A Feral Spark, page 18
Only the last time hadn’t been during a full moon. Jason had said his personality didn’t change, but maybe the physical transformation affected his mind more than he realized. Miranda took a calming breath and leaned hard into performing.
“My friends here,” she said with a spokesmodel hand gesture to Lisa, Roger, and the others, “know I am a practitioner of street magic. For your entertainment, I will spirit this wolf away with fire! You will be amazed and never know how I did it.”
Showing off the long sleeves of her flannel, Miranda said, “Maybe it’s something up my sleeve. Or is it?”
Lisa pushed forward and hissed, “What are you doing? You could get hurt!”
Miranda shook her head and then darted her eyes over to the man who still held his gun but in a slightly more relaxed position. “Put it away so I can show you this really cool trick I worked on. You want to do that, right?”
When the man holstered his gun, Miranda quickly rolled her wrists and created a huge translucent fire bubble bigger than any she had done during practices with Jason. The crowd around her oohed like she was a magician in Vegas, and Miranda flicked her hands like she was throwing the bubble around Jason. Interestingly, the werewolf calmed when her fire surrounded him.
Though she wore a brave face, Miranda trembled inside. She tried to keep Jason’s attention so he wouldn’t be distracted by the crowd and the possible animal control that was coming.
[Come, Beautiful.] Miranda signed to him. [Come to me, please.]
She couldn’t be sure his moon-addled brain would understand her, but she tried again. [Come to me.]
Miranda stretched her hand out while making a spiral of fire fill the air between them. Jason walked across the roof of the truck, his nails clicking on the metal, and hopped down to the hood. The sound was oddly amplified as the crowd watched his every move.
Jason sniffed the air, his body leaning toward her, and Miranda immediately made a circle of fire appear. She signed for him again to come to her, and the werewolf leaped from the stranger’s truck through the flaming hoop that she had conjured.
He landed at her feet gingerly, and Miranda swayed as the crowd started clapping. She wanted to melt into a puddle of goo right there, but Jason still wasn’t safe.
Miranda pressed her fire into him, making his eyes flash red. She addressed the crowd while he leaned heavily against her side.
“That’s it, everyone. That’s all the secret sauce I’ve got tonight. Don’t forget to thank the owners for this extra-special edition of Full Moon Madness!”
While the crowd made noises of both satisfaction and disappointment, Miranda scanned the crowd for Dennis to leave, but Lisa got to her first.
“Are you okay?” Lisa asked from a cautious distance as she studied Jason’s wolf shape beside Miranda.
“I will be, but we’ve got to get him out of here.”
Lisa looked unsure as Miranda called out, “Dennis, where are you?”
“I’m not smuggling your pet wolf in my car!” he answered from safety behind the much-bigger Steve.
“Dennis, please.” Miranda hated the sound of begging in her voice. “We have to go now.”
When she heard the sound of rocks under the tires of his car as he pulled up, Miranda quickly opened the door, fumbling with the chair back to let the werewolf jump in the microscopic backseat. Then she slid bonelessly into the passenger seat, barely managing to put her seatbelt on before Dennis drove them away from the bar like proverbial bats out of hell.
“You can’t take him to my house,” Dennis hissed.
“I’ll take care of it,” Miranda said. “Get me to my truck, and...”
She wasn’t sure what to do after that. Jason shouldn’t have shown up at the bar. Was he mentally unbalanced or dangerous because of the full moon? Miranda didn’t know, but she reached over to touch him, letting her fire flow into him though she was exhausted.
“So you can really do street magic? That’s what I saw you practicing with the horses?” Dennis shot her quick looks while driving.
“Of course, it’s street magic. What else would it be?” Certainly not that she could create and destroy elemental fire. That wasn’t real. Just as werewolves weren’t real.
After Dennis passed onto the mansion grounds and parked, Miranda jumped out of his car with the werewolf leaping out after her. He leaned into her side, and Miranda slid her fingers into his fur as they stood together.
“You are such a pain in the ass,” she whispered with a sigh.
“Aren’t you afraid he’s going to maul you?” Dennis used his car as a body shield despite the fact that he’d just been within biting distance.
“I’ll haunt him forever if he tries anything,” she said with a lightness she didn’t feel. “And he knows that.”
“You had better take care of this,” Dennis told her, “or I will tell my dad. You can’t have a pet wolf no matter how cool your tricks are.”
“Thanks.” As Dennis ran away, she muttered to herself, “Full moons suck.”
Miranda considered her options about what to do with Jason. She wanted to sleep, so with that desire coloring everything else, they went to her room in the servant section of the house on the first floor. She opened her door and shooed him inside.
“What is wrong with you!” she demanded when they were alone. “And where is Belle?”
Entirely frustrated with him, Miranda took a quick shower and came out wearing pajamas. Her werewolf was on the bed, doing his best to look innocent, which annoyed her more. She turned off the light and got under the covers.
In the dark, Miranda rolled over to him, facing the beast he technically was. She ran her fingers through his coat and pulsed her fire into him until his silver eyes took on the red hue of her power. Then she disengaged.
“Goodnight, Jason,” she said, soft as a prayer.
He whined softly, and she closed her eyes, immediately falling under the pull of sleep.
✣✣✣
Roger was the first to ask questions during their mid-morning break the next day. “Where’d you learn how to do all those tricks you showed last night?”
“A true magician never tells,” she evaded as they put away their tools.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Uh-huh. And is ‘street magic’ how you were able to save my grandfather’s watch from the forge?”
“Of course,” she said with a big cheesy laugh. “I know how to do some tricks that other people don’t, and it looks cool. I’m fun at a party.”
“A few people went back inside The Stump and bought drinks like crazy,” he told her. “So, what did you do with the wolf?”
“He’s sleeping in my bed,” Miranda said with a smile meant to taunt. Sometimes the truth was so absurd it sounded like the worst lie of them all.
Roger muttered a few things under his breath but left her alone.
At lunch, Lisa cornered Miranda by the picnic table outside.
“What the hell was that last night? I know you don’t know the owners of the bar,” Lisa said, building up a head of steam. “Was that the wolf you said you saw the first time we met?”
“Actually, yes,” Miranda said, sitting up straighter. “I almost forgot about that.”
“What have you gotten yourself into? Wolves are wild animals. Treating them like pets is an act of cruelty.” She practically vibrated with rage.
Miranda put her hand on Lisa’s. “There are things I don’t have permission to explain. I’m sorry. I completely agree, though. A wild wolf isn’t a pet. I was trying to save him from getting hurt.”
“But you shouldn’t offer yourself up to get hurt in the process,” Lisa said, grasping Miranda’s hand tightly. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’m your friend through and through. Ride or die.”
Miranda smiled unsurely, taking her hand from Lisa’s tight grip. “I’ve never had that before. I’m not sure you’d still feel that way if you knew all my secrets.”
“Are you a mass murderer? Do you kick puppies?”
“I don’t kick puppies!” The murder part, though, was possibly up for discussion.
“Then I’m with you till the end,” Lisa declared.
Unlike Roger or Lisa, Avi saved his comments until the end of the lunch break when they were walking back into the barn “Your fire tricks were so cool! Can you teach me any of them?”
“I think there’s a magician’s code of silence on how tricks work.”
Avi frowned with deep disappointment. “How is anyone supposed to learn if you don’t teach them?”
At the end of class, Miranda packed up to make a speedy exit, and Lisa reminded her that they were all supposed to go to the movies together on Saturday.
“Val invited herself to come with us,” Lisa said with sisterly annoyance. “Are you going to bring Dennis?”
“No. Jason finally said yes, so we’ll see you there,” Miranda said with a salute. Of course, before that could happen, she had to check on the werewolf she’d left sleeping in her bed.
The drive back to the Guilford estate felt like she was moving through honey. Miranda told herself multiple times to calm down so she didn’t get in an accident. Once she was back on the grounds, she went to her suite so fast the door rattled.
Jason lay in the fetal position with the covers pulled around him. A gap in the blanket showed a hint of the tattoo that covered his spine. When Miranda let out a cry of relief at seeing him, he opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder at her.
She toed off her shoes and jumped on the bed, caging him with her hands and knees. He looked at her in confusion, but Miranda took a warm and sleepy Jason in her arms and hugged him for dear life. She wept into his neck, and his arms snaked around her back to hold her close to him.
“Why? Why were you there last night, putting yourself in danger in front of everyone?” she demanded hoarsely.
“I don’t know. I wanted to be near you.” He stroked her spine softly. “Some part of me remembered you’d be there.”
“Idiot!” she growled, thumping him on the shoulder with her fist.
“Hey!” he protested softly and readjusted positions, making Miranda fall into the valley of his arms and legs. “Did you show your fire last night, or did I imagine that?”
“Yes, I really did.” She studied his face and then realized his hand was at the front of her jeans deftly opening her belt. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Your belt buckle hurts,” he explained simply as he pulled it out of her belt loops and threw it to the floor beside them. “Oh, better.”
While this wasn’t the first time he’d tried to undress her, Miranda was still surprised at the speed of his hands, as if his skill with his own nudity applied to everyone he touched. Jason wrapped his arms back around her and pressed them together with a sigh. As he stroked her, Miranda wanted to melt into him. Jason was naked, and she could feel all of him. And he felt very nice. The kind of nice that stirred her desires for more than a naked caress.
Just short of moaning with pleasure, Miranda said, “You give a great hug.”
Chuckling, Jason whispered in her ear, “It’s the real werewolf superpower. It’s the other stuff that goes with the full moon that makes things hard.”
“I thought you said shifting was easy for you.”
“Oh, no. Shifting isn’t hard,” he said as he pulled at her shirt. “Take this off. I want to feel your skin against mine.”
“Jason,” Miranda said in a warning tone, “we don’t have that kind of relationship.”
“No, but I want to touch you as you fill me with your fire. Please.”
He asked, soft and yielding as if he was still in a post full moon haze. Staring at him in her arms, Miranda surrendered. “No looking.”
“Never.”
She unbuttoned the shirt and pulled it over her head, throwing it in the direction the belt had gone. With a deftness that shouldn’t have surprised her, Jason popped the clasp of her bra with one hand. He closed his eyes and turned his head while Miranda slipped off that piece of clothing, too.
When she was done, she wrapped her arms around him, both of them shifting into a seated position. Miranda used all the skin to skin contact to let her fire find him. Jason whimpered with the pleasure of her touch.
“Yes,” he said softly, drawing out the hiss of the ess.
She rested her head on his shoulder and put her hand in his hair as she held him. Miranda could feel him through both her physical sense of touch and through her energy power. She’d never done something this intimate before, but he felt right somehow.
Jason’s hand drifted down to Miranda’s butt, pulling her closer to his body. She hadn’t thought she could get any closer, but she was proven wrong. Then he undid her braid and combed his fingers through her hair until it fell loose around her shoulders.
“Your fire is beautiful, Miranda. Just like you.”
[Thank you,] she signed slowly since sound sure didn’t want to travel past her lips.
With a different man, this would have been when Miranda might have kissed him. She was so completely pulled to Jason that her libido screamed for her to do something, even if it was entirely foolish.
Miranda was saved from herself by the cellphone ringing in her back pocket. An incoming call from Dennis. Oh, right. The man she was supposed to have a date with that night. The date she’d completely forgotten about.
“Is it okay if we leave early?” Dennis asked after they traded opening pleasantries. “Chris wants me to go pick up his keg.”
“That won’t fit in your car,” Miranda said.
“I’ll take my mom’s Buick. No worries,” Dennis said.
Jason silently watched her during the conversation with Dennis. He remained unknown to her, though the press of his skin was a powerful temptation. When Miranda finally ended the call, she stared at him.
Her faults might be numerous, but Miranda was a woman of her word. She was about to go on the date she’d promised to do, and not with the naked man in her bed.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Early Saturday evening, Miranda sat on a low brick wall in front of the movie theater where she was supposed to meet Jason and her other friends. She had a Sign Language book in her lap, but instead of practicing ASL, she thought about her date with Dennis. It had been fun and no one had died, which was a bonus. They’d gone as Daphne Blake and Fred Jones from the cartoon with the crime-solving Great Dane.
After the party, though, she’d followed Dennis into his room, and they had vigorous sex several times until she worked that craving out of her system. At least, that’s what she told herself. She certainly wasn’t going to admit she’d already been primed before the party thanks to someone else. Dennis enjoyed it without question.
Miranda couldn’t give in to her attraction to Jason. Neither one of them was supposed to be looking for anything from the other! As if conjured by her innermost desire, Jason made a dramatic entrance, sliding and landing in a heap at Miranda’s feet.
He laughed with a smile that lit up his entire countenance. [What’s up?]
“Waiting for you.”
Jason modeled the sign for “waiting.” Miranda put her book down and practiced it a few times. Once she finally had it, he applauded her in the usual way of Sign, making her giggle. She put her hands into his hair and played with it.
He got closer to her, throwing her right leg over his shoulder and resting his head on her thigh. “Easier access.”
“Yes, it is. Is your hair longer?”
“More hair questions? My hair grows more around the full moon or if I make frequent changes. My facial hair, too.”
Miranda stroked her hand along his jaw. “I’m surprised you don’t have a ZZ Top beard all the time.”
“You know I don’t have a lot of body hair in my human form. That’s just how it is.” He shrugged, jostling her leg on his shoulder. “How was your date with Dennis?”
She pulled her hands out of his hair, leaving them poised at his shoulders. “I had a good time at the party.”
“Smells like it.”
Jason sniffed loudly but didn’t further comment. His sense of smell was supposed to be one of his better werewolf powers, so he probably smelled Dennis on her. Definitely not something Miranda wanted to think about.
“Forget the party,” Miranda said. “Come up here and give me some of that werewolf secret weapon.”
He stood up from where he’d been crouched. “Which one?”
“The amazing hugs, of course,” Miranda said.
Jason climbed behind her and snuggled close. “Did I ever tell you, you’re my favorite person?”
“You told me I’m your best friend,” Miranda said, leaning back into him with a sigh. “You know me better than everyone else, even people from home. Isn’t that crazy?”
“I’ll take it,” he said with a squeeze before pointing to Miranda’s friends walking toward them. “That’s a lot of people.”
“You’ve already met most of them,” Miranda told him as she waved to the group, “and they’ll think you’re great because I do.”
Val and Lisa were in the lead, and Roger, Steve, and Avi intercepted them from a different direction. Miranda popped up from her seat with cheery confidence ready to make introductions.
“I know you,” Steve told Jason. “You used to come into The Stump a lot.”
“And you’re the pool shark.”
“One in the same,” Steve said with a salute.
Considering that they’d both warned Miranda against each other, the exchange was practically glowing with friendship.
“That’s his boyfriend Roger.” Miranda pointed to her classmate who was standing so close to Steve they could have been wearing the same shirt.
“You’ve already met Lisa and her sister Val,” she continued.
“Trevor,” Val said unsurely.
“Jason,” he corrected, standing back from her. “You look nice.”
“Did you know Val won the Halloween costume contest at The Stump?” Avi stepped forward to Jason excitedly. “Oh, my god! You have silver eyes. Is that for real?”
