Magic in Her Touch

by Kate McLay

  Mina looked at the cabinet and shrugged, "I've traveled a bit. I like to get cheap souvenirs to remind me of where I've been. I know it's cheesy, but they're mine."

  Darby picked up the Greek statue. It was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand and cool to the touch. "How could you come back here after you've been everywhere?" It almost hurt to ask, but Darby couldn't remember the last time that she left the tristate area. She had never lived out of the state, nor had she wanted to. But for a moment she felt the strangest longing to be anywhere but here. The only thing stronger than that was her desire for Mina.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Mina had picked up the knickknack that Darby kept fondling at a kitschy tourist shop in Athens. At €20, it had cost at least twice what it was worth, but for some reason it made her happy. But she gave Darby the glib response. She couldn't tell a woman that she had just met that her motives were purely sentimental. Her badass image wasn't allowed to crack until at least the third date.

  As to Darby's question, Mina wasn't sure how to answer. So she shrugged. "I was in the area doing a favor for a friend, so it felt right to come back." It wasn't true, per se. Lewistown fit her like a scratchy, tight Christmas sweater. She couldn't find a redeeming quality in the place. Not with her family living here. But Mina didn't want to worry about any of that right now.

  Darby set the bust back down and sat on the sofa. The light from the streetlamp outside illuminated her hair, making it appear like a golden halo around her head. She was an angel, come to do wicked deeds in the dark of the night with a wicked woman.

  Mina sent out a tendril of her magic, using it to lift up Darby's hair and pull several strands into a braid that she twirled on top of her head.

  Darby shivered and grabbed at the braid with one hand. Mina fought her pull to keep it in place. "Do you know why this is happening?" asked Darby. "Why this feels so good?"

  "No," Mina replied. She had studied magic her entire life, had sought out teachers in fourteen countries, but no one had ever felt so perfect, so in tune with her. "But sometimes when something feels this good, you just have to go with it. No questions."

  Darby smiled and leaned back into the cushions. She crooked her finger at Mina. "Come here, I don't just want your magic touching me."

  Mina took that as a challenge. She let go of the power holding the braid together and let the magic pour down over Darby's whole body, caressing her from head to foot. She had to hiss out a breath when the power settled over Darby's breasts and continued downward. The magic soaked up Darby's pleasure and rebounded it on Mina. Even as she touched Darby with her power, it was like she was being touched as well. She quivered with desire.

  Darby moaned and writhed on the sofa, her cheeks pink and chest heaving. "Jesus, I think I just came."

  Mina was in the same boat. "You only think?" She stalked toward her and straddled her lap, placing both hands on the wall behind Darby. "I must not be trying--oh my god." A wave of Darby's magic rushed over her, and Mina slumped over and cried out. Her nipples strained against her bra and she could feel her panties grow damp. "Do that again," she gasped.

  Darby's hand snaked around Mina's neck and pulled her forward. "More kissing."

  Mina agreed. "More kissing."

  But between them it wasn’t merely kissing. This was no normal caress of tongues. They were completely in sync, Darby's hands tracing up and under Mina's shirt while Mina did her best to distract her with a clever twisting of her tongue.

  Magic danced between them, an invisible partner in pleasure. At some point it stopped being a conscious thing. Instead their magic blended together and took them over, giving pleasure, enhancing it until Mina quivered on the edge of an orgasm.

  And she was still fully clothed.

  She never wanted to stop.

  Darby eased Mina's shirt up, pulling it off of her when Mina raised up her arms. She dropped it beside them, leaving Mina topless except for her bra. Darby pulled away from her lips to kiss down her chin and Mina arched her neck up with a moan, giving the woman access.

  The magic was pure heat between them, leaving both women panting in pleasure.

  Darby kissed and licked against Mina's clavicle, and dragged her bra strap down with her teeth, completely exposing Mina's shoulder. For some reason it made Mina feel far more naked than it should have. The thin strip of fabric had barely covered anything. But it could have been the hot lips against her skin that made her feel naked.

  She reached around and undid the hook and the bra sagged in front, the loosened strap falling down her arm. Mina pulled the bra off completely and sat in Darby's lap, naked from the waist up.

  The pleasure in Darby's eyes made it more than worth it.

  She continued her exploration, kissing down Mina's chest until her lips met the soft tissue of Mina's breasts. Mina hissed out as Darby took her nipple into her mouth, rolling the stiffened peak around her tongue.

  Mina's hand went to the back of Darby's hair, holding her in place as she cast a spell with her mouth. There was fire between them, an instant attraction that bound them together with an ancient power. This was more than lust, more than attraction, but Mina could not put this feeling into words.

  Mina was almost physically helpless with pleasure, but she could still feel that magic between them. She reached for it, gasping when it came to her. It was not merely her own power, but Darby's as well. She focused it, taking the pleasure that Darby gave her and sending it back to Darby, psychically pleasuring her partner while being physically pleasured.

  Darby moaned loud enough to wake the dead. Loud enough to almost drown out the blaring siren of Mina's ringtone.

  For exactly two seconds, Mina considered letting it go to voicemail. No one had made her feel this good in, well, she couldn't actually remember ever feeling this good before.

  But pleasure could not usurp responsibility. Not this responsibility.

  She pulled back and twisted around, digging in her bag to find the old beat up flip phone making that horrible noise. Before answering she shot Darby an apologetic look and mouthed, "Sorry."

  "Hello," Mina said.

  The breathless voice of Sarah Carpenter answered. She sounded scared and tired. "I need your help."

  That kicked Mina into gear. She stood up and found her top, pulling it on and keeping herself turned away from Darby. "Where are you?" She asked.

  "Chicago," Sarah answered. "There was--"

  "I can't talk now," Mina cut her off. "Give me your address and I'll be there in two hours." Sarah did as instructed and they disconnected. This timing sucked. Mina’s mission meant that she could never fully disconnect. Normally, that didn’t bother her. What she did was too important to the few people that she could help for her to resent these types of intrusions. But tonight felt different. Tonight it was meant to just be her and Darby and their magic. If Mina were another sort of woman, she would have saved Sarah until the morning and played with Darby all night.

  Unfortunately, she would never be that woman.

  Mina turned to explain the situation, but Darby had already adjusted her clothes and picked up her bag. "It sounds like you've got to work." Her tone was light, as if she wasn't still wet from their interlude. As if she weren't frustrated at the interruption.

  Mina ran a hand through her hair and blew her bangs out of her face. "My job is an always-on-call kind of thing."

  Darby hitched her bag over her shoulder, "I get it. It's cool." Mina recognized the too-casual tone of Darby's voice. Darby thought she was being rejected, and she wanted to play it off like it was no big deal.

  This wasn't a rejection, and Mina was far from done with her. "Are you free tomorrow?" she asked. "I can't promise there will be no interruptions, but I want to see you again."

  "I can make tomorrow work." Darby smiled. "Sounds like fun."

  Mina grabbed a pen off of the table and walked over to Darby. She opened up Darby's hand and scribbled her phone number on her palm. "Text me." And to give her
a little bit more encouragement, Mina pulled Darby close and kissed her again. There was no magic, this time. But when she heard Darby's purse hit the floor, she knew it was time to stop before they got carried away again. "Tomorrow?"

  Darby scooped up her purse and nodded, "Tomorrow."

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The address that Sarah gave her was in Greektown, a neighborhood not far from UIC in the north central part of the city. Mina rode her motorcycle west on Interstate 94 casting a glamor as she went through each of the automated tollbooths. At this time of night most of the cars were gone from the highway and she was left with the huge semi-trucks.

  But after an hour on the road, the traffic picked up and she could see the sparkling lights of the Chicago skyline reflect off Lake Michigan. She made her way along the lake and navigated up to Greektown. It wasn't difficult to find Sarah's building, though parking could have been an issue. Instead, Mina pulled into a small alleyway and left her bike against the wall. She set a glamor, a spell that could disguise a person or thing, to avoid detection, on the bike so that no one would notice it and went inside. The door was propped open by a brick and there was no other security. A lot of students from the university lived in this area, and Mina had no doubt that they were the ones she could thank for making her entrance so easy.

  She walked up the staircase, and sweat started to pour down her back. They didn't waste air-conditioning in central areas, and she hoped that Sarah kept her room cool. The hallway was stuffy despite the autumn night.

  The first time they met, Mina had just dropped out of college and was still trying to find herself. Sarah had set herself up with a man calling himself a new age guru whose cult-like personality drew men and women to him like moths to a flame. Sarah was only half witch, and it was the dryad part of her nature that was caught up with the man and his all-natural approach to life. But once she met Mina, that man's hold on her loosened. Mina and Sarah had a fun summer together, but had fallen apart for various reasons. After that, it had been another five years before Mina had heard from Sarah again. It was a dark chapter in Sarah's life, one she did not wish to relive.

  Upon reaching the fourth floor, Mina saw that things weren't right. Sarah had the door open and was looking out, waiting for her. The half witch had flowing blond hair, that right now looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a week. Her normally slim form was teetering close to emaciated, and she was so pale that her normally golden skin was nearly paper white. Sarah was short, barely over 5 feet tall, but the dryad part of her made her seem ethereal rather than impish.

  Mina wanted to ask Sarah what had brought her to the city. Dryads normally lived in the woods, or close to them. City life was suffocating. But she kept her mouth shut; it was none of her business.

  "Thank you," said Sarah by way of greeting. "I'm so glad you could come."

  "Of course, I said that I would." Mina followed her inside and watched as Sarah locked the three deadbolts on the door and slid the chain into place.

  Sarah turned back around to face Mina. "That was years ago."

  Mina met the nymph's worried eyes. "I keep my promises."

  "Good," said Sarah. She led Mina to her couch and beckoned her to sit down. It was a small one bedroom apartment, and the couch butted up next to the wall. Opposite the couch was a TV, and one wall was taken up by the kitchen. "I need your help. Again."

  Mina sat and leaned forward with her elbows resting on her knees. "What's wrong?"

  Sarah wouldn't look at her, instead playing with her nails, chipping at the blue polish. "It's my sister, Chloe."

  Mina remembered hearing about Chloe. She was younger than both of them by several years, and Mina had never actually met the girl. But Sarah loved her, and thought she was the smartest kid in the world. At least, when she didn't steal Sarah's clothes and make up. "What happened?" Chloe had to be close to 20 now. More than old enough to get into trouble.

  Now Sarah looked up, fear in her brown eyes. "He has her. He's going to hurt her."

  "You're going to need to be a bit more specific." Mina knew far too many dangerous men.

  "Alexander Lotharian."

  Oh, that guy. "I see."

  "Yeah," said Sarah.

  Alexander was the man Sarah wouldn't want to talk about. Mina didn't know everything that he had done her, but she knew enough. Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple as rescuing the girl. "I hate to ask this, but is he holding her captive? Or did she willingly go with him?"

  Sarah shot up from the couch and started pacing, "She doesn't know about me and him! You know what he's capable of, and I can't talk her into leaving. She won’t believe me."

  "If she doesn't want to go, I can't make her." Mina had been doing this for a long time, rescuing vulnerable women from dangerous men. It never worked out well when the woman didn't want to be rescued.

  "Please, just talk to her."

  "Have you tried to talk to her? She's never even met me. I don't see how I can help." Mina wasn't trying to be a hard-ass about this, but she had learned the hard way how the world worked, and she wasn't going to die fighting an impossible battle.

  "I tried. She won't even answer my calls anymore." Sarah sank back down to the couch and cradled her head in her hands. "I don't know what to do."

  "I can try to talk to her," Mina conceded. "But I'm not going to force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. Even knowing exactly how bad Alex is." Alex Lotharian was a powerful witch and a misogynistic bastard. He liked to take vulnerable, powerful girls and mold them into his image of the perfect woman. And when they failed, which they all did, he turned on them. His moods became violent, but he never left a mark, preferring psychological torture and magic over physical violence. The police were powerless to stop someone like him, and anyone with power in the magical world didn't care enough to challenge him.

  Sarah looked up and smiled through her tears. "Thank you, Mina. I don't know how I can repay you."

  They had been sitting on opposite sides the couch, but Mina could see that Sarah needed more comfort than a weak promise. She stood and moved over to sit next to the half-witch, pulling her close and letting her rest her head on Mina's shoulder. "Don't worry about payment. You're my friend, of course I'll help you." Sarah's arms came around Mina in a loose hug. They sat that way for a long time, until Sarah's arms tightened and her hands roamed up and down Mina's back. Sarah leaned into her and brushed her lips against Mina's throat.

  It was pleasant, but Mina felt nothing else. She could let Sarah keep going and offer this physical comfort to a friend, but she could still remember the taste of Darby's lips and feel of their magic entwined. Mina pulled back from Sarah, "Sorry," she said. "I can't do that."

  Sarah stopped, "Oh." She sounded a bit disappointed, but didn't try and argue. "I get it."

  And Mina knew she did. "I'll get in touch with Chloe," she promised, "I’ll let you know what’s up." She gave Sarah a final hug and stood. "I've got to get back. Call me if you need anything else." She felt horrible leaving Sarah alone, but staying, especially when she could not offer her anything more than friendship, would only make things worse.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Darby drove up to her mother's house just before 2 p.m. the next day. Before she left, she shot a text to Mina asking her to meet later that night. She was trying to play it cool, leaving out all emoticons and constraining herself to fewer than ten words. If Mina didn't reply, Darby wouldn’t chase after. It was one night of fun and there was no obligation between them.

  But Darby was still checking her phone every ten minutes, waiting for a reply.

  She put her car in park and heard her phone beep. Even though no one was looking, she reached into her bag with an over exaggerated calm and slowly pulled out the phone. It was from Mina.

  The bar @ 10? :)

  A smiley face. That was a good sign. Darby almost stopped herself from replying immediately. She didn't want to seem too eager. But when she examined that thought more closely, it sounded lik
e high school bullshit, and she was way too old to deal with that.

  Great! :-)

  She turned off the ringer and threw her phone back into her purse. She wasn't going to check it while eating lunch with her mother. Speaking about the date that didn't happen was going to be annoying enough.

  Darby walked through the front door and back down the hallway to the kitchen where Stacy was preparing salad in a huge bowl. There were three place settings on the table, which meant that this would not be a private lunch between Darby and her mother.

  "Oh my God, it's been so long. How are you, sis?" Anna came in through the back door and crossed the kitchen to envelop her older sister in a hug. Darby stiffened up, but patted her once on the back.

  Anna was beautiful. She had that effortless look that wouldn’t be out of place on a high fashion runway, and yet she was still approachable. Well, she looked that way. It was a casual day for Anna. She wore jeans and a red T-shirt, and her long blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She’d gone light on the makeup, with only a sheen of pink on her lips and nothing else that Darby noticed. A long time ago, Darby would have felt uncomfortable in her black clothes, with her messy hair, and bright red lips. But she tried not to compare herself to Anna. It wasn't worth it.

  "We saw each other two weeks ago," Darby replied. She stepped out of the hug and Anna let her go.

  Their mother greeted both of them, but turned quickly around to finish preparing the meal.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yeah, I'm sure." Darby grabbed a cup out of one of the cabinets and filled it with water from the refrigerator. "And, as always, I'm well." She sat down at the table.

  Anna sat beside her. "I've been so busy with the Council, I must have lost track. I suppose you can remember, since your schedule is so open. I'm glad things are well."

  Darby took a deep breath and a sip of her water before responding. "I do work." There, that didn't sound too defensive.

  "Freelance journalism? I guess we're both lucky that the family can ensure that we can afford our hobbies." Anna said it lightly, as if it weren't supposed to be an insult.