“Those harpy things are coming tonight,” she argued. “I need to get ready for them.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“I left most of my supplies in Pittsburgh. I thought I’d run to Wolfsbane and Absinthe to restock, charge up my charms and maybe work up a potion, in case I need it tonight.”
“But
She frowned at him.
“Look, you were going to do magic anyway. This is just one more thing.”
She sat up, irritated. “You don’t know what you’re saying. The forced-change spell isn’t easy or brief.”
“What else would you really do? Sit around and be nervous, worrying about what might happen tonight? Why not stay busy with this?” he added. “For me.”
Before him, Seph lay back. She stretched and yawned.
When the covers shifted, he pictured her naked body writhing beneath them, despite knowing she wore her shirt and undies. Desire warmed his skin like the summer sun. “Please, Red?”
She groaned. “Fine. Let’s plan to start the spell at three thirty.”
He jerked the covers up and kissed her ankle.
“I’ll need supplies,” she said. “What time do you think Beau opens Wolfsbane and Absinthe?”
Johnny lifted his phone from the bedside table. “I can find out.” A few clicks later, he announced, “Noon.”
“What time is it now?”
“Ten thirty.”
“I’m up.” She threw back the covers.
Her scent flooded his nostrils as the air of the room swirled. She was lean but curvy. She had the indication of muscle without the ripped physique of a gym-rat. It was utterly feminine, but minus any weakness the term could sometimes imply.
Having selected clothes from her closet, she headed across the hall to the bathroom.
When Johnny heard the shower switch on, he couldn’t get the image of her sudsy naked body out of his mind. Unable to restrain himself, he knocked on the bathroom door and opened it before she could answer. “May I join you?” he asked.
She peered around the shower curtain at him, rubbing shampoo into her hair. “You’re already showered and clean.”
He unzipped his pants and lowered them enough for his erection to show. “What if I want to get dirty again?”
Persephone sized him up. “No biting?”
“No biting.”
“Mmmm. Well. You’d better get in here, dirty boy,” she said in a sultry voice.
The water was hot and the smell of her lavender shampoo was strong as he tugged the curtain into place. Persephone had her back to him and was lathering her hair. She giggled nervously when his fingers strayed under her shoulder blades, but when he began massaging her scalp, she braced against the wall and let her head fall back.
The vibration in his fingertips was definitely milder with her than it was with the pack women, but it remained an aphrodisiac. His dick couldn’t get any harder. He pressed his swollen groin right against her backside. She rubbed against him.
As he worked the cleanser through her long, dark hair, his attention caught on a group of bubbles that cascaded seductively down her spine and slid over her hips to his cock. Then Persephone pulled her hair from his grip, turned around, and backed into the shower spray.
Her expression was intent, mouth slightly open, as she rinsed the shampoo out. He was mesmerized by her, by the water dripping from her nipples. He ached to feel that carnal resonance again. He cupped her breasts.
She
Yearning made him pull her from under the spray and crush her body against his. She responded by hitching one leg onto his hip. He held her there. He didn’t kiss her, didn’t do anything but stare into her eyes and feel the water sluicing over them, feel the erogenous purring created by their entwined bodies.
Desire engulfed him. Need consumed him.
“Come up here,” he said.
Persephone’s arms slithered behind his neck and she pulled herself up, legs wrapping around him and ankles crossing at the small of his back. As she clung to him, he reached down and positioned his cock to enter her.
“You want this?” he whispered into her ear.
“God, yes.”
On impulse, he asked, “How bad?”
He felt her straining to maintain the difficult position. Standing-up sex wasn’t easy if he wasn’t supporting her weight by cupping her ass—and just now he wasn’t. “Very bad,” she said. There was a lack of conviction in the words.
He was aware that he’d scared her before. He’d seen her hesitation at his joining her here now. He had to prove to himself that he could maintain control, but he also needed her to tell him she wanted it. He needed to hear absolution in the wantonness of her voice. In barely more than a whisper, he pleaded, “Tell me.”
Persephone hauled herself up higher and drew her arms tighter around him. This brought her mouth close to his ear. “I want you,” she said.
He let the tip slip inside of her. “Louder.”
“Yes.” He heard her panting at his ear. He felt her arms trembling with the effort of holding herself up. “I want you.”
He pushed his cock into her and she immediately writhed on him. He withdrew and demanded, “Mean it.”
Persephone ordered, “Fuck me.”
He rammed the full length of his cock into her. For all the tenacity of her command, when he gave her that thrust, her squeal and reverent sigh were the telltale signs of a satisfied craving.
He said, “The rest of the day, you’re gonna know I did.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Delightfully sore as promised, I stood in the kitchen making breakfast. I wore Johnny’s shirt and my cotton undies; he wore only his jeans.
Just as my finger hit the button that set the coffeepot to brewing, Zhan walked into the kitchen with an envelope. My name was beautifully scripted on it. That meant this was from Menessos. “I better get some caffeine in me before I read that.” I set it aside and gathered some mugs from the cabinet.
Minutes later, as the bacon Johnny was in charge of was sizzling, I carried the envelope to the dinette table, sat on the bench, and opened it.
That didn’t make sense because presently he was dead. I put it back into the envelope.
“Did the vamp impart any pearls of wisdom?” Johnny asked from the stove. He fed Ares a slice of bacon.
Appreciation of his physique delayed my answer.
