It seemed an eternity before the pair on the floor grew still. Neither made a sound, and so much fur and feathers were scattered upon them, it was impossible to see if they even breathed.
Ruby crept forward and knelt down to reach out and brush the feathers off Tarock’s face. “Darling, can you hear me?”
It was an endless moment before he finally moved. His whiskers twitched and then one eye peeked open. Ruby scooped him up and took him safely across the room. Though the raven lay stiff and still, she didn’t take the chance he was no longer a threat. Ellen joined her, staring apprehensively at the cat.
“Oh, Grams, the poor, brave kitty. Will he make it?”
Ruby hurried over and picked up the potion to change him. She didn’t think he possessed the strength to do it himself. Before she used it, she looked at Ellen. “Prepare yourself.” She sprinkled the potion over Tarock’s fur.
When the small puff of smoke the potion created cleared, Ellen’s eyes opened wide upon seeing Tarock the man lay before her. “Holy crap!”
“Language, missy,” Ruby scolded, although she must admit she’d thought the same thing when she’d first laid eyes on Tarock.
Ellen pried her gaze away from the man lying on the floor and gestured over to where the raven lay. “What do you want to do with that?”
Ruby was now kneeling on the ground checking Tarock over to make sure he wasn’t hurt. He groaned and twitched a little when her fingers tickled his skin, but he appeared well enough and certainly didn’t seem to mind her prodding at him. Satisfied he was all right, she got up and walked over to her table once more. She retrieved a little cloth sac and went to stand over the raven. Upon closer inspection, she could tell by the stiff look of his feet sticking out like tiny tree limbs that he was indeed dead. She reached into the cloth sac and withdrew a handful of shiny sand, scattered it over the bird, and waited a moment.
Intrigued, Ellen came over to watch. “What’s that?”
Three seconds later, the bird disappeared. “Vanishing potion. Comes in handy when you’ve got a sink full of dirty dishes you want to get rid of.”
Tarock got to his feet and walked over to stand beside Ruby. He put his hand in hers and then leaned down to kiss her sweetly on the cheek.
“Ellen, I’d like to introduce Tarock. Tarock, this is my granddaughter, Ellen. She’s a witch too.” Ruby couldn’t keep the pride out of her voice.
Ruby sneaked a peek out the window toward the patio as the pair shook hands. She spotted Alison pacing around the picnic table, her gaze continuously wandering to the windows of the house. “We’d better get down there before Alison gets concerned.”
As the three exited the room, Ellen walked beside her grandmother. “You’re not really gonna let mom make you leave are you?”
“I don’t know. This whole mess started because I tried to create a nurse for myself out of a little dove. I’ve learned my lesson though, no more fooling around with birds. I was hoping having someone here to watch over me might put to rest your mother’s fears and buy me more time. I’m not sure what to do now.”
“Hey, don’t you still have some of granddad’s old shirts laying around?” Ellen asked suddenly as they passed a spare bedroom Ruby used for storage.
“I think there might still be one or two hanging in the closet in there,” she said, gesturing toward the room. “I couldn’t bear to pack up everything of his into boxes. Why?”
Ellen grabbed Ruby with one hand and Tarock with the other. She headed for the closet. After searching for a moment, she tossed a stiff high-collared white shirt to Tarock. When they peered at her questioningly, she smiled. “Try it on.”
Tarock removed his cape and put on the shirt and began doing up the buttons. It was a little snug over the bulging muscles of his arms, but it would pass.
Ellen stared at him approvingly and grinned at Ruby. “Meet your new nurse.”
Ruby ran a critical eye over Tarock’s handsome form. He certainly gave the appearance of being a capable professional. Although, she must admit with those muscles he looked more like an exotic dancer or a body builder than a nurse. “I don’t know if your mom will buy it.” Or maybe she will agree and then decide to move back in with me? Who could resist him?
“I think it’s a great idea. We should have done this earlier,” Tarock said.
“It has to work, Grams. You can’t teach me all I need to know from an old age home. Could you imagine all those potions and puffs of smoke in there? It’d be chaos. Besides, you wouldn’t be able to take Tarock with you.”
When the image of what had gone on between her and Tarock in the tree house suddenly popped into Ruby’s mind she needed no further persuasion. Never mind all the magic spells and potions she’d no longer be able to concoct. “You’re right. Let’s do it.”
The three of them smiled conspiratorially as they walked outside to talk to Alison.
“What if it doesn’t work?” Tarock whispered to them as Alison eyed him with raised eyebrows.
“There’s always the vanishing potion,” said Ruby with a wicked grin.
Chapter 6
Five months later
Ruby stretched out luxuriously before the fireplace. She could hear the steady blow of the wind and the stiff pellets of icy snow battering against the windows. Tarock entered the room with a tray, which held two glasses of brandy. He padded toward her wearing only a pair of the tiger stripped boxers she’d picked him up. He said he enjoyed the freedom and breeziness they allowed, although the g-string and leather pants were hardly a thing of the past. If they didn’t have company, he usually just walked around in his boxers and cape. Hardly a typical male nurse.
Ellen became a permanent fixture around the house on the weekends. Though Tarock had to wear actual clothing during her visits, he told Ruby he enjoyed seeing them cackle away together. Spending time with Ellen gave Ruby a sense of fulfillment and great joy, and at long last, someone close to her to divulge all of her secrets to. Her granddaughter was a quick study, and Ruby knew she possessed the makings of a witch to be reckoned with. With Ellen by her side, she would no longer have to worry about facing an uncertain future alone—as they now had each other. And of course, she had Tarock. Never would she tire of spending endless days and nights in his arms.
Tarock gave a slight shudder as he walked past the window and saw the raging storm. “I don’t miss being outside on a night like tonight.” He set the tray down and stretched out beside Ruby on the faux bearskin rug giving her naked body a lascivious leer.
“Darling, you’re way overdressed,” Ruby told him giving his waistband a little snap with her finger.
“Ouch! So, you want to play rough this evening do you?” It took but a moment for him to jump up and slip out of his boxers before dropping back down onto his knees. He reached out and pulled Ruby up before him, backside first. Slowly, he began to rock against her. Once he was fully aroused, he guided himself to her pussy and eased inside with painstaking patience.
Ruby knew he had a different brand of torture in mind for her. She gritted her teeth as he entered her completely and then slid back out again. Over and over, he slowly pumped until she thought she would scream. He reached beneath her to squeeze her hanging breasts in his large hand and gave her bottom a gentle smack.
“Do you like it, my love?” His voice sounded like a growl, close enough to her ear that she could feel his warm breath.
“Oh, yes! Faster, Tarock, faster.”
So, faster his movements became. He grasped Ruby’s hips to keep her steady. But then he slowed his movements once more, causing Ruby to cry out in despair. Must he always torment me so? Just like a cat playing with its prey before coming in for the kill.
“Easy, love. Pleasure is so much more intense when you must wait for it.” Deep strokes accented his words.
Ruby dropped her head and gripped the rug in her hands. For all his bravado, she knew Tarock could only hang on so long. Ah, yes! Sure enough, his thrusts became more urgent
, and the grip on her hips more firm.
She knew she could spend the next several hundred years enjoying Tarock’s hard cock and still never tire of it. Just the thought of centuries spent in pure bliss was enough to make her come undone.
“Tarock!”
He was right there with her. “Yes, my love. Together...”
Tarock threw back his head and roared while Ruby screamed her own release. As they floated back leisurely from ecstasy, he lay her down and held her in his strong embrace.
“Wow,” he purred.
Ruby rested her head on his chest and listened to the quick pounding of his heartbeat. “Darling, tell me it will be like this forever,” she said, remembering the close call they experienced with the raven. The thought of losing him had reminded her how precarious life could be, even for immortals and witches.
“Don’t worry, my sweetheart. I will always be by your side. No matter what the future holds, we will face it together.”
Ruby knew that days of magic gone awry were far from over. Still, Tarock was correct; with him by her side, and now her darling Ellen as well, it did not seem so daunting.
“I love you, my sweet, sweet Ruby.”
They were just the words she needed to make her life feel complete. She smiled and gazed at her lover with fondness. “I love you, too.”
TRAPPED IN TIME
For one hour only, when the moon is full and the clock strikes twelve, the two shall become one...
Bong. Bong. Bong...
Clarissa stood before the old grandfather clock, her fists tightly clenched in anticipation.
Bong. Bong. Bong...
In just a few short moments her lover would return to her. A bittersweet reunion, however, for they could only be together for one hour.
Lightning lit up the long windows in the study of the grand old mansion she had called home for the past two hundred years. Soon the room would be filled with joy and passion, instead of silence and desolation. And loneliness.
Bong. Bong. Bong...
The waiting was torture for her, and for Tristan. But they would not spend their precious minutes together in bitterness and thoughts of revenge. They were past that point by now. The spell could not be broken.
Bong. Bong. Bong...
At last. At long last, as thunder cracked and the fire grew higher and brighter in the hearth...through a swirling mist before her, he appeared.
“Tristan,” she said, the sound of her voice revealing her depth of relief.
As the mist quickly cleared, Tristan stepped forth, tall and broad, his long cape swirling around his feet. His blond hair appeared windblown as it cascaded back from his handsome face and brushed upon his shoulders.
“My love.” He wasted no time in taking her into his strong arms, tilting her back and ravishing her lips with a kiss.
When finally they broke apart, Clarissa grasped his hand tightly and led him to the thick rug before the fire. They stood facing each other, he looking down fondly upon her from his great height, and she gazing up in awe at his formidable presence.
Once again he took her into his arms. “’Tis forever, the time spent without you.”
Clarissa felt pain creep upward toward her heart, but she pushed it back down with determination. She would have days to mourn him after he had gone, but less than sixty minutes to enjoy him right now. She would not waste a single moment.
“I know darling,” she soothed him. Well did she know the nightmare he endured when he was not with her. He’d spoken of the endless darkness and the isolation. At least the jealous warlock who’d cursed him had been kind enough to grant them this one boon—small though it may be. Sometimes she wondered if their fleeting moments together had been meant to be more of a torment than a comfort. But no, as she looked at Tristan, she knew their time together was something to be cherished. She would rather have these brief glimpses of him than to be denied his presence completely.
Silently she knelt down before him and began to undo the strings securing his breeches. As her fingers worked against the material she could feel him stirring to life beneath her touch. Harder and larger he became, until finally she reached within and drew him free of the confining barrier. Tristan gasped as her hands wrapped around the wide, thick length of him. She marvelled once again over the softness of the skin covering such a powerful weapon. Her breath quickened in anticipation as she recalled how masterfully he’d taken her over and over the last time they were together. Wielding his sword with precision and enduring accuracy.
Anxiously she took him into her mouth. Deeply she suckled before slowly withdrawing, only to once again slide her lips down upon him. She felt his hands entangle in her flowing mass of long, dark hair. His grip was firm yet gentle as he guided her back and forth upon him. She then began to torture his cock with her tongue, paying special attention to his sensitive tip.
“Clarissa,” he moaned, as she continued to ply her tongue up and down.
She couldn’t help but smile at the power she suddenly wielded over one such as he. All too soon he would have her begging beneath him, reducing her to a quivering mass of need.
Tristan knelt down upon the rug before her. He kissed her lips as he grasped her bottom and pulled her toward him. As his kiss deepened and his tongue slid into her mouth, she could feel his fingers trail down the length of her gown. His excitement was evident as he lifted the dress quickly up and over her head, tossing it across the room.
“My lord!” she chastised him, before smiling seductively. She laughed at the expression on his face when he noticed she wore nothing beneath her gown. “No wasted moments,” she reminded him.
“Aye, if I could step through the portal naked I would,” he agreed, shedding the rest of his clothing.
Clarissa gasped as he suddenly took her into his arms and lowered her back onto the rug. Hot kisses blazed a trail from her throat to her breasts, and then lower. Her hips arched up off the floor when his lips fell upon her core. He teased her with slow strokes of his tongue as she had teased him. Moments later she felt one long finger slip inside of her. Soon it was joined by another, and then another.
“Yes, Tristan. Yes, my love,” Clarissa moaned as his fingers moved back and forth within her.
Before she could reach her peak, Tristan kissed his way up toward her belly and then her breasts. He guided his cock toward her entry, his mouth latching onto one hard nipple as he pushed inside of her. With slow deliberate strokes, he took her. Clarissa’s head thrashed from side to side as she felt the intense pressure building within her. Faster he began to move.
She felt her release come on with full force. “Ah. I love you, Tristan. I love you,” she said, her voice a rasping sob, for well she knew he would soon be gone.
Tristan stiffened and Clarissa felt him fill her with hot spurts of his desire. He lay down beside her to catch his breath. After resting a moment, he was once again on top of her, hard and ready, plunging deeply, filling her with his passion, before collapsing once again at her side.
“Say the rhyme to me,” he said.
Clarissa sat up and looked at him with despair. “We have gone over it and over it, Tristan. Please let us spend our precious minutes in each other’s arms, not with riddles,” she begged.
Tristan sat up and held her. “Say it once more,” he whispered as he ran his hand down the length of her hair.
Clarissa sighed. “All right, but the spell cannot be broken. For one hundred years we have tried.” She paused a moment then began reciting by memory...
“I hear the words of true love, across time and space.
The pair, who is joined forever, shall become separate in their place.
Never will the two be one, and will remain as broken.
Until such a time arrives; the oath of two is spoken.”
Tristan got to his feet and began to say the lines of the rhyme again. He donned his clothing as he spoke and Clarissa watched him with sadness.
“Our time grows short. Please, c
ome to me, my love,” she said, holding out her hands to him.
Tristan looked down at her and joined her on the rug before the heat of the flames. “I cannot stand being apart from you.”
“It only makes it harder when we struggle with our fate.”
“You may have accepted this, but I refuse. How dearly I would love to lay my hands around the neck of that villainous warlock.”
Clarissa dropped her hands away from Tristan in defeat. Though his passion for her was great, it seemed his desire for vengeance was greater. He would spend their last moments with talk of revenge it seemed, for even now the clock began to strike.
Bong!
“Nay! ’Tis too soon,” Tristan yelled, jumping to his feet as the mist began to form before them.
Clarissa ran into his arms and held him tightly. “Take us both,” she cried. “Take us both.”
Tristan gently pried her fingers from off his cloak. “Nay. We will be together again. When the moon is full,” he promised.
The pain was just too great. Clarissa stepped back and watched as Tristan stepped toward the mist. “I love you, Tristan! I love you.”
Tristan looked at her as he began to fade from view. “And I love you.”
Clarissa raised her hand to her mouth in shock. Never had he said those words to her. Ever.
“I love you,” he repeated, and then he was fully gone from her sight.
As the sound of the clock’s ticking filled the room, Clarissa sank to the floor in shock. For centuries the proud, passionate Tristan had loved her, she knew, but had never told her so. Always when she stated her love for him he had replied “And I you.”
Until now.
Suddenly, the clock’s ticking became louder and louder, causing Clarissa to stare at it in wonder. And as she watched, the mist began to form before her again. She rose to her feet and watched in fascination as a shadow appeared in the mist and then fully formed into a man.
“Tristan?” she asked, then saw that it was he. “I cannot believe it. How came you to be here now?” she asked, tears of joy running down her face.
Pretty Potions and Sexy Spells, Volume 1 Page 8
