Something Wicked (10 page)

He pulled his fingers out of me and brought them to his
mouth, where he licked them and then kissed me, hard and deep, the taste of my
own musk on his lips. Was I getting turned on again?

"Wow," was all I could manage to say when we broke
apart. I rolled off of him and opened the hand that held the crystal. My grip
on it was so tight, its form indented into my skin.

Finn rolled to his side and looked at me, rubbing his
calloused hand along my body. "That felt good?"

"For me, yeah. But what about you?" I asked. There
was some guilt there, but honestly, I felt too good to feel too bad about it.

"For me too. It felt good to get you off."

"Well, I appreciate that for sure," I laughed
awkwardly. "But is there anything you'd like to do?"

"No condom," he shrugged. "Anyway, you needed
to release some tension."

I bit my lip. "Am I really that uptight?"

He burst out laughing. "For the spell, Iz. For the
spell."

"Right," I said, relieved that he wasn't saying
that I needed to get laid.

"Will this sex magic stuff work without having, you
know, actual sex?" I felt stupid asking, but we didn't fully do the deed,
and nothing seemed to make that damned love potion work.

He stopped stroking my body and looked away, like he was
uncomfortable.

"What?" I asked, suddenly paranoid. Did I smell
weird or something? Did he notice something down there that made him decide
against going all the way?

"You wouldn't happen to have any condoms?" he
asked, still not making eye contact.

"I don't exactly do this much, so no. But you can go
get yours, I won't go anywhere."

"I ran out," he said, polite enough to not add
when
he ran out. Yesterday? Earlier today? I tried not to react. It really wasn't
any of my business. Finn was helping me with the spell, that's as far as this
went.

"Maybe some other time then," I mumbled,
immediately feeling like an idiot when it came out. As if there would be
another time. Of course, if this didn't make the spell work, we'd have to go
all the way. Assuming, of course, he still wanted to help.

I decided that his response of "I hope so" was
noncommittal. I knew he had loads of partners, but the thought of him having
enough sex to run out of condoms smarted. And he must have just run out too,
since his amount of hook ups was kind of staggering.

"His hook ups..." I mused to myself. Now, I was
one of them.

Finn's breathing slowed as I snuggled into my pillows. I
didn't want to think about this anymore, opting instead to focus on the
afterglow of my orgasm while I drifted to sleep.

CHAPTER TWELVE

I woke up with a start. The flood of sunlight across my
bedroom told me I majorly overslept. Finn was pressed against me, his leg flung
over mine. Each time I tried to extract myself, his quads clenched tighter,
pinning me down.

I poked his shoulder instead. "Finn..."

He mumbled something but continued to ignore me.

"Finn," I said louder, jamming my finger into his
bone.

"Come on, Iz," he said.

"Let me up," I insisted. "I have to open the
store."

"Or what? You'll be fired?"

"I won't have any business."

"You probably won't anyway," he mumbled, eyes
still closed. "Those sorority chicks are mad at you, remember?"

He had a point there. I did a mental run down of my Tarot
appointments for the day. It went fast, because there were none. But that
didn't make me feel any better about slacking.

"I still should get up," I told him, feeling
pretty weird. Finn was in my bed, I was naked, and we had majorly fooled
around. What did I do?

"Let's just enjoy this," he said, his hand
drifting up and down my body.

"Finn," I started, his feather strokes on my
breast a distraction. "We can't do this again."

"Why not?"

There was no good answer for that. I absolutely wanted to do
everything again, and more. But it was Finn. Moody Finn. The guy that bedded at
least three different girls a week. He ran out of condoms!

Not to mention, he hated magic. Or, maybe more
appropriately, he hated
my
magic.

I stared at the piece of quartz on my bedside table,
realization flooding into me. "How did you know what to do with that
quartz? The telos? The focused intent? That was no lucky guess."

This time he released me. Actually, he jumped out of bed and
pulled his jeans on, leaving the buttons on his fly undone. Then he paced the
room.

"I wanted to tell you," he paused and rubbed his
sleep mussed hair. "It was never the right time, or the right words."

I pulled the sheet around me tighter. "Well, I think
you need to find the words right now, right or wrong."

His face darkened. "I was sent here."

"Sent here? By who?"

"My coven."

"Your coven?" My voice was barely a whisper.

He nodded. "After your grandmother died. Our High
Priestess knew your grandmother a long time ago, and wanted to do something for
you in your grief. So she sent me to help out."

"By paying rent?" I asked.

"Among other things."

Wondering what those "other things" could be, I
lifted the sheet higher, covering my cleavage. "So you're a witch
too?"

He at least had the decency to look sheepish.
"Yes."

"So all that shit-talking you did about witch
craft?"

"I didn't shit-talk it," he protested.

"That's right," I said, not masking my anger.
"You shit-talked
my
magic."

"Well, your magic could use a little help." He
gave me a small, hopeful smile. "I'm really sorry I couldn't tell you who
I was, or why I was here."

"Why not?" I asked, blinking back tears. "I
mean, I know I am not as good as my Grams with spells, but I didn't think I was
so bad that some strange coven had to send someone to keep an eye on me. And
not tell me about it to boot."

He sat down on the bed beside me and took my hand. "I'm
sorry, Iz. They wouldn't let me."

I snatched my hand away from him and wiped my eyes. "So
your coven is like a dictatorship?"

"No," he said, defensiveness creeping into his
voice. "We all decided it would be best if I offered more covert
assistance."

"Like getting me into bed?" I snorted. "Was
that part of the plan?"

"Well, it is my book that's teaching you all about
this," he said, his deep brown eyes sweeping over the bed before meeting
mine. They were filled with lust, and my body began betraying my brain.

I shook my head, trying to focus on the blood flowing back
to my head. "I don't understand why it had to be secret."

"What would you have thought if I came here with that
book?"

"I don't know," I replied. "But you could
have given it a shot."

"My Priestess didn't want to risk you kicking me
out," he explained. "Not everyone is open to sex magic. Your
grandmother wasn't."

I shuddered. I didn't even want put Grams and sex magic in
the same sentence.

"She would be disappointed in me." I admitted.

"You wouldn't be the first."

"And that means?"

"Exactly what I said. I am sorry I can't tell you
anymore."

"I think you need to go now," I glared at him, fed
up with the secrets he kept piling on. "And make sure Amanda doesn't see
you."

He stood, his unbuttoned jeans hanging low on his hips.
"Iz, I'm sorry."

He tipped my chin up to meet his eyes, but I refused to look
at him. Instead, I stared at the line of dark hair that snaked from the center
of his abs and disappeared under the denim. I expected regret, but what filled
me was a deep longing, a sadness that I wouldn't trace that line with my
tongue, fill my emptiness with his sex, feel his arms close around me.

"You lied to me," I whispered, willing myself not
to cry.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "Do me one favor,
please, Izzy. Use the crystal. Give it to Tara. You need to make that spell
work. Don't fuck that up because you're pissed at me."

He picked up the crystal and pressed it into my hand.
Wrapping my fingers around it, I nodded, then rolled over and turned my back to
him, remaining in that position until I heard my door open and then click
closed.

Willing myself out of bed was another matter. I wanted to
pull the covers over my head and hide, but not from shame. I could accept our
hook up. There was an undeniable sexual chemistry between us—I wouldn't fool
myself into thinking that it was love, but there was something there. But now
this felt like a pity hook up. His coven sent him here to have sex with me, to
trick me into a magical practice. When Grams died, our small coven split and
there was no time for me to rebuild. His coven swept in to take advantage of
that.

I wanted to wallow. Instead, I dragged my butt out of bed.
After a cursory brush of my limp hair, and another of my teeth, I tossed on a
ratty t-shirt and a pair of Capri sweats. Flip-flops completed the look. I
palmed the sex spelled crystal in my hand before heading for the door. It was
time to open The Witchery.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I was only 20 minutes late opening the magic shop. It wasn't
like there was a line to get in anyway. Pandora was tuned to The Cruxshadows
station, and I turned the moody synth-pop up loud. Then I feather dusted the
crap out of the entire store.

Amanda's choking cough preceded her into the store from the
kitchen. "What the hell are you doing?" She waved the dust particles
away from her face.

I noticed she was still wearing the same clothes from last
night. I snatched the remote and turned down the music. "Me? I'm cleaning.
What the hell were
you
doing?"

A sly grin lit up her face. "If I told you, I'd have to
kill you."

Amanda hooked up. That put me in a slightly better mood. Not
only was I happy for my friend, but it also meant she in no way heard Finn and
me hooking up last night.

"I was going to apologize for leaving you but I guess
it was for the best," I said, putting the feather duster away to tackle
cleaning the windows.

 "No hang over?" Amanda asked. I noticed she then
took a giant swig of water from her bottle.

"Small one," I admitted. "But manageable.
You?"

"Nothing a greasy burger won't cure. You want me to
order you something?"

I thought about my dwindling money supply. "No thanks.
I'm good."

She stood in the doorway for a minute, taking me in.
"Something happened last night. Spill."

Amanda usually poo-poo'd it, but I swore she was an empath.
How that woman could just
know
was beyond me.

"Nothing happened," I lied. "I just spend too
much time cleaning up after everyone else. This store is filthy."

She gave me some serious side eye. "I don't believe
you."

I shrugged and sprayed down the front glass door, pretending
to focus on a stubborn spot of dirt.

"Iz, last I saw you was with Finn," she dug in,
dropping her bag and settling on the stool behind the register. Clearly, the
burger could wait.

I dropped my cleaning rag and turned slowly towards her.
"I knew it," she shrieked when she caught sight of my face. I didn't
even have to say a word. "You and Finn? Oh. My. God!"

"We didn't do
it
," I sighed, wondering if I
missed my opportunity. Stupid, stupid condom.

"Well, you did
something
," she laughed at
me. "And I want details!"

"You don't even like boys!"

"No but you are my bestie and I deserve to know if he's
worthy of you," she said.

"Well, he's not," I responded dryly, torn about
telling her the full truth. Amanda wasn't really a believer in magic. Even
though she saw what it could do firsthand, she thought it was a
mind-over-matter thing. That was the way her practical mind made sense of these
very impractical things.

Her eyebrows went up. "He's not good in bed? I would
have never guessed! Given his experience, I thought he'd be beyond spectacular.
And he's not even my type. Not even in the ballpark."

That made me crack a smile. "So who did you go home
with?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Not even!" Amanda exclaimed. "You are not
even close to done telling me about this. Spill."

I slumped into the chair at my reading table, exhaustion
suddenly hitting me like a ton of tarot decks. "I know you don't believe
in this stuff really..."

"The magic stuff?" Amanda asked. "Wait. Are
you going to tell me your spell for Tara worked on you instead?"

"I wish it were that simple," I muttered.
"Okay, I haven't even really processed this yet but...Finn's a witch,
too."

"Finn? Our Finn? Grumpy, cut-the-witchy-crap
Finn?" she asked. I nodded.

"Didn't see that coming," Amanda continued.

"Right?" I sighed. "The worst part?"
Amanda encouraged me along with a hand sweep. "His coven sent him
here."

"Like to spy on you? Do witches do that sort of thing?
Feels so
Alias
."

"I don't know if spy is the right word. He claims it
was to help me."

"With what?"

"My magic I guess." I shrugged. "I am not
really clear what they want with me. Well, except sex."

My face flared red the second that flew out of my mouth.

"What's sex have to do with this?" Amanda was
laser focused on me now.

"It's what his coven practices," I said, keeping
my voice low. No idea why. There was no one in the shop to overhear. "Sex
magic."

"Well now
that
sounds like magic I can get
behind!" Amanda definitely perked up.

"You don't think it's weird?" I asked.

"Weird? Yes. But I think it sounds fun."

"I mean, I guess, yeah," I stammered. "But it
was the way they went about it. I mean, he was so dishonest about it. He left
his book of shadows on the doorstep. Why didn't he just give it to me, explain
it to me? You know, honesty!"

"I see your point," she said. "But would you
have listened?"

"He didn't give me a chance," I countered.

"I mean really, Iz," Amanda laughed. "Some
guy shows up on your doorstep offering to teach you sex magic? I don't care how
hot he is, he's going to sound like a perv."

"I guess," I said, defeated. "But still, all
those lies. And I don't think he would have told me either, except I wasn't
drunk enough to black out and forget that he talked me through releasing the
spell."

"Releasing a spell?" she asked, her curiosity
peaked. "So he said it worked?"

"I don't think it's like that," I explained.
"I think I have to give her a crystal."

"You think?"

"I kind of kicked him out before he could really
explain everything to me," I said, suddenly feeling stupid.

"Oh, Iz," Amanda groaned, dropping her forehead to
the counter.

"I still have the spell book," I brightened.

"Really?" she lifted her head. "I totally
want to read this."

I nodded, getting up and making my way to the kitchen where
the spell book was still stuffed into my book bag. Amanda giggled with
anticipation when I returned, hugging the huge tome to my chest.

"It's like the witches guide to the karma sutra,"
she exclaimed when I opened it and she caught sight of one of the beautiful (and
graphic) illustrations. She carefully flipped through the pages, sucking in her
breath when the sex became more hard-core and extreme. I felt dampness seep
into my panties, and I turned away from the book. All our talk of Finn had me
on the brink already. I so did not need to be turned on any more.

"This is gorgeous," Amanda's voice was husky.
"Man, I may have to go upstairs and take care of myself after this."

I nodded, keeping my eyes averted. "It's quite a spell
book."

"No shit," she said, brushing her fingertips
lightly along the book's yellowed paper. "I can absolutely get behind this
sort of magic."

"And on top of. And underneath," I joked, hoping
to break the sexual tension in the air.

She giggled at that. "So, wow. Wish I saw some of those
positions before last night."

"Right?" I smiled. "Think about how much Finn
and I could have accomplished if he had been honest with me, and we went
through the book together."

"There's a point," Amanda said. We both began to
relax again, although my body was still on pins and needles, aching for Finn's
touch.

"So this crystal. Do you have to deliver it to her in
person? Or can I do it?" Amanda asked.

"Why? Are you going to the sorority house?" I
asked, and she turned beet red. "Wait a minute...Who did you hook up with
last night?"

She lowered her eyes. "Melinda."

"Really? Wow. I had no idea..."

"Me, neither," Amanda shrugged. "She came on
to me last night. And I'd love an excuse to drop by this afternoon."

"Wow," I repeated. "I mean, as far as the
Greek girls go, she's one of the nice ones."

"I agree," Amanda said. "And she's ferocious
in bed."

"Really?" It was my turn to giggle. "But
she's so meek around Tara."

Amanda's grin was enormous. "The sorority sister lets
it lose in the sack, that's for sure."

"Glad you had fun," I said, meaning it. But a
twinge of sadness gnawed at me. My own early morning fun would never be
repeated.

Amanda sensed my regret. "Maybe you should try to talk
to him, Iz. I mean, be honest. Would you have believed him?"

"Of course," I said, my indignation on the rise.

"Really?" Amanda gave me a side-eye. "Finn
rings the doorbell and says, 'Excuse me, Isadora Foster, I've been sent to fuck
your brains out. Magically.' And you'd have dropped your underoos, right
there?"

"Well, when you put it that way," I said,
reluctantly giving into the obvious. "Grams never told me about sex magic.
Hell, she barely explained sex to me at all. So I probably would have thought
he was a perv."

"Go talk to him, Iz," she urged me. "Spell or
no spell, what do you have to lose?"