Wandering Witch, page 9
“Now, what were you boys saying about a magic map?” I looked up from the flames in the pit to see them still staring in the direction of the wolf’s call.
They both jumped and turned back to glare at me. Like it was my fault for listening to their, rather loud, debate held right in front of me.
I wasn’t entirely sure what they were talking about, but I think I got the gist.
“Let me see if I got all the details. You both are related to events around towns that had some supernatural help getting wiped off the map. If not for a magical map that appeared in Lady Fare’s dreams, neither of you would have ever left your homes, because this same dream map led her to both of you. Now it told you to seek out a similar town in this rough area.” I leaned back on my stool as I let the flames in my hands return to the main fire.
The ghost dropped his jaw and nodded slowly while the bear just growled.
“I’ll save you the trouble. There’s no special town here.” That I’ll admit too, I added silently.
“That’s what I was thinking,” muttered Ghosty. “But there have been disappearances in these woods.” I nodded my acknowledgment.
“Fair enough, but they weren’t caused by anything paranormal in nature,” I answered.
“Interesting phrasing, demon,” the bear mused, “It sounds like you’re implying you were still involved. Just as the solution in place of the cause.”
“Clever beast. You’re not wrong.”
The spirit looked confused as he bounced his focus between his friend and me. When it looked like his companion was more than willing to leave him in the dark, I decided it would earn me some brownie points with Fare if I took pity on him.
“I may be wrong as this is just a guess. But from what I understand about our situations, the bear here was his source of death, while you were a victim of yours. I on the other hand was summoned after the deaths had started. Once freed from my contract, I ended the needless slaughter.” My voice dropped the temperature around the fire with my final words. I decided it would be a good idea to try to lift the mood again before I was seen as a threat again. “Don’t worry, I’ll warn you before you cross my very fine line and I find myself having to end you out of obligation.”
I stood as I dusted off my ass before I sauntered over to the nearest edge of the barrier that protected my home.
“By the way, what are your names anyway? I figure I should ask if we are going to be together for a while.” When only silence met my question, I shrugged and stepped across the line to keep watch.
Farren
Abright beam of light settled over my eyes and forced me from my deep sleep as I tried to hide my face in the pillow. I moaned as the scent of campfire smoke filled my nose.
I really didn’t want to wake up. It had been far too long since I had the chance to sleep in a real bed, and the demon, Benny, wasn’t being deceitful when he said it was comfortable.
I had just closed my eyes to try to fall back asleep when I remembered the situation I left by the fire last night. Shooting up, I glanced out the window and saw it was already late morning.
Fear filled me as I could only imagine what Locke and Roan could have done to Benny by now when left to their own devices. I didn’t need to be a psychic to know that neither of my guys liked him.
I scrambled out of bed and fumbled around for my pants that I must have pulled off before I crawled between the sheets last night. I shot out the door, and in my haste, I didn’t see Locke sleeping right in front of the door in his bear form and went flying.
“Whoops! I told him it was a bad idea to sleep right there.” My flight was halted as I was caught in a warm embrace that smelled like the pillow I had just left.
I looked up and saw Benny was holding me, watching me carefully. When I struggled to my feet, he eased me down and took several steps away with his hands raised in the surrender position.
“What are you doing?” I cocked my head to the side as I watched him smile warmly back at me.
“Trying to prove to you and your guardians that though I may be a demon, I do have manners. Did you sleep well, my goddess?” The silk was back in his voice and I was lost in his eyes that shone like the lit end of a sparkler.
I swallowed hard and looked away as I nodded.
“Y-yeah. Thank you for letting me use your bed last night.”
“That’s good. Your bear was concerned I would do something, so he took it upon himself to act as a doorstop. Though, to be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to come flying out the door. Is anything wrong?”
I shook my head and felt my already flushed face darken.
“N-no. I was just worried about you after all the drama last night. Speaking of, where’s Roan?” I asked, trying to take the attention off me and my clumsiness.
“Is that the name of your spirit? Got it. He’s checking out a small pond I use as a source of fresh water. I thought you’d like us to boil you a bath.” His smile shifted slightly. I didn’t know if I would have noticed if I wasn’t watching him so closely, but he went from cocky to almost shy at the idea of drawing a bath.
“That’s not necessary, but thank you. I’ll live with just a bucket and soap.” An awkward silence formed between us as we seemed to run out of topics. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, but how did you get out of your binds? The guys seemed pretty determined to leave you tied up for as long as possible.”
“I’m guessing once you fell asleep, your spell ended and they re-tied me with rope. After that, it was easy to work my way free.” He stepped forward with a hand extended to me. “Here, let’s sit down.”
I let him guide me back to my rocking chair and watched as he fetched a stool of twisted nylon. Once he placed that beside me, we just sat there and talked about nothing in particular while we waited for my guys to be ready for our next steps.
Roan
Damn that demon for being right. I thought as I lay on the surface of the pond he’d mentioned.
The pond was spacious enough for me to swim in, you know if I could still swim. I snorted at myself as I willed myself to sink beneath the surface. This was the closest I could get to what was probably my greatest passion in life now. I had to focus as I sank to make sure I stopped at the floor of the pond and did not keep dropping lower, but just the appearance of being underwater again soothed my weary soul.
What am I doing following around the living like this? It’s not as though I’m of any use to anyone. My thoughts tore at my ragged spirit as I shifted my position so I could pace. Then again, I was actually able to hold down a real demon the other night.
Could it have been wishful thinking that my power was growing? Or was there some truth in what Locke had been trying to teach me about the power of will? What would it hurt if I tried an exercise of my own? It’s not like there’s anyone here who would be able to see if I failed.
I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths before I turned all of my attention inward. With all distractions blocked from sight and mind, I focused like I did whenever I had wielded my stick in training with Locke. However, this time I thought about how the water used to feel as it rushed over my feet when I stood on the beach staring out at the ocean. The scent of the salt spray that was everywhere when I sailed over from England. The peace that being immersed in the water had always brought me in life.
Finally, I just let go. Let go of everything. Let go of the beliefs that I had held onto all my afterlife that since I was dead I had lost everything that once mattered to me. Let go of the voice in my head that always told me I would forever be alone. Let go of anything that held me back.
My eyes shot open as the pressure around me crashed down before I was lifted from my cross-legged position on the ground. I was floating in the middle of the water now and being pushed around by its gentle current as the soft breeze from above brushed at the surface. Laughter bubbled in me as I pushed against the familiar weight of water to make my way to the surface.
I finally let myself throw my head back and roared with laughter as I broke the surface and bobbed there. Droplets fell from my hair as I laughed and I lifted a shaky hand to move them from my eyes.
Strange. The water is so much warmer than I remembered. My thoughts only lasted a few more seconds before my shoulders shuddered and I realized the hot rivulets racing down my cheeks were tears. When was the last time I’d cried? When was the last time I even had a reason to?
I stayed in that pond for a couple of hours, simply swimming laps back and forth until my limbs didn’t want to move anymore. It was then that I figured I should return to my friends before Fare got worried and sent Locke after me.
As I paddled to the shore closest to where the thread in my heart that was connected to Fare pulled, I was surprised to find my clothes were completely sodden and I had a hard time moving. I shrugged and pulled off most of my clothing, leaving myself in just my undergarment before walking back to the cabin where the love of my afterlife was waiting for me.
Farren
Benny and I were still sitting in our chairs and chatting when Locke woke up. He grumbled as he lumbered down the stairs and I flinched at the creaking coming from the wooden porch.
“Good morning, my friend! I trust you slept well?” Benny called as he looked over his shoulder.
Locke, for his part, simply ignored him as he wandered out of the clearing to, I would guess, answer nature’s call.
I guess that’s an improvement, I mused as I turned my attention back to Benny.
However his focus was not on me, but on something happening behind me. When I tried to see what had distracted him, he leaned forward and grasped my chin lightly.
“You really don’t want to look, Goddess. Trust me, it really is a rather abhorrent sight.” The demon tried to discourage me from looking, but now I kinda really wanted to see what he was trying to hide from me.
“Oh, ha ha, very funny. You’re just lucky that I’m in too good of a mood to be insulted by that,” Roan called from behind me, and indeed he sounded lighter than ever before.
Now I really had to look. After all, if Roan had found something to lighten his spirit, no pun intended, I wanted to know what that was so I could celebrate it with him. But the second I pushed myself out of my chair and started to round it, I stumbled and tripped over the rockers of my chair.
Roan stood before me with a radiant grin that put the sun to shame. But I was initially stopped by the fact that his hair was soaked. My feet had fumbled as I tried to race to him in a fit of concern. What could have happened to him?
Fate had other ideas, however, and I pitched forward, my face on a collision course with the ground. I barely had time to scream when my open mouth landed on a patch of warm, bare skin. Strong arms wrapped around me and the salty scent of the sea filled my lungs. My hands were splayed across tawny muscles that twitched as I absently caressed them.
I pulled my face away from Roan’s neck and looked down to see what my hands were touching. Shock and warmth erupted throughout me as I took in the acres of naked male muscles before me. My gaze slowly dragged down the sculpted form of Roan, and I tried not to drool as various parts of him stiffened.
I sucked in a sharp gasp as my perusal found a faint trail of hair that led from his naval down into a band of rolled cloth. Cloth that strained to contain him. He swallowed audibly as he shifted his stance slightly and I tried to continue to take him in. However, my eyes didn’t want to budge from his impressive bulge.
The strain on his minimal clothing held me so captivated that I had only barely noticed that his coverings left his legs completely bare. My hand had reached out and traced his happy trail without me even noticing it. He shuddered as my hand reached the top of his undergarment and danced around the edges of it.
My clumsy exploration was only stopped when his hand grabbed mine and pulled it away. I looked up to him with confusion, and more than a little hurt, in my eyes.
“Love, as amazing as that feels, if you keep doing that it may lead in a direction you aren’t ready for.” His voice was thick and husky with lust.
I smiled and reached my free hand around the back of his neck and pulled his face down so it was level with mine.
“If you don’t want this, stop me now,” I whispered as my lips barely grazed his.
He didn’t say anything as he dropped my hand and used both arms to pull me flush to him as he devoured my lips. I moaned as the hard bar of his erection pressed against me.
When his hands dropped to my ass and lifted, my legs wrapped themselves around him. I was lost to the sensations that his kiss flooded me with. I didn’t realize that he had carried us into the cabin until my back hit the mattress. His hands slipped under my shirt and I arched into him as those talented fingers found my breasts and teased my nipples through the soft cotton of my bra.
Unable to take much more blind teasing, I pushed him away long enough to pull my shirt and bra over my head. When my hair got tangled in the folds of my clothing, I screamed a little. Roan, bless his heart, freed me deftly before returning to claiming my mouth with his.
My ghostly lover held so much of my attention that I barely noticed the cabin door open. But I definitely heard it when it slammed closed.
I struggled to look over Roan’s shoulder and gasped when I saw the hungry eyes of both Locke and Benny staring down at us. Roan just groaned when he realized we weren’t alone anymore.
“Was it too much to hope that you pricks would have left us alone and let me have this moment?” I giggled at his complaint and saw Locke’s eyebrow cock upward. I just knew he was thinking back to the one time we came close to a moment like this.
He had startled me when I woke with him touching me, but I quickly came to realize how much I would regret that response as long days passed without him.
I didn’t want to risk that happening again, so I reached out to him. Roan must have felt the movement and took my chin in hand to force me to look him in the eye. I gave him a pleading look before he sighed and looked over his shoulder at the men watching us.
That was all the invitation they needed before descending upon us, hands caressing every inch of my body that they could reach. I moaned as a pair of hands tugged my pants down and thick fingers teased at my sopping center over the top of my panties.
Roan had moved down my body to take one of my breasts into his mouth. My gasp was stolen by Locke as he turned my head to press his lips to mine. Benny bent around my other side and somehow reached my other breast to suckle on it as well.
My brain melted as thick fingers pushed my panties aside and found my clit like a pleasure-seeking missile. When Locke lifted his lips from mine, I panted heavily and tried to follow him but was stopped by the pair of mouths latched onto my breasts.
Locke gently shoved the guys out of the way and then pushed me back down. My other paramours jumped right back to what they were doing as Locke flicked a dangerous smirk in my direction before he showed me one of his fingers shifted and a large claw appeared. I shivered as he ran that claw up my thigh and hooked it under the side of my panties before he cut the fabric.
I barely managed to glare at Locke before one of the boys bit my nipple which distracted me enough that Locke could rip the rest of my panties off before I realized what he was doing. He growled in delight as he took in the sight of me before he dove in to feast on my dripping core.
I mewled in delight and squirmed as Locke laved his attention on my clit as his thick fingers worked their way into my center. His moans caused vibrations to shoot through my body and I felt myself nearing my peak so fast I needed something to give.
My hands grasped at the heads of the guys latched on my breasts and I tugged at someone’s hair to pull his lips up to mine. The other two seemed to take that as an unspoken cue to back off which happened just as I neared the edge. I whined in frustration as Benny pulled back from me and I looked up to see all three men staring down at me. They were breathing heavily, half-dressed, and rocking erections that left me drooling.
“Does our little witch like what she sees?” Roan crooned as he ran a finger down his chest similar to what I did before this whole thing started. I followed that finger hungrily as his hand landed on his underwear ties. “Do you want to see more, little witch?”
I swallowed hard and nodded as he pulled at the strings. The feeling of Locke getting off the bed drew my attention to him as he pushed his leather pants down. Almost instinctively, I glanced over at where Benny stood, who seemed to have been waiting for me to notice him before he joined in on the striptease.
I swear I nearly threw out my neck as I whipped my head around trying to take in all the hot, sweaty, naked man flesh before me. Sweet Goddess, how did I get so lucky?
Locke forced my attention back on him as he prowled up the bed until he was completely covering me. He raised an eyebrow before he lowered himself over me just enough to tease me with the long, thick length of him.
I nodded before I reached a shaky hand out to wrap my fingers around him and gasped as I realized my fingers didn’t even go all the way round. He smiled down at me as I led him to my entrance and we both watched as his head slipped into me. We groaned in unison as I arched my back, taking even more of my bear in.
He let me control our pace until I took him all the way to the hilt. He took over and lifted me onto his thighs so we were upright as he slammed up into my body. Roan crawled behind me and whispered in my ear.
“Mind if I join in?” That was all the warning I got before I felt a hot pressure at my ass. “Just tell me if you need me to stop.”
The pressure continued as moisture formed as Roan worked a finger into me. He played around a little before he pulled his hand back and replaced it with his cock. My breath caught in my throat as I was overwhelmed by the incredible fullness as Roan stuffed me from behind.
