked at the witches sitting at the table.

  His frown clearly made the witches nervous. She actually heard one of them swallow. They pressed against the back of their chairs. Every one of them looked as if they wanted to run. Glancing over at him, she could see why. His eyes were glowing a fierce gold.

  “We’re finished.” Maria nodded.

  “Good. If you need to see her again, we’ll make the arrangements. Just remember, this spell won’t be on her much longer. Regardless of whether you find this woman or not, the spell will be taken off her. I’ll deal with any attacks as they come.” Evan stood.

  Geneva rose to her feet beside him. His arm curved around her waist and briefly tugged her against him. She was tempted to lean into him and stay like that, but she did want to leave. In spite of knowing that it was a woman, she was still frustrated. She wanted this spell off, now.

  Evan’s fingers tightened on her hip. With slight pressure, he urged her away from the table. With a sigh, she paced beside him. Maria slipped out of her chair and hurried to catch up with them. Geneva nodded to Maria as she escorted them to the door.

  “I’m sorry. I wish we could have given you the name of the witch, but the magic is unrecognizable.” Maria reached out and gently clasped her shoulder. “If we think of anything…”

  “Please call if you get any idea of who’s doing this.” Geneva tried to smile, but knew the effort had failed at the woman’s concerned look.

  They walked out of the house. She felt the guiding pressure of Evan’s arm at her back. She just wanted to get home and not think about this anymore tonight. His hand tightened on her hip, drawing her attention. She glanced up at him.

  “Don’t worry. I promise you. We’ll catch this woman. She won’t keep attacking you.” His eyes met hers.

  “She won’t stop and we still have no idea who did this. The only thing we did was manage to narrow down the search a little bit.” She focused her eyes on the SUV. She hated feeling so damn defeated.

  “We’ll catch her because she won’t walk away from this,” he said as he leaned down and brushed a kiss over her forehead.

  She glared up at him. “I’m not going to break into tears. You don’t have to comfort me simply because we didn’t discover everything today. We did learn one important thing.”

  Just as they reached the front of the SUV, men swarmed around the back of it. Evan shoved her behind him without a word. Geneva’s eyes widened. She stumbled a bit and braced a hand on the hood of the car. Three to one seemed bad odds to her, but Evan didn’t look worried. His fists were bunched and his body leaned forward in an aggressive crouch.

  The three men seemed a little nervous as they stood in front of Evan as if they couldn’t decide who would move first now that they’d confronted them. Two of the men lunged forward and the third man quickly followed. She gasped, clamping a sound of alarm behind her lips. She didn’t want to distract him and maybe have him get hurt.

  Evan surged forward. His fist slammed into the jaw of the closest man. He whirled shoving another man back before grabbing the third man by the throat and throwing him across the yard. Geneva wanted to help, but she knew she’d just get in the way. Her hands tightened into fists. She wished she knew more about fighting than she did, but most of what she knew was meant to get her out of trouble, more defense related.

  The first man slammed into the SUV and slid to the ground. He sat there stunned for a moment, but slowly got to his feet. The second stumbled as he rose from the ground. He rushed forward. Almost at the last second, his fist slashed upward, snapping Evan’s head up and back. Evan growled. Geneva blinked as Evan’s face seemed to change a bit. For a moment, he looked as if he wasn’t quite solid. His face lengthened. Sharp
canines became more pronounced. He looked wild, absolutely fierce and frightening. He seemed to get bigger.

  Evan drove his fist into the man’s stomach. He leaped for the first attacker. Geneva caught movement out of the corner of her eyes. She whipped around and saw a blond man in a denim jacket sneaking around the hood of the SUV. He had a pock-marked face. He smiled revealing a gap in his teeth where two had fallen or been knocked out. Geneva gulped and turned to fully face him. She loosened her muscles slightly, her stance widening just a little. She didn’t yell out, because she didn’t want to distract Evan from his fight with the others. She’d have to handle this man. A yelp came from one of the men Evan was fighting. Did the witches in the house even know anything was happening out here? Could they hear the fight, see it? Why weren’t they helping?

  The blond man rushed at her. His hands were outstretched as if he wanted to tackle her or grab her. At the last possible moment, she stepped to the side, shoving his shoulder. The man’s lip curled and she heard a low, angry growl. She didn’t know if that was Evan or the man. She was careful to stay close to Evan, as close as she safely could. The blond man didn’t pay any attention to Evan and Evan seemed equally unaware of him. She saw Evan still grappling with two of the men from the corner of her eyes. Grimacing, she hoped he would finish with them soon. The other attacker was sprawled on the lawn, seemingly unconscious.

  The man came at her slowly this time. She clenched her hands into tight fists. She wasn’t going to have a chance to throw him again. She had no idea what he was going to try to do. She wasn’t going to just let him do it. She took a slow step back. A twinge of pain stabbed through her stomach. She gasped, her hand pressing over the gnawing ache. Her attention wandered just for a second. The blond lunged forward. His right arm swept around her waist. He began dragging her around the car. She clawed at his arm and twisted, trying to slip out of his hold. Pain built into a screaming, blinding wall blocking out almost everything else.

  “Evan!” she called as the man carried her around the SUV.

  The pain ripping through her caused her muscles to spasm with every jolting step. She desperately tried to tear herself out of the man’s arms. He cursed under his breath but continued to haul her down the sidewalk. She could see a dark van in front of the house next door.

  She heard Evan shout her name. She couldn’t see him. The car blocked her view. Swinging her elbow up and back, she twisted hoping to hit the man in the jaw or ear. Her elbow hit, but there wasn’t the sting of bone hitting something hard. He dropped her, gagging. She realized then she must have hit his throat. She got to her feet and stumbled toward the car. She’d just reached the back bumper when the pain suddenly disappeared. Immediate relief rushed through her. Evan was close. She knew she wasn’t out of danger yet. One of the men could have a weapon. Anything could happen. There could be more men who hadn’t rushed to help yet.

  “Genny!” Evan stopped beside her, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder.

  She looked up at him. Her arm pressed over the still twitching muscles of her stomach. She got to her feet and stayed behind him. Looking to her left and right, she made sure no one was near enough to grab her again. Getting dragged away once was bad enough. She didn’t want to let it happen twice.

  The blond man stumbled to his feet. His eyes widened and he turned and ran for the van. Evan started to follow the man, but stopped after a single step. The van revved and the tires spun on the asphalt as it sped away.

  Evan came back to her and pulled her into his arms. Sliding his hand into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone. His hand stroked down her back as he waited for an answer on the other end. Geneva leaned into him. Her heart still pounded. She couldn’t understand why. She knew the men had been sent to cause her pain, but what had she done to make that woman want to hurt her? Evan’s hard body offered comfort, but she felt a little chilled even with the heat of the day. When was this going to end?

  “That was too close, Genny. I’m not taking any more chances with you.” His hot breath filtered through her hair.

  Her fists tightened on his shirt. For once, even his shortening of her name didn’t irritate her. He could call her anything he wanted as long as he held her like this. She didn’t want to let him go just yet.

  He spoke briefly with one of the men from the Protectorate. Evan’s face had reverted to completely normal only moments after the van had driven off. He didn’t let her go the entire time he was talking. She didn’t protest. His arms felt too good and she stayed tucked under that muscular shelter for as long as possible.

  “There will be someone here to take the three men on the lawn to the Protectorate soon. I told them to hurry. I don’t want you out here too long. It’s dangerous. I’m taking you home.” He urged her around the back of the car.

  She saw the three men sprawled on the grass unconscious. With the torn clothing and burgeoning bruises, she didn’t think they’d be moving before the men from the Protectorate arrived. They’d chosen the wrong man to attack. She doubted whoever had sent them had given them an idea of what they’d be facing.

  “Do you think anyone saw you?” She looked around at all of the houses along the street. There were too many people around the area for someone not to have seen something. Not that anyone had tried to help in any way. Hell, the police hadn’t even come yet and if they’d been called, they should be here.

  “If anyone saw me, they probably wouldn’t have noticed anything strange. Not unless they expected to see something out of the ordinary. If they did, they’d probably write it off as a trick of the light.” He smiled down at her. “You know that I’m a werewolf. You expected it.”

  She thought about it and bit her lip. He was right in a way. Most people would discount anything strange unless it practically appeared in front of their face. So maybe there wouldn’t be a problem with any of these people. If there wasn’t someone out on the lawns staring and pointing now, she doubted there’d be anyone screaming about a werewolf attacking innocent men later.

  Finally, the black Protectorate vans pulled up in front of the house. The three attackers hadn’t moved in the entire time Geneva and Evan had waited. She watched as the Protectorate men handcuffed the three men and carried them to the van. One of the Protectorate men walked over to them after the last man was shoved into the van.

  “We’ll take them back to the Protectorate and question them. We’ll call you with any the information we get. Are either of you hurt? What information do you have for me?” His eyes ran over both of them in a quick cursory inspection.

  “No, we’re not hurt. I’m going to take her home. We’ve had enough excitement for the night.” Evan’s arm tightened around her, pulling her closer for just a brief moment.

  She wanted to go home. Just being out here, she felt vulnerable. She hated that feeling. Before the witch had put the spell on her, she couldn’t remember ever feeling like this. She knew the agents needed to know everything they’d seen and heard during the attack even if she didn’t like it.

  “The blond man who grabbed me, the one who got away, you won’t be able to miss him. He’s got a pock-marked face and missing teeth.” Geneva leaned into Evan, her head resting on his chest.

  “We didn’t manage to get all of the plate on the black van, but we’ve got the last four. It should be enough to help narrow down the search,” Evan said and then quickly rattled off the number.

  “Steven will call you later. We’ll do mop up here, make sure there aren’t any people having hysterics over seeing something strange,” the agent assured him.

  Evan urged her into the car. He drove straight home. She could see the tension in his jaw. Her gut churned with fear and anger. Energy pumped through her. If she could, she’d probably be pacing. Her fingers threaded through her hair. She rubbed at the back of her neck. He reached over and clasped her hand. She tightened her fingers and gave him a small smile as he pulled into the driveway.

  Getting out of the car, Geneva kept her h
and in his. She fell into step beside him. Now that they were here, fire burned through her blood. She had an almost irresistible urge to push him up against the nearest wall and strip his pants off him. Her fingers tingled with the urge. She knew the intensity was probably because of the attack. At the moment, she didn’t care. She managed to wait until he’d shut the door, before she stepped close to him again.

  She brushed her hips against his and slid her hands over the soft fabric of his shirt. His shoulders shifted beneath her hands and his fingers clasped her hips. His lips slashed across hers as he backed her down the hallway. His hands slid down to her buttocks, squeezing before he lifted her off her feet. She wrapped her legs around his waist. She stroked her tongue over his, before drawing back and nipping at his lips. She wanted him fast and fierce. She needed to feel his body moving against hers. She wanted him over and over until neither of them could move.

  “Don’t move. This is going to be hard for me, Genny.” He pressed kisses to her cheek. He carried her toward his bedroom. She just hoped he hurried. The urgency built and she could feel the slick juices on her thighs. She ached to feel his touch.

  “I can feel something hard.” She rocked her hips against his. The hard ridge of his cock, nudged against the folds of her sex.

  His hands tightened holding her still. A distinct growl rumbled in his voice. “No more. I’m too close to the edge.”

  She blinked, a little stunned at the deep sound. “Is something wrong?”

  “The fight and you being dragged away from me. It’s almost too much. I’m having trouble keeping the wolf from making an appearance.” He put her on the bed and knelt in front of her, his hands stroking over her thighs.