Hocus Purrcus, page 8
They rolled across the bed, wrestling their clothes away, then came together in a flurry of movement. Skin-to-skin, staring into each other’s eyes, they lost themselves in each other and their bond.
“Your pack’s home is gorgeous,” Pippa said hours later, gasping for breath as she stared up at Jared’s ceiling. “What I saw of it, anyway. And I like your bedroom. Hocus Purrcus likes it too.” She rolled her head to the side and watched as he chased a toy mouse under Jared’s dresser.
“How’d he get in here anyway?” Jared asked. “He wasn’t with you or the coven when you guys arrived this morning.”
“It’s the familiar bond.” Pippa couldn’t believe how thrilled she was to say those words. “It’s finally complete. The bond’s magic will lead him to me wherever I’m at, no matter how far away from each other we are. He’ll probably follow me everywhere now, so you might as well get used to it.”
Jared leaned up on one elbow to take a peek at the kitten, then dropped back onto the bed with a grin. “Chester’s around here somewhere. We’ll see how the kitten feels about following you here once he realizes there’s a mostly-feral cat on the loose.”
“Well, H.P. doesn’t seem too perturbed at the sheer number of wolves, so I’m hopeful one cranky cat won’t make much of a difference.”
“Fingers crossed.”
Silence fell for a few moments, then Jared asked, “So, what are you thinking? Do I need to start packing?”
“No, I’m happy to move in with you. Though there may be a few nights when I’ll need us to stay with the coven, especially on the nights of the solstice and the occasional moon ceremony.”
“Whatever you need, my love.” Jared lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “I will always be grateful you were willing to take this risk with me and I promise never to take you for granted.”
Pippa rolled over so that she was draped across his naked body and grinned down at him. “Come now, don’t make promises you can’t keep. It’s inevitable that one of us will take the other for granted from time to time, but it’s enough that we’re both willing to try. We’re committed, we’re strong, and we’ll make this work.”
“Hell, yes, we will.”
Pippa smoothed his hair back from his face, then leaned down and kissed him.
A wave of heat poured through her, igniting sparks that flamed then burned out in a fraction of a second, one after the other, as they kissed and rolled across the bed, giving in to their passion once more.
The sun was sinking low in the sky when Pippa finally remembered to ask. “Which witch—“ She snickered. “Okay, that sounds dumb. Who was Corwin talking about earlier?”
“Huh?”
“You know, he said something about having to spend more time with one of the coven?”
“Oh. Natalie. He’s not exactly her biggest fan.”
Pippa giggled. “That makes total sense. Natalie specializes in aggravating people, especially men she’s attracted to.”
“Wait. You think she’s attracted to Corwin?”
“Hell, yes. She’s always staring at him whenever we’re together and didn’t you notice how much they enjoy needling each other?”
“Can’t say that I have. I actually thought Corwin found it annoying.”
“He probably does, but I’d be willing to bet that’s because he’s attracted to her.”
“Now that, I didn’t see coming.”
“I know. Crazy, right?”
Later that night, Hocus Purrcus was exploring his new territory when he turned a corner and discovered a giant monster-cat stretched out, sound asleep in his bed.
It was his favorite one too.
It was Hocus-Purrcus-sized—not monster-cat-sized—which meant only the cat’s butt and back legs fit in the bed while the rest of him was sprawled across the floor, which actually looked quite comfortable.
He’d have to try it sometime.
For now, Hocus Purrcus darted forward, then away, then skittered sideways, trying to decide how he was going to reclaim his bed from the monster-cat.
That’s when he saw the wolf.
Not one of the real wolves wandering around his territory, but a giant toy wolf.
It looked an awful lot like Pippa’s mate and was almost as big as Hocus Purrcus himself.
Now that he’d seen the wolf, Hocus Purrcus no longer cared about the monster-cat because he was completely focused on figuring out how to sleep with the wolf.
Hocus Purrcus raced around the bed three times, examining the cat’s butt and the wolf, which was partially caught beneath the cat’s belly.
Finally, he decided if he angled his body this way and scooted on his side that way, then crawled that last little bit, he could slide right over the top of that wolf.
Inch by inch, Hocus Purrcus did exactly that.
Every once in a while, the giant cat moved and he would have to freeze in place until the cat fell to stillness again.
Then, Hocus Purrcus would start moving forward and sideways, wiggling along until finally, yes!
He dropped right into place on top of that furry, adorable wolf.
The giant cat let out a sleepy rumble, but by then Hocus Purrcus was feeling snuggly warm and very comfortable.
He fell asleep thinking that sharing his bed with a monster-cat and a toy wolf wasn’t so bad after all.
Chester waited until the little guy finally stopped moving, then he carefully stood, walked around and settled back into the bed, this time with his back legs hanging off it.
He carefully wrapped as much of himself as he could around the kitten he’d heard the humans call Hocus Purrcus and allowed the sound of the little guy’s rumbling purrs to lull him back to sleep.
Read on for an excerpt from Abra-Cat-Abra.
Excerpt
“What wrong with you?” Sal demanded. “You’ve been in a terrible mood for more than a month.”
Before Corwin could even decide whether he wanted to share, a white blur leapt onto the table and raced past, sending Corwin’s beer flying.
Only his quick reflexes saved him.
He managed to bat the cup away, which sent the beer cascading over the table and onto the empty bench beside him.
Better than his lap, he supposed, except now he had no beer and the pack was showing no signs of letting up on their interrogation.
“Yes, fess up.” Mallory stepped up to the picnic table, eyed the beer that was dripping from the table and bench, then walked around to the opposite side and settled next to her mate, Warren.
This pack had no concept of privacy.
Didn’t they realize Corwin had retreated there to brood? Alone?
Of course, they did. Didn’t change a thing, though, considering they were all practically salivating to know what had come over him during the witch-thingy.
“Maybe he doesn’t want to share, Mallory,” Warren said, probably just to get on her nerves since for some idiotic reason, they loved giving each other shit.
Mallory’s response was simply an elbow to Warren’s gut and an expectant look on her face as she faced Corwin. “Well?”
He sighed.
They’d find out about it eventually, so he might as well admit how badly he’d fucked up.
“I found my mate.”
Smiles broke out across his fellow packmembers’ faces.
“But that’s great, Corwin!” Mallory exclaimed.
“Not really,” he said glumly.
A flash of white had him dodging to the left and the cat that had been aimed at the back of his head sailed over his shoulder.
Somehow the demon cat twisted her body mid-air and managed to score a line across his right cheek as she landed on the table.
She didn’t even hesitate before launching herself again, this time straight at his face, claws fully extended.
Corwin let out a shout and jerked back, falling completely off the bench.
He lay there, stunned, staring up at the white demon-cat who sat smugly on the picnic table, staring down at him.
That’s when he realized his entire pack was laughing so hard, some of them were on the ground with him.
“The look on your face,” Sal howled, rolling back and forth on the ground. “Tell me someone got that on video.”
The worst part wasn’t even the fall backwards.
It was that Corwin now lay with his legs over the damn bench and his upper body on the ground, with no way to extricate himself gracefully. “Damn cat.” He started to pull himself up, but then froze when he realized exactly which part of him the cat was staring at.
He let out a growl of pure menace. “Don’t even think about it, you mangy furball. I’ll have you roasted over a fire pit in two point nine seconds.”
A loud gasp made him close his eyes in horror.
“What is wrong with you?”
Though he desperately wanted to avoid looking, he slowly opened his eyes to see Natalie standing over him, hands on hips. “You’re an ass and a bully.” She snatched up her cat and whirled away.
“Hey! Your cat attacked me,” Corwin scrambled to his feet, not even worried about the lack of grace involved now that his mate wasn’t watching. “And frankly, she was eyeing my balls like they were full of catnip.”
Natalie froze mid-step, her shoulders trembling for a moment.
Corwin narrowed his eyes.
Was she crying or was she laughing?
“I’m certain Moonbeam would have zero interest in your mangy wolf-balls.”
Oh, yeah, she was laughing, all right.
After delivering that cutting remark, Natalie stalked away, leaving Corwin speechless and aggravated as hell that he’d once again managed to piss off his mate.
“I think I figured out who his mate is,” Rocco said, laughter in his voice.
“Don’t even say it,” Sal said. “No one could be that stupid. Or that unlucky.”
Start reading Abra-Cat-Abra today.
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Other Books by Pepper
MATCHMAKING CATS OF THE GODDESSES
Catnapped
The Real McCat
Unbearably Cute
A Catmas to Remember
This Cat’s for You
Santa Kitty
Hocus Purrcus
Abra-Cat-Abra
Tridents & Tails
Chocolate Furnanigans
Satan’s Kitty
Valen-Cats
Her Purrfect Familiar
Catanic Rituals
MURRYSVILLE COALITION
The Crazy Cheetah Lady
One Sad Kitty
SHENANIGANS
Shifter Shenanigans
Witchy Shenanigans
Full Moon Shenanigans
Hotel Shenanigans
Dragon Shenanigans
Undercover Shenanigans
Spooky Shenanigans
Holiday Shenanigans
Valentine Shenanigans
Lucky Shenanigans
STORIES OF THE VEIL
Guardians of the Veil
Astra
Glory
Luna
Zara
Lotus
WICKED
No Rest for the Wicked
Wicked Is As Wicked Does
Anthologies & Collections
MATCHMAKING CATS OF THE GODDESSES
THE CAT’S MEOW
Catnapped | The Real McCat | Unbearably Cute
HOLLY JOLLY PAWLIDAY
A Catmas to Remember | This Cat’s for You | Santa Kitty
SHENANIGANS
CRAZED
Books 1-3
AMAZED
Books 4-6
HOLIDAZED
Books 7-10
SHENANIGANS
The Complete Collection
STORIES OF THE VEIL
THE UNVEILED
Astra | Glory
WICKED DUET
WICKED
No Rest for the Wicked | Wicked Is As Wicked Does
About the Author
WWW.PEPPERMCGRAW.COM
Pepper McGraw is a USA Today Bestselling Author of paranormal romance. Her life to date has sadly been paranormal-free, but she knows it’s simply a matter of time before her fated mate finally appears. Until that glorious day arrives, she keeps herself busy writing (and reading) paranormal romances.
Pepper loves animals, especially cats, and spends her free time volunteering at local shelters and for Trap-Neuter-Release programs. She’s had the supreme honor of winning occasional head butts and meows from the local ferals in her neighborhood and has even convinced a few to come inside and adopt her as their own.
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Did you love Hocus Purrcus: A Pawsitively Purrfect Match? Then you should read Abra-CAT-Abra: A Pawsitively Purrfect Match by Pepper McGraw!
Witches and Shifters, Vampires and Chameleons.
The matchmaking cats of the goddesses have their work cut out for them in Zero, Kansas.
Corwin is the beta wolf of the Wildfire Pack. His wolf has been riled up from the moment they met the annoying High Witch of the local coven. At first, he just assumed his wolf was aggravated by the power it could sense humming beneath her skin. Now he realizes it's something else entirely. The woman who's like an itch he can't scratch, an irritant under the skin, is his freaking mate.
Natalie is the leader of the Zero Cum Laude Coven and she's got a lot on her plate considering every single one of its members struggle to control their powers—and she's no exception. Out-of-control weather and armies of the dead are the least of her problems when her own power starts to slip from her grasp. So she definitely doesn't need to be worrying about pandering to some silly wolf who has it in his head that she's his mate. As if.
Only the matchmaking cats of the goddesses can save this match now.
Note: ABRA-CAT-ABRA was previously published as part of the multi-author anthology, CASTINGS & CURSES.
Read more at Pepper McGraw’s site.
Pepper McGraw, Hocus Purrcus
