Sigils and spells, p.34
Sigils & Spells, page 34
Jared glanced at him sharply. “Is it your mate?”
Corwin shrugged. “No idea. If we’d met her, though, you’d think my wolf would let me know.”
“Yeah, my wolf sat up and howled the minute we saw Pippa standing in the door of the diner.”
“Exactly. I can’t imagine my wolf containing himself when we do meet her, so I’m guessing he’s just tired of waiting. And speaking of waiting, what are you doing hanging out here? Aren’t you going after your mate?”
“Have you forgotten Chester? I really should get him settled at the den first.”
Corwin grinned. “Well, let’s get to it then.”
“You’re just eager to see the cat’s reaction to all the wolf scents.”
“And our packmates’ reactions to having a cat in their midst.”
Jared grimaced. It was definitely going to be an interesting evening, to be sure.
*.*.*.*.*
“You were amazing, Pippa,” Jo exclaimed as she walked into their coven house, holding hands with the shy vampiress. “By the way, this is my mate, Annika.”
Annika blushed as everyone rushed to offer their congratulations.
“We’ll have to celebrate your mating at the next moon ceremony,” Rowan said.
Pippa couldn’t understand why Jo and Annika beamed at that news. It seemed incomprehensible that Jo would be so happy to have found her mate.
Actually, Pippa had never understood the appeal of tying oneself to another human being. It just seemed like another cage to her.
“So, Pippa.” Natalie pulled her attention back to the conversation. “I’m curious because Jo’s right. You were quite effective today with your magic.”
“You really were.” Tempest said. “I can’t believe you used your fire magic twice today and nothing burned to the ground.”
“I was sure the diner was toast,” Morana agreed.
“How’d you do it anyway?” Natalie asked.
“I have no idea,” Pippa said.
“I know how,” Amari said. “It’s Hocus Purrcus. He’s becoming your familiar.”
“I always figured that was just propaganda,” Pippa said. “Not to mention blatant stereotyping.”
“The brooms are stereotyping,” Natalie said.
“I like the brooms,” Amari protested.
Pippa snickered.
“Yes, I know,” Natalie said. “And don’t think I’m unaware of how many of you have striped knee-high socks in your closets.”
“Hey,” Morana said. “Don’t knock ‘em ’til you’ve tried ‘em.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “I think I’ll stick to my solid–colored knee-highs, thank you very much.”
“Oh, yes,” Pippa said. “You’re breaking all the stereotypes with your pointed witches’ hat and wooden staff.”
“‘You shall not pass!’” The six of them chorused together, then burst into laughter, Annika giggling with them.
“Yes, yes, very funny,” Natalie said. “But back to the whole familiar question. It’s not propaganda or stereotyping. Familiars can do wonders for a witch’s control and the best familiars in the world are felines.”
“Hmm. It’s really too bad you didn’t keep one of those cougars, Pippa,” Tempest said. “Imagine the power you could wield with a cougar at your side.”
Pippa rolled her eyes. “Please. Those cougars had great stamina, but they weren’t very bright. Fantastic in bed? Yes. Familiar potential? Absolutely not.”
Amari giggled. “Good thing Hocus Purrcus found you then, I guess.”
“Good thing,” Pippa said dryly.”So you think H.P. is the reason I had better control of my power today, Natalie?”
“I think it’s a definite possibility. Where was the cat when you cast your magic?”
Pippa thought about it a moment. “I’m pretty sure he was in my arms when I burned the spiders and he was definitely in my arms when I cast the fire around us so we could get out of the diner. That’s not super helpful though because it’s not like I’m going to carry the cat around with me everywhere I go.”
“Well, first of all,” Natalie said, “that’s kind of the point of having a familiar. Most familiars become incredibly attached to their witch and will follow him or her wherever they go. So it’s not really about you having to carry the kitten because he’ll get really good at keeping up with you.
“And secondly, the stronger your bond with Hocus Purrcus, the better your control will be, whether he’s with you or not. Basically, think of the kitten as an extension of your well.”
“So another receptacle for her power?” Morana asked.
“Not so much a receptacle as a source,” Natalie said. “An effective familiar can help a witch tap into the full range of his or her power.”
*.*.*.*.*
“Hold it right there!”
Jared glared at the stair he stood on.
He’d almost made it.
He’d managed to slip by the door to the pack dining room where there were sure to be many pack members eating dinner.
He’d made it past the entrance to the kitchen where more pack members were probably gathered, chatting and cooking.
He’d made it almost all the way up the stairs.
Three more steps and he would have been on the second floor of the packhouse, mere steps from his own quarters, where he could have let Chester out to explore in peace.
Instead, he now had to deal with her.
Which meant he’d probably have to deal with all of them.
He dragged in a deep breath for courage, then turned slowly on his heel and descended the steps toward the scariest sight in the world: his mother, arms crossed, hip cocked and a calculating look on her face.
“Yes, Mother?”
“What exactly are you carrying up those stairs? Because I can smell it from all the way over here, yet cannot imagine why my son, the alpha of the newly relocated Wildfire Pack, could possibly be sneaking a cat into a wolf den.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
Jared heaved a long sigh. “Corwin called you, didn’t he?”
She grinned at him. “He did. I thought he was kidding, of course, and laughed like a loon, then hung up on him.” She shook her head. “Now get down here and show me this poor cat you’re thinking to raise among wolves.” She turned and stalked back into the kitchen.
Jared swallowed a groan and followed his mother to his doom.
*.*.*.*.*
“So, Hocus Purrcus, what do you think of your new digs?” Pippa watched as the kitten bounced around her room, sniffing at everything.
“Apparently, we’re supposed to work on fusing our magic or something like that. I’m not even sure what that means, but Natalie seems convinced we’ve already started the process.”
Hocus Purrcus didn’t seem that interested as he was busy exploring the tree Jo had grown in the corner of Pippa’s room. “Because Hocus Purrcus needs a place to climb,” she’d said.
Pippa hadn’t protested because she’d assumed the tree would be growing inside the giant planter Jo had dragged into the room.
That had not been the case.
Oh, it had probably been Jo’s intention to grow the tree inside the planter, but what actually happened was the tree grew through the floor and out the roof and now Pippa had a giant tree in the corner of her bedroom and an unexpected skylight in the ceiling.
As long as Hocus Purrcus didn’t climb all the way up and out onto the roof and as long as it didn’t rain before they managed to cast a spell sealing everything tight, Pippa didn’t really mind the tree.
She loved the way its branches had spread across the ceiling and formed a canopy over the entire room. It was almost like sleeping outside, but with all the comforts of her own bed.
“So what do you think, H.P. Would you like to practice some magic?”
Before the kitten could decide one way or the other, a soft tapping came from the window beside the bed.
Pippa stood, opened it and leaned out. “What are you doing here?”
Jared, the wolf from the diner, stared up at her. “Hey. I was wondering if you’d like to compare notes on caring for cats.”
Was that kind of like an invitation to look at his etchings or was he really that desperate to know what to do with his newly adopted cat?
Well, he was a wolf, so it could go either way.
“Sure. Shall I come down or did you want to come up?”
He glanced around. “Not sure how—”
She grinned and pointed to the left. “Just climb the tree.”
His jaw dropped. “Is that tree growing through your wall?”
“It is. It started outside, but then it kind of curved into the house and now it’s growing through my bedroom and out the roof.”
“That doesn’t exactly seem safe.”
“Please. Who’s going to break into a house protected by seven witches?”
“Huh. Good point. Right. I’ll be right up.”
She grinned and watched as he walked over to the tree, examined it from both sides, chose a spot and started to climb.
She wasn’t actually sure he’d be able to get inside the house. After all, there might not be enough room for him and the tree, but he disappeared from view, so she supposed it was possible.
A moment later, Jared’s head appeared at floor level where the tree first entered her room.
His arm muscles bulged as he pulled himself inside, causing heat to rush through Pippa as she watched.
“Impressive,” she said.
He grinned up at her, then bounded to his feet. “For a moment there, I thought I might have to shift to make it through, but there was just enough room.”
“Which means I really need to seal that up as soon as possible since if you managed to fit through, Hocus Purrcus won’t have a bit of trouble.”
He grinned. “Hocus Purrcus? Is that the kitten’s name?”
“It is.”
As if he understood them, Hocus Purrcus suddenly leapt down from one of the many branches of the tree and attacked Jared’s shoelaces.
“Hey, there, little guy.” Jared crouched down and began petting H.P., who flopped onto his side and filled the room with his rumbling purr.
“When I adopted Chester, the woman at the shelter told me I needed a cat tree, so I spent two hundred dollars on this monstrosity that took over an hour to get set up in the packhouse.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t because of the weight or because we had to put it together. No, it came fully assembled. The problem was that every pack member had an opinion about where the tree needed to be. The only thing they could agree on was that it had to be in a common area and not my bedroom.”
Pippa grinned. “So the wolves of your pack want access to the cat?”
“Pretty much.”
“And not because they’re planning to eat it or anything. Right?”
“Of course not! We’re not savages.”
“Sorry. Just had to make sure.” Pippa grinned.
Jared scooped the kitten into his arms and stood again. “Anyway, my point is, your tree is way better than mine. So far, Chester has shown it no interest and I’m not entirely convinced the damn thing won’t end up being a very expensive dust collector.”
“I’ve heard cats can be rather stubborn.” This had to be the weirdest conversation Pippa had ever had in her bedroom with a member of the opposite sex.
Apparently when he’d asked to compare cat notes, he’d been serious!
And here she’d been hoping to see some etchings.
*.*.*.*.*
Jared couldn’t believe he was inside his mate’s bedroom.
He’d figured out which window was hers based on scent alone.
Then, the higher in the tree he’d climbed, the stronger that scent had become.
By the time he’d pulled himself into her bedroom, his head was swimming.
That first full breath he’d taken in her room had almost sent him to his knees. His blood had headed south, hardening his cock to the point of pain.
Now he was rambling and he had no idea what he was even saying.
He needed to stop talking!
Clamping his mouth shut, he crossed to Pippa’s bed and settled on the edge with Hocus Purrcus in his lap.
“So, do you want to have sex?”
Jared’s head jerked up so fast, the room spun for a moment.
He had to be hallucinating.
She hadn’t really said that, had she?
“Jared?”
“Um, I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?”
She smiled. “I was wondering if you’d like to have sex with me.”
Jared blinked in surprise. “That’s what I thought you’d said, but I wanted to make sure.” He’d had no idea witches were so forthright.
“If you’re not interested, that’s fine,” Pippa said.
“Oh, I’m definitely interested. I just don’t want to go the way of the cougar.”
A confused look flashed across Pippa’s face, then it cleared and she laughed. “Oh, I’m sure that’s not even a possibility. You’ve already managed to impress me way more than they ever did. Not one cougar ever climbed a tree for me.”
Jared chuckled.
“So, yes?”
Jared set the kitten aside, stood and crossed the room to Pippa.
He leaned down and murmured in her ear, “How about we start with a kiss?”
CHAPTER 5
“Oh, my gosh, we are so good at this!” Soraya exclaimed.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” Tivali said. “They’re progressing at warp speed, I can’t even keep up.”
“True,” Muezza said.
“The problem isn’t going to be getting them to kiss,” Bygul said. “Clearly they’ve figured that part out just fine.”
“And more,” Muezza muttered.
“Yes, the real challenge is going to be trying to convince the witch to let the wolf back into her bed,” Bygul said.
*.*.*.*.*
One moment, Pippa was wondering whether Jared was even attracted to her, and the next, his lips were on hers and heat was rushing through her in an endless wave.
Was she burning?
She was.
Everything inside her gathered and tightened, the flames that lingered deep inside pulsed and sizzled across her skin.
Dear goddess, the wolf could kiss.
He slid his hands under her bottom and lifted her.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and writhed closer, rubbing against him.
He fisted his hand in her hair and pulled gently.
She whimpered and sucked on his bottom lip before letting go.
“You want this?” he rumbled.
“So much.” She strained to get closer.
“Once won’t be enough,” he said. “You know that right?”
“Goddess, yes, as many times as you want.” She buried her face in his neck as he whirled and strode to her bed.
He set one knee on the bed and slowly lowered her, following her down, capturing her lips again on the way.
They rolled across the bed, almost knocking into Hocus Purrcus, who leapt to his feet, letting out a low hiss and a grumble before jumping down to the floor.
Pippa thought perhaps she should apologize to the kitten, but she was too busy kissing Jared.
They rolled back and forth across the bed, tearing at each other’s clothes while stroking, rubbing and nipping at each other.
Finally, they were skin to skin, and oh, goddess, they were on fire, burning alive.
Pippa swore she saw sparks when Jared reared up, hitched his cock at her center and slowly pressed forward.
Oh, goddess.
She arched her back and cried out in ecstasy.
Then they were moving together, the heat building, so much wonder and friction, so much, too much.
He pulled back, then drove deep again, setting off ripples that started deep inside, then exploded outward.
The world disappeared in a shattering of stars.
Pippa came back to herself, gasping for breath, and realized Jared was still hard inside her, waiting.
She opened her eyes and stared into his, stunned.
“Again,” he uttered and started moving once more.
The hours passed in a haze of passion and heat.
Neither one got any sleep as Jared proved he’d been right when he’d said that once would most certainly not be enough.
The sun was just starting to streak across the sky when Pippa fell into an exhausted sleep, thinking she should kick him out, but unable to harness the energy to even try.
*.*.*.*.*
Pippa woke much later in the day alone in her bed.
A note was propped on the pillow beside her.
It said, “Thank you for an amazing night.” No phone number was listed and there was no mention of getting together again.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
On the one hand, it was good Jared wasn’t harboring any illusions about there being a repeat performance.
Except instead of feeling relieved, Pippa found herself feeling a bit put-out.
It was a new sensation for her, feeling as if she might have liked a second round in bed with a man.
The moment she had that thought, another one followed, a truly horrifying one.
It wasn’t possible though.
No way would her mate be a wolf, let alone an alpha one.
She’d been horrified when Natalie mentioned that Jared was the pack alpha.
She’d immediately made a vow not to get involved with him, but then he’d shown up under her window and she just couldn’t resist all that sexiness.
But imagine if it had turned out he was her mate.
What a nightmare that would have been!
Alphas were born dictators and there was no way Pippa would ever put up with someone trying to tell her what to do all the time.
She didn’t even listen to Natalie, so it was probably best they never did this again.
Still.
It was an awful shame.
The man had a truly beautiful cock and the best part about it was how good he was at wielding it.
