“I know this looks strange.” She cupped her beloved ball and the quartz warmed, reacting to her magic vibrations. “But I can explain it.”
“I’ll admit to being curious.” Griffin tossed his suit coat over the arm of a chair. He’d removed his tie earlier in the evening and tucked it into his coat pocket, so he looked relaxed and endearingly at home in her apartment. “It looks sort of ritualistic.”
“It’s part of my magic act.” Lily wasn’t sure how convincing this sounded. “I think my act will be more effective if I have candles and a crystal ball involved, don’t you?” She felt the warm crystal vibrate in her grip, and it seemed unfair to imply that such a powerful tool would be part of a mere act.
Daisy walked over and shoved her nose against Griffin’s hand. He petted her, but his attention remained on Lily and there were questions in his hazel eyes. “I’m not much of an expert on magic acts. I guess candles and a crystal ball would be good.”
“I’m hoping they will.” Holding the crystal ball always centered her and brought her into balance. Being balanced meant divesting herself of all falsehoods.
She was involved in an enormous one tonight. The crystal grew warmer in her grip, and that warmth worked on her. She wanted to confess everything. She wanted to in the worst way.
But she knew once she did all Hades could break loose, and this was a critical weekend for her sister. But it wasn’t all about Anica, and she admitted that to herself. She didn’t want to lose Griffin. Not yet.
“Does that crystal ball have a laser embedded in it somewhere?” Griffin stepped closer.
“No, why?”
“It seems to be glowing.”
“A trick of the light, I guess.” Turning her back to him, she carried the crystal ball over to its metal stand on her bookcase. “I’ll just put it back where it belongs.”
“Lily . . .”
“Yes?” She placed the ball carefully in the stand.
“Nothing. We’d better take Daisy out.”
“Good idea.” She would love to walk Daisy with Griffin by her side, and she was relieved that he didn’t ask any more questions about the crystal ball. If she hadn’t fallen asleep in the hotel room this afternoon, she would have cleared everything away. Maybe he’d accept her lame excuses for now.
“In fact, I have a better idea,” Griffin said. “You take Daisy out, and I’ll move these candles into the bedroom. I have the urge for some candlelit sex tonight.”
She couldn’t very well tell him that those were special candles that she used exclusively for spell work. She wasn’t sure what would happen if she and Griffin made love while those candles burned. If anything, it might heighten the effect of the elixir. No telling what that would mean. He might want to elope to Vegas.
But she couldn’t think of any logical excuse to keep him from setting up his romantic bedroom scene using those candles. She’d have to go with it and see how it all turned out. One thing was for sure: The sex would be outstanding.
She picked up Daisy’s leash from the hall table as he started collecting the candles. For some reason her mind flashed back to a scene in the bar, something she’d forgotten to ask him about. “By the way, what did Kevin want?”
Griffin glanced at her with a look that was definitely secretive.
She noted that with great interest. So she wasn’t the only one hiding things.
“Kevin?” Griffin’s attempt to appear nonchalant failed miserably.
“He came back around ten. I saw you talking to him. He never comes back in, so I was curious about why he did tonight.”
“Oh.” Griffin glanced away, another sure sign he was making it up as he went along. “He wanted to confirm that I wasn’t going with him and Miles to the Cubs game tomorrow night. I told him you and I would probably plan something to do together.”
You’re lying.
Her own recent attempts to hide the truth had probably made her more sensitive to Griffin when he tried to do the same thing. Besides, she’d already established that he was a terrible liar.
That meant that Kevin hadn’t come back to question Griffin about the Cubs game. She’d bet money he’d come back with instructions about how to deal with Lily, how to put the brakes on the relationship. Yet here they were in her apartment, and Griffin wanted to have sex by candlelight.
That wasn’t putting the brakes on. That was stepping on the gas. She decided to think about it while she took Daisy out.
“I won’t be long.” She opened the apartment door as Daisy danced around in excitement. “I won’t go all the way to the dog park tonight, just down the block.”
“To Harvey’s Hangout?” Griffin’s expression darkened.
“No, not that far, either.” She could tell her friendship with Brad Harvey bothered him. She hadn’t planned for possessiveness to be part of the spell, but it made sense. Dogs guarded the person they loved. Griffin wouldn’t want anyone encroaching on his territory.
Her short walk with Daisy wasn’t enough time to sort out all the reasons Griffin might have lied about why Kevin had shown up at the Bubbling Cauldron. She thought maybe Kevin was operating in the same capacity Anica had when Lily had first set her sights on Griffin. Anica had come into the bar to talk Lily out of having sex with him.
Maybe Kevin’s objectives were the same, to convince Griffin that he should spend the night in his own bed instead of going home with Lily. If that had been Kevin’s objective, he’d failed. But then, he didn’t know what he was up against. The magic grew more powerful with every sexual encounter.
The thought was a little intimidating. If Griffin was this attached now, what would he be like after they had sex a few more times? Lily had never checked to see if the power of the elixir had any limits. That might have been a good idea before she’d administered it to an actual man.
Sad to say, checking out all the angles wasn’t her strong suit. When she was feeling positive about herself, she said that’s why her life was so exciting. When she was feeling more negative, she said that’s why her life was a disaster in the making.
Tonight was a toss-up between the thrill ride aspect and the impending disaster aspect. But she wasn’t about to throw Griffin out of her bed or out of her apartment, so she might as well enjoy what he had in mind.
She waited until Daisy took care of business, and then they started back toward the apartment building.
Griffin dropped the candles on the carpet and took the plastic bag of salt out of his pants pocket the minute Lily went out the door. Sprinkling salt around the bed seemed like a dopey thing to do, but Kevin had insisted and he meant to prove his friend wrong.
Having never done such a thing before, Griffin felt no level of competence. He dumped too much of the salt on one side of the bed and ran out before he got around to the other side. That also meant that on the one side, which happened to be the side where Lily slept when they were together, a person could easily see the salt on the carpet.
A person, namely Lily, would probably notice the salt if she happened to step on it, especially in her bare feet. Griffin went in search of a dustpan and whisk broom, which he found in the kitchen pantry. In the process he noticed the pantry was loaded with all sizes of glass jars with labels like MUGWORT, VERVAIN and MANDRAKE.
Maybe they were herbs for cooking. And maybe not. He was also positive that the glow he’d seen coming from the crystal ball had not been a trick of the light. The moment she’d picked up the ball it had started giving off funky flashes and twinkles.
He hated to admit it, but the evidence was mounting that Lily was a practicing witch. And she was practicing on him. Returning to the bedroom, he set about brushing some of the salt into the pan so he could sprinkle it more evenly.
As he worked he cursed softly under his breath. That probably wasn’t the magical chant that Kevin had in mind, but it worked for him. Most guys ended up with normal women, and it seemed that he’d become entangled with a certified witch. What were the odds?
In some ways he couldn’t complain. Lily was great to look at and great in bed. But if she’d taken away his right to choose, if she’d slipped him some kind of magic drug that made him want her no matter what, that wasn’t good.
He swept faster and soon had a dustpan full of coarse salt. Moving his hand over the carpet, he decided that it wasn’t quite as gritty and maybe she wouldn’t notice. If she did notice, he had no idea what to tell her. None of Kevin’s suggestions had sounded worth anything.
Besides, what sort of reaction could he expect from an actual witch? Would she take out her magic wand and turn him into a toad? All the stories from his childhood came rushing back. He should just leave, but he . . . couldn’t. That was the most telling evidence of all.
About the time he’d emptied the dustpan along the other side of the bed, the key turned in the lock. He shoved the dustpan and the whisk broom under the bed and walked back into the living room, where the candles he’d dropped still lay on the floor.
She unhooked Daisy’s leash and glanced at the candles. “Problems?”
“You know what? I love the effect of candles, but when you get right down to it, they’re a fire hazard.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “If you say so.”
“Let’s just forget the candles.” Now that she was back, now that she was within range, an ache of extreme longing took over. She was steps away, this woman who could satisfy that ache. Was that so bad, to want someone this much and have the prospect of amazing sex close at hand?
Maybe he shouldn’t have sprinkled the salt around the bed. This kind of sexual excitement had never happened to him before. Kevin couldn’t possibly know how Griffin felt, so of course he wanted to interfere and remove the spell. He might even have acted out of jealousy, come to think of it.
When Griffin listened to Kevin, he agreed the spell had to go, but now, gazing at Lily, he was enjoying the hell out of being magically transformed. It was flattering that she’d chosen him, and he wished he hadn’t sprinkled the salt around the bed.
But he couldn’t very well take it back now. Lily might get suspicious if he had a sudden inclination to vacuum.
So they’d make love in that bed with the salt around it, and maybe he’d feel differently about the experience. And maybe he wouldn’t, which might mean that Kevin and Miles were wrong. Lily might be an amateur magician and nothing more.
Yes, he was ignoring the strange items in the pantry and the glowing crystal ball. Big deal. Now seemed like a good time to forget about those things and concentrate on taking Lily to bed.
Lily put Daisy’s leash on the small table by the door. “I picked up another soup bone for her yesterday and forgot to give it to her last night. Let me set her up with that. I’ll be right back. Come on, Daisy. Soup bone time.”
Daisy pranced happily after her into the kitchen.
Griffin looked down at the candles, which lay scattered, some on their sides, some even upside down. That wasn’t very considerate of him, to leave them like that. Dropping to his knees, he began to gather them up.
Lily walked back into the room. “Here, let me help get those.” She got down on her hands and knees next to him.
The moment she did he became intensely aware of her. Her scent drifted toward him, beckoning him to touch her. Sitting back on his heels, he reached over and cupped his hand over the back of her neck, massaging gently.
She glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled.
That smile tripped some sort of switch, and the urge to have her swamped every logical thought. With a low, primitive growl, he slid his hand down her spine and wrapped it around her waist.
“Griffin?” She looked back over her shoulder again.
“I want you.” He tugged her back against his thighs, and the candles she’d been holding tumbled back onto the carpet as she braced her hands on the floor. He settled her against his erect penis.
“I can tell you want me.” Her laughter was breathless. “Does that mean you’re no longer on candle detail?”
“That’s right.” Leaning over, keeping her sweet backside in contact with his cock, he scraped his teeth against her neck. “I want you right here. Like this.”
She shuddered. “That’s a long way from candlelight.”
“I don’t need candlelight. I need you.” Pulling her blouse from the waistband of her slacks, he reached under the stretchy material to release the front catch of her bra. Her breasts spilled into his hand, silky and full.
She moaned softly as he caressed her.
“I can’t seem to get enough of you,” he murmured against her neck. He loved touching her, stroking her nipples until they became tight with desire, but he had other needs that drove him to release his hold and unfasten her slacks.
Sliding his hand inside her panties, he discovered she was wet and ready. He stroked her, wringing a whimper from her as she arched against him. Heavy with need, he pushed back, wanting more, so much more.
He nipped the soft skin of her neck as he plunged his fingers in deeper. She moaned and pleaded for release. Something snapped within him. In an instant he’d wrenched down her slacks and panties, ripping the seams.
She gasped and looked over her shoulder. “What . . .” Her gaze took in his open fly. “Griffin, we can’t—”
Oh yes, they could. Seizing her around the waist once more, he plunged deep, crying out at the intense pleasure of entering her without any barriers between his heat and hers.
“Griffin, no . . .” Her protest was weak, and even as she made it, she surrendered to the moment and lifted her hips to give him greater access. Then she was moving with him, meeting each thrust with a backward push that had them coming together with a force that sent his blood surging through his veins in triumph.
Glorious. She tightened around him as the pace quickened. Her soft cries kept time with the rhythm of his strokes. He drove deep and she seemed to flower, as if she was one of the budding roses he’d sent her that had been bathed in sunlight and opened its petals to the light.