A Love for Romance

by Kahlen Aymes

  Slamming the spellbook closed, I sighed and rested my head on the table. “It was already dead,” I groaned.

  “What?”

  I heard Bo poking at the meat and looked up to meet his amused grin. “I didn’t slaughter the cow, just tried to cook it.”

  He looked around the kitchen, focusing on the unused stove. “On the table?”

  “It’s a new thing I’ve been working on.”

  “You want to cook steak? On a table?”

  I couldn’t help but smile when he flashed me those dimples and sexy eyes of his. With a shrug I said, “I was trying to cut corners. I hate cooking. This spell was supposed to do it for me.”

  Bo walked over to the table and grabbed the spellbook. “Is this the one Calvin gave you?”

  “Yeah.” Calvin, the resident cougar of this area had gifted me his Haitian grandmother’s book of spells. One day I would return it to him, but for now, I thought the best way to honor his gift was to actually try and use some of them. I’d been pretty successful thus far, but hadn’t quite mastered the one designated for quick cooking.

  “Can you read this?” Bo squinted at the pages and tried to say a few of the words.

  “I had a couple years of French classes. But it’s slow going.”

  He sat in a chair and propped his feet up in my lap. As he flipped through the pages, I felt my heart opening up even more for this man. He’d surprised me with his commitment to us. Known as the playboy of the Callaghan grizzly clan, Bo had left all of that behind the moment he’d meant me. And now we were living together, planning a wedding, and nesting in a way I’d never thought I’d be able to do. Now, if I could just get that damn cooking spell to work...

  “What’s this one say?” Bo pushed the spellbook across the table and slid his chair closer to mine.

  I shivered with the scent of him. It was weird how connected we were. I’d always heard about shifters and their bonds with their mates, but I never really understood what that meant until now. I never wanted to leave Bo’s side. It was like we were drawn together all the time, which helped solidify our bond even more. I loved him more and more each day.

  Clearing my throat and trying to focus again, I looked at the worn page. “Well,” I did my best to translate, “it seems like it’s some kind of...emotional trade?” I searched my brain for the right translations. “Like it would let you feel what I’m feeling.”

  Bo’s eyes widened and a wicked grin stretched across his face. “I want to know what you’re feeling.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “I do.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  He leaned forward and nipped my earlobe. My body erupted in goosebumps and a the warm feeling between my legs started to spread. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. Aren’t women always complaining that we men don’t get you?”

  I huffed a laugh and looked at the ingredients needed to carry out the incantation. “Yes, we are.”

  “So, let’s do it! Tell me what you need.” Bo jumped to his feet, kissing me again on the top of the head before he bounded off into the kitchen pantry where I stored a lot of my ingredients.

  Shaking my head, I yelled out to him. “Just bring me the basket. Everything should be in there.”

  A few minutes later, I had the rather small pile of herbs laid out before me and Bo was searching for the last piece of the puzzle—the hand mirror. “This was the only one I could find,” he said, slightly out of breath. “It’s from my travel bag.”

  “You have a travel bag?” I teased.

  He crossed his arms and raised his brows, looking down at me in a challenge. “I don’t go anywhere unprepared. Remember the camping trip?”

  “When I first met Calvin?” He nodded and I laughed. “Yes, Bo. You brought a tent.”

  “And two sleeping bags. Even though I knew we’d end up sharing one.” He winked and I giggled again.

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “I know. Now,” he clapped his hands together after setting the small mirror on the table, “show me what you’re feeling.”

  I tucked my curly, red hair behind my ears and started reading from the book. The spell had only five lines but I had to repeat them ten times while circling the mirror over the herbs in a counter clockwise circle. I’d added a small pinch of Bo’s hair that rested on top of the pile, and by the fifth incantation, it started to smolder.

  “Whoa,” Bo whispered, taking a step away from the table.

  I gave him a quick look but didn’t break the speed of my chanting. One thing I’d learned by reading through this book was that most of the spells required a consistent incantation. Any deviation from that could result in something different all together. And since Bo was my subject today, I definitely didn’t want to do anything that would harm him.

  By the time I’d finished the last verse, the pile of hair and herbs had almost disintegrated into dust. But the mirror in my hand glowed with the magic that it had captured. I gently lifted it and reached toward Bo. “You need to say the last line one time while holding the mirror.”

  “And then it will be done?”

  “It should be.”

  He grabbed the mirror from my hand and closed his fingers over it. Following my lead, he repeated the final line, something that roughly translated into now I see into you. Nothing happened at first and his cute dimples started to appear as he smiled in anticipation. But then he fell forward, arms crossed over his stomach, mouth stretched in pain. He looked up at me and tried to speak, but nothing came out.

  I ran toward him, following as he fell to the ground. “Bo! Bo, are you okay?” His muscles shimmered with magic and a few seconds after hitting the floor, I saw what this spell really was. It was more than just a swap of emotions. No, this spell had Bo swapping much more than that.

  I was now looking at a mirror image of myself.

  “Oh, my god,” I whispered as Bo tried to push to his feet.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked. But it wasn’t his voice. It was mine. Or a version of mine if a burly, six-foot-tall, grizzly shifter was the one saying it. Bo froze and assessed the situation. His wide eyes roamed over his body and his hands stopped on his newly-created breasts. “What the hell?”

  I helped him stand and tried to stay calm. My brain swarmed with anti-spells, trying to figure out a way to reverse what I’d just done. How long would the magic last? Did I have to say something to give him his body back? I probably should have read up on that part before turning my mate into a...well, into a larger version of me.

  Bo ran his hands over his curls, stretching them out the way he always did to mine. His fingers rubbed against the skin on his arms, his stomach, and even his legs. “I don’t have any hair,” he commented.

  “Good thing I shaved this morning,” I grumbled. “Are you okay?”

  He massaged his new breasts again and gave me a wink. “I think I’m good.”

  “Stop touching yourself. It’s weird,” I said. Shaking my head, I flipped the page with the spell to see if there was anything written on the back. “Okay, here we go,” I muttered to myself. In the corner of my eye, I saw Bo pulling out the hem of his/my yoga pants and checking out the lack of junk between his legs. He giggled like a schoolboy.

  “This spell will only last thirty minutes at most.” I caught him playing with his nipples when I looked up. “So, you have about twenty-eight minutes to enjoy being a woman.”

  “It’s kind of awesome,” he said.

  “What? Being a woman or playing with your own breasts?”

  He chuckled and stepped toward me. Grabbing my hands, he placed them right on top of his nipples. “Ever want to have sex with a woman?” he teased.

  “No.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep.” My hands were still on my look-alike breasts. It was really weird.

  Bo tried to give me his trademark smirk, but it just didn’t look the same. “Well, that’s disappointing,” he said in a
ll seriousness. “I thought all girls tried that in college.”

  “You have a warped sense of the female mind,” I joked.

  He tapped his head with his finger. “Not anymore. Now I know exactly how you think.”

  I crossed my arms and accepted the challenge. “Okay, mister. Tell me something you’ve learned about me.”

  Bo paced around the kitchen table, something only I did. It freaked me out as I watched him imitate my mannerisms without even trying. Wait, did I always mumble to myself like that? I’d have to remember to stop doing that because it was pretty annoying. “You have a lot of witchy power in you,” he started.

  “I’m a witch.”

  “Yeah, but you could be doing more,” he mused, still pacing and still tapping his head like that would help the connection work better. “You love me,” he said with a smile.

  “I do.”

  “And you’re anxious to get married. No, not anxious...excited.” His eyes flashed my way and I tried not to show any response. “You’ve always wanted a big wedding. Dreamed about it since you were a little girl.”

  Damn. I hadn’t told him that before. It was something I wanted to keep secret so Bo, or anyone else, wouldn’t give me a hard time about being too girly.

  “You like the color blue. It reminds you of the sky when you would go away from the city and visit the forest. And you,” he turned sharply to meet my gaze, “hey, you actually like the forest!”

  With a shrug, I conceded. “True. But as long as I’m not too far away from civilization.”

  Bo rubbed his breasts again as he thought. “You’re worried. About me.” He walked over to me and grabbed my hands. “Why?”

  “Because this is not what I expected from the spell. I hope I can reverse it.”

  “You will,” he said with way more confidence than I knew I felt in my own body. Suddenly, he yanked his hands out of mine and wrapped his arms across his stomach. “Whoa!”

  “Bo! What is it? What’s wrong?”

  His hands massaged the muscles underneath his ribs and then settled on his lower abdomen. “This is really strange,” he muttered.

  “No shit. But tell me what’s wrong?”

  He looked up at me with a smile, his eyes a bright blue. Were my own really that color? “I think I—”

  Just then, someone knocked on our front door. I gave Bo a panicked look before moving away from him to peek out the window. “Oh no. It’s Brandt. And Brennan. And Emma.”

  Bo laughed and threw up his arms. “They are going to freak out!” He continued rubbing his lower belly with one hand as he motioned for me to open the door with the other. “Go on. Let them in.”

  “Bo, I can’t. They can’t see you like this.” My throat quickly started closing with panic. Brandt was the grizzly clan leader and Bo’s older brother. He might want to kill me if he knew how worried I was about the spell actually wearing off.

  “We can hear you in there,” Brandt’s booming voice shouted through the front door.

  “He probably thinks we’re doing it,” Bo joked.

  “This isn’t funny,” I pushed out through gritted teeth. “They can’t see you like this!”

  Bo grabbed me, pulled me close, and kissed me on the lips—a very odd sensation considering he looked exactly like me right now. “It will be fine,” he whispered a moment before he shouted over the top of my head, “Come in, it’s open!”

  “Bo! No!” I turned just in time to see three grizzlies standing in the doorway with their mouths hanging open and their eyes wider than my own. “Oh, my god,” I whispered to myself. Then, clearing my throat and trying to act like this was part of our normal routine, I added, “Hi guys.”

  Emma covered her mouth and held in a laugh, dropping the basket she’d been holding on the floor. As Brandt’s mate, and someone who’d known Bo since he was a baby, she seemed more amused than concerned for his well-being. “What the hell happened to you, Bo?”

  Brandt and Brennan simply stared and waited for a response.

  In true Bo fashion, he strutted over to the three of them, grabbed the basket of goodies off the floor, and sauntered around in a circle. “What do you think? I’m trying out a new look.”

  Emma busted into a fit of giggles as my face blushed a hundred shades of red. I could feel the power in Brandt’s bear and it had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I refused to look at him directly for fear of losing my head.

  “You guys are into some freaky shit,” Emma said as she nudged her mate’s arm. “Maybe we should try this, hun.”

  “What?” Brandt grunted, still watching his brother sway his hips back and forth as he fondled his new breasts once again. Then, he seemed to regain the power of speech as he turned to Emma and shook his head. “No way.”

  “You look exactly like her, but not really like her,” Brennan mused. He turned toward me and asked, “Spell gone wrong?”

  Leave it to Brennan to make me feel a little better. He wasn’t accusing me of anything. Just simply asking a question to assess the situation. “Kind of? It was a little more powerful than I thought. But it should wear off soon.”

  “Why does he keep touching his boobs?” Brandt asked and Emma nearly choked on her laughter.

  “Because they feel so good,” Bo cooed. “Seriously brothers, you’ve gotta try being a woman. It feels fantastic.”

  Emma and I shared a knowing look and shook our heads. A small giggle slipped out from between my lips. “It’s supposed to help him understand what I’m feeling.”

  “It’s pretty fucking awesome,” Bo added, now rubbing his hands up and down over his hips as his brothers watched with disgusted looks on their faces.

  I glanced up at Brandt. “Why are you here?”

  Emma pointed to the basket, still trying to tear her amused eyes away from Bo. “Housewarming gift.”

  “You already got us the espresso machine,” I said.

  “True. But I like to shop and I thought you could use a bread maker.”

  “A bread maker?” Bo asked, and then clicked his tongue. “Puh-lease. It’s sexist to think all women should work in the kitchen and bake bread for their husbands.”

  Mortified, I covered my own mouth and looked back at Emma. “That is not what I’m thinking right now.”

  Emma laughed and patted me on the shoulder. “No worries, Kenzie. Besides, he’s the woman of the house now, right?”

  With a glare tossed behind my shoulder at Bo, I nodded. “For the next twenty minutes at least.”

  Brandt cleared his throat. “He has to stay like this for another twenty minutes?”

  I nodded and Bo set his leg up on the kitchen table and started to stretch.

  His oldest brother and alpha, turned to face him. “Change back.”

  “No,” Bo said as he leaned sideways and reached for his ankle. “Kenzie, you’re more flexible than I thought. Remind me to try a few things in bed later.”

  “Oh my, god,” I muttered in embarrassment again.

  “Bo, we need to discuss a few things about the clan business—”

  “Okay, fine. Discuss,” Bo interrupted.

  “And I can’t talk to you when you look like this.”

  Bo huffed, dropped his leg to the ground, and stomped over to me. He wrapped his arm across my shoulders and held me tight. “What’s wrong with the way I look? Kenzie is the most beautiful woman in the world and I look like her.”

  “Bo,” Brandt groaned. Brennan stood behind his brother and continued to stare without any sort of expression on his face.

  “Sorry, Emma,” Bo continued. “But Kenzie is the most beautiful and I want to stay like this as long as I can.” Bo kissed me on the cheek and the other three grizzlies sucked in a collective breath at the sheer weirdness of the situation.

  “Change,” Brandt demanded, a bit of his alpha power dominating the room.

  “Stop it, Brandt,” Bo pushed out. I saw the rippling of the magic again and wondered if Brandt was about to call out his bro
ther’s grizzly.

  “Now.” Brandt’s voice rumbled through the room and Bo clutched his stomach again a second before collapsing to the floor.

  “Shit!” I called out, rubbing Bo’s shoulders and helping him through the transition back to himself. The air smelled of the burnt hair again and when Bo’s muscles contracted all at once, I feared that we were about to have a thousand-pound grizzly filling the space. “Bo, listen to me. Focus on your human form. Please don’t shift into your bear.”

  He looked up at me, unable to speak again. Biting his lips and clenching his jaw, he gave me a quick nod before lying on the ground and curling up into a ball. He protected his stomach as the magic shimmered over him. In just a few more seconds, he had transitioned back into his regular self. His jeans scraped against the floor and I continued rubbing his always-shirtless back.

  “Is he okay?” Emma asked, kneeling beside us.

  “I think so,” I whispered. “Bo? Can you hear me?”

  He turned his head to face the ceiling and smiled at me. “I don’t feel you anymore.”

  Panic squeezed my heart. “You can’t feel me touching you right now?” I squeezed his shoulder hard, worried that the spell how somehow paralyzed him.

  Bo laughed and pulled my face close to his. “Relax, Kenzie. I can feel you. I just can’t feel what’s going on inside your body anymore.”

  When his soft lips pressed against mine, I temporarily forgot that we weren’t alone. This was the problem with having a mate...I always wanted him. Bad.

  Someone cleared their throat and I giggled. “Can you stand?”

  Emma and I helped Bo off the ground and after shaking out his legs, he tugged on his jeans and flashed his dimples at everyone. “Well, that was fun.”

  Brennan and Emma shook their heads and Brandt simply sighed. “Can we talk to you outside?”

  Bo looked at me and winked. “Sure, but give me a minute, okay?”

  Brandt nodded, flashed me a small smile, and led the other two outside. Just before closing the door, Emma turned back toward us. “And if you don’t want the bread maker, just let me know.”

  I gave her a little wave as she shut the door. “Okay, this was all super weird.” A squeak slipped through my mouth when Bo lifted me off the ground and spun me in a circle. Through my laughter I asked, “What are you doing?”