Writing Witchy (Witch Hunters) (8 page)

“Oh, just great.” Keith paused the game. “Okay, what did I do wrong?”

“They can’t get to the bathroom. You forgot to put in doors.”

“And you couldn’t tell me that before I saved the house?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes, the most fun and the most learning come from the mistakes.
”

“Now they’re too poor to afford doors.”

“You’ll have to sell some of the furniture.”

Keith stretched. “I’m hungry.”

“I was going to make fried rice. Does that sound good to you?”

He groaned. “That sounds delicious. I can help.” He rose and followed her to the kitchen. It was a Friday night and it was the first opportunity they’d had to see each other since Monday.
Though Keith had called her each night, she’d missed him.

They worked well together and dinner was ready in short order
. “So, what happens next with little Keith and little Imani?”

She shrugged and ran her fork through her rice. “That depends on you.
I usually make them get jobs and then let them have children.”

Keith choked on his water. “How do they have children?”

“The usual way. They…well, they do it.” As his eyes widened, she hastened to add, “It’s all very censored. There’s no nudity or anything…um, explicit.” Even so, she grew warm at the thought of their miniature selves attempting to make a baby.

“I’ve got to see this.”

She cleared her throat. “They can also adopt.”

“Do you have your Sims adopt often?”

“No. The Sims look like their parents when they…do it the natural way.”

He nodded. “So what should we name our children?”

“Freya if it’s a girl and Thor if it’s a boy.”

“
Norse myths, eh? Why not Greek or Roman?”

“I’m open to suggestions.
”

“How about nature names? Like Flower for
a girl and Rain for a boy.”

“Oh, I
love
those.” He grinned and her breath caught at his handsomeness. Dear God, had she ever been so aware of a man? She didn’t think so. They finished lunch and though they were supposed to be watching a movie, they returned to her office so that Keith could continue to play Sims 2. Before they knew it, an hour passed. During that time, their miniature selves found jobs and got several promotions. Keith made improvements to the house and furnishings as they made more money. And though he chose not to have them have children for financial reasons, little Keith and Imani made love every night.

Imani couldn’t help but comment
. “Do you think that’s realistic?”

He shook his head as he went into buy mode to add more lighting to the house. He didn’t look at her as he said
casually, “No, I don’t think it’s very realistic. They always fall asleep after. He never wants seconds.”

“That’s not what
I—” Taking a breath, Imani decided to let the subject drop. What was she thinking? Discussing sex with the man? It was like picking at a scab. She would only exacerbate their potential issues. “Anyway, now you understand the nature of my addiction.”

He saved his game and stood. “Yeah, I do.” He stretched his arms over his head. Imani admired his physique as his shirt stretched taut. She even caught a glimpse of his hard belly. Good grief, she was beginning to feel like one of his groupies. When he pulled his hands down, he checked his watch. “Wow, I can’t believe how late it is. You shouldn’t have let me play so long.”

“I was as caught up as you.”

“That was fun, but it would eat up all my productive hours.
Tomorrow, I’m taking you out to dinner.”

“I’m not going to argue.”

“I’d better go.” She walked him to the door, where they stood awkwardly for several seconds before Keith leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I had a good time tonight.”

When
he would have exited, she stopped him with a hand to his arm. She touched his cheek, feeling the stubble along his jaw, before sliding her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. Bringing his face close to hers, she studied his lips. They were full and pink and she knew they would be soft against her own. He whispered her name just as their mouths met.

She moved closer when the initial contact wasn’t enough.
Ever the gentleman, Keith’s hands settled firmly about her waist and moved no lower and no higher. He even kept a respectable distance between their hips. Imani smiled against his mouth as she sucked his lower lip into her mouth. He gave a small groan and his fingers tightened briefly. But he gave no other reaction. It made her feel safe with him, to find that he had such self-restraint.

Maybe that was what made her daring enough to slide her tongue into his mouth. She licked the corners of his lips until he gave her entrance.
God, he tasted good. At the first thrust of her tongue, he shuddered and his hands closed into fists over the cotton of her shirt. Stroking her tongue along the side of his, she coaxed him into playing with her. Every step of the way, he allowed her to take the lead. Where she led he followed. She liked that. It gave her a sense of control even as the kiss made her weak-kneed. Even as the caress of his tongue against the roof of her mouth made her nipples ache. Even as his moan made her pussy clench.

Finally Keith pulled back. His eyes seemed brighter than usual and his mouth was red and wet. She immediately wanted to kiss him again. “Better go,” he said, his voice thick and deep with lust. He cleared his throat. “See you tomorrow.”

She nodded and watched him leave. Asha wound her way around her leg, snapping her out of her stupor. She’d been simply staring at the door. Imani shook her head and laughed at herself. Well, she’d never minded kissing, but she couldn’t recall ever liking it so much.

She bent and gave Asha a good rub. “Bedtime, girl.” Brushing her teeth, she examined her reflection. She was wearing what she considered her library clothing, shapeless sacks. Her beige blouse skimmed over her breasts and stopped at her hips so that the indentation of her waist was not visible.
Her pants were so large that they didn’t really touch her thighs. She wore no makeup and her hair was scraped back in a rigid bun as always.

    Imani spit out her toothpaste and rinsed. She’d been dressed this way the last two times she saw Keith.
She could do better. She would do better. Obviously, he didn’t care about such superficialities, and conversely, it made her want to be pretty for him.

As she slid into bed, she realized she was smiling. She pressed her fingers to her lips. He was a really good kisser. She sighed and rolled onto her side.

***

In the dream, she lay in Keith’s arms. They were in his garden gazing up at the stars.
The ground was cool and slightly damp beneath them. The night air smelled of his flowers and freshly cut grass. He was telling her the myth surrounding the zodiacal constellation of Capricornus. She suspected that he was embellishing the tale quite a bit with his own imagination, but she didn’t care. She was simply enjoying being in his arms and listening to his voice.

When he fell silent, she rolled toward him. With a fingertip, she traced his brow, his nose, and his sensual lips.
He was very handsome. “Kiss me,” she ordered and his breath shuddered on an inhale. Imani smiled.

His blue eyes capture
d hers. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Don’t you want to kiss me?”

“More than you know.”

“Then…that’s all that matters.” She slid her fingers into the hair at the nape
of his neck and pulled him on top of her. Of course, she couldn’t have done this if he’d been truly opposed to the idea. He balanced his weight on his elbows and settled his legs, one on the outside of hers and one in between hers. She lifted her face to his and captured his mouth.

His
lips moved over hers meticulously and slowly as though he were keeping himself in check. She sucked his tongue and he grunted, shifting his hips away from hers. But it was too late. She’d felt his erection, knew he wanted her. It didn’t scare her––it thrilled her. This was Keith. He wouldn’t demand more than she was willing to give.

When he broke the kiss, he buried his face in her neck. His breathing was labored. It was hot and ticklish against her sensitive skin.  “I like kissing you,” she whispered. His response was muffled. “Hmm?”

He kissed her check. “I like kissing you, too.”

She gasped. His eyes were so bright blue they were glowing. But before she could comment, his head whipped to the side. Imani followed his gaze as a woman dressed in a black gown with long flowing midnight hair stepped out of the shadows.

Imani jerked awake. It had been such a pleasant dream up until that last bit. That was just weird and creepy. Though the woman’s face was not visible, just the fact that she was watching them during such an intimate moment seemed menacing. Asha lifted her head to glare at her for interrupting her sleep. Standing, she arched her back and jumped off the bed, exiting with her tail held high.

Chapter Eight

Imani rubbed in the strawberry-scented body butter as she listened to Keith moving around in the hotel room. They had been dating for two months. Had anyone told her she would have agreed to go away with him for the weekend even a few weeks ago, she would have thought they were crazy. He’d wanted to show her around some of his favorite sites in Seattle. He’d seemed so excited about showing her around and it had been a while since she’d gone on any type of vacation. Today they had gone to the Seattle Great Wheel. Afterwards they had visited the original Starbucks. The plan for tomorrow was to visit the Space Needle and hopefully have dinner there.

She would have been nervous about sharing a hotel room with him, but he’d made it clear that they would have separate beds. She couldn’t help smiling. He was so damn sweet.
She never felt uncomfortable with him. In her wildest dreams, she wouldn’t have imagined that she would find a man who would accept her and her limitations.

    They’d gotten very close and were practically inseparable. If he wasn’t at her house for dinner, then she was at his. When he was working, she would read. Being together was what was important. She’d introduced him to Thea and Dwayne.
They’d gone out with the other couple. And though she didn’t need the second opinion, she was ecstatic when Thea had given her enthusiastic approval after meeting Keith.

She glanced down at her pajamas. The deep blue satin long sleeved shirt and pants left much to the imagination. Though she’d stopped wearing her library “sacks” and even ditched the glasses, they hadn’t gone past kissing.
And Keith always kept their make-out sessions to a minimum. He never got handsy. He was a total gentleman. Perversely, it made her want to test his limits. Whenever they kissed, her breasts swelled and her nipples ached. She longed to feel his hands on her breasts. But he didn’t attempt it, his palms never straying from her waist. Even in her dreams, he’d gone from trying to make love to her to talking to her about science fiction flicks. Mostly the
Alien
films. They’d seen all of them.

“Bathroom’s all yours,” she said as she exited. Keith was flipping channels on the television. He nodded. “Wait!”
She hurried to his side and sat on the couch next to him. “That’s
The Craft
. I haven’t seen it in years. Have you ever seen it?”

Keith made a choking sound. “Um. Once.
”

She curled her feet up beneath her and leaned against his side. He settled back and placed his arm around her shoulders.
They watched for several minutes in silence. “This is one of my favorite films about witches. I can’t decide if I like this or
The Witches
more.” Keith made a noncommittal noise. “What’s yours?”

“Um,
The Covenant
?”

She laughed. “Are you asking me?” She snuggled closer to him.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never given…um, witchcraft films much thought.”

“Let’
s see… There are a slew of
Harry Potter
films. Then there’s
Practical Magic, Hocus Pocus, The Witches of Eastwick
…”

“You watch too many movies.”

“And you should, too. If you let your brother make your book into a movie, your film will be compared to these.”

“He’s coming out to see me next week to try to talk me into it. I’d like it if you met him.”

“Of course. I’d like that.” She lifted her face to his and he kissed her. It was light, sweet, and over all too quickly. “More,” she whispered and Keith moaned. She crawled on top of him, straddling his hips. Taking his face in her hands, she slanted her mouth over his.

***

God, she was going to be the death of him. Keith gripped the sofa cushion so tightly that his knuckles turned white as Imani’s tongue slid into his mouth. His cock was as hard as stone. He would swear the woman took great delight in torturing him.