open. Reaching in, I popped the catch on her seatbelt and pulled it free.
“Get out,” I told her.
“I said answer me!” she ordered yet again.
I remained silent, my features set with grim determination. I wasn’t certain how I was going to handle this, but something told me I needed to get her physically in touch with something earthbound, and the Jeep wasn’t it.
“Get out,” I said again, trying to remain calm.
“I will not!” she retorted.
At this rate things were going to turn ugly very fast. I sighed then reached in, taking her by the wrist and forming an instant connection. If she wasn’t going to get out then I would just use myself as a conduit. The moment I touched her, I could feel a hot surge of energy coursing through her body. Its tendrils began to reach into me almost immediately. I seized on them and started to force every ounce I could through to the ground beneath my feet.
In a flash the open palm of Felicity’s free hand swung toward my face once again. Fortunately, I saw the motion from the corner of my eye, and I reached up to catch her hand mid-flight. I stood there for a moment, locked in a staring contest with her as I struggled to ground out whatever she was channeling.
The look that filled her jade green eyes was at once foreign and familiar to me. The obvious contempt that burned deeply behind them was something I had never experienced from her before. The almost involuntary droop of her eyelids, however, was something I had seen before, and I knew exactly what it signaled. She was cycling through an ever-heightening state of arousal, and it was being fed by her own high-handedness.
As quickly as the entity had attempted to invade my body, it began to recede, curling back into my wife and assuming what I could only describe as a defensive posture. Whether it was the energy or Felicity herself doing it, I couldn’t be sure; but one or both of them knew exactly what I was trying to do, and I was now being shut out.
I tried to reach into her, to renew the connection, but it wasn’t long before I realized that as hard as I was trying to ground, she was trying to resist. It was almost as if she had become addicted to the stimulation, and she was unwilling to give it up.
I was going to need some help.
I raced through ideas as quickly as I could, discarding each as I hit upon reasons they wouldn’t work. When I was almost certain I had exhausted my options, I stumbled on to a thought. I was going to have to come at this from the inside, and I thought I just might know how to do it. I just needed to go into the store and get a couple of things first.
I considered leaving Felicity in the vehicle but something told me that wasn’t the best idea.
“Come on,” I told her. “We need to go inside and get something.”
“What thing?” she demanded.
“Some thing,” I repeated with split emphasis on the syllables.
She stared at me for a moment as if she were trying to read my mind. If the look on her face was any indication, she just may have succeeded.
“No,” she snapped.
“Yes.”
“I said, NO,” she replied coolly then followed with, “Now, get back in the car and drive me home this instant, and maybe, just maybe I’ll take that into consideration when I punish you.”
If it weren’t for the fact that I could tell she was deadly serious, her comment would have been comical. What was worse, her rampant arousal was beginning to affect me as well. Whatever it was that she was giving off-energy, pheromones, or something else that I’d yet to figure out, she was actually getting to me. I could feel a rush of excitement welling in me, and for a moment I found myself considering the idea of obeying her without question.
Fortunately, I was still in control of my faculties. I managed to shake off the feeling then bolstered my shields against the onslaught and jerked her from the seat. Taking hold of her upper arm, I guided her out of the way and swung the door shut. I then thumbed the key fob to lock the vehicle and with a moderate nudge aimed her toward the entrance. She stumbled for a moment then dug in and resisted.
“Dammit,” she growled. “Just what do you think you’re doing?!”
“Taming the shrew,” I spat. “Now be quiet and try not to make a scene for a change.”
“You need to learn who is in charge here!”
“Right now? Me.”
“Fuck you.”
I pulled hard and set her into motion once again. “No thanks. Believe me, I’m feeling sufficiently screwed right now as it is.”
I guided the still fuming redhead through the door and down the aisles toward the wall of drink coolers. We had already attracted some unwanted attention, but luckily the store was sparsely occupied with only a single visible clerk and a pair of patrons, so it pretty much amounted to hateful glances cast in my direction. Of course, if they only knew the reality then maybe they would be aiming them at her, but right now I didn’t care. I just wanted my wife back.
I continued to hold her arm as we strolled along the cooler aisle, my eyes searching. I finally spied what I was after, and we came to a halt in front of the second door from the end. I tugged it open, reached in and retrieved a bottle of water.
Whoever was in control of Felicity seized that moment to shove the door hard against my shoulder and knock me off balance. While I didn’t fall, I did stumble momentarily and lost my grip on her arm. Instead of running, however, she planted herself firmly, and as I twisted back to her, she brought her knee up toward my crotch. I managed to react quickly enough to continue my turn and sidestep her by a scant few inches, removing the intended target from harm’s way. Still, I wasn’t completely out of her aim, and she landed her knee hard against my thigh. The force of the blow caused me to stumble back again. Apparently dissatisfied with the result, she jacked her leg back and thrust it forward again, connecting the toe of her shoe against my kneecap with a resounding pop. The joint buckled, and I went down into a kneeling position, yelping as the pain bit into my leg a second time.
I gritted my teeth and scrambled up to my feet as I turned toward her. Stepping back, I pushed the door the rest of the way shut then fixed her with a hard gaze and sighed as I mentally reminded myself that someone else was controlling her actions.
She cocked herself into a defiant pose and placed her hands on her hips then stared back at me with a much more than contented smile on her lips. Giving her head an imperious toss, she leveled her gaze back on me and purred, “I really enjoyed that, how about you?”
“Not so much,” I retorted then limped forward to take hold of her arm and pulled her toward the checkout, stopping briefly at the snack counter where stainless steel bins of condiments resided. I set the bottle on the counter momentarily, snatched up a handful of salt packets and shoved them into my pocket, then grabbed the bottle and continued on to the checkout.
The young girl behind the counter frowned and gave me a hard stare then looked over at Felicity and said, “Is everything okay, ma’am?”
My wife smiled sweetly and drawled, “Oh, don’t worry, honey. He’s being a little unruly, but I’ll be punishing him for it soon enough.”
I didn’t comment. I set the water in front of the register and withdrew my wallet, then tossed a five onto the counter. Quickly stuffing the billfold back into my pocket, I took the water and tugged Felicity toward the exit.
“Don’t you want your change?” the clerk asked.
“Keep it,” I snapped without looking back.
Before the door could swing shut, I was certain I heard her call me an asshole.
CHAPTER 22:
I wasn’t at all certain that what I was about to try would even come close to working. The fact was that since my grand plan was an arbitrarily chosen bit of Magick from an unrelated ritual, it probably stood a good
