Colby: September

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Colby: September, Mystic Zodiac

Copyright © 2015 Brandy Walker

Cover by TEZ Graphics, Brandy Walker

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© Zwawol |
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Edited by Noel Varner

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Electronic Print, Sep 2015

C
olby Noble is a Djinn
; a genie in layman's terms. No, not the living in a lamp and granting three wishes kind. That's partly myth. There's more to a Djinn than granting wishes and there's more to him than 
being
 a genie. He's the head bartender and co-manager of the bar at Club Satyr. There's nothing major going on in his life, work is good and he's happily single. All of that changes one night when he spies a sexy, curvy witch breathing fire...literally. Witches are his weakness. The kind of women he can't resist. Trust him, he's tried. It doesn't work out well.

E
lla Burke
, the curvy witch in question, is celebrating a friend's promotion with a night out at Club Satyr.
THE
place for all things Mystics, including the ability to get a little drunk and wild. Something she's definitely up for…fun after a long week of work. It’s time for her to relax, instead of being the one relaxing others as a masseuse. When she and her friends are approached by reputed heartbreaker and so-freaking-hot-she-could-die bartender Colby, she's intrigued and giddy...but that could have been the alcohol.

F
orces
outside their control push Colby and Ella together after 
she
accidentally loses his number and 
he
doesn't know how to find her. Strange and mysterious things that have Ella getting her dream job and Colby running back into his dream woman. Maybe this time they'll get their act together and find true love. That is, if another witch with eyes only for Colby doesn't get in their way.

E
ros waited
at his usual spot in the Parthenon for his sweet, sweet Chloe to make her appearance. He’d sent a missive earlier, alerting her to his availability. Something he wasn’t convinced he would have thanks to Zeus and his meddling ways.

It had been foolish to think he could keep what was going on between he and Chloe private. Word spread like wildfire. The frequent visits to the human and Mystic realms hadn’t gone unnoticed. Then, allowing others to take part; his mother Aphrodite (who’d been ecstatic to help out and meet one of the women Eros took more than a passing interest in), and the bane of his existence, Gabriel; one of the four Great Watchers, all of which meant no secret was safe.

Eros glanced at the entrance again. Still no sign of Chloe. Unease formed in his chest as the minutes ticked by. There wasn’t one thing he could think of that would stop Chloe from meeting him.

Except one…

Eros was out of the Parthenon and in front of Chloe’s home without realizing he’d made the trek. Panic warring within at the thought of her with the Great Watcher. He’d seen the time they had spent together. Known all of the times she called on him to help.

Had she needed help again? Called him to her? Allowed him into her home, where he did not belong?

The panic slowly boiled over into fury. Eros pounded on the door with his fist. The side of his hand throbbed from the force he used. When the door opened, he wasn’t greeted by a handmaiden or servant. Chloe, the Goddess he’d dreamed of nightly, stood in front of him, dark eyebrow arched high.

“Eros, what are you doing here?”

“You missed our arranged meeting,” he gritted out, teeth clenched, and jaw aching under the pressure.

“Oh,” she feigned a yawn. He could tell. The practiced move and bored eyes. “I thought there was more time.”

He stared at her for minutes on end. Something was not right with the situation. She was acting too blasé. Her nonchalance at the situation too over-the-top. Chloe was ruthless when it came to getting what she wanted, and now, all of a sudden, she doesn’t care. It was wrong on so many levels.

He grinned.

She frowned, worry dipping her brows.

“You were afraid to meet me, weren’t you? You’re finding it harder and harder to resist me. You’re getting too invested in our bet and the outcome.” He pressed forward into her personal space, grazed a hand over one hip. A tiny gasp escaped her lips. Her eyes flared wide in surprise.

Wrapping a hand around the back of her neck, he tugged her forward gently. “I’m finding it more and more difficult as well.” He kissed her gently. “Believe me when I say, I
want
you to win this bet, my sweet. I want to see what
you
have in mind for me. The sexual torture. The soft caresses.” He peppered his words with more kisses. “An entire month of me at your beck and call.” He bit her lower lip and tugged. “Maybe you’ll grant me a few fantasies as well. Allow me to love you how I want. To have you writhing beneath me as I keep you on the edge.”

Letting go of her neck and waist, Eros stepped back. Chloe’s cheeks were flushed with arousal. Her breathing labored. Lashes lowered part way, covering her glazed eyes.

“I’m sending you back to Satyr this month. A Djinn and a Witch. A love that merely needs a little shove in the right direction.”

Eros took another step back. Then another. All the time, keeping his eyes locked on her.

He knew when his words and actions sunk in. Her eyes widened and outrage painted across her face. “You bastard,” she hissed.

Eros tossed his head back and laughed, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Teasing Chloe was one thing. Staying around for her wrath…not something he wanted to experience.

C
olby eased
his shoulders against the back wall and took everything in. There was nothing better than the Club pushing to capacity early on a Friday night. The drinks flowed and the tips came in by the bucket loads. Demons, shifters, nymphs, and every other type of Mystical creature mingled in the open areas, writhed on the dance floor, or made their way to the more private rooms. Some lured in their prey with enticing pheromones, others with sensual moves; both tactics a way to let the darker side of their nature take over. A good majority of the prey
wanted
to be caught before submitting to the pleasures of someone like themselves. Darkness they couldn’t let free in the
regular
world. Darkness that wasn’t frowned upon or judged by others, because there could be one just as dark within mingling amongst the masses.

For Colby, a full club meant good times and plenty of women to hit on. With no actual follow through, of course. He wasn’t in the market for a girlfriend or part-time lover. Call it seeing the light or an epiphany, but there was a transition going on in him when it came to dating.

It didn’t mean he couldn’t look and flirt though.

As the head bartender and co-manager of the bar staff at the Club, he had his pick of stations and jobs. At the moment, he was on the main floor keeping an eye on his staff and, perhaps, scoping out the beauties of the night. They abandoned the usual soft atmospheric lighting and soothing music for the weekend. Loud thumping bass pumped from the speakers strategically placed around the room. Lights flashed and skipped over bodies, the strobes working overtime to keep the atmosphere dim enough for the creatures of the night, yet light enough to see where the fuck they were going. It was a good balance, and the patrons appeared to enjoy it.

He’d bet a majority of the Mystics in attendance were letting loose for one more weekend of freedom before the school year started back up. Before things went back to the regular rhythm of kids in school, late afternoon activities, and beyond jam-packed schedules.

It was funny to him how Mystics conformed to the wholly human behavior. Everyday jobs. Human spouses. Typical white picket fence dreams. It wasn’t that the human way was better, but it helped prepare Mystic offspring for the more rigid lifestyle humans felt they had to adhere to, as well as impose on others. Their influence was rather overwhelming in the Mystic community, despite the fact that there were more Mystics than humans in the world.

Hell, look at him. He had an apartment near his job. Paid rent and other bills. He worked as a head bartender for the biggest, most exclusive club and resort on the Continental US, and co-managed thirty people. It wasn’t a nine-to-five job, but working shifts never bothered him, and he got paid—well. The perks outweighed the shitty stuff, like conforming to human ways of thought, by a mile.

He forced himself to shake the thoughts loose and concentrate on his surroundings. When he didn’t, that’s when shit happened.

An abnormal flash of light caught his attention off to the right. He knew it hadn’t been the random flicker from the strobes above. Peering in the direction it had come from, he found a giggling group of women. Sparks of magic jumped from their fingertips, as they passed around a ball of fire. It was like a game of hot potato, just a tad more on the dangerous side. And a hell of a lot sexier.
If
he were into woman expertly handling fire, which he was.

Witches.
The reaction they had on him was instantaneous. His heartbeat picked up. The blood in his veins boiled. His balls felt heavy and his dick needy. Pressing a hand to his groin, he suppressed the groan threatening to escape.

They were his one great downfall on the planet. He couldn’t resist the sensual magic that thrived within them. Good. Evil. Honest. Deceitful. It didn’t matter to him. The lure of a witch would always be too much for him to resist.

The music came to an abrupt end, and a curvy brunette was left holding the ball of fire. The glow lit up her beautiful round face. He couldn’t see the color of her eyes, but knew they would be breathtaking. Her full lips stretched into a grin. Happiness exuded from her in a way that made his heart sing. Every synapse in his brain fired, urging him to go to her.

She extinguished the flames with a snap of her fingers, revealing a glass, and the group chanted,
chug chug chug.
The woman knocked it back, slamming the entire thing before tipping her head back and breathing fire. Like actual, real-life, could have come from a dragon, fire. Which was a bit unbelievable since, based on his body’s reaction and instincts, he was sure the woman was a witch. But then, maybe not as unbelievable as he thought. He knew without a doubt there were hidden depths to the luscious beauty. He felt it vibrating from her all the way across the room.