Good Intentions 3: Personal Demons (10 page)

Drew blinked. The wind whistled sharply past his ears, so strong and sudden he thought it might knock something over or damage the house. A second later, he noticed how hardly anything in the yard moved besides a few strands of Molly’s hair. The wind picked up, blowing hard enough to push against his arms. Then he really felt it.

“Oh,
shit
!” His feet came off the ground. He rose a full foot in the air in the blink of an eye, and another as his heart rushed halfway up into his throat. Training took over. Drew brought his knees up in front of his chest and tucked in his chin for a backfall.

“Oops, don’t do—!” he heard Molly blurt out. Then he felt the ground on his back. His technique prevented any harm from his landing, but the yard wasn’t quite as flat as the padded mat of his kung fu studio.

“Are you okay?” Molly and Onyx asked, their words coming half a second apart from one another’s. The wind died out instantly. Both women stood over Drew.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he grunted. He rolled up onto his feet quickly, feeling much more pumped up than he wanted to be—and not in a pleasant way. He had no one to blame for that, though, and he knew it. Angry and hating it, Drew shook his head and looked away from the two witches. “Second holiday in a row I’ve wound up on my ass.”

“That was dumb of me,” said Molly. “I’m sorry. Should’ve just woken up the neighborhood raccoons to do tricks or something.”

“Or maybe talk the crazy stuff out before we do it?” Onyx ventured. She brushed off his back for good measure, but thankfully he only picked up a few loose blades of grass.

“Fair. Really, Drew, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t trip. It’s not you. I was pushing buttons.” He let out another breath, wanting his frustration to leave with it. “I’m not mad at you.”

“No, but you are mad,” observed Onyx. “Even if it’s not about us. It’s about last Christmas, too, isn’t it? And your birthday party on Halloween?”

“How the hell am I supposed to deal with something like that?” he finally asked. “Somebody comes at me with a knife or his fist, I know what to do. I got fucked up bad by one of the werewolves that one time, but even there, I know where I went wrong. I can see where I should’a dodged. An’ then on Christmas with them assholes after Lorelei, I knew what to do. But what the fuck do you do if somebody picks you up off the ground without touching you? Without even coming near?”

“Whatever you can,” Molly answered. She didn’t pretend to be thrilled with her answer. “If something like that happens, you do whatever you can.”

“And you carry a nail,” said Onyx. “It’s why we told you guys. That won’t be perfect, but it cuts down on the effects. That little bit of iron makes you harder to touch with magic. It’s an old folklore remedy, but it works. If we find anything else, we’ll tell you.” She shrugged in apology. “Honestly, we didn’t have to worry about it until this last year, either. Mostly it’s been all about simple stuff for us. No danger involved. Just helping friends get over colds fast and finding lost pets. Then things got real.”

“Hey,” Molly mumbled. She put her hand on Drew’s shoulder and held out her other arm to offer a hug. “Still friends?”

“Yeah. The magic freaks me out a little, but yeah.” He gave her a tight squeeze, and then risked another tease: “So you really can’t fly?”

Molly shoved him away playfully. “No. Thanks for rubbing that in. It’s not exactly flying, anyway. I can conjure up enough wind to move stuff, but that doesn’t mean I have full control. It’s not like I can guide much. Or guarantee a soft landing.”

“That charm is some solid magic, though,” said Onyx. “Improvising out here is the hard stuff for us. What Molly just did is way more than most can manage, and we’ve got some advantages that others don’t. Little rituals like that charm with materials and time to think it through? That’s the reliable kind of magic.”

Drew looked from Onyx to her partner. “It feels like I’m letting you set me up for a blind date. You sure this won’t put me on my ass, too?”

“All we can do is ask the universe to put the right people in the same room,” said Molly. “Making it work after that is all up to you.”

Onyx bit her lip to stifle a knowing smile.

* * *

Only a handful of guests remained. Molly closed the door on the second to last batch, or maybe the third. She still wasn’t sure about that. Turning from the door, Molly saw Alex picking up after the folks who’d occupied the couch for half the night. She had half a mind to ask him the big question first, if only to make sure everyone could broach this openly. Then she saw Onyx appear from the hallway and round the corner to the kitchen. Molly followed her in, grateful to have a little moment of privacy for this.

“Hey, what’s the plan?” she asked quietly, sidling up beside Onyx at the sink.

“Hm? Plan for what?” Onyx replied.

“You need a spell to hide your moods from me,” Molly teased. “You’ve been getting anxious as people left. Don’t try to deny it. Is he staying tonight?”

“I don’t know, is he? You never said how you felt about tonight.”

“I’m asking you. It’s fine if you want him to, Onyx. I’m not sentimental about New Year’s. It doesn’t have to be just us. You know I’m down with this. I usually am.”

Onyx glanced over Molly’s shoulder, keeping her voice low. “Usually doesn’t mean always. I don’t want to take that for granted, or you.”

“I know, babe. I’m not worried.” Molly peeked around the corner into the living room. “He’s hanging around like he doesn’t know yet, either. Pretty sure he’s helping clean up to kill time.”

“I know,” said Onyx. “It’s pretty sweet.”

“Sweetest guy we know.”

“I was talking about the free labor.”

Molly snorted. “Okay. Seriously. Do you want him to stay or not?”

“No, I want to know how
you
feel about it first,” Onyx pressed.

“You really want me to cut to the chase?” Molly asked. “It’s not like you and I haven’t already christened the house, and you’ve both been spinning me up tonight. Right now I’m just in the mood to get laid and I don’t care how complicated it gets.”

Her partner stopped cold with the dishes. She looked up at the wall, then at Molly. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

Onyx took Molly by the hand, tugging her along as she stomped out of the kitchen and down the hallway. “Er, you know there are still a couple people here, right?” asked Molly.

“I’ll take care of them,” Onyx answered. “We need to settle this now.”

For a brief moment, Molly wondered if Onyx had taken her statement the wrong way. At the end of the hallway, Onyx threw open the bedroom door and turned back to Molly with an assertive glare and a wordless order to step inside. Molly put up her hands and complied. “Hey, I didn’t mean—” Molly began.

“Oh, shut up and have a good time,” Onyx interrupted. She closed the door between them, leaving Molly alone in their bedroom.

“What the hell?” the redhead murmured.

“Hello, Molly,” said a cool, seductive voice from behind her. Molly turned. Her mind came to a sudden halt.

Lorelei reclined on the bed in a heart-stopping display of black lace and flawless skin. Her low-cut bra served only to entice, as if Lorelei needed nothing for support. Her garter and black stockings drew Molly’s eyes like a magnet. As if to accommodate Molly’s gaze, Lorelei casually shifted one leg and bent it at the knee. Molly wrenched her momentary stare away from the silk waiting between the other woman’s smooth inner thighs, but the eyes looking back at her proved every bit as hypnotic.

The woman on her bed lifted one hand. Molly had felt that hand once before. Those fingers beckoned to her as Lorelei said, “Come to me, Molly.”

She blinked hard. Her heart raced. Her breath came out short. Molly recognized her reactions only after Lorelei spoke, though awareness couldn’t diminish the excitement. It did, however, allow her some degree of clarity and reasonable doubt.

“Wow. Okay. You guys got me,” Molly managed through a dry and shaky throat. “Where’s the camera? I’m sure they want to see the look on my face.”

“There may be good humor, but this is no joke. None of us would be so cruel to you, Molly.” Her voice caressed Molly’s nerves. That stare didn’t waver. “Your earlier question to Alex carried the ring of fantasy. I’m more than happy to indulge.”

“Oh I feel pretty indulged,” said Molly. She couldn’t look away.

“As do I,” said the beauty on her bed. “You know of my nature. You know I draw more than a passing appreciation from your stare. Look all you like, but I would indulge us both in far more than a wistful gaze.”

Nothing she said alleviated Molly’s beating heart or the heat in the room. She remembered the one fling they’d had, back in a hotel room on Halloween. It hadn’t lasted long, nor had they been alone. That thought took her to another, bringing one hand up to the door behind her with concerns that Onyx wasn’t with her now.

No. Onyx pushed her in here and closed the door with a smile. With Alex out there, she might not come back anytime soon, either. Lorelei watched and waited patiently.

“Does Surprise Succubus Action hit everyone this hard?” asked Molly.

“I like to think so. Not all the measures at my disposal are so natural, but I would never apply those without your consent. Your warding spells would block such powers, anyway.”

“So everything I’m feeling now is natural?”

“I’ve heard of no spell to protect a person from their own desires.” Lorelei slipped off of the bed. Every inch of movement seemed both deliberately enticing and perfectly casual. Molly watched with a growing smile as Lorelei stepped close and took her hand.

Even that simple touch felt electric, growing more arousing as Lorelei’s fingers traced up and down Molly’s bare wrist. Soon their other hand mirrored the same action. Molly’s eyes roamed Lorelei’s body, deliberately on display just for her. The caress continued. The pleasure of her touch ran more than skin deep. “So how far does this go?” Molly breathed.

“Your lover and mine shut us in here with their full approval and without rules,” said Lorelei. Her voice became as enthralling as her touch. “I suspect neither of us wants for a new love, yet you are the dearest of friends…and I am a creature of lust and desire. Tonight, I am yours to enjoy. No limits. No inhibitions. Anything you want from me is yours.”

Those fingers moved from Molly’s arms to slip under her t-shirt. Lorelei kissed her softly, brushing and exploring Molly’s lips with all the expertise she first felt in that all-too-brief fling on Halloween. The succubus enticed her mouth open, bit by bit, until the first touch of their tongues seemed to pull desire from deep within like a magnet.

Hunger shoved the rest of her nerves aside. Molly tugged Lorelei close, claiming her body with more need than confidence. She thoughtlessly slid her hands down Lorelei’s back to clutch at her ass. Only a brief, momentary doubt flashed through her mind at her lack of subtlety, but it quickly drowned in a sense of approval from Lorelei’s kiss. Her worry was soon forgotten in the sensory joys of silk and flesh.

Little details flashed by. Molly’s t-shirt came off in the space of a single gasp between kisses. She heard her belt unfastened. Hot, arousing hands slipped over her sides and her taut belly on the way up to her neck, where they went to work with a caressing touch that only deepened the power of Lorelei’s kiss.

“You wear such pretty things under those simple clothes,” said the older woman. Molly felt her bra loosen. She moaned again as Lorelei soothed the skin now freed from the elastic, then fell silent when those fingers stroked her breasts.

“I’ve always liked your style,” Lorelei whispered into her ear. “Your hard edge is natural and real. What lies beneath must be earned.” She grinned as Molly opened her mouth to mumble out a response. The succubus slipped her hand down into black jeans that came unfastened long ago. Her touch against the heat within stole the redhead’s voice. “You may not refute my praise,” Lorelei taunted. “I mean what I say.”

“Oh my god,” Molly managed, held prisoner with only that touch.

“Forgive me if I come on too strong,” the succubus replied, though she never let up. “I like to overwhelm, and then I like to taunt. You don’t have to do a thing if you don’t want. Let go and enjoy.”

“I’m enjoying,” Molly confirmed. Then she plunged back into another kiss.

Lorelei swept her onto the bed. The rest of her clothes came off in a rush she couldn’t track. Every time she thought she might catch her breath, another pleasure distracted her. Soon, Lorelei knelt between Molly’s legs with a predatory smile. Again, that hand slid down along one inner thigh to continue its work, only now every shred of obstructing fabric was gone.

“Have you any requests?” Lorelei asked.

“Oh fuck don’t ask me to decide anything now,” her playmate replied.

“Excellent. We’ll take up your wish list later. Or perhaps next time.”

Molly’s eyes fluttered with disbelief. “Next?”

“I wouldn’t establish all this intimacy for nothing,” said Lorelei.

Her fingers slid inside, unleashing electric sensations through Molly’s body. Almost as soon as she adjusted to this, those fingers began to beckon, and Molly’s reactions intensified. Her eyes fluttered open again to the wordless offers in the demon’s eyes.