by Martha Woods
She loved the sexual charge her transformation had given her, even though at times it could be a bit of a burden. When she got an urge, she felt as though she would kill over if she didn’t act on it. Still, it had really boosted her confidence and added a new spark to their sex life. Not that it had dulled. He pulled back from the kiss to pull her shirt over her head. Kristian bent down a bit to capture one of her nipples with his teeth. He nibbled lightly and let his tongue massage the rosy pink skin. Shivers ran down her spine and she involuntarily bit down on her lip. Her hands gravitated to his waistband, pulling down his boxers in one tug. Kristian’s slender fingers were between her legs then, pulling her panties to the side and bucking his hips up to meet her wet sex.
Tessa pushed her hips down, sliding herself down his member. Kristian whimpered from pleasure, his mouth releasing her nipple. Her hips rocked in a fluid and seductive manner, always making sure to bring herself up to the very tip of his erection to drive him wild. His eyes were hooded as he watched her. Before, that would have turned her into a blushing mess, but she actually loved it then. It fueled her self-esteem to know that she was the only thing on his mind while they made love.
He couldn’t take her movements for long, though. Kristian grabbed her by the hips and moved her off of him. He laid her down on her side and positioned himself behind her, while staying propped up; he remembered her enjoying the position thoroughly during some of their midday romps in the sheets when they were supposed to be sleeping. It gave him an excellent angle. As soon as he thrust into her, Tessa had to bite down onto her pillow to keep from crying out. His hands gripped her hips possessively, keeping her locked into place as he pumped into her in a pleasantly rough way.
The walls of her sex began to swell, overcome by the pleasure he was providing. Kristian’s thoughts were consumed with awe and ecstasy, Tessa picking up that he was getting close to release himself. He suddenly bit down on her shoulder, though not hard enough to break the skin. Kristian rocked into her rapidly, groaning into the skin of her back. She felt one of his hands leave her hip to snake between her legs, rubbing her clit vigorously as he began to climax within her. Her thigh muscles flexed and her breath caught in her throat. Tessa was easily brought to climax, her hips instinctively pushing back into his as she rode the waves of pleasure.
Tessa rolled onto her stomach when he withdrew himself from her. The exhaustion hit her like a freight train, having forgotten how sleepy she truly was. Before she could move over to give Kristian more room on the bed, her body succumbed to the exhaustion.
Part Three
The week was filled with intense training. Tessa worked with Calla and the elders for at least fifteen hours a day, rapidly mastering the basics of magic. She had finally figured out how to block out thoughts, which brought her the peace she had been looking for her entire life. She completely relished in it, having absolutely no desire to turn it off to poke around anyone’s head. Finally, she was all alone inside of her head. While that was her favorite of all the things she had learned, Tessa had easily conquered several other fields of magic. Conjuring fire, influencing emotions, how to project thoughts, the basics of charm-making, and most remarkably, she learned a minor form of telekinesis. It was something that not even Calla could do. Only older witches and witches within the High Priestess bloodline could accomplish it.
Tessa had never felt more confident and powerful in her entire life. Magic came so naturally to her, completely astonishing herself and Calla—but the elders didn’t seem to think it was peculiar at all. She was so driven by the desire to learn more about magic. It was liberating to know that with her ability in magic combined with her strength and speed of being a vampire, she could go just about anywhere in the world and stand her own ground. No longer was she tethered to the vampires and Firehavens for protection. It made her connections with them all feel so much more genuine. Especially Kristian. Their love life had been set afire by her newfound confidence and energy. Kristian ate it up and built off her energy. Tessa finally felt like she was coming into her own.
One evening, the witches took a well-deserved break from training for a couple of hours. Tessa wasn’t extremely happy about it, eager to get to studying, but knew that they all deserved a little rest. It wasn’t like they were taking the whole night off. So, Tessa used the break to finally spend some quality time with Kristian. From how intensive the training had been, she really only got to spend time with him in the early evening and about an hour or so before falling asleep. Being used to spending every waking moment with him, to Tessa it constantly felt like it had been days since she had seen him last.
They were cuddled up on the couch, sitting side by side with Tessa’s legs kicked over his lap. She had convinced him to sit still long enough to watch one of her favorite movies of all times, The Iron Giant. No one else there was fond of television, except for Charley and Selena, but they were off doing their own things. Surprisingly enough, though, the movie held Kristian’s focus. It thrilled Tessa to know she had shown him a movie he enjoyed. As the movie continued, there was a faint smile constantly on his lips. Near the end, when the Iron Giant sacrificed itself for the sake of the town, Kristian’s face had fallen flat—only for the smile to return when the parts of the robot began forming together once again.
When the credits started to roll, Tessa looked at Kristian with a beaming smile, “I’m glad you liked the movie.”
“How could I not?” Kristian questioned, crossing his legs. “It was basically a movie about you as a giant alien robot.”
Tessa snorted, “What? I’m nothing like Iron Giant.”
He arched a brow at her, “You have nothing in common with a robot that is lost with people chasing him for no reason other than being afraid of his power, and seeking shelter with a family? All while being lovable and naïve to the world he was just thrown into?” Tessa’s jaw dropped, not ever having thought about it like that. “I just hope you never sacrifice yourself for the good of the town,” he mumbled. Before Tessa could reply to that, the front door opened. In stumbled Charley, doubled over and holding her sides as she laughed hysterically. “What’s gotten into you?” Kristian called over to her.
“Oh nothing. Totally off topic, but do we have any popcorn?” Charley struggled to get out through her laughter.
“Why?” Tessa questioned, furrowing her brow.
“I need it for the showdown that’s about to happen,” Charley said, plopping down in an armchair and sitting on the edge of the seat.
“What showdown?” Kristian asked, his eyes widening. “Did you catch word of something? Why are you taking this so lightly?”
“Don’t worry, Bossman, it’s not the Calder.” Charley burst into another fit of laughter as she tried to finish her thought, but simply couldn’t.
“Then who is it?” Kristian asked, his tone pinched with annoyance. He no longer seemed entirely convinced by Charley’s declaration. If it wasn’t the Calder, who possibly could be coming to attack them? And why was she so damn cavalier?
Charley managed to calm herself down, taking slow and dramatic deep breaths through her mouth. A broad smile still dominated her olive face as she looked over to him, “Veronica.”
“What?” Kristian gasped, shooting up from the couch. Tessa’s eyes widened in horror. They had kept everything going on there a secret. As far as Veronica knew, Kristian and Tessa were there alone while she waited out her newborn days, and Jared and Calla were on a well-deserved vacation in the city; which Kristian hoped he could one day send them on. “How do you know? How long do we have?” he asked, already contemplating where to stash the elders.
“Oh, I’d say you have about,” Charley began, glancing down to her wrist as though a watch were there, “ten seconds, tops? Her car is coming down the road.”
“Goddamn it, Charley!” Kristian hissed. “Why do you always have to play games? You should have warned me the moment you saw it!”
“Where’s the fun in that? Not like you could
have stopped her from getting here and hide the women, along with the big ass van they rode in with, in the span of like thirty seconds,” Charley scoffed.
“That’s all besides the point. I’m really fucking tired of you smart mouth—” Kristian began to rant but was cut off by the front door opening yet again. All eyes in the room rushed over to the foyer. Veronica emerged through the doorframe. Her face was screwed up into a horrifyingly angry, cold face. Her eyes cut through Kristian like daggers, looking as though she were trying to kill him with a single glance. Her thin, pale arms crossed over her chest. She didn’t have to see the witches to know they were there—the entire house reeked of their blood. Tessa stayed planted on the couch, not wanting to make a bad situation worse.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Veronica hissed at Kristian.
“Something that doesn’t need your approval,” Kristian stated defensively.
“Oh?” Veronica chuckled bitterly. “Cut the shit, Kristian. How many witches are here?”
Kristian was silent, averting his gaze to the wall. He didn’t want to tell her anything about the witches. Yet, as if on cue, Selena walked through the kitchen door with a mug of hot chocolate in hand. Damnit. He knew there was no way around Veronica finding out what they were doing now that she was there, it still pissed him off that she had shown up unannounced, seemingly to bust him doing something she didn’t approve of. “Why are you here anyways?” he challenged.
“You really didn’t think I would find out one way or another that Jared isn’t in the city?” Veronica questioned. “You remove one of our strongest men from town during a time where we are trying to rebuild, just to have him play security guard for you and your girlfriend?”
“And that’s different from what you’d have him doing?” Kristian scoffed.
Her teeth ground together. Before she spoke another word, though, she moved from the room and headed toward the kitchen door where Selena had emerged from. Kristian and Tessa both darted after her. When they stepped into the kitchen after her, they found her frozen in shock as she looked at the table of four elder witches; their aged faces and thick spellbooks laid out before them gave it away. Veronica eventually snapped out of it and wheeled back around to face the two of them, “Are you guys trying to die and hand Tessa right over to the Calder?”
“We’ve been extremely careful,” Kristian defended. “There’s no paper trail, electronic trail, and the only people who know about any of it are in this house. No one knows they are here.”
“You really think there’s any way to safely have so many high-profile targets under the same roof?”
“I know what I’m doing.”
“I really don’t think you do,” Veronica spat. Her eyes then landed on Tessa. “I’m going to need you to bleed them.”
“What? Why?” Tessa asked, blinking at her in confusion.
“In case the family needs to rush to save your asses! Four elders, yourself, vampires, two young witches, and a demon here. All of which the Calder are eager to see dead. Chances are one of the Calder witches will figure out where you all are hiding, and come ambush this place in a blaze of shadows and fire.”
Tessa understood Veronica’s concern, but she was acting ridiculous and hotheaded. They really had been as careful as they possibly could. Not a single thought came to mind as to what more they could have done. “You’re being absurd. I’m not bleeding anyone unless it’s absolutely needed and the person volunteers. No one is going to be forced to give up their blood,” Tessa told her firmly.
In the blink of an eye, Veronica was nearly nose-to-nose with Tessa. “I don’t think you understand the severity of this all. While you might be living in some dreamland where your actions don’t have actual consequences, I live in the real world where my family members have died every time they try and protect you. You didn’t know them, they aren’t real people to you. You can’t try and say you understand the grief or burden it has brought us. If you don’t take all of the precautions you can to protect the people who have put their lives on the line, then you aren’t only a selfish person, but you’re a weak leader as well. You’re meant to be their High Priestess, right? If you were the leader you should be, you would tell them to, and they would know it was for the best.”
Anger flared in Tessa’s eyes. “Last I checked, the Calder wasn’t just after me,” she spat, hinting at the fact the Calder were after Veronica as well. “You think I’m going to bleed these witches, who I’ve only known for a short time, just because you command it? I’m not their leader yet, but if I was, it would make me a really shitty one to just bend to your will. Also, love this power-trip you’re on. No one elected you to this position, you just assumed the role. Not to mention you’ve only been in charge for what, a month or two? You’re one crazy, power-hungry bitch.”
Veronica gasped and her eyes widened even more from shock. “How dare you!” she exclaimed, bringing a hand back to slap Tessa.
Before her hand could collide with her face, Kristian got between them and pushed his sister back. Not hard enough to make her fall, but enough to make her back up a few feet. “This is not going to turn physical, Veronica. You’re just proving her right by acting like this. Now, I don’t know why you originally came. Whether it was just to see why Jared was with me, to try and bust me doing something you didn’t approve of, or what, but you can’t get upset with me for doing what I’ve done. These witches aren’t just here to visit, but they are training Tessa to become a High Priestess. That works out for the best for everyone. She’ll be skilled and able to protect us all in a pinch. If I had told you about their being here, it would have been a security risk. Really, if anyone is endangering us here, it’s you by showing up out of the blue. Are you one hundred percent sure that no one followed you? Is there even a way for you to be so very certain?” Kristian challenged her.
It made Tessa’s heart soar to see Kristian stick up for her like that. Not that she had expected him to just sit idly by while someone slapped her, but she knew it was an even bigger deal since it was Veronica. Veronica physically deflated a bit, but her face remained heavy with attitude. Tessa was the first to speak. “Look, I’m sorry I called you a bitch. I know you’re just trying to protect the family. I get that. Know that I’m doing everything I can to better myself so that I can contribute more and maybe try and make up for all of the pain my being involved with the family has caused.”
Finally, her icy eyes thawed. “It’s alright… I know you’ve never tried to cause any harm… it wasn’t fair of me to try and insinuate anything different. I do want you to… to consider asking for their blood. The Calder really could show up at any time, especially during the day if they find out the elders are here, and it’s better to cover all our basis than be at a disadvantage.”
Tessa still wasn’t sold on the idea, but knew it was the best way to compromise. She just didn’t want anyone to feel obligated to give their blood like Calla had. “I’ll definitely take everything you’ve said into consideration,” she nodded at her.
“Good,” Veronica nodded once. Her eyes then went to her brother, “May I speak to you outside?”
Kristian sighed and looked at Tessa, giving her a kiss on the cheek before moving to go outside with Veronica. Tessa realized as they walked through the doorway, that all of that had transpired right in front of the elders. She glanced over to the dining table to find all eyes on her. She gave a nervous smile, “Sorry you guys had to hear all of that…”
“It’s alright, my dear,” Silvia called over. “It was bound to happen. Sorry we couldn’t step in to defend you. It seemed like a family matter.”
Tessa sighed, looking to the foyer as Kristian and Veronica made their way out the front door. “It’s alright. I didn’t expect you guys to.”
“She’s rather scary, isn’t she?” Pearl added on with a light chuckle.
She gave a leery grin, “Definitely. She means well, though. Excuse me.” Tessa needed some time alone to si
t with her thoughts. She was sure if she were still human, she would have a killer migraine right about then. Walking down the hallway, she figured she could find solace in the den. When she sauntered into the room, however, her eyes immediately landed on Calla and Jared cuddled up on one of the couches with their eyes on her.
“Is everything okay?” Calla called over. They had to have heard the entire conversation between herself, Kristian, and Veronica.
“Not really,” Tessa muttered, averting her gaze. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you guys. I didn’t realize anyone was in here.”
“No, it’s okay. You can sit down if you like,” Calla said, gesturing to the armchair adjacent to the couch they were on.
Tessa’s eyes shuffled to Jared, thinking he would have a problem with it. Before, he didn’t seem to like her much, if at all. It was understandable for him, though. Tessa’s well-being had been put before his girlfriend’s time and time again. While it was the way the dynamic was supposed to work, Tessa certainly didn’t feel good about it and understood his frustration. While he wore his usual stoic expression, there was no animosity in his eyes. In fact, they were soft and understanding. Maybe he was familiar with Veronica’s scrutiny as well.
Even though she had set out to be alone, Tessa moved to sit down. “I’m sorry you guys are wrapped up in all this,” Tessa muttered, wringing her hands together. Veronica hadn’t only dug up guilt over the lives lost because of her, but the lives affected. Jared and Calla had sacrificed the most for her. While not always happily, they had loyally stuck by hers and Kristian’s sides.
