by Ashlyn Chase
“And what was ‘I can’t’ in response to?” Mikhail asked.
“I wanted her to reconsider,” Sly answered for her. “Mikhail, invite me in.”
“No, don’t.” Morgaine had to stand up to these two men. Otherwise the whole trip would have been for nothing. “Please, Sly. Tell you what, I’ll do a spell to increase my own strength first. Now, close the door and let us continue.”
“No.” He folded his arms and planted his feet shoulder-width apart.
She rolled her eyes. “Well, then, I’ll just have to do this with you watching.”
“Mikhail, if she looks at all unwell, you’ll stop her, right?”
“Absolutely.” The two stubborn he-men nodded to each other.
Morgaine threw her hands up. “Fine. Now, let’s get this done.” She shoved a box of sea salt at Mikhail. “Start on the opposite side of the altar. Pour this salt around us, and don’t leave the circle once it’s been cast.”
He glided around her in a wide circle, spreading the salt. When he finished, he moved to the spot she’d indicated and stood across from her, hands clasped behind his back.
Morgaine picked up her wand and pointed it at the north until blue light flowed out of its tip. Then she rotated in place and drew the circle over their heads chanting, “We stand in circles of light that nothing may cross.”
She remembered her promise to increase her own strength and lay down on the floor.
“Is she okay?” Sly shouted.
“I’m fine. It’s part of the ritual. Now, please stop worrying and don’t interrupt—no matter what, okay?”
Sly didn’t respond. She’d just have to hope he behaved himself. At least Mikhail still hadn’t invited him in.
She lay with her hands crossed over her chest as if dead. Closing her eyes, she went into a trance, then slowly sat up and mumbled, “On, Oron, Doron.” She raised her voice as she rose. “Radoron, Gorradoron, Rogoradoron!”
Next she took the small ball of parchment paper on which she’d written the spell and set it on fire in her censor. Holding the twigs she’d brought with her over the smoke and taking in a deep breath, she looked up and cried out, “Goddess, hear me. Turner be turned, burner be burned. Let only good come of this wood.”
She spit on the sticks, broke each in turn, and tossed the pieces into the fire. Then she said, “The curse will die with the fire’s death. So mote it be.”
She watched the fire in a trance until the last flicker had disappeared and a few tendrils of smoke rose from the glowing embers. “It is done.”
She opened the circle and came out of her trance.
Mikhail still looked vaguely uneasy. “Let me try something just to be sure the curse has been broken and we don’t have to worry about freak accidents anymore.”
“Of course,” Morgaine said. “What did you have in mind?”
Mikhail strode to a workbench and plucked a pair of scissors out of a drawer. Jogging up and down the aisles of wine racks, he shouted to some unknown power, “Hey, I’m running with scissors here!”
When he returned unharmed, he and Morgaine laughed and shared a congratulatory high five.
* * * *
Back in their room for the night, Sly was filled with a combination of victory and relief. Morgaine had succeeded. She’d lifted the curse, resealed both doors, and more than earned the respect and gratitude of her friend. He hoped she was as proud of herself as he was of her.
“You did it,” he said as they slipped into bed.
She grinned. “Yes, I did. Now I hope both of us will do it, if you catch my drift.”
Sly laughed and pulled her soft, naked body against him. “I think I know what you mean, but just to be sure, why don’t you show me?”
One side of her lip raised in a knowing smile, then she feathered the tip of her tongue down the column of his neck until he groaned.
“I could let you do that all night, but you’re the one who deserves something special.”
She lifted her head and smiled. “Oh? Like what?”
In one smooth motion, he had her positioned on her back with her legs spread. He knelt between them and scooped up her ass, lifting her mound to his face.
“Like this, love.” Sly’s tongue flickered softly along her labia.
She arched and moaned.
Her eyes dilated and her heartbeat quickened as she watched him continue to explore her. Morgaine pulled in a shuddering breath when he slid two fingers inside her, slowly and gently. Moaning, she ground her hips against his hand.
He mimicked a rhythm of fucking as he stroked in and out of her core. After several moments of caressing her intimately, he lowered his head and found her clit with the tip of his tongue. She bucked and gasped. Good. She was almost as sensitized as he wanted her to be.
He whirled his tongue around her clit and she quietly whimpered. He could have teased her like this longer, but he sensed she needed release.
He zeroed in on her clit and flicked his tongue as fast as a hummingbird’s wings. She cried out and climaxed. Her legs vibrated uncontrollably as she alternately screamed and emitted unintelligible sounds.
Finally, after her body’s powerful reaction disintegrated into a weak, panting quiver, Sly settled gently on top of her. His cock nudged her opening, and he tingled with the contact.
“You’re wonderful,” he whispered. “Beautiful.” With a gentle thrust, he pushed the swollen head of his erection in and stopped.
She caught her breath.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?”
“Goddess, yes. It feels so good.”
He smiled. “It does for me too, love.”
Sly braced himself on either side of her with his hands pressed into the mattress. He’d massage her clit with his pelvis as he moved in and out of her. He began his thrusts, escalating a bit faster each time.
The friction rubbed her already sensitized area, and she moaned with her head tilted back. His cock throbbed with pleasure too. As if she wanted to increase his joy, she squeezed her lower muscles around his shaft.
He groaned and pumped faster.
She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, softly moaning as he rode her. Suddenly he reached his peak. His balls drew up and he cried out as his cock pulsed inside her. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and followed him over the edge. Hoarse from her previous orgasm, her voice took on a lower, raspier sound as she cried her blissful release.
The tension had run out of his body. His damp skin fused to hers. He gently lowered his full weight onto her boneless torso and covered her mouth with a long, deep kiss.
Yeah, I could get used to this.
Chapter 16
Chad missed Morgaine. After Gwyneth and Nathan had summarily dismissed him, he had no one to talk to. Just like the old days, he grumbled.
Maybe he could drop in on the two newest residents and test their psychic sensitivity. After all, he hadn’t discovered Morgaine’s ability to communicate with him until he’d followed her around for a while insulting her.
He chuckled to himself as he remembered the exchange. He had been mocking her goth makeup and coloring—black hair, pale skin—as well as her all-black wardrobe, when she’d suddenly whirled around and shook her fist at the ceiling.
“Cut the shit, you damn spook,” she’d yelled.
Chad remembered laughing so hard that, if he’d had an ass to fall on, he would have stumbled backward and landed on it.
A quick visit to the strange fish-man might prove interesting.
Chad floated down the stairs and pushed his way into the super’s apartment.
Just as he had suspected, Jules lay in his giant fish tank. Fingers locked under his head, he floated on his back, gently agitating the water with his large tail fin.
Here goes nothin’. “Hello there, fish breath.”
Jules didn’t react. His eyes closed, and a slight smiled played across his face.
“Wet enough for ya?”
Nothing.
“I wish I knew why you decided to become a landlubber.”
When no reaction to that followed, Chad figured the super was completely unaware of his presence. He was about to leave when he realized he could use other means to communicate besides telepathy.
Let’s see… I could use my telekinesis to move the toaster out of the kitchen and across the room and then dump it in his fish tank. Naw, it wouldn’t be worth the effort without a massively long cord. The threat of electrical shock would get him to spring out of that water, and wouldn’t that be fun to watch?
Hmmm… there must be something I can do to get his attention.
Chad eyed two rolled-up towels on a shelf near the tank. Ah, those must be what he uses to dry off. I know! Wouldn’t it be fun if dry towels weren’t so handy and he had to drip across the floor all the way to the bathroom?
Chad concentrated on the towels until they floated off the shelf and hovered in midair. When he was ready, he mentally directed them over the tank and dumped them into the water.
The disturbed surface tension alerted Jules, and he opened his eyes. “Hey!”
Grabbing the waterlogged towels, he glanced around the room in confusion.
Heh, heh. That was fun.
“Very funny, Chad,” the super said.
Huh? He knows about me?
Chad cleared his throat and yelled, “Hey, Jules. I’m over here.”
Jules ignored him and climbed onto the edge of his tank. He wrung out the wet towels and waited until his tail turned into legs.
I’ll try telepathy one more time. “Hellooo… Your momma’s a guppy.”
Jules pattered across the floor, leaving a wet trail behind him.
With no real satisfaction in the effort, Chad let out a deep sigh. Okay, cross another resident off my list of intelligent conversationalists.
* * * *
Sly had made love to Morgaine twice. They lay side by side, holding hands, basking in the afterglow. The way he whispered endearments to her while he was fucking affirmed the loving nature she knew he had.
Making love. Yes, those were the right words—not fucking. He loved her. He must. She’d made him nuts by taking a risk to her own safety. He had said she was like Alice in that way. His dear departed wife had driven him out of his mind by attending rallies and protest marches despite his worry that violence might break out.
He hadn’t said the words to her yet, but she was sure he’d find the right moment.
“I don’t want you putting yourself in that kind of danger again, Morgaine.”
“Oh, come on, Sly. Don’t kill the mood. I did good, right?”
“Yes, you did.”
After she had resealed the doors against vampires and invited him in again, Mikhail had been so impressed, he’d offered her two cases of wine. His cases were actual briefcases lined with plastic foam in the shape of his bottles. Each one carried only three precious bottles. They now sat at the foot of the bed.
“And I ‘saw’ how we can make more so you’ll always have your cure. That vision probably wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been in the warehouse.”
“I know, sweetheart, but Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack!”
“Like that would have killed you?”
He chuckled. “You’re right. It wouldn’t have. Otherwise I’d be dead.”
She rolled up onto one elbow and stared down at him. “Well, I’m glad you’re not. And by the way, why do you call on Jesus? I didn’t think vampires could be Christians anymore.”
He shrugged. “Why not? I was raised Catholic and was never excommunicated. It’s not like I chose to become a vampire. I don’t think there’s a manual that says vampires have to surrender their rosary beads. Is there?”
She chuckled. “Forget I asked.”
Just as she was scooting down the bed, getting ready for a third round, the phone rang.
Damn.
She groped for the receiver on the nightstand. On the fourth ring, she answered it.
“Hello?”
“Well, howdy, y’all. Did I interrupt anythin’?”
“Hi, Gwyneth. Uh, no. As always, your timing is impeccable. What’s up?”
“Y’all are never gonna believe this. Guess who I made out with last night? Go ahead, guess. You’ll never—”
“Nathan?”
She heard Gwyneth’s gasp. “Well, fiddlesticks! Y’all probably got a psychic news flash. Sometimes that ability spoils all the fun.”
“No, it had nothing to do with the sight. I figured he’d make his move eventually. He’s been in love with you since the first time you met.”
“That’s what he said! But how did y’all know that?”
“By the way he tries not to look at you but can’t help himself. And he becomes totally awkward around you—more than usual. It doesn’t take a psychic to figure it out.”
Sly cleared his throat. “What doesn’t it take a psycho to figure out?”
His eyes twinkled, and she knew he was just trying to get a rise out of her.
With her hand half over the receiver, she answered, “Psych-ic, sweetheart.”
“Oh, so y’all are callin’ each other pet names now?” Gwyneth giggled. “I reckon things are goin’ well with Sly.”
Morgaine glanced over her shoulder at him. He smiled and winked. Damn that acute hearing of his. He’s getting every word of this.
“Yeah, well, I’m more interested in talking about your new development.”
“I think we’re good together, Morgaine. I make him laugh. I never seen that boy laugh before.”
“And what does he do for you?”
“Well, I know he’d never cheat on me, and I guess you’d say he keeps me grounded. Least ways he gets me to look afore I leap.”
“Thank the Goddess,” Morgaine mumbled.
“What?”
“Um—that’s good. And the chemistry? Is that there?”
She giggled. “I guess that’s the biggest surprise of all. I can’t get enough kissin’ when I’m with him.”
“Do you think you’ll start seeing him in earnest?”
“Who’s Earnest?”
Morgaine stifled a laugh. “I mean, are you taking his feelings into account? Or are you just messing around with him? I don’t want to see anyone in our building get hurt.”
“I’m no cock tease, Morgaine.”
“Good.”
“So I have your seal of approval, I guess?”
“Is that why you called? You wanted my approval?”
“Heck, no. We’re in a bit of a pickle now and I wanted to ask all your opinion. Sly too.”
“Okay, let me put you on speakerphone.” Probably completely unnecessary, but whatever… Morgaine pushed the button marked “Speaker” and said, “Go ahead.”
“Well, first off, don’t go gettin’ all rattled right away. It takes a bit of explainin’.”
Morgaine took a deep breath. Whenever Gwyneth began by telling her not to get upset, it meant she was going to upset her. “Uh-oh. What happened?”
“Well, nothin’ yet, but… I went to Nathan hoping he could fix it, but, well, he couldn’t.”
“What is it? If there’s a plumbing problem or something, that’s what the super is for.”
“It ain’t no leaky faucet, Morgaine. Apparently our new neighbor, Lily, is a she-dragon.”
“That’s not a very nice thing to say about someone.”
“No, I mean, she’s a real-life, actual dragon. She needs sex to blow off steam.”
Sly sat up and Morgaine sensed sudden tension coursing through him.
“She used to control it by being a call girl in San Francisco. Now that she’s moved here, she ain’t got no clients yet. I tried to get Nathan to sleep with her and, well, he refused, sayin’ he was in love with someone else. So, that’s how I discovered—”
Sly interrupted. “Gwyneth, skip to the problem at hand.”
“Well, to make a short story shorter, if she do
n’t have sex, she sneezes fire. It’s some kind of weird allergy to abstinence or somethin’. Her whole apartment’s scorched. If she don’t get sex pretty soon…”
Sly jumped off the bed. “She’ll burn down the building. My daughter’s building. Jason could shift and fly to safety, but Merry… Morgaine, start packing. We have to get home, now!”
“Just a second. Gwyneth, have you told Jules?”
“Well, no. I didn’t want to get Lily in trouble. She’s a real nice girl, and t’ain’t her fault she was born a dragon.”
“You have to tell Jules! He’s responsible for everything that happens there. Besides, do you want our home to go up in flames? For Goddess’s sake, Gwyneth!”
Sly shouted, “Shit, the still! That would turn any fire into an inferno.”
“Okay, okay. That’s why I called, dagnabit. I thought you might come up with somethin’ other than tattlin’ on her. But if I have to tell Jules, I’ll just tell him.”
“Tell him now. We’ll be back as soon as we can, but promise me you won’t do another thing until you talk to Jules.”
The phone went dead.
“Gwyneth?”
Sly tossed their clothes and toiletries into Morgaine’s suitcase so fast he whirled like a tornado. “Come on, we have to go.”
“Gwyneth? Are you there?”
No sound from the other end. Holy shit. Did she take me literally, drop the phone, and run to the super’s apartment, or did a fire just eat through the electrical and phone lines?
“Fuck. The line’s dead.”
Sly zipped up Morgaine’s suitcase, then picked her up off the bed, tossed her over his shoulder, and grabbed one of the two cases of vampire wine. “If I have to carry all of this and you out of here, I will.”
“Put me down. I’ll help carry the stuff.”
“Then hurry.”
* * * *
“No! You can’t evict me. Please… I have nowhere to go. No one…”
Jules didn’t want to toss his beautiful new neighbor out on her keister. But when Gwyneth from upstairs said Lily had been setting small fires in the apartment right below hers… well, what was he to do?
“I’m sorry. If you have a problem—I mean, if you’re a fire starter and you want help, maybe I can find—”
