Romancing the Gorgon, page 16
She was human again when she lifted her head, her face flushed. “You are mine,” she repeated, lowering herself to the bed. She trailed her fingers over Lettie’s abdomen. “My powerful witch.”
“Are you mine?” Lettie asked, pressing her lips to Chandler’s collarbone and tasting the sweat-salted skin.
“Yes,” Chandler said. “For as long as you will have me.”
Forever. She almost said the word, could feel it heavy in her throat, but she swallowed it down. There were other words tangled with it, ones she had not acknowledged, even to herself. “Us,” she finally said. “I think I was always waiting for this.”
“Me too.” Chandler continued the trail of her fingers, raising goosebumps on Lettie’s flesh. “I didn’t even admit it to myself, but I knew. I knew if I saw you again…” Her voice trailed away, and she cleared her throat. “I’m going to get it right this time.”
Despite herself, Lettie believed her. “Let me see your magic,” she said, holding up her hand. “What he’s so scared of.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Call it a sick curiosity.” She flexed her fingers, watching the tendons move, the creases at her knuckles.
“Okay,” Chandler’s voice was breathless. Her tongue darted out, wetting her bottom lip and her eyes fluttered closed.
Lettie’s hand was stone.
Her heart pounded, but there was no pain, just a strange numbness and the heaviness of the stone at the end of her wrist. Then it was gone, her skin returned. “Whoa. That’s incredible.”
“I guess.” Chandler sighed. “I’ve always been jealous of witches. That’s real magic. I can’t even use mine.” The snakes inked across her body seemed to move in the moonlight as she turned on her side. “Your turn.”
Lettie closed her eyes, imagining her magic as a pool contained within her, deep and clear. Wind whipped across her skin and when she opened her eyes the room was bathed in warm green light.
“How could you ever doubt this was good?” Chandler moved, straddling Lettie, naked and gorgeous. She cupped Lettie’s breasts and threw her head back, the green light painting her dark hair. “I can feel you in it.” She pressed her slick core against Lettie. “And you feel amazing.”
Lettie slipped a hand between them, brushing her fingers against Chandler’s clit and letting her magic escape freely. But it was Chandler who got herself off, writhing and drunk on Lettie’s magic.
“More,” she said, reaching down and guiding Lettie’s fingers inside her. She increased her speed, arching her back, her breasts illuminated in green magic, nipples peaked.
Lettie watched her as she came, the way her neck curved, her mouth round and full, Lettie’s name on her lips. She clenched around Lettie and then collapsed forward against her chest.
Lettie brushed her fingers over Chandler’s hair. Hers. She urged Chandler’s head up until she was looking at her. “Mine,” she said, capturing Chandler’s mouth with her own.
The gorgon wrapped Lettie in her arms, digging her fingers into her hair. She pulled Lettie’s lip between her teeth, biting so hard Lettie gasped, and then she released her. “Let’s stay like this all day.”
Lettie thought she would like that, surrounded by magic and darkness, tangled with Chandler, coaxing orgasms out of each other, separated from the world. “That would be nice.”
But she knew the world was out there waiting, and tomorrow they would face it.
Lettie supposed if Alvin was a completely different man, he wouldn’t be so bad, he was a little funny and always listened when she talked.
Unfortunately, she knew his listening skills came from his desire to scam her. Though he praised her knowledge of the town, he’d brought up her perceived lack of hotel experience several times, suggesting his own list of hotel managers, only smiling when she pointed out Pepper already had the job.
She nodded along, playing dumb and laughing at his jokes, but she’d drink the entire lake before she let him swindle The Stone and Sorcery Lodge away from her.
Lettie drummed her fingers on the coffee shop table, letting magic spark with each tap. “Listen, you and I both know Chandler wants out of this deal.”
His gaze flicked to her fingers and back towards her face. “Chandler approached us. She was clearly upset. I was doing her a favor.” A muscle in his jaw twitched.
“Were you? A clearly distraught former employee contacted her ex-girlfriend. Was the call even about the Lodge or did you see an opportunity and exploit it?” Fuck this man and fuck being subtle. If she had to listen to him mansplain her own town to her one more time, she was going to strangle him.
He scooted his chair closer to the table. “Lettie, a valued former employee called a colleague wanting out of her hometown. Let’s not dwell on this. You and I could have a valuable partnership.”
Another tap. Another spark of magic. “And how long after signing did she ask to back out of the contract, Mr. Condon?”
He cleared his throat. “Two days.”
“So, within two days she regretted selling her grandmother’s legacy. The ink was barely dry. Is this generally how you do business?” She hoped next time he got his oat milk latte it burned the roof of his mouth clean off.
“Holding people to contract? Yes, it is. She knows how to get out of it. This is the first I’m hearing of your trepidation. Frankly, I think it is unfair to blame me.”
“I blame her as well. She’s a grown woman, and she shouldn’t have entered a contract out of anger. But is the money really going to matter to you? It’s a couple thousand dollars, your suit probably costs about half of that. But the thing is, Mr. Condon, the more I talk with you, the less I want to do business with you. I don’t think you understand this town or my vision for my Lodge. I certainly signed nothing, nor would I. So, why don’t we settle this together?” This time she let her magic flare, shooting sparks towards the ceiling.
For a moment he was silent, running his tongue over his teeth. “What are you suggesting?”
Should she play nice? Her mother certainly thought so. But Lettie was so tired of being nice. “You should void the contract, Mr. Condon. Void the contract and find another town to bother. Lilac Lake isn’t interested in your kind of progress.”
The muscle in his jaw twitched harder. He templed his fingers together. “Ms. Katz, did you know you own the only commercial land on the lake?”
“Yes.”
He chuckled, but it was humorless. “Of course you did. You’re a smart girl. But it’s not the only land on the lake. Do you trust the entire city government? Do you think there are no palms that can be greased? And do you think you could compete with a real hotel? Not that rinky-dink shack some backwoods in your family no doubt built, but something shiny and new?”
“Why do you even want to be here? You clearly don’t care for supernaturals, so why are you so interested in this town?”
“Personally, I’m not, but my bosses are. Regular folks aren’t interested in the magic of the cities anymore. It’s mundane. Most supernaturals have integrated, they’re everywhere. But places like this, places with a hint of danger, they still hold intrigue. And this is a gorgeous town, with the right developments the lake could be a tourist attraction on its own. I’ve seen pictures of this place in spring. My company has a hotel in every major city in the United States, we’re expanding internationally, but these are our untapped markets. And you, simply, cannot compete.”
She wrapped her hands around the cup of tea in front of her and the contents bubbled, splashing out of the cup and onto the table. “I think you’d be surprised what I can do, Alvin.” And though she hadn’t meant to do it, the glass cracked and popped. Liquid seeped across the table, reflecting Lettie’s magic like a mirror.
Alvin jumped up as Margery came rushing forward from behind the counter. “Lettie! Are you okay?”
“Sorry about that, Margery.” She glanced around the coffee shop.
“Oh, it’s no problem.” She flicked her fingers towards the spill, rounding up the liquid into a neat puddle in the center of the table. “Just spooked me.” She looked over at Alvin. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Its just a little magic, hun. You know our Lettie here is a real powerful witch. Blew up the town square once.” She looked back at Lettie and winked before mopping up the mess with a dishrag. “Lots of powerful folk around here.” She smiled before heading back towards the front of the shop.
“Is that really how you want to play this? Threatening me?”
“I’m not threatening you. I’m informing you I have no interest in working with you, that this town has no interest in your business.”
“Is that why you sent your mother? She’s a simple woman, Ms. Katz, easy on the eyes but rather transparent, asking about my plans, my business. Why would she care?”
Had she overplayed her hand? But it was going to come to this eventually—threatening the man, making him terrified of their magic—what other end could there be? She stood up and pushed her chair in. “I simply think you should reevaluate your contract. No one has to lose money on this. I’ll be at The Three Sisters tonight. Why don’t you think it over and then we’ll have a drink, talk this through like adults.”
“I’m very disappointed, Ms. Katz. I thought we could work well together. But you must think I’m an idiot if you believe I’ll go to a siren’s bar when I’m already being manipulated.”
Lettie laughed. “I don’t think Amelia would appreciate your insinuations. Mind control is illegal. I’m only asking you to meet me at the closest bar.”
“Why don’t you think it over? Think about the money you’ll make. Chandler is…she’s flighty. I’m sure she has your heart all aflutter, but we’re talking about your future, about true wealth. I’m going to do my best to forget this conversation, we all have off days where our frustration gets the best of us. I’m also going to move forward with my departure, after all, I don’t own this place for another few months. I can wait it out.”
-CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO-
“SO, YOU DECIDED against subtlety, huh?” Chandler raised her voice to be heard over the noise in The Three Sisters. Veins of stone crackled down the side of her glass as she ran her finger around the rim.
“I asked myself, ‘what would Chandler do’ and, yeah, I got a little threatening.” Lettie grabbed Chandler’s whiskey and poured it down her throat. A few hours removed from the situation, she was feeling less sure of her decision.
“Interesting technique from the woman who was feeling guilty about the whole thing a few days ago.” Chandler smirked.
“Hey.” Oak slid into the seat beside her, followed by Daphne with a tray full of drinks. “I heard you had a whole secret meeting without me.”
“You’re too sweet to be threatening, Oakey” Chandler said, ruffling their hair and earning a shove to her shoulder.
“Is that true?” Daphne handed them a drink. “Do you shift into, like, a bunny?”
“Yeah,” They looked Daphne over. “Wanna see?”
“Another time, definitely. So how did the meeting go today?”
Lettie sighed. “Well, that depends on how you feel about subtle threats of violence.”
“Personally, I’m pro,” Daphne said. “Why make him think we might hurt him when we can make him cower wondering when we’re going to hurt him.”
Oak rubbed their temples with their pointer fingers. “What I’m hearing is you’re all going to need a bail fund.”
“No way. He’s not going to go to the police. ‘Outsider steals family Lodge from local woman’ is not a good headline. His firm will want him to deal with this diplomatically,” Chandler said, with a curious twinkle in her eye.
“He threatened to build a hotel to compete with ours if I don’t cooperate. Said he can get the mayor in his pocket.”
Oak scoffed. “Good luck with that. There’s an election coming up, I doubt Molina is going to want to stir anything up, and a big hotel right on the lake would definitely do that.”
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Daphne said, swirling the straw in her drink. “Molina’s an idiot. He only wins because no one runs against him.”
“Maybe someone should run against him,” Chandler said, glancing around at the others. “What? Not me, obviously. But someone.”
The door to the bar flew open, banging into the wall. The room fell silent, so dramatically Lettie almost laughed until she saw Alvin Condon standing in the frame. Though he was still in a suit, his hair was disheveled, or at least disheveled compared to how he usually looked. His gaze caught on Lettie.
Chandler chucked as noise returned to the bar and scooted her chair out, angling her body towards Lettie. “What’s up, Alvin.” She grinned, adjusting her septum ring.
Daphne gazed up at him, fluttering her lashes and throwing her long hair over her shoulder. “Oh no, you look mad.”
Across the bar, Lettie saw Amelia freeze in the middle of making a drink, her eyes on the situation unfolding as Alvin placed his palms flat on the table. “Lettie, Chandler, I’d like to speak with you.”
“Speak then,” Daphne said, leaning back in her seat. “And watch your mitts, you’re able to spill my drink.”
“Privately,” he said, but his eyes stayed on Daphne.
“No,” Chandler said. “But you’re free to take a seat.” She kicked the chair across from her out from under the table.
That same muscle as before twitched in his jaw. Lettie wondered if he could feel it moving under his skin. She watched the silent battle between Alvin and Chandler, and in the end, he sat, looking about as uncomfortable as she’d ever seen a person look.
“Well, what’s up?” Lettie asked, trying to keep her voice calm and casual.
“I just received a call from my boss that your local newspaper reached out for comment on me stealing the Lodge from Everly Hart’s granddaughter.”
‘Outsider steals local Lodge’ indeed.
Smirking, Chandler drummed her fingers against the table, turning it to stone. The veins of rock inched closer to Alvin with each beat of her fingers. “Oh, and what did you say?”
“I’m so glad I fired you—”
“That’s a weird thing to say to a newspaper,” Oak interrupted, earning a chuckle from Daphne.
“Fuck all of you. You signed a contract, Chandler! I’m not in the business of coddling unhinged women. I’m not your therapist. So all this act—like I’m the bad guy for buying something from you when you were upset—isn’t going to work on me. You want out, send a check.” The tip of Alvin’s nose had turned red.
“Pay me my severance.” Chandler’s fingers continued to tap, and the stone continued its journey across the table.
“You don’t get severance for gross misconduct. Did you tell your little girlfriend about that? How you showed up to the office drunk and crying? Does she know you’re a fucking mess?”
Now it was Chandler’s turn to blush.
“I think that’s enough,” Daphne said, her voice sharp and biting. She downed the rest of her drink and raised the glass above her head, signaling to Amelia.
“Oh, and what kind of monster is threatening me now?” He pulled his hands from the table as the stone brushed against his fingers.
“Banshee, baby.” Daphne started to hum under her breath, nothing truly threatening, but the tune raised the hairs on Lettie’s arms.
The red flush spread further across Alvin’s face, making him look like he might explode. “I told James there wasn’t much in this town, but I was wrong. It’s beautiful. So much untouched land. Cheap land, too. I was going to leave soon, but maybe I’ll stay.”
“I don’t think you will,” Amelia said, bringing over their drink order. “In fact, I’d like you to leave.”
“I’ll leave when I’m done.” He reached for one of the drinks and curled his fingers around the glass, but before he could bring it to his lips Amelia leaned over the table.
Her voice was as sweet as honey, dripping from her lips. “Stand up.”
Though Alvin’s eyes went wide, he complied, standing on wobbly legs.
Amelia put her hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to walk to the door. You’re going to leave my bar and you aren’t going to return tonight. Right?”
“Right,” he said, but his mouth struggled against the words, even as they spilled out of him, and his legs jerked like a toy soldier’s as he left the bar. No one at the table spoke until the door shut behind him.
Amelia wiped her hands on her jeans and sighed. “Asshole.”
“Can you…,” Oak said, then apparently thinking better of it, clamped their mouth shut.
“I try not to, but it’s all above board if he’s posing a threat.” She slipped into the seat he had vacated. “So first, can you please restore my table to its sticky glory?”
Chandler tapped her fingers on the table, and it returned to wood. “My apologies.”
“Secondly, he seemed more pissed than afraid.”
Daphne picked up her drink, “Yeah. Maybe overplayed things a bit. What can I say, we’re not used to being villains. Though I think that leaves us, like, one option left. Scare the shit out of him.”
“Normally not my style, but I don’t care for that man. I’m in,” Oak said, running a hand through their curls.
“Okay, sure, but…” Lettie had a few reservations about this plan and her stomach felt like she’d eaten a handful of gravel. While she believed in her friends’ ability to terrorize a man, he had more money than they did. And she knew, whatever the world said about magic, money was power.
Chandler reached under the table and squeezed Lettie’s knee, helping to calm her nerves. Then her fingers strayed higher, rubbing a circle on Lettie’s thigh and filling her with an entirely different emotion. “You’re worried about the town?”
“He’s right. We can’t compete with him if he opens a hotel on the lake. We wanted to scare him away, not create an enemy,” Lettie said.
Amelia scooted Lettie’s drink across the table, and she downed it. This was her fault. They had a plan, albeit not a very good one, but she’d lost her temper and now he was going to put the Lodge out of business.
