“It was pretty good, wasn’t it?” Zelda grinned and then winked at Wicked. “Okay, lady. It’s time to get your man.”
“I don’t think he wants to see me. I really messed up.” Wicked shook her head, wondering how she was going to make this right.
“Oh, he wants to see you.” Zelda twirled her fingers with a grin. “And if it helps, just get naked.”
Before Wicked could say a word, she was zapped out of her shop into a vortex of colors.
Chapter 6
Wicked found herself at the bottom of Thorne’s steps that led to his front door. Thunder rumbled overhead as fat drops of rain began to fall, but she ignored it all as she stood there, trying to decide if she was ready for this confrontation.
It would take nothing at all for her to zap herself back to her shop, but deep down, she didn’t really want to do that. The rain came down harder, and still, she ignored it, not bothering to seek shelter.
Glancing at the drive, she saw his vehicles were here. The car she had seen yesterday was absent. Glancing back at the house, she gasped as Thorne stood in the door. Bare-chested, he wore only unbuttoned jeans. Her eyes worked their way up his body to his face and then his eyes, his beautiful eyes that just stared at her, emotionless. Was she too late?
The rain came down harder, drenching her, yet she stood her ground. Her chin trembled, her body shivered, but she didn’t look away.
“I, ah….” She tripped over her words as she wiped the rain from her face. Taking a deep breath, she tried to control her emotions long enough for her to speak, but she was having a hell of a job trying to do that. Dropping her head, she stared at the ground since staring at him was not helping her.
As she stared at the ground trying to gain courage, bare feet appeared in her line of vision, just as a hand gently lifted her chin. Thorne stood before her in the rain, and he’d never looked more handsome.
A loud clap of thunder made her jump while the rain still came down in buckets, yet they stood staring at each other as if it were the most normal thing to do. “I’m sorry,” she finally whispered, blinking the drops of rain off her lashes. Tears mixed with the rain running down her face. “I should have trusted you.”
“Yes, you should have,” Thorne agreed gently, without any amount of anger or blame. “And it hurt me that you didn’t.”
She tried to look back down, but he didn’t allow her.
“But I understand after a night of thinking about it.” Thorne leaned down, his face inches from hers as he stared into her eyes. “Because if it would have been reversed, I may have killed the man you ran toward to hug.”
His words sent her into his arms. Wicked held him tightly, feeling vulnerable, a feeling she hated with everything inside her, yet with him, it felt right. At this moment, she knew he would hold her heart with care. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a sister?”
“How about we get out of the rain before I explain,” he said as another loud crack of thunder exploded around them.
After they hurried into his house, he grabbed some towels. Thorne paused and laughed when, with just a twirl of her finger, they were both bone-dry. “I forget how handy that finger of yours is.”
Wicked grinned, loving the sound of his laugh. “It is pretty handy.” Her smile slipped. “I wish it could undo the stupid things I do.”
“I know trust is hard for you, but I swear on my panther that I will never handle your trust with anything other than pure respect.” His tone was serious as he stood before her, but something about his statement, which meant a lot, seemed strange to her.
“On your panther?” She tilted her head as she asked, “Is that… like, I don’t know, something big?”
A smile tipped his lips. “Yeah, it’s something big. Without my panther, I die. We are a part of each other. So saying I swear on my panther means that you should have no doubts about what I will do with your trust, your heart, with you.”
Okay, she melted. Every damn bone in her body felt like rubber because each word he spoke, his grin disappeared, and she felt his truth. It resonated in her heart and soul.
“I should have stayed last night and explained. I know that now.” Thorne took her hands into his. “I shouldn’t have walked away, and it won’t ever happen again.”
“We still have a lot to learn about each other.” Wicked sighed and laid her head on his chest.
“We do,” he agreed, his hand rubbing up and down her back. “And I didn’t say anything about my sister because honestly, we’ve never really kept in contact other than a few texts. She texted me yesterday morning saying she was in town and needed to talk to me.”
“We really haven’t talked that much about our pasts anyway.” Wicked realized that she wanted to know everything there was to know about this man. “Will I be able to meet her?”
“Yeah, she’s going to be staying with me for a while.” His voice turned hard. “Seems she’s running from an ex and needs protection.”
“Oh no.” Wicked frowned, leaning back so she could look up at him. “Is she okay?”
“She is now, but he beat her up pretty bad,” Thorne growled as his eyes hardened.
“Where is she?” One thing Wicked couldn’t stomach was a man who beat on a woman.
“She’s upstairs resting,” Thorne replied, pulling her toward the kitchen. “I was getting ready to make dinner, and then I was coming to find you.”
“You were?” Wicked asked and heard the surprise in her own voice. “Why? You pretty much said I was to come to you when I figured things out, and you sounded pretty serious.”
“At that moment, I was serious, but I love you and missed you. Even those few hours.” Truth and warmth radiated through Thorne’s reply, and he spoke without hesitation. “And it was time to talk and make things right. You’re mine, Wicked.”
Leaning up, she tugged him toward her and kissed him softly, but with purpose. “I love you, Thorne.”
“I did learn something about you today.” Thorne gave her a slow grin.
“Oh, and what was that?” She angled back to look up at him.
“You look damn sexy wet,” he said with a wink.
“We can go back out and play in the rain if you want,” she teased and hugged him tightly. “I really am sorry. I shouldn’t have acted like a jealous—”
“Hey, we got this, okay? We’re good, and last night I did a lot of thinking. If you didn’t care at all for me, then you wouldn’t have been jealous. Kinda got me all pumped up.”
“I think that was probably the alcohol that did that.” Wicked cocked her eyebrow.
“Who told you?” Thorne’s eyes opened wide as he hissed the question. “Dammit, Mac told Zelda, didn’t he?”
“He did.” Wicked nodded, then laughed at his cursing.
“Asshole,” Thorne grumped then sighed. “Well, it wasn’t as bad as he probably said, so….”
“He had to drag you out of the bar,” Wicked poked but felt bad for having fun at his expense. “It’s okay. I had to talk Bruce out of getting Fat Bastard and his friends to hunt you down. You’re lucky it was Mac who found you.”
“I’d eat them,” he snarled then rolled his eyes. “What the hell are four lazy-ass cats going to do to me?”
Her eyes roamed down to his crotch. “It had something to do with sharp claws and your manly area.”
“Shit!” He covered himself instinctively. “And you stopped them? Thank you.”
She grinned. “Well, I thought about it for a second, but I knew there was hope for us, so yeah, I stopped them.” Wicked squealed as he grabbed her and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his midsection. “So is your sister a light sleeper?” Wicked whispered against his ear before pulling his lobe into her mouth gently teasing it with her teeth.
“I have no fucking idea, but I have a place we can go.” Thorne moaned as she continued to kiss and bite at his neck. “What do you have in mind?”
With a twirl of her finger, she was wet and totally naked.
“Something sinfully wicked.”
Chapter 7
Wicked sat at the kitchen counter watching Thorne cook like a five-star chef. He glanced up at her and stopped what he was doing. “Am I going to have to wipe the frown off your face again?” He gave her a slow, sexy wink, making her blush. Dammit, she never blushed, but with Thorne, everything about her was different.
“Seriously, you should be working at the Assjacket Diner,” she teased, then turned serious. “Where in the hell did you learn how to cook like that?”
He shrugged as he continued chopping onions and peppers. “I just like to cook. I’ve picked up things along the way and have my own style.”
“Don’t let him fool you,” a female voice said from behind them. “Thorne went to cooking school and was at the top of his class.”
“Oh, really?” Wicked glanced at Thorne with a cocked eyebrow before turning toward the new voice. A beautiful smaller version of Thorne walked toward them.
“You must be Wicked.” The woman smiled as she reached out her hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Monica, Thorne’s older sister, even though he doesn’t like to admit to that.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Wicked took her hand, liking his sister instantly.
“Older by five minutes, if that,” Thorne growled over his shoulder.
“You’re twins?” Wicked gasped. Her brows wrinkled in confusion wondering why Thorne never mentioned his sister. Seeing the sadness that shadowed Monica’s eyes told Wicked there was a story here, one that seemed to run deep and painful.
“I see he hasn’t said much about me.” Monica gave Wicked a small smile as she also sat at the counter. “Can’t say I blame him.”
“Monica,” Thorne warned as he set a plate full of the most delicious smelling food in front of Wicked. She had no clue what it was and honestly, she didn’t care. It smelled and looked amazing. He then placed a plate in front of Monica.
“I rebelled and left my family. Lost touch with Thorne for years and made a lot of bad decisions, the worst one most recently.” Monica poked around at the food, her eyes downcast. “Now I’m here needing help from the family I left behind.”
“Is it just you two?” Wicked didn’t want to pry, but she did want to know more about the man she had fallen in love with.
“Now.” Thorne turned and filled himself a plate. He stood leaning against the counter, facing them as he ate. “Our parents are both gone. Monica, you need to eat and so do you, Wicked.”
The room became quiet. Wicked picked up her fork and took a bite. She had to hold back a moan of pleasure as flavor exploded in her mouth. It was a mixture of tender meat, peppers, and onions in a silky smooth sauce. “Oh my God. This is so good.” Wicked took another bite, chewed and swallowed. “You really went to cooking school?”
Thorne took a drink of beer then set the bottle down. “I did, but there aren’t many restaurants in Assjacket.” He grinned at her.
“Then open up your own,” Wicked said without thinking. Seriously, it was a logical thought as she devoured what was left on her plate.
“As soon as I find the right place, that’s the plan,” Thorne added as he took her plate, filling it back up.
Wicked just stared at him as he set her plate back in front of her. “Wow, I really don’t know you very well at all.” She meant to say that in a lighthearted way, but even to her own ears, she heard the sadness.
“We’ve got the rest of our lives, and I plan on knowing everything about you. Slowly.” He gave her a wink then smiled at her blush.
“You guys are either going to make me gag or jealous, so stop it.” Monica sighed. When her phone next to her started to ring, she cursed. She glanced at it but didn’t reach to pick it up. Her face visibly paled as she just stared at her phone.
“Is that him?” Thorne’s voice turned deadly as he looked up from the phone to his sister.
“Yes,” Monica replied, and Wicked could hear the fear in her voice. Thorne snatched the phone off the counter. “Thorne, no!”
“Listen, motherfucker,” Thorne growled into the phone, “you come anywhere near Monica, you are a dead man.”
Wicked had never heard this side of Thorne, and actually, it turned her on. How fucked up was that?
“You continue to call her, I will hunt you down,” Thorne continued, hardly taking a breath. “I’m your worst fucking nightmare.”
Both Wicked and Monica stared at Thorne as he pulled the phone away from his ear. His nostrils flared and eyes narrowed in rage.
“He hung up,” Thorne hissed as he set his sister’s phone down.
“Wonder why?” Wicked grinned, then glanced at Monica. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I’d say that little chat put an end to your worries.”
“I doubt it.” Monica wasn’t smiling; in fact, she looked more scared than she had before. “Fletcher doesn’t scare easy, and he’s a little psychotic.”
“Where in the hell do you find these guys?” Thorne frowned with a shake of his head.
“I’m obviously a magnet for assholes.” Monica pushed her half-eaten plate away. “And you’ve always been my hero.”
“Yeah, I’ve kicked a few asses over you,” Thorne replied as he grinned at the memory.
“How long were you with this guy?” Wicked asked, hoping she wasn’t being too nosey.
“Close to a year,” Monica replied with a sigh. “It started out great, but it usually does. I fell in love, and he became more demanding. First, he was verbally abusive, but when I started sticking up for myself, it became physical, to the point I was afraid for my life.”
“I’m sorry.” Wicked placed a hand on her arm and squeezed gently. “I know how that is, unfortunately.”
“What?” Thorne growled as his eyes shot to hers. “A man hit you? You never told me this.”
“Well, it’s something I don’t like talking about.” Wicked frowned, taking her hand off Monica’s arm and crossing hers over her chest. “He got what was coming to him.”
“Who is he?” Thorne’s tone turned aggressive again. “What’s his fucking name?”
“What did you do?” Monica asked at the same time, her eyes wide as she stared at Wicked.
“I turned his pee-pee black,” Wicked said proudly with a huge smile. “I warned him if he ever hit me again, I would do it and well, he didn’t believe me.”
“Wait. What?” Thorne shook his head. “You turned his what black?”
“His pee-pee, his wanker, his—” Wicked started listing all the dick names she could think of, trying to lighten the somber mood in the room.
“Oh. My. God!” Monica laughed, clapping her hands. “Please, I will pay you to turn Fletcher’s.”
“Hey, it’s on the house. Name a color and consider it a done deal.” Wicked gave Thorne’s sister a wink then glanced at Thorne, who was staring at her with an odd look on his face. “What?”
“How many pee-pees have you turned?” he asked suspiciously.
“Don’t worry, your pee-pee is safe with me.” She laughed at the relieved look on his face. “Unless you really piss me off.”
“I like you.” Monica chuckled. “A lot. I have to say I’ve never met a witch before, but I’m sure glad I’ve met you.”
“Right back at ya,” Wicked replied, then frowned when her phone began to ring. Picking it up, she sighed.
“Is Bruce FaceTiming you?” Thorne glanced over the counter at her phone. “How in the fuck is he doing that? He doesn’t have opposable thumbs.”
“Who’s Bruce?” Monica also looked over at Wicked’s phone. “Holy shit, is that a cat?”
“Holy shit, who’s the babe?” Bruce all but purred over the phone.
Monica gasped. “It talks?”
“It does,” Bruce answered in his best sexy purr. Wicked raised her brows. “He also has a huge—”
“Bruce!” Wicked cut him off with a frown. “Why are you FaceTiming me?”
“Because I wanted to see if yo
u were okay.” Bruce glared at her then tried to see Monica, which wouldn’t have worked since Wicked had moved the phone. She rolled her eyes at his antics. “I hadn’t heard from you, and I wanted to let you know that Thorne isn’t at the end of your road.”
“Bruce—” Wicked tried to warn him, but Bruce wouldn’t shut up.
“No, listen to me, Wicked.” Bruce cut her off. “Me and Fat Bastard have already set up a few dates for you.”
Hearing a low growl, she glanced toward Thorne, whose face turned a shade of angry she hadn’t seen before. “I don’t—”
“Yes, Wicked you do.” Bruce cut her off again. “Thorne is a piece of shit who isn’t even worth your time. He’s a panther for shit’s sake and probably licks his balls more than I do, and I know how you hate that. So listen to me. You are going to go on these dates. Me and Fat Bastard have already interviewed them, showed them your picture—which one guy was ready to buy a ring already once he saw you—and now all you have to do is dress pretty, show some cleavage, and BAM… Thorne is just a distant memory that smells of panther shit.”
Thorne held his hand out as he stared at Wicked. “I tried to warn ya,” she said to Bruce, who was looking very pleased with himself. Handing the phone to Thorne, she leaned back in her chair to watch the show. Poor Bruce. He did have a natural ability for getting himself in trouble, but his heart was always in the right place.
Once Thorne was glaring into the phone, the silence became deafening.
“Ah, oh, hey there, Thorne,” Bruce squeaked then cleared his throat. “Wicked didn’t tell me you were there.” Attitude colored his final words.
“Yeah, I know.” Thorne sneered into the phone. “Where you at, Bruce?”
“I’m, ah, well…” Bruce sounded pretty shaken up to the point Wicked almost felt sorry for him… almost. “Dammit, Fat Bastard, get back here.”
“So you set Wicked up on some dates?” Thorne continued, his voice deepening as he spoke.
Bruce laughed nervously, but it sounded more like nails screeching down a chalkboard. “Ah, now come on, buddy,” Bruce finally said. “You know I wouldn’t do anything like that. You’re my bro, man. You misunderstood.”
Sinfully Wicked: Magic and Mayhem Universe Page 3
