“There. How’s that?” she asked when she was finished, carefully checking her makeup.
I let out a low wolf whistle of appreciation. “You should be a felony, baby. It’s gotta be a crime for a girl to be this hot.” I couldn’t keep my stare off her wicked body, and truth be told, my hands were itching to follow the path of my eyes.
“Shelly’s always felt superior to me when it comes to looks. She doesn’t think I’m worthy of someone like you,” Portia said, resolutely. “That’s why she’s always flaunting herself when you’re around. I’m just giving her a dose of her own medicine.”
“Well, you always look good to me. But today you’re going to knock their socks off!”
“I look like a hooker.” She gave a shaky laugh.
“Sometimes a guy might not think that’s a bad thing.” I definitely didn’t think it was a bad thing. She was driving me crazy in that outfit. There were parts of my body that wanted to stand and applaud. “Remember, baby, it’s all about the attitude. Work it.” I couldn’t resist giving a slap to her shapely butt, before I grabbed her hand and started walking toward the school.
“How long do think it'll be before I get called back into the principal’s office?” she asked, sighing.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” I squeezed her hand.
She laughed. “You didn’t think I was going to wear this all day, did you? This skirt is a serious violation of the dress code.”
Glancing at her, I frowned slightly. “You’re going to change?” I couldn’t lie—I was disappointed.
“Just a little. I’m swapping the skirt for a pair of skin tight leather pants before first hour.”
That image worked for my libido too. “Skin tight, huh? I think I can live with that.” I flashed her a grin. “I can’t wait to see them.” I really couldn’t wait. Damn, I needed to get hold of my rampaging mind. It was taking a romp through the forest of horny right now.
“You’re such a guy.” She shook her head, but grinned at me.
I chuckled. “True. But that’s why you love me, right?”
“Only one of the reasons,” she replied, squeezing my hand. “It’s definitely a plus, though.”
We entered the school and I gripped her tighter for support when everyone started turning to stare. Leading her through the throng of students, we made our way to Shelly’s locker, where she was watching both of us, scowling. Her gaze flitted over Portia and I knew there was no way she could deny how incredible Portia looked today. Grabbing her in my arms, I kissed her hotly, fully immersing myself in both my love and lust that was raging through me this morning. I kissed her until she couldn’t breathe properly, running my hands down her body and anchoring her firmly against mine.
When I released her, Portia turned to Shelly. “You’re right, Shelly,” she said, running a red-painted finger down the side of her mouth. “He does taste like butter and honey. And I’m going to taste him again, and again, and again.”
Wicked lust shot straight through me, and I dragged her against me once more to place another scorching kiss against her mouth. There was nothing in this world that would make me want another girl. Nothing. Ever. Portia was it—everything I could ever need or want.
Shelly gave a loud huff, knocking us both as she pushed her way past, but it didn’t stop me from kissing Portia. Whispers and laughter filled the air around as people began moving away.
“Dude, that was harsh,” Brad broke in giving a short laugh. “She deserved it, though.”
Instantly I felt bad. I hadn’t really stopped to consider the feelings of my friend who was involved in all this. I knew he was still nursing a broken heart over Shelly.
“Sorry. I know you have a thing for her, but I couldn’t take it anymore,” I tried to explain, shaking my head.
“No apology necessary. She needed to be knocked down a notch or twelve,” Brad responded.
“I agree wholeheartedly!” Portia added, smiling at Brad. “How are you?”
“I’m all right.” He smiled and his eyes drifted lower, taking very specific notice of my girlfriend. On second thought, maybe I didn’t like all the attention she was getting. “It’s nice to see you back at school. And, I might add, you look smokin’ hot today!”
“Hey! Take it easy there, Brad,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “I might have to beat you down a bit.” I was kidding, of course, but I did want everyone to know that Portia was mine. Period. End of discussion.
“No worries.” Brad laughed, not bothered in the least. “I know she belongs to you.”
Shaking my head, I stared at Portia. “You have it all wrong.” I smiled, staring at the love of my life. “I belong to her.” I clasped her hands in mine.
“Well, the two of you are lucky. Don’t take it for granted,” Brad said, continuing down the hall.
Leaning in close to Portia, I whispered. “I’ll never let that happen.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Journal Entry:
Things have finally been getting back to normal around here. There haven’t been any more noticeable threats, which is good, though that’s also resulted in me not having a feasible excuse to live at Portia’s any longer—not that I’m letting that stop me. I think Marsha has enjoyed having me around more, though. I can tell she’s been missing me.
Portia has something planned for today. She’s very excited about it, and it’s taken all my power to resist sneaking into her thoughts to discover what it is. I can’t ruin it—it’s making her too happy, and I’ve missed her naturally buoyant personality.
***
We made our way onto the flat rock at our special place in Oak Creek Canyon. The extreme fall air was crisp and nippy, but bearable with our jackets. There were still a few leaves clinging to the trees around us, but excluding the evergreens, most of the leafy foliage was on the forest floor.
“So what’s up your sleeve?” I asked casually, as we stood holding hands looking at the scene before us.
“What do you mean?” She was going to play the innocent game, it appeared.
“I mean you’ve been acting like a giddy school girl all morning. I figured something was going on.” I smiled at her, determined to ferret out the truth.
“You peeked into my head, didn’t you?” She pursed her lips, eyes narrowing as she studied me accusingly.
I shook my head. “No. I figured you’d tell me when you were ready,” I answered innocently, grateful that I’d restrained myself.
She released my hand, placing both her arms around my neck, popping on her tiptoes to give me light kiss. I kissed her back, amused, as I waited for an explanation.
“I have a present for you,” she said, rubbing the end of my nose with hers in Eskimo fashion.
“Really?” This surprised me, since I thought she had some secret to tell me. I definitely wasn’t expecting presents. Now I was really curious. “What is it?”
Her eyes flashed excitedly. “It’s in my pocket. But you have to find which pocket,” she said with a devious smile.
I grinned widely—search the girlfriend—this was a game I had no problem playing. “I’m up for the task, but are you sure you are?”
She laughed, but didn’t move away, as my hands began traveling about her lush body, quickly locating the bulge in her pocket.
“That was way too fast,” she complained with a sigh.
“Guess you’ll have to hide it better next time,” I replied with a smile as I fished the box out of her pocket, examining the pretty blue paper and slightly smashed bow. “Wow. It’s wrapped and everything.”
She released me, stepping away so I could open it.
“You do know my birthday is a long way off still, right? It’s not until April.” I raised an eyebrow and laughed.
“I know. Open it,” she replied, clearly impatient.
“All right.” The need to prolong her torture was more than I could pass up. Very slowly, I started removing the paper, carefully loosening the tape so it wouldn’t rip or ma
r any of the design.
“Rip it off!” she almost shouted, grabbing for the package. I jerked it away, holding it where she couldn’t reach it.
“Take it easy!” I teased, shaking my head, and clicking my tongue. “Who knew you could be so impatient!”
She rolled her eyes at me as I gently shook the box, deciding to start guessing at the contents, just to irritate her even more.
“Hmmm, I wonder what it could be? A chicken perhaps?” I was rewarded with a snort. “Not a chicken—well then, perhaps dog food?” She folded her arms and glared, but it didn’t dissuade me at all. “It’s a small box though,” I said, continuing to observe it. “I bet it’s fingernail polish.” I laughed when she started tapping a foot, and I knew I couldn’t delay removing the paper any longer. “You got me a camera!” I exclaimed in surprise. I couldn’t believe it! It was a really nice one too.
“Yep.” She smiled, obviously pleased with my reaction. “I told you a while back I’d work on getting you some new pictures of me. I thought maybe we could take some of us together.”
“I like that idea,” I replied happily, wrapping my arm around her waist as I pulled her back against me for another kiss.
“I even put the batteries in it for you,” she continued, when I pulled away.
“Well, then that deserves another kiss.” I covered her lips once more, but she shoved me away, moving from my grasp. “Hey! Come back here,” I protested, reaching for her again.
She shook her head, grinning. “No. You’re getting distracted!” She ran toward the tree line, away from me.
“I’m so going to catch you! You know that, right?”
“You can try!”
She squealed when she saw I was chasing her, dashing quickly in the opposite direction. The leaves crunching beneath her feet were a dead give away to where she was heading. I briefly saw a flash of her hair before she disappeared behind a tree.
Using my levitation magic to move between leafless spots on the forest floor, I snuck behind her hiding place. Readying the camera, I sprang out beside her. “Gotcha! I said, snapping the picture.
She yelped in surprise, jumping, but took off running again. I followed her snapping pictures as we ran, laughed, and attempted to out-do one another, until I finally caught her.
She glanced over my shoulder, breathing heavily. “Hey, look how pretty all the trees and leaves are in that section.” She pointed to a spot a few yards away. “We could set your camera on that log and use the timer to take some staged shots of us together.”
“Sounds great,” I replied, grabbing her hand and going there. We shot several poses until she snatched the camera and collapsed into a pile of leaves on the forest floor. I lay beside her, propping on my elbow. I couldn’t stop staring; enjoying the color both the cool air and our running about had brought out in her skin. She snapped a few pictures of me while I watched her, before lowering the camera.
“I love you so much,” I said, continuing to gaze at her. “I wonder how I ever lived without you.” Lifting a large leaf, I traced it along the exposed skin at her neck.
“That doesn’t matter anymore,” she replied with a sigh. “We have each other now.”
“I know, and it makes me really happy. I could never leave you, Portia.” I pulled her next to me and kissed her, loving the feel of her in my arms.
“I wouldn’t let you,” she said, when she could speak again.
“Good!” I replied. “I’d have to be a fool to risk anything that would cause me to lose you.”
“You’ll never lose me.” She giggled merrily and threw a handful of leaves in my face.
“Oh! You are on!” I said. Pouncing on her, I rolled her all around in the leaves until they were sticking out of her hair everywhere. She was laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath, squirming as she tried to get away from me.
“I give up!” she finally hollered, throwing her hands in the air.
“I told you I wouldn’t let you get away.”
A determined look settled on her face and suddenly a bunch of leaves lifted magically off the ground, dropping over my head.
“Hey!” I grinned through the falling shower of foliage. “That wasn’t fair!”
She merely shrugged, but I wasn’t letting her off the hook. I magically returned her fire and soon the two of us were caught in a giant leaf war. Every shriek of joy that came from her lips shot through straight to my heart.
I was so in love with this girl!
---
Thanksgiving arrived on a beautiful, cold fall day, along with the invitation for the entire coven to join the Mullins family for the traditional dinner. I found myself feeling quite excited by this prospect, since Marsha and I had never had anyone special to celebrate with in the past. Yes, we’d had special meals together, but I couldn’t help my desire to be part of something bigger—a real family.
I went to Portia’s early to help her with the preparations for the day. Stacey soon had us decorating the table in the formal dining room with the fine china and silver. I watched as Portia artfully arranged a cornucopia in the center of the table, set off by tapered candles in crystal votives.
“I’m going to head outside and help your dad bring in the wood for the fireplaces,” I said when we were finished.
“Okay. I’ll go see what my mom wants help with now,” she replied, quickly kissing my cheek before disappearing through the swinging door to the kitchen, where the most delicious smells were coming from.
My stomach growled as I slipped into my coat and headed outside toward the small shed by the back gate where Sean kept the wood. I saw him loading up a wheelbarrow.
“Need some help?” I asked, approaching him.
He glanced at me and smiled. “If you want to grab another armful that ought to do us up good for the evening.
“Sure thing,” I said, stepping inside to get some more pieces.
“I’ve been wanting to talk to you lately, but I never get the chance to catch you alone these days,” Sean said, shoving his hands in his pocket as he stared at me.
“What’s on your mind?”
“I’ve just been worried about how you might be holding up. I know life hasn’t been easy for you and there have definitely been stress related moments.”
He was leading to something, but I wasn’t sure what. “I’m doing okay. Things have been better lately.”
He nodded, staring off into space. “Yeah, they have, haven’t they?”
“That’s what’s bothering you, isn’t it?” I asked, understanding completely why that would worry him.
“It is. Your dad—well, it’s like he fell off the planet. There has to be something I’m missing somewhere. This feeling of dread keeps creeping into the back of my mind, like we’re running a step behind him now. He may not know where you are, but then again—he might.” He glanced back at me. “Have you noticed anything peculiar?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t, but I understand exactly what you mean. It almost has that calm before the storm feeling.”
“Exactly,” Sean said with a sigh. “I hope we’re wrong, but I feel like changes are coming. Please be careful, Vance.”
“I will be,” I replied truthfully. I’d be extremely careful, even if it was only to keep Portia out of the crossfire.
---
The dinner was incredible! Everything tasted amazing, the conversations bordered on the hilarious at times; and as the night wore on and more wine was served, it started getting crazier, but in a good way.
Everyone was currently gathered around the grand piano, singing Christmas carols, ironically, to welcome in the new season. Some of the coven members were very gifted musically, while others had Portia and me practically rolling with laughter as they sang loud and off-key. I loved it. It was very—homey.
“Want to go take a walk with me,” I asked Portia, suddenly feeling the urge to walk off dinner and a bit of the overwhelming emotions.
“Sure,” she replied with a no
d, and the two of us snuck from the room to get our coats, and headed outside.
“It’s a bit nippy tonight,” she said when we stepped into the courtyard.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you warm.” Placing an arm about her shoulders, I pulled her closer as she blew on her hands, rubbing them together and shoving them into her coat pockets.
We walked slowly down the dimly lit street, looking at the houses we passed, warmly lit from the inside, with other families who were celebrating their night, as well.
“Today was great,” I said, breaking the silence.
“You really enjoyed it?” She seemed truly surprised.
“This is one of the first Thanksgivings I can think of in a long time that I’ve had so much to be thankful for. I really felt like part of a family tonight.”
“You are part of a family,” she said. “You’re my family.”
“I know,” I continued, wanting her to understand where I was coming from. “But I’ve never been surrounded by that many people, with that kind of warmth, for an occasion like this.”
“Well, get used to it,” she replied, smiling. “I plan on spending many more celebrations with you in my lifetime.”
Smiling I squeezed her again. “I’m looking forward to that too.” She had no idea how much her words meant to me. They represented everything I ever longed for.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Journal Entry:
This weekend was so incredible. I loved every minute spent with Portia, her family, and the coven. Never has a place felt so much like home. I’m so thankful things are finally coming together. It’s strange to allow myself to have hope again—the feeling is so foreign to me that sometimes I feel like I’m doing something wrong. Portia says I’m retraining the way I think, and learning to be more positive. She believes that, just like magic, good energy attracts more good energy. I hope she’s right, because I find myself wanting to believe. Time has been on my side so far. Hopefully, it will stay that way.