A woman with teased hair the color of a ripe mango came forward with her hands raised. “Ohhh, Miss Callie. Now that outfit makes a statement. No man will be able to resist you.”
“I won’t be able to resist them either, since I can hardly move,” Callie grumbled, causing Harrison to snort some of her peach margarita up her nose. Callie stuck out her tongue. “You deserve it, cousin. You no longer get to pick out what I’m trying on. By the way, I don’t see you parading around in any of these outfits. Do I get my turn to chuckle at your expense?”
“I’d love to wear something like that. But Mom insists I wear the dress she wore, the dress her mother wore etcetera, etcetera. I’ll look old-fashioned and ridiculous. You’ll definitely chuckle.” Hannah smiled at the saleslady hovering beside them. “Madame Aubrey? I think Callie would like something a little softer. Something a little less revealing.”
Madame Aubrey tapped her chin, tilting her head as she studied Callie’s body. “I think I have just the thing for the discerning connoisseur. It’s our newest arrival. Enchanted to perfectly match the wearer’s personality.”
“Now that should be interesting.”
Oh God. Could this get any worse? She held in her stomach. “What are you doing here, Tyghe? I thought this place was females only.”
He smiled at Madame Aubrey as she passed him slowly with a curious grin. He turned to Callie, looking her up and down. His gaze narrowed on the plunging neckline that made her breasts look two sizes bigger than they were. She crossed her arms and glared, but he only quirked his lips. “They make an exception for me. I’m very…generous with my female friends. I may have to buy that for you, Callie. As long as you promise to wear it only in the bedroom. And only for me.”
Harrison stood. “I’m suddenly nauseous. I think I need another margarita, maybe a few straws to shove in my ears.”
Callie watched her follow the eavesdropping saleswoman out the door, grumbling under her breath at her best friend’s abandonment.
Tyghe shut the door, eating up the distance between them with long, swift strides. He leaned close to her ear, gripping her arms when she started to move away. Callie inhaled sharply at the jolt of electric energy zapping through her at the contact. She could almost hear the sizzle.
His grey eyes darkened. Had he felt it too? “Just doing my job, sweetheart. Madame Aubrey knows me, knows I only show up when I want something. Someone. Now she’ll tell everyone in the salon that I’m after you. But you have to do your part. This illusion only works if you pretend you want me, Callie, just a little.” He caressed her bare arms, his gaze on her lips. “The passion between Magian matches is not a subtle thing. It is powerful. Undeniable. Electric. If I’m one half of your match, you won’t be able to stay away from me, just as I won’t be able to stay away from you…especially before we find our third and join together officially.”
Callie’s breath came faster. His touch was taking away her ability to think. Had he ever touched her before today? No. Surely not. She would have remembered the sparks, the intensity. Unless it was a part of Harrison’s spell. Her magic, such as it was, reacting to his.
She licked her lower lip, and Tyghe groaned. “We should practice. Pretend you can’t keep your hands off me, Callie. I’ll make it easy on you. Pretend I’m Tucker.”
Her mouth opened to protest and he was there, tongue tangling with hers, lips opening hers wider, taking more, taking everything. Callie closed her eyes and saw swirls of violet and silver sparks burst to life behind her lids.
Tyghe Abbott was kissing her.
He’d driven her crazy with his taunts and sarcastic smiles for over a decade, and now he tasted her like an addict desperate for a fix, like a lover who craved her with a hunger he couldn’t control. And Callie was kissing him back. Kissing him back and loving it.
His tongue slid across hers as his hand glided down her back to grip her hip, dragging her body roughly against his. She took a shuddering breath, the sensation of his hard erection pressed against her stomach making her ache.
Her arms entwined behind his neck and when he growled and lifted her higher in his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist. She felt him moving, felt her back hit the wall and then his hips were pressed between her thighs, his cock thrusting against her through their clothes as he continued to feast on her lips.
No fumbled groping in the car after a dinner date, no sweet kiss at the door after a dance had ever felt like this. Not even her one year-long relationship with Mitchell, the man she had thought she might actually marry, ever made her feel this. This was desire. Hunger.
Callie pulled back to gasp for air. Her outfit and Tyghe’s touch were making it hard for her to breathe. She wanted it gone, wanted to shred it from her body so she could feel him everywhere. On her. Inside her.
Her eyes opened in shock when she heard the shredding sound. She looked down to watch the outfit fall in small pieces toward the ground, merging back together in a neatly folded pile at Tyghe’s feet. But he was still holding her. How…?
“Madame Aubrey didn’t tell you about this particular outfit did she? The designer knew it would be too hard to take off in the heat of the moment, so they charmed it to fall away.” His sparkling eyes met hers and he grinned wickedly. “But only when the wearer really wants it to.”
Callie felt her face heat, but she could hardly deny it. She couldn’t bring herself to feel embarrassed or ashamed either. That would come later. Now she needed him. Needed more. She could feel the rough denim of his jeans against her bare sex, and she rubbed against him, her legs tightening around him. “Are we done practicing?”
His smile disappeared, and his jaw clenched. “Not even close.” He shifted, and she felt his hand cup her damp sex, his thumb searching for, and finding, her sensitive clit. “Wicked little Callie,” he murmured against her cheek. “I know exactly what you need.”
Yes. She felt that electric jolt again as he slipped one finger inside her, both of them groaning at the tight, delicious fit. She bit his chin, rocking her hips against his hand, all instinct and demand. She had no thoughts but this. Him.
“That’s right. Moan for me, Callie. Like my touch drives you crazy. Magian matches love touching. They need it. It strengthens their magic, charges their spirits.”
It felt amazing. The heat in her belly became a fiery blaze as another finger joined the first, the stretch made easier by her liquid arousal. He pumped inside her, faster and faster, driving her crazy with need. She slid her hands into his hair and placed desperate, open-mouthed kisses on his neck. He smelled good, spicy. His taste was addictive.
“Callie, I—” But she didn’t want him to talk. Didn’t want to think. She covered his lips with her own and slung her hips forward, feeling his fingers press deep inside her. Oh God, so deep.
Her climax took her by surprise, like a summer storm, lightning crashing around her, electricity vibrating up her spine and shooting through her limbs. “Tyghe.”
“Yes. Fuck. I can feel you coming around my fingers. So tight, Callie. Would you squeeze my cock that tightly? Callie? Baby?”
Callie felt him lowering her to her feet, heard the worry in his voice as though from a distance. It wasn’t stopping. The waves of energy rolling through her body were growing stronger. Pulsing within her like a powerful drumbeat. Pleasure so intense it was almost pain.
She opened her eyes again and gasped in shock. Violet arcs of light swirled around her, around him. She could see his silver aura around his body, strong with his arousal.
Callie pushed out of his arms, her body tingling more intensely where he touched her. “What’s happening? Oh shit, Tyghe. I feel… How do I make it stop?” How did she feel? Aroused? Scared? Vulnerable? Yes to all of the above. A sudden awareness of her nakedness, and her wild reaction to Tyghe, made her wrap her arms around herself and bend down to reach for the black suit, using the cloth to cover herself.
“Callie, calm down. It’s just the magic. Though it shouldn’t be affe
cting you like this. This only happens when Magians... Shit, Callie, let me…” He reached out to take her in his arms again, his expression gentle, concerned, but Callie didn’t trust that. He would use this to tease her, to make her feel like she couldn’t handle the gift Harrison had given her. Couldn’t handle Magian passion. She should never have lost control. Should never have let him touch her.
She held up her hand. “Stop. Just go. Get out of here.”
Tyghe froze mid step, his eyes widening, expression stunned as he began to walk backwards. A slow, awkward retreat that sent Callie’s eyebrows into her hairline. What was he doing?
He glared, the tendons in his jaw straining as his body seemed to be moving against his will. “Son of a bitch. I’m going to kill Harrison for playing around with this kind of magic. If I’d known—” He bumped into the door, his hand reaching behind him to open it so he could leave. He gripped the frame of the door, the wood creaking as he tried to still his retreat. “This isn’t over, Callie. You can send me away and go back to pretending you hate me. But you called my name as you came. Mine. Don’t forget that.” As he disappeared around the corner, she heard him mumble, “I sure as hell won’t.”
Chapter Three
“What the heck was that, Harry?”
They’d finally gotten back to the Abbott house, their arms full of bags from their trip to the salon. Everything from charmed styling gel to killer heels. Callie dumped her purchases on her bed in the guest room, flopping in the nearest chair with a sigh.
Harrison pushed the bags out of the way and sat on the bed, watching Callie warily. “I don’t know, Cal. I swear. That was not supposed to happen.” She grimaced. “I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately. All I wanted was for you to have enough magic that you would be recognized as one of us. Jenner…” She hesitated, as though there was something bothering her, before shaking her head with a resigned laugh. “What I want to know is what were you and Tyghe fighting about?”
Callie’s brow furrowed and guilt had her looking away from her friend. “Why do you think we were fighting?”
Harrison held up her hand, counting off on her fingers as she spoke. “First of all, you two are always sniping at each other. Secondly, I saw him in the lobby on his way out, and if looks could kill I’d be a dead debutante right now. Plus—” she looked at Callie, the worried, wary, almost guilty look returning to her eyes, “—that kind of power burst usually only comes from intense emotion. Anger. Fear…”
Or hot, sweaty lust, Callie finished the thought in her head. She ran a shaky hand through her hair, distractedly thinking that it had never felt or looked better. It was amazing what a little magic could do.
She tilted her head, a thought suddenly occurring to her. “Would the spell make me act differently? I mean, did you add some sort of Magian aphrodisiac in there or something?”
“Aphro—no.” Harrison’s eyes went wide, her head shaking back and forth. “No, Callie, tell me you don’t mean what I think you mean.” At Callie’s blush she snorted in disbelief. “You and Tyghe?”
“No. I mean, we were just…practicing…for Triune.” It must have sounded just as lame to Harrison as it did to her, if her friend’s expression was anything to go by. “I don’t know what came over me. I really don’t. I mean—Tyghe? The boy who turned my face green the night before the first day of eighth grade? The one who cursed my bicycle to chase George Anderson home from school everyday?”
Harrison held up her hands, tears of mirth flooding down her cheeks. “Even you have to admit, that was funny.”
“George didn’t think so. The poor guy was traumatized, and he never asked me out again.” Callie buried her face in her hands. “I was hoping it was your spell.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with that. I also didn’t have anything to do with the level of power you described.”
Callie didn’t like the sound of that. She looked up. “There’s more. I only told you about the energy going crazy. I didn’t tell you what I did to Tyghe.”
Harrison’s smile was hopeful. “Tell me you slapped him for touching you and my faith in womankind will be restored.”
Callie shook her head. “I made him leave.” Harrison started to interrupt her, but Callie spoke before she could. “I mean made him, Harry. I told him to get out and he left like…like he didn’t have another choice. He was pretty steamed about it too.”
Harrison stilled, her smile disappearing. “Callie, you said Charity gave you some new information about the attacks.”
The abrupt change in topic threw her for a moment. “Yeah. She told us that the women had some sort of compelling power that was fairly rare. She was surprised so many Magian’s had come out with it at the same time.”
Grey eyes narrowed on Callie. “What color was your energy, Cal?”
“Violet. Why?” But she understood. Compelling. She’d compelled Tyghe to leave. “Is that the power you gave me, Harry? The power of compulsion?”
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. I just gave you a generic magical camouflage and pulled out your own, natural gifts. I couldn’t give you compulsion if I wanted to. Like Tyghe said, I’m not that good. You’re exhibiting all the signs of a mentalist, someone who compels others through suggestion. You’re strong, too, if you can affect a Magian as gifted as Tyghe has always been.” Harrison bit her lip worriedly. “I really need to talk to Jenner. I think we should call this off.”
Callie jumped up from her chair, grabbing Harrison’s arm before she could leave. “No way. Tyghe’s the one who suggested I was bait, right? Well, if Charity’s right, I just became an irresistible lure. We have a better chance now to catch this guy, to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else. Who knows? Now that he has a taste for violence, he may not want to stop once he gets everyone with this ability. He might move on to other powers. Other women. Poor, innocent Veronica. You.” Callie shook her head. “I’m not going to let that happen.”
Harrison looked like she wanted to argue, but something in Callie’s expression must have told her it wouldn’t work. “I should have called Tucker home. He has a compelling magic too, though his is more physical in nature. Did you know that?” Callie shook her head and Harrison sighed. “Okay, Cal. Let me go fill Jenner in, see what we can do to make sure you have the protection you need by the time Triune rolls around. If we’re doing this, I don’t want you put in any more danger than you have to be.”
She left Callie alone with a soft click of the door as it latched behind her. She looked around the room without seeing a thing. She didn’t understand. Harrison hadn’t meant to give her the compulsion ability? That meant it had to be something latent inside her.
Every being has a little magic inside them, isn’t that what she had said? But surely that wasn’t hers. She’d never been able to make anyone do what she wanted them to. Her gift had always been at deduction, at getting people to tell her their secrets. That was a sort of compulsion she supposed, though she’d always thought she just had one of those trustworthy faces.
Tyghe had been surprised. Upset. She hadn’t meant to force him to move against his will. She’d been embarrassed, confused. Scared by the power of her climax and the magical energy flowing through her. She’d wanted him to go, yes, but not that way. Not by controlling him. It was a disconcerting ability to say the least.
What if she hadn’t been able to send him away? He would have touched her again, she knew. Taken her, right there in the changing rooms, where anyone could have seen them…and Callie wouldn’t have cared.
In one day, it seemed, so much had changed. She had power. Since her experience with Tyghe she could still feel it, a steady hum beneath the surface. Waiting. And Tyghe. Had she ever thought of him as more than the gorgeous, but troublemaking older brother of her best friend? He’d gotten under her skin easier than anyone she’d ever met. A look from him was all it took to set her on edge. Had it been there even then, attraction disguised as irritation?
If so,
she was in serious trouble. It seemed she was doomed to spend her life drawn to men she couldn’t have. Magians. Abbotts. First Tucker. Now Tyghe.
After this adventure was over and she graduated from the academy, she might use the money she’d been saving for a rainy day and take a cruise. Somewhere warm and tropical. Away from Boston. Away from temptation. But first, she had a criminal to catch.
It was a moment before she realized she couldn’t move. Panic was instantaneous. Was this another strange side effect of having powers? Her brain was screaming at her hands and feet to move, but her body was not responding. She opened her mouth to shout but no sound came out.
“Calm down, Callie. Nothing’s wrong. It’s me.”
Motherfuckingsonofabitch. Tyghe? She heard his voice behind her. How had he gotten in the room without her noticing? He’d done this? Immobilized her? She was going to kill him. As soon as she could move.
He circled her body until he was facing her, his grey eyes narrowing at her venomous glare. “Don’t look at me like that. I’d say we’re even now. You took my control away, now I’ve taken yours.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, the picture of frustration. “I won’t apologize. If you want sympathy find Lorie. Or Tucker. Your heroes would give you soft words and soothing smiles. But that’s not who I am.”
No it wasn’t. At the mention of her earlier actions, she felt herself calming down a little. He looked haggard, and a spark of compassion and renewed heat warmed her as she watched him. He was shirtless, the top button of his jeans undone, his hair damp as though he’d just come out of the shower.
He followed the movement of her eyes and grimaced. “Cold showers don’t work for Magians any better than I hear they work for humans. They’re just cold.” He stepped closer. “It didn’t make me stop wanting to fuck you, or take the scent of your honey from my fingers.”
She blinked. He pulled no punches with his words, but then, he never had. As simple as that, she wanted him again. The way she had only hours before. Insanely. Thoughtlessly. Wantonly. The energy inside her built, the hair rising on the back of her neck at the static charge.
Wicked Sexy: Wicked ³, Book 1 Page 3
