Bewitched, Bothered, and Bitten
Bitten
by
C.C. Wood
This book is a work of fiction, created in the author’s fevered, twisted mind. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. Especially if there are strippers or trampy women. The author knows nothing of those subjects.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Santa is watching and he will poop on your lawn. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author’s rights as that would make you a criminal and jerk. Purchase only authorized editions.
Copyright Crystal W. Wilson 2014
EPUB Edition
Cover by
Jena Brignola, Bibliophile Productions
Editing by
Tania Marinaro, Libros Evolution
I
tossed another log
in the fireplace, using a poker to stoke the embers. I watched as the flames engulfed the log, crackling loudly. The house creaked and settled as the frigid wind blew outside. A cold front had moved through that afternoon and the temperature dropped to just a few degrees above freezing. I loved it.
Winter was my favorite time of year. Well, winter in Texas was my favorite. Snow was rare and the temperature almost never dropped more than a few degrees below freezing. This was the first truly cold night of the season and I intended to enjoy it.
Replacing the poker, I went over to the couch and curled up beneath the afghan my mother had crocheted the year before she died. A pang of sadness washed over me. Three years later and my heart still ached for the loss of my mother. I missed her every single day. The poignancy was stronger here at the country home where she’d spent the last few months of her life. I’d been spending more and more time here as opposed to the loft apartment above my New Age store in Dallas.
Those memories weighed me down, pulling me toward that dark place I didn’t want to go. I sighed and reached for the wineglass on the side table. In the years since my mother passed away, it never got any easier.
I swirled the deep red wine in the glass and took a sip, letting it warm me from the inside out. I stared into the fire, trying not to think of anything at all. My life hadn’t exactly been peaceful the last few months and things wouldn’t be getting better any time soon.
Two of my friends were now playing house with vampires and I had another vamp sniffing after me. Then there was The Faction, a group of rogue vampires, with their malevolent plans, whatever they may be. If that wasn’t enough stress for a girl, there was upheaval in my coven. I wasn’t sure what worried me more.
Once again, I thought of my mother and wished she were here to give me advice. She was one of the smartest women I’d ever known. She could see into the heart of people with very little trouble and I would have been able to count on her opinions, her guidance. There were reasons she was next in line as High Priestess of our coven and it wasn’t just because she had been the most powerful practitioner.
One of the logs in the fire broke apart with a crack, pulling me free of my thoughts. I drank more wine, hoping it would calm the tumult in my mind. There were too many things happening in my life right now and I felt close to breaking.
A whisper of sound echoed in my head. I felt as though something were shifting on the edge of my peripheral vision, yet I couldn’t quite see it. It was then that I knew he was here.
I closed my eyes, resting my head on the back of the sofa. Why couldn’t he leave me alone? Did I really want him to? Something unidentifiable shot through me at the thought.
Tossing the afghan to the side, I stood and drained my wineglass, setting it on the coffee table with a little too much force. I shoved my feet into my fuzzy booties and went to the front door. The slap of cold wind made me suck in my breath and I wrapped my arms around my body.
My eyes scanned the tree line in front of the house, searching for any signs of an intruder. Tonight was the new moon, so the landscape was dark. I tried not to think about the symbolism of the new moon. It was supposed to be a time of beginnings, fresh starts. I ignored the trepidation that crawled along my skin, attributing it to the icy air that swirled around me.
“Why are you out here without a coat?”
I jumped and whirled toward the sound of his voice. His long shadow rose from the porch swing, his outline barely visible in the dark. Before I could respond, he shrugged out of his coat and draped it over my shoulders. Still hot from his body, the fabric smelled of him, spicy with a hint of vanilla. It reminded me of the mulled wine my mother would make for winter solstice and Yule.
I let myself enjoy the sensation of being surrounded by him for a split second. Then, I demanded, “Why are you here at all?”
Finn took another step forward and his purple eyes flared, glowing faintly in the shadows, a sign that he was either hungry, turned on, angry, or trying to use his powers. I was unsure which. “You know why.”
The wind lifted the ends of his thick brown hair, tangling it around his shoulders. I stared up at him, anger and desire warring in my belly.
“Are we going to have this discussion again? Really?” I asked, my voice going up an octave.
I could see the flash of his smile, even in the deep shadows of the porch. His fangs had extended slightly and I was suddenly very aware of the throb of my pulse in my neck.
“Kerry.” His voice drifted around me, so deep and rich I could feel it like fingers stroking down my spine.
Somehow, he was even closer than before, yet we weren’t touching. Even in the frigid night, I could feel the heat pouring off his body as though he were burning from within. I couldn’t take much more of this. He was haunting me. I saw him in my dreams and he seemed to arrive at my weakest moments, as though he knew when I might be pushed past my reserve and give in to the palpable chemistry between us.
For months, he’d pursued me. The first time he came to me in a dream, I thought it was my sex-starved imagination desperate for some relief, though we rarely did more than talk and kiss. Even our conversations felt intimate and erotic.
Until, one day, he slipped and mentioned something he shouldn’t have known. Something I had never said aloud, except in a dream. I’d been angry, but mostly I was hurt. His tactics were underhanded and invasive. I tried to keep him out of my dreams after that, but I couldn’t resist for long.
When I saw him in my sleep, I didn’t have to worry about what the coven would think or what our High Priestess would say. I didn’t have to consider the rule prohibiting me from consorting with a vampire. I could just….be. Once I was aware that I was truly talking to him in those dreams, I weighed my words a little more carefully, but, still, I told him more than I probably should. I talked about my past, my mother, and how much easier my life had become since I didn’t have to hide my true self from my closest friends.
Finn told me things about himself. He talked a great deal about his life as a human and his wild adventures as both mortal and vampire. I’m sure there were things he didn’t share with me, just as I kept certain tidbits of my history a secret. Still, I found myself liking him and feeling drawn to him, in spite of the fact that witches had been forbidden from engaging in relationships with vampires for centuries.
Over the last few months, it had become a constant game of tug o’ war. He would do and say things in my dreams that made me feel close to him and want to know him better, then I would see him in reality and realize that I was building foolish fantasies of things that could never be.
“Why are you doing this, Finn? Why won’t you leave me alone?” I whispered, desperately wanting to take a step back but my feet refused to move.
His hand lifted and brushed my hair back from my face where the wind had blown it. “You’ve been alone too long already and you don’t have to be.”
“That’s not fair, Finn. I shouldn’t have told you that. I shouldn’t be talking to you, even in my dreams.” My pulse kicked up another notch and I managed to back away slightly. Not that it helped. Finn’s eyes flared brighter and he followed my movements. Shit, I’d forgotten Rule #1 when dealing with a vampire. Never run. “Stop.”
Finn leaned down, his face a few scant inches from my own. “You don’t want me to. All these months of pulling me in and pushing me away. Even I can see that you are fighting your own instincts.”
I scoffed. “Yes, actually, I do want you to stop.”
Once again I saw the gleam of bright white teeth, his fangs now completely extended. “Then you should let go of me.”
I glanced down and saw that I had one hand flattened against his chest and the other fisted in his shirt. Now that I was seeing it, I felt it as well. The heat of his body beneath my palm, taut muscle, and the quick, steady thump of his heart. I tried to jerk my hand away, but Finn’s fingers wrapped around my wrist. He pressed my palm closer. My fingers brushed the bare skin of his chest above the v-neck of his sweater.
My mouth suddenly felt dry. “Finn.”
A low sound emerged from his throat. “When you say my name like that, I want to see what I have to do to get you to say it again.”
It was official. I was no longer cold. In fact, I was so hot, I almost didn’t need his coat. The heat that washed over me gathered low in my pelvis and throbbed with every beat of my heart. Before I could stop myself, I took two steps back, instinctively trying to put space between us even though he still held my wrist.
In a flash, my back was pressed against the front door and Finn’s long, hard body was plastered to mine. I gasped when I felt his mouth touch my neck, his lips branding the skin over my carotid. My head fell back and my legs became useless, my will to resist this crazy attraction taking a major hit at the sensation of his mouth on my skin. I sagged into Finn’s embrace. This was the first time he’d put his mouth on me. In the last couple of months, we’d danced around one another, Finn attempting to seduce me while I desperately yet unsuccessfully tried to remain unmoved. I wanted him. I didn’t want to want him, but I did, probably more than was healthy.