Parlor Tricks

by Mara Lee

  Griffin laughed and tenderly pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Are you almost finished?”

  Sass looked down at her plate and pretended to be deep in thought. “Well, I only finished about one third of the potatoes and I still have at least…” Her words were cut off when Griffin planted his lips firmly on hers.

  She moaned in pleasure. She let her tongue tease Griffin’s lips and her heart sped up when Griffin’s mouth took full control of the kiss.

  Loud clapping, cheers and wolf whistles broke through the haze in Sass’s head. Reluctantly she pulled free of Griffin, her face suffused with color. She saw that everyone’s attention was now focused on Griffin and herself.

  “Are you done?” Griffin asked again, his face but an inch away from hers.

  Sass swallowed and nodded slowly.

  His answering smile was brilliant.

  “So, you two leaving us?” Tina asked, with a knowing smile lighting her face.

  Sass let Griffin pull her to her feet. “It would seem so,” she murmured, her eyes still locked on him.

  “I’ll see you later, sis,” Griffin said, already moving away from the table.

  Tina, holding a turkey leg, laughed. “See you later. Have a good time.”

  Sass’s blush deepened.

  Griffin brushed back Sass’s thick hair and placed a soft kiss to the back of her neck.

  Sass’s breath hitched.

  “Oh lord … you two had better find a room, fast,” Tina called out.

  Griffin and Sass shared a secret look and then Griffin turned to his sister and winked.

  Sass and Griffin hadn’t made it off of the green when Tabitha confronted them. Tabitha, who looked lovely in a peach-colored day dress, wore a frighteningly intense expression on her beautiful face.

  “Leaving so soon?” Tabitha asked with a sneer.

  Sass sighed. “Not now, Tabitha. Can we like, duke it out later?” Sass smiled at Griffin. “I have more important things to attend to at this moment.”

  Griffin squeezed Sass’s hand.

  Tabitha snarled and whipped out her magic wand. “Oh no, I think we’ll deal with it now.” With one giant sweep of her hand the magic wand came to rest squarely in Sass’s face.

  Sass backed away. “Tabitha … listen…”

  Tabitha advanced. “I’m done listening to you. Do you hear me? I’m done!” Tabitha shook her wand and giant sparks began to fly.

  Sass barely had a moment to dodge before the multicolor sparks from Tabitha’s wand flew in her direction. She rolled to her side, jumped to her feet and withdrew her own wand from her pocket.

  “Tabitha, please. I don’t want to do this. Please…”

  Tabitha’s eyes were full of ire. “Of course you don’t want to do this. You’ve always been a coward. You were a coward in school … and you’re a coward now.” Tabitha threw out her hand and a great arc of energy flew from her fingers and hit Sass in the stomach.

  Sass was thrown several feet back. She gasped and lay panting in the grass.

  Griffin tackled Tabitha. Her wand went flying.

  “Let me go! Let me go!” Tabitha shrieked. She raked her sharp nails across Griffin’s cheek.

  “Griffin!” Sass struggled to her feet.

  Griffin kept wrestling with Tabitha. Her legs were flailing and her shrieks grew louder and more intense. With some difficultly he managed to wrench her hands back and to keep them pinned.

  Griffin took a breath and projected. Tabitha’s wand floated over to Sass.

  She grabbed the wand and with both hands snapped it in two.

  Tabitha let out a stream of expletives.

  “I think you can let her up now, Griff,” Sass said.

  Griffin raised his eyebrow. “You sure, love?”

  Sass looked down at the broken wand and nodded. “Yes, let her go.”

  Griffin let go of Tabitha’s arms and jumped back when she swung at him. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

  “Only in Daring,” Griffin said with a half smile.

  Sass chuckled. She reached down and retrieved the broken pieces of Tabitha’s wand.

  “I’m thinking you should use a studier piece of wood next time, Tabbie,” Sass said smoothly.

  Tabitha’s face was hard as granite. She walked stiffly over to Sass and snatched her wand out of her rival’s hand.

  “This is hardly over,” Tabitha said.

  Sass smiled. “You really want to make a fool out of yourself again, Tabbie?”

  Tabitha stomped her foot. “Don’t call me that, I hate that name, I hate it.”

  Sass’s smile widened. “Go home Tabbie. And dunk your head in some cold water, you’ll feel better.”

  Tabitha leaned into Sass. Her mouth tightened and her eyes grew darker and darker until they were solid black.

  Sass stepped back, suddenly alarmed.

  Tabitha’s smile was darkly menacing. “Go ahead and smile, Riley … go ahead and smile.” Tabitha’s now black eyes twinkled and she blew a kiss at Griffin. “And enjoy the time you have together. Time is so fleeting, isn’t it?” Tabitha narrowed her eyes. “And so much can change in a short span of time, can’t it?”

  “Tabitha if you…” Sass didn’t get to finish.

  “If I what?” Tabitha chuckled. “What a suspicious mind you have, Riley.”

  “Mmmm, maybe I’m suspicious because you’ve threatened me in front of a hundred people,” Sass said coldly.

  Tabitha clucked her tongue. “Have I threatened you? I’ve just delivered a sincere word of warning.” Tabitha twirled away. “And Riley … you should always heed my warnings.”

  Chapter Ten

  “I’m sorry about that, Griff,” Sass said, a frown marring her face. She reached up and lightly traced with her fingers the deep, red, grooves on Griffin’s face.

  “Don’t worry about it, Saskia.” Griffin smiled. “Actually … if the two of you had lost some clothes during the skirmish … the moment would have resembled one of my fantasies really well.”

  She punched him in the arm.

  He laughed. “What? It would have.”

  Sass rolled her eyes. “Griff?”

  “Yes, Saskia?”

  “It came naturally this time, didn’t it?”

  He stiffened. He knew what she spoke of. “Yeah. It was actually easy this time. I just thought about the object and where I wanted it to go and … well, it went.”

  “The magic welcomes you, Griff,” Sass said softly.

  Griffin sighed deeply. “It would seem so, Saskia.”

  “And do you welcome it?” Sass felt her breath clog in her throat as she waited the answer—the answer that would shape all things to come.

  A small smile broke Griffin’s otherwise tense face and he nodded. “It would seem so.” Griffin laughed then. “It would seem so.”

  It was the answer she had been waiting for. The answer she had been longing for. “Oh Griffin,” Sass cried. Her eyes were bright with happiness.

  Griffin, eyes alight, enclosed her within a tight embrace. “It all came naturally today, Saskia … all of it. It felt right. For the first time in my life, I felt as if everything made sense.” Griffin chuckled. “Can you believe it? I felt as if it made sense.”

  “Oh, I can believe it.” Sass cupped Griffin’s cheek and smiled up at him.

  “Know what else, Saskia?”

  “What?”

  Griffin breathed in the sweet scent of her hair and caressed her back gently. She was the object of dreams and she filled him with such happiness that he knew. It was time. It was right. “I love you.”

  Her mouth dropped open and she pulled away from his embrace. “Excuse me?”

  Griffin laughed. “I said … I love you.”

  Sass nodded slowly. “That’s what I thought you said, you idiot!”

  Griffin frowned. “Huh?”

  Sass began to pace. Her long hair whipped about her body as she moved jerkily back and forth.

  “I can’t believe you, t
elling me that you love me on the sidewalk. I mean … we’ve had all these beautiful, romantic moments and you decide the most romantic moment to let me know that you love me is in the middle of the street. What? My blooming bedroom wasn’t good enough for you? I thought that one was pretty nifty myself. Of course no, not you, oh jeez, men are all the same you all think romance starts and ends with a cold beer and baseball. It really is too much to…” Sass was cut off.

  Griffin captured her lips in a searing kiss. His tongue separated her soft lips and instantly swept her depths. He pressed her as tightly as he could against his hard body and continued to ravage her mouth.

  He tangled his hands within her wild hair and slanted her head even further so that he could have better access to her talkative lips. She tasted like berries. She was ripe and full and absolutely delicious. And he loved her, God, how he loved her.

  Sass let out a disappointed moan when Griffin pulled away from their kiss. Her lips were swollen and bruised and she didn’t mind one little bit.

  “Griffin,” she said with a smile.

  “Yes, love?”

  She reached out to trace his lips with her finger. “I’m the idiot.” Her smile widened. “I’m Class-A idiot.”

  He grinned but said nothing—content to let her make the admission.

  Her eyes twinkled and her face glowed. “I love you. I love you so much I don’t know what to do with all my love. And … and … I can’t believe you love me.” She felt a bead of moisture drip from her eye and she swiped it away. She was not going to cry. Sass Riley was not a crybaby and she most certainly was not going to make a fool out of herself. Imagine, the first time the man of her dreams told her he loved her and she broke out like runny faucet—no way.

  “So … “ Griffin followed the line of wetness down her cheek with his finger. “You don’t mind anymore that I told you that I love you in the middle of the sidewalk.”

  Sass broke out, half laughing, half crying. “Griff … my love…you can tell me you love me on the top of the Eiffel Tower … or from the bottom of a stinky well, for all I care. Just tell me…” Her eyes gleamed. “Tell me again.”

  He brushed her tears away and kissed both of her cheeks gently. He brought his mouth to caress her ear and whispered, “Saskia Riley … you are my heart. I don’t know how I’ve survived this long without your love. All I know … is that now that you’re here and I don’t plan on ever letting you go. I love you, baby. I love you so much.”

  Sass laughed joyfully. She wrapped her hands in his hair and brought his head down to hers.

  “Now that,” she said with a smile, “is a declaration.”

  * * * *

  Griffin cupped Sass’s full breast. Her skin was softer than satin. He tweaked her hard nipple and watched as it tightened further. She was gloriously beautiful in her passion.

  “Griff … Griff…” Sass moaned, her head tossing from side to side. “Please … it’s … it’s too much…”

  Griff smiled and shook his head. “Not nearly enough, love…” Griffin began to knead her breasts, rolling the soft, pliant skin between his hands. “You are so gorgeous…”

  He sat back and smiled. He couldn’t imagine a more beautiful sight than Saskia Riley naked and tied to a bed, her hair spread out behind her, her mouth—among other things—open and inviting.

  “Griffin…” Sass shivered and twisted in her bonds.

  Griffin skimmed his hands down her leg and ticked the back of her knees. “Mmmm … I love you like this, my love.” He moved down the length of Sass’s legs until he reached her bound ankles. He gently caressed the pads of her feet. He used his fingers to trace the delicate lines on the bottom of her feet, tracing the barely visible veins. Hunching down slightly, he used his tongue to trace the path his fingers had just taken. His breath came out, gently teasing. The combination of slick heat from his tongue and soothing wind from his breath drew a deep sigh and frantic shiver from Sass. Griff growled when he felt Sass reaction and smiled when she let out a delicious moan. “Sensitive, love?”

  “Yessss…” Sass hissed.

  Griffin chuckled a purely masculine chuckle and moved onto her calves. Her muscles were knotted beneath her silky smooth skin. He caressed her flesh and then used his fingers to work at the knots.

  “Ohhhh yes … that … that’s good…” Sass bit out.

  “Yes … it is.” Griffin continued to massage her, slowly working his hands up her legs until he reached her thighs.

  He lightly caressed the soft skin of her inner thighs. He was tantalized by the promise that lay within. He needed more. Scooting down her body, he came to rest between her thighs. She looked like a peach, all ripe and open for him.

  “I’ve got to have a taste…” he murmured. With his hands, he separated the soft lips of her pussy and used his tongue to gently trace the outer folds. His tongue worked in gentle laps, and his breath was hot against her flesh. She was sweet and tangy and faintly spicy. It was a heady combination. She was a heady combination.

  “More…” Sass begged. Her hands were clenching the sheets desperately.

  Griffin could not deny her. How could he? He wished to have everything as well.

  “Oh baby,” he murmured. Opening her wider, he pressed his tongue as far as it would go into her softly beckoning cavern.

  She groaned and arched her hips.

  Griffin dug his hands into her thighs to anchor her and continued to feast on her flesh. His tongue located her clit. It was ripe, full and tight. He brushed his tongue around the hard bud and when that was not enough, used his mouth, his lips, to suck gently at her folds while his tongue ran havoc around her clit.

  Sass tossed her head back and forth. Her breath was coming out in short staccato pants.

  “Griffin … Griffin … Griffin…” She repeated his name like a desperate litany.

  Griffin caught each of her shivers on his tongue. Her pussy was quivering beautifully and her thighs had tautened like violin bows. She was hot as molten lava on his tongue and her clit had plumped like a ripe berry.

  “Griffin!” Sass screamed.

  He clamped his mouth firmly around Sass’s pussy and quickened the motions of his tongue. He felt giant shudders wrack his love’s body and heard his name shouted to the sky.

  Her body stiffened, shook, and began to spasm.

  He gave one last, long lick before she came on his tongue.

  Griffin sat on his haunches and licked his lips. His eyes were glowing brightly as he took in Sass’s flushed face and damp body.

  “Ohhhh…” Sass swallowed and slumped back.

  Griffin reached down to stroke his hard cock. He was aching and desperate to feel her warmth surrounding him.

  Sass’s eyes were drawn to his stroking hand.

  He watched her watch him and his hand grew bolder. He rubbed his palm against the head and felt as several beads of moisture gathered at the tip.

  “You…” Sass’s breath hitched. “You … you are so beautiful.”

  He laughed roughly. “You’re the beautiful one.” Griffin widened her legs and quickly grabbed a small pillow.

  “What…” Sass’s eyes opened wide.

  Griffin stuffed the pillow under her ass and raised his eyebrows. “Perfect,” he said, right before he thrust himself fully into her wet pussy.

  Sass let out a ragged moan.

  He stilled when he was fully imbedded within her delicious body. He gritted his teeth as warmth spread through him at an amazing rate. She was unbelievably hot and incredibly wet. In fact, her wetness was now dripping down his own thighs.

  “Griffin … more … more…” she begged.

  “Oh yes, love, definitely more…” He thrust deeper and cupped her breasts, kneading them roughly between his large hands. “Baby … oh yeah … you’re so hot…”

  Sass wriggled against him and started to pull desperately at her bonds.

  “Not yet, baby…” Griffin pulled out and teased her by rubbing himself gently across h
er dripping pussy. He pinched her nipples and when she moaned he dropped his head, used his hands to lever her back up and locked his mouth around the hard bud.

  He licked and sucked the tautened nub. He ran his tongue across the satiny surface and when she began to pant he sucked the nipple deeply into his mouth.

  Sass bit down on her lip—hard. Her heart was pounding like a drum in her chest and her head was ringing.

  God she loved him. He was strong. He was rugged. He was fucking her for all that he was worth and it was incredible.

  She pulled at her bonds and groaned when Griffin’s cock rubbed against her without penetrating. Enough of this—she had already borne her share.

  She chanted lightly and smiled when small streams of heat began to hover over Griffin’s back. She concentrated and her smile broadened when the chains of heat lightly roamed up and down Griffin’s already heated flesh.

  He jumped and bit back a ragged moan when the heated strips lashed his backside.

  “Baby … what…”

  “A little payback,” Sass said.

  He shook his head to clear it and growled. “No distractions … no magic.”

  She moaned when he sunk his cock two inches into her needy flesh. “Distractions,” she gasped, “what … what distractions?”

  Griffin laughed and buried two more inches of his cock into her pussy. “Everything about you is distracting, love.”

  He rolled his hips and watched as the unfiltered expressions passed Sass’s face at a hurried rate. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were bright and unfocused and her mouth was open and panting.

  “You’re killing me,” she ground out. She pushed her hips higher and begged him to take more.

  “Oh no, love,” he eased another two inches of himself into her, “I don’t want you dead … too much left to do…”

  Sass moaned.

  He felt the clenching of her pussy muscles and couldn’t hold back. With a fierce thrust he buried himself completely to the hilt within her.

  “Oh my God!” Sass screamed.

  Griffin’s initial shallow strokes grew bolder as he used his hips to piston back and forth. His hands gripped her shoulders as he thrust deeply into her hot depths.

  He threw back his head and groaned, he was pulsing and growing fuller and harder with each forceful thrust. She was all that was soft, wet, sweet, and arousing. Her body fit his like a glove and her intoxicating scent was driving him wild.