Stepping to the doorway, she gauged the room size, which couldn’t be changed, and envisioned the best arrangement she could come up with for the tiny space. Sighing, she pulled her portable wand from its special compartment in her bra and extended it to full size. Bestowing the familiars had been taxing on her magic and now she needed to rest her hands. That was happening more and more lately.
Holding her decorating ideas in her mind, she waved the wand over the room and refused to feel bad for needing props.
“Inhabitus ebay maximus,” she invoked.
Amidst the resulting gold glitter shower raining from the ceiling, upgraded furniture and a much larger bed replaced what she’d had before. She waited for the glitter mist to dissipate, then walked back into the room. It was more crowded, but at least her long legs wouldn’t hang off the queen sized bed when she slept.
“Wow. Can you repeat that spell on my room?” Damien asked, watching her smooth the rich purple covers.
Jezibaba turned slowly to the doorway, which was difficult because her pulse drummed in excitement just hearing his voice.
“There is always an exchange for using this kind of power. Over time, I’ve learned how to direct it to my existing belongings. The bed came from my summer house in Cape Cod. The chair came from a condo I own in California. The meager furnishings have simply swapped places with the ones you see.”
She tilted her head as she studied the envy on his face.
“Tell me professor—do you have the wealth to support making this kind of change to your living space? If you don’t, people you love could die to leave you enough money and possessions to make a spell like the one I did come true.”
Damien smiled. “I’ve been afraid to try such a spell for fear of doing it wrong and hurting someone. However, being a dragon, I do have a nice horde so I could easily furnish all the bedrooms in this facility with my possessions. Maybe I’ll experiment with changing just the bed. I need a bigger one than you conjured. Don’t be jealous, but the headmaster’s quarters are much bigger.”
Jezibaba smirked, then huffed indignantly because Professor Hottie seemed to expect it. She caught herself smoothing her black robe before realizing she hadn’t yet changed out of it. Nathaniel had been eerily silent on their trip back and hadn’t reminded her. She’d opted to give him space to think. She would grill him when her own energy normalized.
“What did you do this afternoon? Attend a funeral?” Damien joked, inching into the room uninvited.
Jezibaba plucked at the black cloth. “Worse. I appeared before the Council of Witches,” she sneered. “I had to threaten them so they would agree to let me do this. I get last say, but in three hundred years I’ve learned life is a lot easier if they stay in agreement with me. The robe is my concession to the asshat-ery of their dress code for such meetings.”
Damien hovered a few feet away, shoving one hand in his pants pocket. “I came to see if you’d returned… and to ask if you’d like to go to dinner. We could talk through some things.”
“Like the fact we want to jump each other and do the nasty?” Jezibaba demanded with a laugh, folding the robe. She whispered her stow away spell and it disappeared.
Damien nodded and then pinched the bridge of his nose. “I might have phrased our attraction a little less crudely.”
Jezibaba chuckled. “You’re being modest, Professor Smoke. I think we both know you would have made our lust sound like a prize winning poem worthy of a textbook. That’s not my style. You’re more apt to find quotes about my lovemaking written on bathroom walls.”
“I take it you’re not a fan of intellectual men then,” Damien concluded, shoving his hands in his pockets again, mostly to keep them off her.
Jezibaba knew she’d disappointed him with her honesty. That happened to her a lot, especially with men. She shook her head and smiled to soften her words.
“I’m just old and jaded. Courting with poetry lost its charm for me after the first century I spent sleeping with men who didn’t mean a damn word they uttered. I appreciate your intellect just as much as I do the way you fill out your clothes with all those nice muscles you’re hiding from your students. Both are equally appealing—but I’m sure you knew that already.”
Damien frowned. “Now I’m confused. Is that an invitation to throw you down on your conjured bed and do what I’ve been dying to do to your body since the moment I saw you? I can’t tell.”
“Why Professor Hottie, you sound offended. Not used to a woman standing her ground during your pursuit of her?”
“No, quite the opposite. Before she died, my mate burned all the hair off my head during the last argument we had.” Damien snorted as what she’d called him got through his irritation. “Professor Hottie? Is that how you think of me?”
Jezibaba groaned at her slip. She closed her eyes, laughed, and shook her head. “Yes. It’s been a very long day and my tongue refuses to obey my brain.”
Damien considered her confession, enjoyed her discomfort, and then shrugged. “I’ll pretend to forget it if you’ll have dinner with me.”
“Hmm… dragons don’t usually play so nice. Most I’ve met were arrogant assholes. You surprise me, Professor Smoke. My instincts don’t know what to think about you.”
“I was in a throw-you-down-on-the-bed frame of mind before I figured out who you were,” Damien explained. “Even after I knew, that aspect of my feelings for you didn’t change. I’m being careful on purpose. Not being a master magic wielder, I don’t want my hottie ass handed to me because I got fresh with the most powerful witch who’s ever lived. I thought I’d play my interest off a tad bit cooler than that until I was sure of my welcome.”
Jezibaba grinned. “So my posse of seven warlocks all dressed in butt-ugly black robes didn’t clue you in about who I was? Even now there’s at least three of them in the hallway guarding my room. There is no such thing as a private moment in my life. It can put a real damper on an amorous encounter.”
Damien rubbed his chin. “Yes, I saw the ones in the hall, but I didn’t notice the warlocks when you arrived. I never saw anything then but a beautiful woman with great legs wearing a gorgeous red dress that showed a lot of cleavage. Thinking about burning it off you has been a constantly reoccurring fantasy all damn day, but I know better than to rush any female I desire. I was married for over a century.”
Jezibaba sighed. Her defenses were down. Or maybe she didn’t have many where Damien Smoke was concerned. “I’m having enough trouble with this job as it is. I don’t want to be here. I’m here because I have no choice. Having you as a lover would be a very big distraction, Professor.”
“The big part is accurate,” Damien admitted, grinning at her feminine giggle. “But I doubt you let anything or anyone distract you for long. You wouldn’t have survived all this time if you had.”
Jezibaba met his gaze and nodded. “You are absolutely correct.”
He held her gaze and smiled. “So come to dinner, call me Damien, and let’s be friends. Our goal is the same. Carol and Hildy need to be protected so they can grow up as normal as possible, which for those two will be a hard enough challenge. They don’t need to worry about people trying to kill them all the time in addition to learning to deal with their own eccentricities.”
Jezibaba sighed and nodded. “When the Council of Witches announced the public caldron had shown them my potential successors, I was giddy with the news. I filled out retirement forms and started making vacation plans. Then Nathaniel consulted the Fates and they laughed at his question. Despite all the hell I’ve been through, now I have to watch over children who may or may not make it to adulthood. Even if they live, it could be another fifty to a hundred years before those two are ready to serve. My life isn’t changing any time soon. Now on top of all that bad news—I’m officially babysitting.”
Damien walked across the room. He put a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. “I could make you forget all that for an hour or two, but I’d rather tal
k to you about how I can help you long term. The rest…” he waved a hand at the bed, “will happen as it’s meant to happen. And it will happen. I will try my best not to burn that red dress when I remove it, but no promises.”
“Oh Professor, you do make lovely speeches,” Jezibaba said huskily. “Okay. Give me a moment to change and I’ll go to dinner with you.”
“Okay.” Damien dropped his hand. “Should I leave?”
“No need.” She shook her head. “Just step back. My hands are tired. I have to use my wand.”
Damien did as she ordered, watching as she picked up the wand and waved it over her body. The red dress disappeared and in its place were tight jeans, western boots, and a snug fitting green shirt the same color as her eyes. She looked normal… and vulnerable.
His dragon’s flame rose inside him as the need to protect her layered on top of the lust he still hadn’t set completely aside, no matter what he’d said to convince the great Jezibaba otherwise.
“Before we leave the privacy of your room, you should probably know that I haven’t had sex in seventy-five years. I tell you this because it’s all I’ve thought about since the moment I laid eyes on you. If you have any reservations about being intimate with me, work through them fast.”
Jezibaba made a face and shrugged both shoulders. “Wow. Talk about pressure to perform. I hadn’t gotten past the fear of kissing you yet.”
Damien snorted and hung his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that quite as intensely as it came out. I’m not as smooth as I would like to be.”
His heart leapt inside him when he felt her pick up his hand and squeeze.
“My my, Professor Hottie, what big hands you have,” Jezibaba taunted. “I’m starting to believe your bragging might actually be true.”
“My my, lovely Jezibaba, I assure you it’s all true. I wasn’t bragging at all,” Damien whispered, lifting her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles.
When she laughed with ease, Damien smiled and tugged her hand to make her follow him.
Chapter 4
With the moon hidden behind clouds, the night was dark as Damien stepped out of the building. He slid his teaching robe from his shoulders, freeing his naked body to enjoy the breeze. He placed the folded robe in a special box he’d installed there years ago and walked forward until he was in a large enough space to shift.
His human form flinched at the first expansion of bone and muscle into a creature that dwarfed the building he’d just exited. It had been months since he’d changed to dragon, and now like one enduring his first change, Damien felt it all over as scales replaced skin. But as always, the struggle was worth the glory of connecting to his true self again.
Flying was the only way to get to where he needed to go and his regular magic was not strong enough for transport.
It felt like it took an hour to shift, but in reality it took less than a minute before his claws gripped the earth and his wings unfurled. His launch into the air was as effortless as always.
Fortunately some things never changed. Flying was like breathing for creatures like him.
As he circled overhead, his roar called to the dragon magic of his people and a ring of protection fell from the night sky to surround the entire campus. Now he would know if anyone tried to harm his charges while he was gone.
His golden eyes blinked approval before he shot off. The trip home would take hours, but he’d return before his first class tomorrow morning. His mind was set on protection and it would not rest until he’d done all he could to make sure those he cared about were safe from harm.
***
The distracted dragon hadn’t seen her standing in the shadows watching him. That was just as well, Jezibaba decided. Confirmation of Professor Hottie’s naked ass being as perfect as she’d imagined made her wince over his rather painful change into the creature that hosted his true soul.
She stayed where she was pressed against the building, watching unnoticed from the shadows as her mild-mannered, polite dinner date silently launched his terrifying dragon form into the night sky. A shiver had coursed through her body when his giant talons dug deep trenches into the vulnerable earth as he launched into flight. Old dragons like him had powerful claws and knew how to use them.
If she accepted Damien Smoke as a lover, what she had seen tonight was the real nature of the creature she’d be letting have her, no matter the human form he might temporarily hold for her benefit. Her sexy dragon dinner date was descended from the most ancient of creatures in the world, as were all dragons. But the red markings on his otherwise black wings told a bigger story about who he was, one most recognized on sight. Those red tipped wings alone were enough reason to have her deciding to never share his bed.
Damien Smoke’s red wings marked his dragon family’s debt to Morgana The Red. With only a thin blood red band left on what once were likely full red wings, she knew his debt was nearly paid. Admittedly, the information told her little about him other than they potentially served the same Goddess. Having already lived more life than most witches ever did, she had acquired some painfully learned lessons about not knowing what motivated those who tried to befriend her.
There was indebted service to the Goddess… and then there was genuine service. After all her years, she still wasn’t sure which category she fit into, but if she was indebted, Morgana The Red had chosen not to show it to the world.
No matter how attracted she was to the dragon in human form, she would not lose sight of the only reason she’d involved herself in his life. If emotional distance from him served her purposes better—and it was looking like it would—then she would never know the pleasures of him. She could live with that choice.
But she would not reveal her reticence until it was necessary. Their banter amused her… and warmed her. Professor Hottie seemed to be trying to woo her. She’d all but forgotten what it felt like to allow a male such liberties over her emotions.
She walked out to investigate the deep grooves marring Damien’s launch space. It surprised her to find magical residue in them. Doing him a favor, she waved a tired hand, mending the earth to hide all traces of dragon activity. The ring of magical protection he’d dropped over the campus had been impressive and powerful enough to hold for several days if he didn’t call it back to him.
Where had he gone in such a hurry? Professor Hottie certainly hadn’t mentioned going anywhere over the poorly prepared cafeteria food they’d been eating a few hours ago. Ground smooth and blemish free once more, Jezibaba now studied the night sky.
“Are you my friend or foe, Professor? I guess only the Goddess knows for now. But I will find out, dragon. I will find out. I always do.”
“Yes. Morgana said you would learn the dragon’s secrets and help him finish his task.”
Jezibaba’s head turned as a tall white bird materialized wearing an Egyptian headdress. He transformed as she watched into a male with silver eyes, pale skin, and dark blue hair the color of most lakes. Emeritus was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen… and not surprisingly, the first one who’d ever broken her heart. Her emotional pain might have been avoided if he’d just told her from the beginning that he was Morgana’s Consort.
His natural form was that of a Bennu or a Chol, but over time his creature’s form became known by many names. These days it was most commonly referred to as a Phoenix. The myth of his rising from his own ashes was a metaphor. The truth was Emeritus eventually aged, came close to dying, and then changed back into a mere babe.
She’d met him during his current regeneration. Emeritus and Morgana, on the other hand, had been entertaining each other for well over a millennia. The Goddess she served once confessed to choosing celibacy while waiting for the creature she loved to progress far enough past being a child to take him as a lover again.
In the youth of his regenerative change, Jezibaba had met the young Emeritus when Morgana had sent the Bennu to be her familiar. She’d fallen madly in love with him the day they met, but he�
�d told her from the very beginning that no female born could take Morgana’s place.
She could have asked for a different familiar, one she hadn’t cared for so much, but Emeritus had begged her not to and vowed to learn shape-shifting so he could serve her better. They had been professional friends for nearly three hundred years. Now she thought of him as a rare, true ally—of which she had few that had proven incorruptible.
Did she still feel a twinge of desire for Emeritus now and again, especially when she remembered she was still a woman with needs? Certainly. It was strange he’d come to visit now since throughout the evening she pondered if a dragon with the nicest ass she’d ever seen might actually have the power to cure her from longing for a man who would never grace her bed.
Jezibaba walked to where Emeritus stood glowing in the dim moonlight. “To what do I owe this rare pleasure, old friend? I didn’t expect to see you again today.”
“I wanted you to know that I checked in on the children for you this evening. They might fight in front of people, but last I saw, they were both fast asleep in one bed with the kittens curled around and between them. Their friendship will be tried sorely as they age, but to sleep with someone is to trust them with your very life. It makes me hopeful for your replacements.”
Jezibaba smiled and nodded. “I’m sure they’ll be fine until some unworthy male comes along and gets between them to screw things up.”
Emeritus laughed. “Still cynical about love I see. Perhaps the dragon might soften that a bit, if you choose to let him.”
Jezibaba snorted. “You know I think males are pricks one and all… even you, Emeritus. But my weakness is that I adore them regardless of their flaws. Now what does that say about me?”
“That you’re an optimist under all that cynicism?” he offered, smiling at her chuckle.
Jezibaba shook her head. “No, Emeritus. I’m a needy woman. That’s worse than being an optimist. Being female gives me a foolish heart that can be won over by poetry and gallant actions. My body craves a devotion I have never found in any male’s arms. I have come to think of it as a curse to even hope. Low expectations are easier to live with.”
Magic and Mayhem: How To Train A Witch (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Baba Yaga Saga Book 1) Page 4
