Magic and Mayhem: Risky Witchness (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read online

  She laughed. She was genuinely amused. “I suppose that’s fair.”

  Millie bit her lip.

  It reminded me how I’d like to be the one biting her lip. Maybe she’d let me do that for her.

  She settled on my lap and it seemed like her body had been made for me. Maybe it had been.

  I tried to ignore that thought. That was another way down the darker side. Well, the darkest side, Shit, I was the darkest side. Anyway, bad shit that I didn’t want. I had no business thinking those kind of thoughts.

  Fuck her through the wall, sure. Make us both come until there were no orgasms left in the world, sure. But thinking she was mine? No thank you. Of course, the more I fought it, the more I’d do it. So maybe just ignore it? That seemed to be the best policy. Especially with her delicious hind parts squirming around on my lap like she was doing.

  My fingers itched to touch her, but I waited for her to make the next move. I waited for her to take what she wanted. Although, self-restraint had never been one of my gifts.

  I thought about pushing my fingers through her hair, shoving her up against the wall and—she kissed me.

  That in itself shouldn’t have been spectacular, but it was.

  It was soft and tentative, almost shy. Nothing like what I’d expected from her.

  It was also one of the most erotic things that had ever happened to me, which was saying quite something considering my history.

  I liked how soft her lips were, how sweet she tasted.

  “Why do you taste like Cherry Jolly Ranchers?” she murmured against my lips.

  “I was going to say the same thing about you.”

  “Put your arms around me, Red.”

  “Don’t call me Red.” I obeyed her even though she used that despicable moniker. I grabbed her hips and pulled her flush against me, then ran my hands everywhere. She was so soft, her skin like silk.

  Her hands were under my shirt and everywhere she touched was hot as fire. I wondered briefly if Emilian would begrudge me this. If he’d be jealous, but then I decided if he was, he could damn well bring his ass down here and say so.

  I doubted that, in his heaven, he remembered me at all. There was no sorrow upstairs and after everything he’d endured, I didn’t want him to feel sadness or pain.

  Well, maybe a little bit, but only when he thought of me and only enough to make him want to come back.

  Except I knew that was selfish. His soul had been bruised and torn by his experience with the evil he’d carried inside of him. I knew that, and I supposed after four years of grieving for him, it was time to let it go.

  “Come back, Ethelred,” she whispered against my mouth. “You left.”

  She was right. “I’m here.”

  “Are you with me or feeling guilty about the one you lost?” She laid her head on my chest.

  I wouldn’t lie to her. “I was thinking about him. If what I’m doing with you would hurt him. If he’d be sad.”

  “Do you think he would be?”

  “No.”

  “If the situation were reversed, how would you feel?”

  “I’m a demon. I’d want him to be miserable.”

  “Really?” She cupped my cheek. “I think you’re lying.”

  She was right. I was lying even to myself. Maybe being in love really did make you a better person.

  Gross.

  I wasn’t a person anyway. I was a Crown Prince of Hell, thank you very much.

  “Don’t go turning me into your white knight. That’s not what I do.”

  “Obviously.” She pressed her lips to my jaw, my throat, and worked my shirt off my body. “Do you have a condom?”

  “Don’t you witches have potions for that kind of thing?” I’d never stopped to consider I might need one.

  She snapped her fingers and a foil package appeared in her hand. “I guess, but I’m not that kind of witch. Or do I need seven?”

  I laughed again. “When I can pull out seven, you definitely don’t need a—” I paused. “Actually, we might. The guy whose Crown Prince title I took? He was particularly creative and to punish this guy, he manifested demonic crabs. They were a stroke of genius, but highly contagious. Condoms it is. For the rest of my existence.”

  She grinned. “Demonic crabs? I could wish those on so many people.”

  “They were pretty awful. Not so bad as the talking cock or the vagina with teeth, but you know how it goes.”

  “It sounds like in the world you come from, you’d have to be a magickal creature to survive.”

  “It’s why I think humanity is so amazing. Foul little beasties, sometimes. But others?” I took her hand and moved it back down to my cock. “Let’s not get distracted.”

  “No chance of that.” She waved her hands, and I was naked.

  I suddenly understood why that was so disconcerting. I wasn’t complaining, but disconcerted nonetheless.

  “Have you always had a body like this?” She ran her hands over me.

  “No, in the beginning, I was only darkness.”

  She moved her caress down to cup me. “I shouldn’t think that’s sexy as hell, but I do. I guess I imagined you were a man who’d just started hanging with a bad crowd.”

  “That was Caspian, the guy who had the gig before me. He’s promoted up. He was human once. Me? I’ve never been human.”

  “Maybe that’s why you’re here. To experience being human.” She stroked her hand over me.

  Maybe she was right.

  I didn’t want to think about where that could lead me. I wanted to think about the way her hand felt stroking over me, I wanted to revel in the ecstasy we could weave for each other. Sensation was what I loved best about being corporeal. There was none of that when your form was a void.

  My hips arched up to meet her, and I wasn’t ashamed to say I was completely and utterly her creature in those moments. I’d have done anything to keep her hand on me. Promised her the world and delivered.

  I peeled her clothes from her, enjoying each new bit of her that was revealed. As much I wanted her to continue what she was doing, I prided myself on being a good lover. I wasn’t going to get mine and leave her wanting.

  Ladies first, after all.

  I hated to do it, but I pushed her hand from my cock and stood, carrying her over to the desk. “This would be so much better if I had my powers. I’d simply levitate you, but the desk will do.”

  I kneeled between her thighs, and she twisted her fingers in my hair.

  It seemed every part of her tasted like cherry Jolly Ranchers. I could lick that all day long.

  She made the most delightful sounds as she pulled my hair, dragging me closer, then trying to push me away.

  “Red,” she gasped.

  I found in that context, I didn’t hate it. It was all breathy, and I looked up at her. She was lost in a haze of bliss that I’d wrought. I guessed I could let it slide.

  That didn’t mean I’d let her get away with calling me that all the time.

  Next, I used my fingers and tongue in concert to make her thrash under my ministrations. I prided myself on being a very cunning linguist.

  She clamped her thighs around my shoulders, and it was a good thing I didn’t need to breathe, but it would’ve been a good and noble death.

  I moved my tongue faster until she gasped her orgasm, and she was no quiet thing. The stream of profanity that came as she did was the stuff of epic legend.

  I might’ve learned a new word or two.

  That made my cock even harder.

  After making sure I’d wrung every last gasp from her, it was my turn. I picked her up again and slid deep inside of her.

  I was suddenly wondering, if I somehow managed to get my power back, if she’d actually be interested in trying this with all seven. She was so hot. So delicious.

  I waited until she was gasping with pleasure again before I took my own. I was afraid making her come was going to be my new favorite pastime.

  Chapter 6
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br />   Ethelred

  After our bed sport, I needed to take a walk.

  I liked the little witch way too much, and I needed to clear my head. Get it straight, as it were.

  I walked out behind the little no-tell motel that I’d come to affectionately call Motel Hell. I was glad we were staying away from The Mandrake.

  I’d only get myself in trouble both places, but being here, it gave me time with the witch that I wanted, but I didn’t want to ask for. I didn’t like the implications. I didn’t want either one of us getting the wrong idea.

  And perhaps it had already served its purpose? All of that sexual tension had culminated in some rather righteous orgasms, and that was the point. Right?

  What was I going to do if this was where I was stuck? That was no good. I wondered sometimes how humans managed it.

  They really were marvelous little creatures. Sometimes, in secret, I’d thought about what it would be like to be one.

  This was close enough, and I didn’t like it. Not at all.

  Well, except for the sex part. That part was okay. That part was actually better than okay, but it didn’t make up for all the other bullshit and indignity one was forced to deal with.

  “Whatcha doing?” a lone flower growing on a fallen log asked me.

  I wasn’t surprised. At this point, anything could happen. “Taking a walk. What’s it to you?”

  “You know, just checking in. Seeing how you’re handling your sort of humanity. It’s kind of a bitch, isn’t it?”

  Caspian. Bigger Boss. “You dick.”

  “You shouldn’t swear at your supervisor.”

  “Yeah, I guess I should count myself lucky I just lost my power and you make my dick talk to me.”

  “Your dick already talks to you, and you have no problem listening to it. So, that’s not the lesson you needed.”

  “And have I learned my lesson?” I wasn’t being glib. I really wanted to know. If he was going to zap me home, I wanted to say goodbye to the witch. With another round of great sex.

  “I don’t know. Have you?” he asked.

  I didn’t think he was being glib either. But Caspian could be as much of a dick as I could, perhaps more. But don’t tell him I said that. “Maybe. I learned that being human is hard.”

  “That’s something you already knew.”

  “Maybe I knew it, but I didn’t think about it when I devised lessons to teach. I didn’t take their indignities into consideration. So I learned something. I don’t know if it’s what I supposed to learn.”

  “Good.” The flower said. “I’m glad you’re open to the lesson.”

  “What else am I going to do in this hell?” I drawled. “You should know, this didn’t feel like a lesson. It felt like punishment.”

  “Perhaps that is also part of what you’re supposed to learn.” The Caspian-flower said. “But when you get back, you can blame Grace.”

  “I’m not going anywhere near that. I don’t want that woman mad at me.” There were some lines even I wouldn’t cross, and pissing off the Bigger Boss’s wife was one of them. It didn’t hurt that she was the Big Boss’s daughter as well. She was all fire and sass. More than I wanted to deal with for eternity, that was for sure.

  He laughed. “I thought you might feel that way.”

  “So when am I coming home?”

  “When the Baba Yaga gets back to your time. You know she’s with Seraphim? They’re probably discussing your future right now.”

  I shuddered. The thought of the Baba Yaga from his dimension and the Baba Yaga in this one joining forces—or, devil forbid, hanging out together at a Madonna concert discussing my future—was not okay with me. “Haven’t I been the victim of enough meddling?”

  “Oooh!” The flower wiggled its petals. “Do you think that’s another lesson?”

  “No, it’s just bullshit!” I grumbled.

  “I bet all the humans you’ve interfered with have felt that way, too. Especially the ones you got to sign contracts.”

  For a moment, I had a horrible thought. “This isn’t your way of telling me to be a kinder, gentler demon, is it?”

  “Hell no. You do you, Ethelred, my friend. As a show of good faith, I’m giving you your powers back.”

  And I knew exactly what I was going to do with them.

  Millie

  So, yeah. Probably that shouldn’t have happened.

  But lying like a puddle in the middle of the bed after having pretty outstanding sex, it just wasn’t enough to make me care about the would haves and should haves.

  I knew there’d be some kind of price to pay, but I couldn’t bring myself to worry about it.

  I stretched and yawned.

  I liked Ethelred. I liked who he was as a person. I didn’t want to like him, but I did. I supposed there was no accounting for taste.

  He intrigued me more than anything.

  It didn’t bother me that he was gone when I woke up. I knew he’d be back. I mentally counted the money in my stash again, and I had half of what I needed to pay off my loans. I’d make the first payments with no problem.

  That was such a relief. I wasn’t quite sure where the rest of the money was going to come from yet, but I’d given myself some breathing room.

  Ethelred was another matter entirely.

  I had an idea about the incidents with the Shifters. I wasn’t totally sure and could’ve been completely off base, but after giving it more thought, I was sure it was him.

  My demon.

  Not on purpose, but he was a creature out of space and time. He wasn’t where he belonged. That was bound to disrupt something. I guessed we could count ourselves lucky if the Shifters’ strange behavior was the only thing that had been disturbed by his presence.

  If it was him.

  I needed the Baba Yaga to confirm, but it was actually the only thing that made sense. Which meant I’d have to shut down the club or ask Ethelred to leave.

  The thought of either one of those things bothered me in ways I didn’t want to admit. Not even in my own head.

  I liked running The Mandrake.

  Yeah, so what if I’d gotten all of these fancy letters and certifications after my name? The business I ran made people happy.

  It made me happy.

  The door opened and, as soon as I saw him, I knew something had changed. It wasn’t just the heat that radiated from him. It wasn’t only the literal fire in his eyes.

  It was the strange sense of dread tied with familiarity, horror and fear melded with a need to be closer to him, even though I knew he was dangerous.

  I hadn’t thought his hair could get any more perfect, but it did. There was an unnatural sheen to it now, and the suit he wore? Definitely not what he’d left the room wearing.

  He looked like he’d just stepped out of 1945 and, damn, did it work for him.

  If he’d gotten his power back, did that mean he was going to want to try out the seven cock thing? Because, for all my talk, I wasn’t sure if that’s how I could live my life, if you know what I mean.

  He cocked his head to the side. “I brought you a present.”

  Part of me said I shouldn’t accept anything from demons bearing gifts, but this wasn’t just any demon.

  This was Ethelred. I knew him.

  Biblically.

  I craned, trying to see where he could’ve possibly hidden anything on his person that could be for me.

  Wait, was this a dick joke?

  He laughed and, if the sound had been sexy before, something about it now was darker, wicked, and it touched me in places that evil had no business touching.

  Except I wanted him to do it again.

  “What did you bring me? I don’t see anything.”

  The grin that spread across his face told me I was in deep shit, but I couldn’t bring myself to flee.

  “With my compliments.” He snapped his fingers.

  A spontaneous orgasm crashed over me in wave after wave of bliss. My mine was filled with visions of
him doing the most depraved and decadent things to me. It was the porn of the century in my head and all I could do was shudder along on the bliss rocket.

  That wasn’t even a metaphor for his penis.

  After all, he wasn’t even touching me.

  Yet this was more intimate somehow.

  As the sensation abated, the bliss was short-lived. Because I knew he’d gotten his power back.

  That knowledge, coupled with my suspicions, meant our time was drawing to an end. Just as things had gotten really good.

  But it was for the best, right?

  “So I take it you got your power back,” I said.

  He lowered himself into the chair. “I kind of expected you’d be a little bit more excited about your gift.”

  “I loved your gift, but…”

  “…It changes things.”

  “I have my suspicions that’s what’s happened to the Shifters might be our fault.”

  “My fault.” He nodded. “I know. I’m the thing that doesn’t belong. I’ve always been the thing that doesn’t belong.”

  For some reason, his words hurt me. He hadn’t said them with any particular regret, but the honesty was so raw, it was like a knife.

  “Thanks for the orgasm?” I wasn’t sure what else to say.

  “Want another?”

  I decided to be honest. We could play games, we could spar, but if he was suddenly gone, I’d regret all the things I hadn’t said. Even if I wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear them.

  “I like you,” I blurted.

  “I like you too, doll.” He gave me a sad smile.

  “I know you didn’t want to fall in love and, gods no, I’m not saying that’s what this is, but I think we’re good together.”

  “Do you? Do you really?”

  He seemed angry now. I didn’t understand what I’d done wrong. “I do.”

  The room grew uncomfortably hot. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I could swear that the flames of hell licked at my heels.

  “Look at me, Millie.” He voice was curiously persuasive. Compulsion snaked strange tendrils around me, and if I’d allowed it, it would’ve forced me to do as he’d demanded. I wondered if he was only giving me a taste of his power.