Blessed (The Chosen Book 2)

by Mayburn, Ann

  Forcing himself to respond to her question, he said, “Could be for a lot of different reasons. An oracle could have seen you would need it and passed along the word, or a prophet could have predicted it. While Cupid is a god, he's not all seeing and all knowing. Gods know infinitely more than we do, or ever will, but they are still servants of the Creator. Nothing is set in stone. A different decision here or there can change the path of many lives.”

  “Well, at least I got cute jewelry out of the day. And I got permission to go clubbing,” she said in a teasing voice, then held up her hand to admire the ring on her slender finger. It was shifting in patterns of green and purple now with a touch of gold.

  “I'm glad it wasn't a total waste of time then. And you're not stepping foot in that club without me, Student.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you're underage. I don't want you getting into any trouble or getting Billy's club in trouble with the police.” And because he would kick the ass of any man that touched her.

  “Oh, well, I guess you can come along... as long as you don't cramp my style too much.”

  “I'll try not to embarrass you,” he said in a dry voice as they pulled into Jack's parking lot.

  He eased the Hummer into the spot next to the Cadillac. “Now that is a big car.”

  “Hey now, Fran is a senior citizen. You be kind to her,” she yelled as he walked around to her door.

  He held his hand out for her and helped her out of the SUV. Closing the door after her, he leaned next to the hood, blocking the way to her car. He should move, he really should, but his self-control had almost reached its limit.

  “Let me see your phone.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m going to program in some numbers of people you can call in case you need help and I’m not available.”

  She handed over her phone and silently watched him as he put in a bunch of numbers. Once he was done he handed the phone back to her and watched her scroll through the names he’d added, her brow furrowing. She looked so adorable when she frowned that he wanted gather her into his arms and kiss away those soft lines around her mouth. Well, he actually wanted to do a lot more than that, but mainly he wanted to keep her safe.

  “Twenty-eight new contacts? Really, Aiden, isn’t that a bit much?”

  “I can only hope it’s enough,” he said in a serious voice and hated the fear that flashed through her beautiful silver eyes. “Please be careful. If you see anything weird or threatening, get to a public place as soon as possible and call me. If I don't answer, call Jack or Billy at their work right away and if they don’t answer, just start calling people. Tell them that I’m your mentor and they will come help you, no questions asked. Even if you think you’re being paranoid, please call them just to be safe.”

  “I'll be fine, don't worry. I have a strong survival instinct, and my dad taught me how to take care of a boy who won't take no for an answer.” She patted his shoulder in a soothing manner, and he grabbed her in a lightning fast move.

  Ignoring her gasp, he said, “Eliana, the Destro Chosen you face are stronger and faster than the average human. For the most part, they aren't superhero fast, but they will be able to overpower you easily. Please be careful.” He ran his thumb across the back of her hand, briefly looking into her eyes before releasing her and stepping away from the SUV.

  To his shock she pushed him up against the side of the Hummer and placed her hands on his chest, leaning into his body. “I’m not a complete idiot, Aiden. I do know how to take care of myself.”

  Oh how he ached to show her just how much he could take care of her, how much he could please her, how much he wanted to take her and fuck her up against the side of the Hummer until the fear that he sensed beneath her desire melted away in the heat they could generate together.

  Despite his best intentions he found himself lifting her by her arms and turning her around, pressing her back against the side of his vehicle. She gasped, then wrapped her arms and legs around him. They were close enough to kiss, but he kept his lips from hers as he said, “I don’t think you’re an idiot. I think you’re a very smart and brave young woman who has been thrown head first into a situation that would make most people piss themselves in fear.”

  She trembled and he tried to ignore the heat of her pussy pressing against him just as he hoped she was ignoring the press of his erection between her legs. God she was hot, so fucking hot and he was dying to sink into her heat, into her softness. Her aura wrapped around him in a ball clenching wave of raw lust and he choked back a moan, dropping her so quick she almost fell before bracing her hand on the side of her car.

  As she stared up at him with wide, shocked eyes he quickly moved away. “I have to go.”

  She nodded and as he was pulling out of the parking lot he looked into his rear view mirror and found her still staring at him with a confused expression that matched his own. He didn’t know why he found it impossible to keep his hands off of her, but he had to get a fucking grip. She was hands off, no touching, absolutely no grinding his cock into her lush body against the side of his car. His dick ached like an open wound and he wondered how the fuck he was going to survive her training.

  Chapter

  Eliana sat on the couch in her suite’s small living area with Chrissy and watched a new episode of their favorite game show. The show was about three witches trying to find their way out of a series of booby-trapped mazes to win $10,000. The witches brought spells and whatever magical equipment they could carry with them. As long as they didn't kill, maim, disfigure, or permanently harm one another mentally or physically, they could use magic in any way they wanted to get out first and win.

  Currently, the eldest witch, a redheaded old lady in a sweater vest, worked her magic to try and disarm an illusion spell. Part of the floor in the hall ahead was real, and part of it was an illusion that would lead the unwary witch to tumble into a pit and out of the competition. What the elder witch didn't know was that there was another witch behind her. The other witch had wrapped herself in a cloak spell so she could follow the older witch undetected and try to push her from behind into the pit.

  “Behind you!” Chrissy yelled, bouncing on the cushions. “For the love of the goddess, use your third eye and look behind you!”

  Eliana followed the up-and-down motion of Chrissy's bouncing with an amused smile. “I didn't know you were so into this stuff.”

  Keeping her eyes on the TV, Chrissy said, “My mom is the coven leader in my town. I haven't committed to it yet, but she would love me to join and start a matriarchal line of witches in our family. So I grew up watching her do spells. When she couldn't find a babysitter, I went to coven meetings with her.”

  “Really?” She rescued a throw pillow from Chrissy's bounce. “How did your mom, Betty Homemaker and pageant parent extraordinaire, get into Wicca?”

  Chrissy bared her teeth at the TV in a savage smile that she usually reserved for her opponents on the soccer field.

  The older witch put up a sight shield of her own and disappeared from view. The camera switched to an infrared lens to show their heat signatures. The older witch snuck behind the younger one and began to chant a spell while tracing figures in the air with her hands. The younger witch heard her and crouched next to the wall. With shaking hands, the younger witch tried to sort through the stack of amulets she had around her neck.

  “My mom got into it because of the pageants,” Chrissy said. “It was a common practice for pageant moms to cast the evil eye and hexes on other girls they thought were the biggest competition.”

  Chrissy glanced at Eliana and snorted. “Yeah, I know it's crazy. For many of those women, having their kid win a pageant crown was their life. Reliving their childhood and all that crap. Anyway, it got bad. Not just small evil eye curses that would make your hair snarl or your dress fall to pieces, but big ones that could hurt people. So my mom decided to learn about all that stuff so she could protect me, and it turns out she's got a
natural gift for it.”

  Eliana winced as the older witch on the TV began to chant something that made her teeth hurt. Chrissy turned down the volume. “It's mellowed her out too. You can't work with the Mother Goddess as much as she does and not take on some of her energy. She's a lot more confident now. After my parents' divorce, my mom went through a rough patch with trusting men. Now she's seeing a nice shaman and teaching a Zumba class on the weekends.”

  “I'm glad your mom is doing well. She was really cool when she came to visit us. I loved the complexion potion she gave me. My skin has never looked so good.”

  They paused to watch the younger witch begin to build her energy. Her aura began to flare orange in ever-increasing arcs around the amulets as she tried to invoke them. The show had a special camera filter that showed auras of the participants so the home audience could see all the action.

  Eliana toyed with Cupid's bead, now on a necklace. “That's crazy about the beauty pageants though. All that drama for your kid to win a crown that costs less than the gas it took to get you to the competition,” she said and put another pillow behind her back. “They must have made some rules after that because I know at the Miss America pageant they have anti-hex and anti-curse witches and protection all over the place. And you're disqualified if you use any charms to enhance yourself or influence the judges.”

  Chrissy nodded. “Yep, and they do a sweep on the audience to make sure no one has any long-range spells. That started after a voodoo Priestess threw a no-hair hex on one of the pageant contestants in Louisiana. Nothing like having all of your hair fall out at once, on live TV, to throw a kink in your day.”

  On the TV screen, a gob of green slime began to ooze out of the younger witch's mouth, and it dripped all over the amulets in her hands. It sealed her hands, and the amulets, into a thick green wad. Having effectively rendered the younger witch useless, the older witch dropped her sight shield. She gave the younger witch the finger and sauntered through the disarmed illusion trap.

  A knock at the door interrupted Chrissy's loud cheering.

  “Got it,” Chrissy said, and she bounded off the couch.

  Eliana couldn't see who was on the other side of the door. A deep male voice said, “Hey, Chrissy. I was wondering if you guys wanted to share a pizza with us.”

  “One second. Let me check with my roommate.” Leaning around the door so they couldn't see her, Chrissy mouthed, “Oh my God it's Ryan!” Ryan was a cute guy from the men's soccer team who Chrissy had a crush on. Eliana gave her a grin and thumbs-up.

  “Sure, come on in,” Chrissy said.

  Ryan's sable hair brushed past his broad shoulders. Behind Ryan stood Kyle, the cute guy who had served them beers at the party on the fifth floor. Kyle squeezed in the door behind Ryan and gave Chrissy a charming smile.

  “I hope you don't mind, but I brought my roommate, Kyle. It didn't seem fair to leave him in the room alone with no pizza,” Ryan said as they entered the small TV room.

  “Yeah, especially when I paid for half the pizza and went and got it,” Kyle said as he winked at Eliana. He plopped onto the white fur beanbag on her right. “Hey, Eliana. How've you been?”

  She gave him a smile and crossed her legs. A few days ago she would have been happy to have this cute guy in her room and obviously flirting with her, but after being with Aiden, Kyle suddenly looked like a kid to her. Just the thought of Aiden made her heart race and she firmly pushed him from her mind. She would not spend every minute of every day thinking about him…just every other minute.

  Turning her mind to the present, and forcing it to stay there, she smiled. “It's going good. Tons of homework, bad cafeteria food, and it takes me half an hour to find a parking spot, but other than that...good.”

  Kyle laughed and stood to help Chrissy with the paper plates and Ryan with the pizza. After he set the pizza on the small table in front of them, they dug in and watched the end of the game show. They talked about school, soccer, and what bands were coming to the local arena in the coming months. Eliana had a good time, and the pizza was delicious. She usually didn't like mushrooms, but these were super yummy and she had three slices.

  With a contented sigh, she leaned back into the couch. She glanced at the clock above the TV and let out a small groan. As she stood and walked toward the bathroom, Kyle said in a worried voice, “You're not leaving us already, are you?”

  “No, I'll be right back. I promised my mom and dad I would call them tonight. And unless I want them showing up at my door at 2 a.m. with the police, I need to talk to them soon.”

  She used the restroom and checked in the mirror to make sure she didn't have anything in her teeth. Her lips felt more sensitive than usual, and she wondered if she’d burned them at the park today. Her cheeks were pink, but nothing too bad, so she decided it must be nothing.

  After an uneventful conversation with her dad about home, family, and all that fun stuff, she noticed a missed call on her cell phone and her stomach clenched when she saw it was from Aiden. Her skin flushed at the thought of him, and her nipples hardened painfully.

  Oh for the love of spaghetti, get control of yourself! With a shaking finger, she dialed Aiden's number.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Aiden.” Her voice sounded low and unexpectedly sultry. She cleared her throat and continued. “It's Eliana.”

  “I know who it is. Caller ID is a wonderful thing,” he teased softly. She bit back a sigh as his voice warmed over her skin, and she clenched her legs together. “I was wondering if you were free tomorrow to come over to my house. I need to start teaching you shielding and a couple other things.”

  Oh yes, I would love to come over to your house and have hours of hot, sweaty sex with you, she thought and gave herself a mental shake. Focus, woman. Stop making an idiot of yourself...even if he does have such long and probably talented fingers. And don't forget about those lips, also probably very talented...and his ass, a work of art. I'd eat a cupcake off that ass. And his dick, his big hard dick pressing against your clit as he ground himself into you in the parking lot and almost made you come in your pants.

  “Eliana, are you there?”

  “Yeah, I'm here. I'm more tired than I thought, and my mind is wandering.” Wandering right into the gutter. “I'd love to come over tomorrow.”

  He gave her directions to his house, and she hastily said her goodbyes and hung up. The warmth was spreading over her body, making her feel hot and liquid inside. Her clit was hard, and she groaned when she squeezed her legs together again. The sound of laughter came from the room next door, and she flushed with embarrassment.

  I must be having some weird allergic reaction to the pizza. I need to take an antihistamine and go to bed, Eliana thought, and she shuffled back over to the small living area next to the bedroom.

  She poked her head in the room. “Hey, guys, I'm not feeling too well. I'm going to hit the hay.”

  Ryan and Chrissy were sitting close to each other on the couch, holding hands while talking in low voices. Kyle frowned at her and stood. “Hey, are you okay? Want me to help you into bed?”

  He came across the room and put his hand on her forehead. His cool palm felt good. She had never noticed before, but he had lovely brown eyes and a dimple in his chin. She felt a burp coming on and backed away saying, “No, I'm okay, but thanks anyway.”

  She darted into her room and closed the door on his frustrated face. After letting out a big belch, she pressed her hands to her stomach and made a sour face. Yanking open the mini-fridge next to the door, she grabbed a container of water and shook out two antihistamines from the bottle in her desk drawer. As another burp came up, she added some Tums for good measure.

  Turning on the fan at the end of the room, she took her hair out of its bun and climbed the ladder into her loft. The wood of the ladder felt rough against her palms; she could feel every grain of it. When she stretched out in her bed, her sheets felt as smooth and slippery as silk against her body. It felt wonderfu
l to rub her legs against her sheets.

  As she lay back in the dark room, she thought she heard the door handle turn, but no one came in, so she flopped her head back onto the pillow.

  After tossing and turning for ten minutes, she scooted her pajama pants off and tugged the sheet over her. Her skin felt as though it was buzzing, and when she licked her lips, they tingled. Her clothes felt too tight on her body, but she wasn't about to sleep topless in front of Chrissy. They were friends, but not that good of friends.

  The allergy pills finally started to kick in, and she fell into a deep sleep.

  She dreamed of Aiden. They were in the backseat of her car looking over the lake in her hometown. It was night, and the glow of a full moon illuminated his face. It made his eyes look black, and his cheekbones cast dark shadows into the hollows beneath. He leaned forward and kissed her gently, light, tiny movements all over her mouth and cheeks as his scent of amber and cedar washed over her. His kiss was magic, sinking into her skin and dancing along her nerves.

  “Eliana,” he said with a soft moan before he began to kiss her more deeply. She groaned back into his mouth, more turned on by those soft kisses than from hours of foreplay with her past boyfriends. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, pulling back to trace the contour of his lower lip with the tip of her tongue. She fit perfectly into his arms, and their energy stroked against each other in a way that made her shudder against him.

  He began to lean forward, but she stopped him with a hand on his chest. She felt his heart beating against her palm, and he felt so warm and good. “Be still.”

  He obeyed, and she continued to tease his lips with the tip of her tongue, holding his face between her small hands. He managed to hold still until she gently bit his lowered lip, and then, with a growl, he pulled her onto his lap. She felt the hard length of him through his jeans, and she ground on him, her gasp echoing his. He repositioned himself so he lay long and hard against her slit. She rocked against him again and whimpered when her clit ground over the firm head of his cock through his jeans.