A Wicked Good Witches Paranormal Romance Books 1-7 (Wicked Good Witches Seasons) (14 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Retelling the death reading of his mother had exhausted Michael Howard. It left him feeling empty, and yet overwhelmed. He pulled his jeep into Emily Morgan’s driveway. He’d done this a thousand times before, but tonight as he turned off the engine, his heart fluttered up to this throat, nerves in overdrive.

It was getting late, but Emily sat on a bench on her front porch, a light hanging overhead, an open book in hand. She looked up, hearing his jeep pull in. The book plopped onto the bench and she skipped down to meet him.

“Hi, Michael. Dad just went to bed. You want to walk on the beach a bit?”

He didn’t speak his response. Instead, he grabbed her waist, pulled her in, and claimed her lips. For the first time.

He couldn’t do it sweet and gentle. He wanted to, but if he did, he’d have chickened out.

Shock washed through Emily and she tensed, but with every press of his lips she relaxed, responding to his declaration. Her arms wrapped around his neck closing the gap between them.

His arms swung low, enclosing around her hips, their bodies unable to smash together any harder.

When he released her mouth a minute later, shock and disbelief swam in her eyes.

He had to catch his breath.

“My God, Em. I should have done that years ago.”

She only nodded slightly in bewildered agreement.

She’d hoped. Always hoped he’d come around. She’d never been in love with any other man.

“Emily, can you ever forgive me for being such an idiot?” He tugged at her lips again, gently this time. “When I thought something happened to you…” he didn’t finish, lost in the sweetness of her.

Emily had no words, but a tear formed in her eye and slid down her cheek.

Michael kissed it away. “I love you, Emily Morgan.” The words slipped off his tongue, leaving a trail of relief behind them. He’d finally said it. Finally admitted it. “I fell in love with you the first day we met. I am an
epic
asshole for never saying it until now.”

She sniffled in a throaty chuckle. “You wanted to leave the Isle.”

Still, trying to make everyone else happy.
He wanted her to get mad at him. Tell him what a complete dipshit he’d been. Instead, all that radiated from her was complete happiness, understanding, and love.

Love for him.

“Emily, I strung you along, just expecting you to always be there, and you were…
are.
I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.” He picked her up and swung her around so she was against the side of his jeep. “I God damn love you so much it kills me.”

Emily gasped a little, her back pressing into the jeep. The reality of what was happening finally kicking into her befuddled brain. “You’re not leaving the Isle…”

“No.”

“Because of what you found out, about your dad?”

“Yes, and no. It’s…” he shook his head in a tight fashion. “Something changed tonight. I don’t know how to explain it. It just suddenly feels right to be here. I don’t want it to feel right,” he admitted. “But it does. This is where I’m supposed to be. Partly because of my dad, partly because of you, partly because of who I am… I guess I’m just giving in. I’m not fighting what I’m supposed to be, or where I’m supposed to be anymore.”

Emily leaned in, for the first time taking what she wanted. His lips belonged to her now, and she wasn’t going to let them get away. Her entire body relished in the fact that Michael was staying. And hers. It bloomed to life, her body a mix of shock and heat.

“I love you, Michael Howard. I know you can already feel it, but I need to say it.” She tugged at his lips and he returned the favor. She tasted of peaches and cream. He wanted to kiss her cheek. Her chin. Her neck. Her chest. Every inch of her. Every dimple. Every hidden place he’d always wanted to explore.

His tongue charged into her mouth. She opened to him, sliding hers across his, tasting it. Curling around it. Nipping at it.

He wanted to take it slow, but his body betrayed him. He pressed into her, his hands squeezing at her hips. Now that he had a taste of her, he wanted all of her.

A blast of emotion poured out of Emily. Pure, undiluted love. It ensnared him, filling him with life. He was more alive at this moment than ever before.

Something crashed inside the Morgan house. It sounded like glass breaking.

Michael and Emily broke apart, Emily’s head popping around him to see what had happened.

“Dad?” she called out, her voice a breathless shadow of itself.

She wiggled out of Michael’s grip and ran into the house. Michael followed, worried that Mr. Morgan had injured himself. He didn’t always get around so good and he’d fallen once before.

Emily and Michael burst through the front door to see her father attempting to sneak away from an open window back to his bedroom, but he’d knocked over an old glass vase which had shattered during his attempt.

Emily planted her hands on her hips. “What were you doing?”

Her father just shrugged, holding back a grin.

“Oh my God! Were you spying on me?”

“It’s sort of my fatherly duty… and… about damn time young man!” he aimed at Michael. “I was starting to think you were never going to come to your senses!”

Michael had no reply. He could only agree with her father.

“I’m going back to bed. I’ll clean up the mess in the morning.” Mr. Morgan waved it off, grinning at his daughter.

“Uh, huh,” she replied, amused. “Night, Dad. Love you.”

“Love you too, darlin’.” He shot a look at Michael that warned,
you’d better not hurt my baby girl
. Michael swallowed hard.

It could not have made Mr. Morgan any happier. To see his daughter, a spirit vessel like her mother, with Michael Howard. Especially knowing he was a witch. Someone who could protect his daughter. It was the reason he’d come to the Isle. To protect her.

This wasn’t exactly the manner in which he’d expected, but it did an old man’s heart good to know she was in capable hands, should she ever need magical help he couldn’t give her. Like today. Without the Howards, he wasn’t sure what might have happened to his daughter.

Emily grabbed Michael’s hand and they stepped back outside. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s… nice. You have a doting father who loves the crap out of you. And I won’t let him down.”

Emily cast her gaze shyly downward. Michael lifted her chin and kissed her softly.

“Let’s go down to the beach,” she breathed out. “I could use some air.”

“We’re outside,” he replied lightheartedly.

“There’s still not enough air.” Emily’s mind was stuffed to the hilt with an abundance of thought. She’d just found out she was a spirit vessel, and Michael had finally told her he loved her. It was an
air needed
kind of night.

“A walk on the beach sounds
perfect.
” He wanted nothing more than to walk along the beach, the salty mist covering them, his hand entangled with hers as it always should have been.

Okay, so he wanted a whole lot more than just her hand in his.

Michael pictured rolling around in the sand, hands exploring every inch of her, lips devouring her. His name escaping her in gasp of unbridled pleasure… his jeans tightened at the thought of it.

His empathy kept him from acting on it.

Emily was overwhelmed. Madly in love with him, but overwhelmed by the day she’d had. She was vulnerable, and Michael didn’t want their first time to be during a moment of vulnerability.

He wanted it to be perfect. Memorable. And when she was ready.

He’d been such a dick, stringing her along all these years. He’d let her set the pace from here on out.

For tonight, with the moon shining brightly over them, a walk down the beach just holding Emily’s hand was absolutely everything Michael Howard ever wanted.  

Wicked Good Witches

Book Two,
Alpha Knows Best

Starla Silver

CHAPTER 1

Charlie Howard could not sleep. His brain felt stuck in the
on
position.

Just hours before he and his family had discovered their father, Jack, was possibly still alive. This, topped with an impending full moon, didn’t leave room in his mind for sleep.

He hopped out of bed, slipped off his boxer shorts and turned on his shower. When the water was cool to the touch, he got in and let it spray away his thoughts. For a few minutes his mind cleared, questions and doubts disappearing down the drain.

But it didn’t last.

Where was his father? Was he a prisoner somewhere? Had he been held captive these last four years? Was he really still alive as his mother believed?

Would they be able to locate and properly bury their mother’s body? They knew where it should be, but accessing it might not be easy.

He found comfort in the fact that his sister, Melinda, showed great signs of improvement, and hoped she would start building a life for herself.

That relief disappeared however when he remembered the approaching full moon. He still didn’t understand why this moon seemed to be affecting him more so than any other. It tugged at his insides as if toying with him. Daring him to transform.

Why?

Why after nearly ten years would this moon be so different?

He was always tense, and easily prone to overreaction during the full moon, but this time he could practically feel the wolf inside him, moving just under his skin. Like a secret passenger just waiting for its moment to appear. And
its
moment was this full moon.

He didn’t even want to think about Eva Jordan… a woman he’d met only one time, but aroused his wolf to levels he never knew possible. Dangerous levels… potentially fatal levels.

Charlie huffed and turned off the shower, the cool water no longer offering any solace. He wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight. And the thoughts and questions racing through his mind were not just going to go away.

He dried off, wrapping a towel around his waist, making his way to an open bedroom window. He peered through it, checking the grounds below. From the second story of the Howard Mansion, he could see the entire area behind their home.

Manicured gardens that wrapped around perfectly defined pathways. A six-tree apple orchard that produced the most perfectly crunchy, sweet McIntosh apples; perfect for cider every fall. A small grove of maple trees lined the backside. Charlie himself tapped the trees each spring, enjoying the process of collecting the sap and hauling it to the family sugar shack, boiling it down to a syrupy perfection.

There was a greenhouse hidden amongst shrubs and trees of various shapes and sizes, which they used to grow a few of the specialty plants and herbs required to make potions.

And in the center of the yard, surrounded by a maze of moss covered granite, stood a life-size gargoyle. It was supposed to ward off evil; however, it didn’t work. More than once they had been caught unawares by some supernatural creature or another, attacking or approaching them at their home.

A silvery beam of light filtered downward, casting an ominous shadow over the gargoyle. Charlie’s gaze followed it upward.

“There you are.” The moon materialized from behind a cloud.
I’ll be full tomorrow night
, it warned him silently, before another dark cloud soaked up its taunting light again. 

Charlie’s gaze flickered to right outside his window. A firefly-sized golden light hovered in the air. Except unlike fireflies, the light was continuous, rather than blinking on and off every few seconds.   

He grinned coolly. “You always have such perfect timing.” 

He tossed aside the towel, threw on a tank top, khaki shorts and sandals, suddenly deciding a stroll in the moonlight was exactly what he needed.

He left the house, jogged through his backyard using a pathway that snaked through to the woods at the back, stepping onto a well-beaten path that came out on a street close to the beach. He walked down that street about a block and turned right, down a short lane, which ended at a beachfront cottage.

He leapt up the porch stairs pausing by an open window, spying on the woman inside. Her dark skin accentuated the brightness of her white tee shirt even in the dim lighting of her kitchen.

Nina… his summer fling.

Her curled hair bounced playfully as she took a swig from a tequila bottle while swaying to an intense track of a metal band. Not Charlie’s favorite, but if it came attached to
her
, it was music to his ears. Watching her dance brought a smile to his face.

Nina had danced her way up to him on the beach a few summers’ ago, coming out of the darkness like a goddess on two legs. Into his life, like fate. He was halfway done his own bottle that night; it wasn’t long after his parents had gone missing, presumed dead. Melinda had suffered her breakdown. Michael’s empathy had just kicked in.

Oddly though, he’d never once had a single doubt about Nina, or her intentions, or reasons for being on the Isle. Not like Eva Jordan. This trust in Nina only reaffirmed his doubts surrounding Eva. Gut instinct, first instinct, wolf instinct, witch instinct… these all told him there was something he needed to be cautious of when it came to the white-haired woman who percolated his wolf to a dangerously wicked brew.

“Problem for tomorrow,” he said to himself. Release from all this chaos was just inside the cottage. Charlie’s lids lowered, an enticing growl filtering through his teeth.

“
I got your message, Nina…”

The woman stopped, disappearing into another room. A moment later, the front door opened; she leaned against it, her eyes expectant as she dangled the bottle of tequila seductively.

They exchanged no words.

Charlie stepped through the door closing it behind him. He grabbed the tequila bottle with his left hand and the woman’s waist with his right. After taking a swig from the bottle he set it down with a thud and smashed the woman against the wall. Breaths instantly thick and heavy. Three season’s worth of foreplay and waiting… for summer.

Too many clothes. They needed to come off. Now.

He gripped the neckline of her shirt and tore it down the middle. He stepped back enough to peel the shirt over his head as she shimmied out of what was left of the shirt, not quite making it when Charlie slammed her against the wall, her arms caught up in the shirtsleeves over her head. He stretched her upward filling in the curves of her body with his own. So perfect. So soft. So round in every right place.

His lips brushed against hers, holding back. So very ready, but even after their summers together, still not trusting this was safe.

“You know you can’t hurt me, Charlie.”

The only words he needed to hear. Reassurance that all was as it should be.

Regardless, it still wasn’t easy to give in all the way. He kept himself locked up, in check, away from females for fear he might hurt them, twenty-four seven. Letting go each summer when Nina arrived was always difficult. Like he had twenty doors that needed to be unlocked before he could proceed.

“Let go,” she encouraged again, her voice throaty. Needy. Her body writhing against him.

He growled, going in for another kiss but stopped at the last second deciding to free her arms. His hands slid down her back and lifted her off the floor. Another couple of those metaphorical doors unlocked. And if he panted any heavier he was going to pass out.

Nina’s legs wrapped around him, pulling him closer. The desire in her eyes, her undulating body, pulled Charlie in like a drug he needed a hit of, his chest heaving with strained breaths.

His brain screamed to unlock the last damned door and let go.

Nina did the same, her voice a ragged whisper. She cupped his face in her hands, fingers warm and soft against the rough skin of his face, the hairs of which darkened thickly as she caressed him.

God. Such a simple thing. To be touched, intimately. Without fear of the consequences.

“Let go,” she said again. “You can’t hurt me.”

His bared teeth grazed across Nina’s luminescent skin, threatening to sink into her shoulder. “I can sure as hell try,” he growled out, control nearly lost to him.

“There’s my big bad wolf,” she uttered breathlessly.

A warm, golden glow started to emanate from a black ring Nina wore on her finger, spreading over her body like a protective shield. It extended out from her own body, ensnaring Charlie.

It spread a feeling of security over every inch of him.

The warmth willing him to surrender completely.

He let out a breathy snarl and before she could react, Charlie slid Nina up the wall throwing her legs around his shoulders. Nina let out a startled squeal, reached up, and grasped a wooden beam on the ceiling.

Control snapped. Teeth tore through the thin cotton separating her from his mouth. It fell away revealing the prize underneath. He shoved his mouth into her lusty flesh letting out a vibrating growl. With no intention of mercy, or obeying any pleading of enough, or stop.

“Fucking Jesus.” She bucked, crying out. Her hands fell from the beam shoveling into his hair. He attacked relentlessly, sucking, growling, nipping at her core.

Nina’s body writhed against the wall and white-hot burn igniting in her core. She screamed his name, hands fisting so tight she almost yanked hair out of his head. Her body convulsed, a series of breathy moans shooting into the air. Soaked satiated flesh quaked against his lips. Her mouthwatering lust bringing a snarl out of Charlie.

He pulled back, his breaths short and expectant. Her body slid down the wall until her face met his.

“Someone…” she breathed out heavily, “is a very pent up wolf.”

“You have no idea,” he growled.

She reached down, rubbing her hand against his shorts. “Let me down so I can taste you.” She licked her lips, excited at the thought.

“No.”

“So serious.”

“Tonight is about everything I’m going to do to you, Nina.”

“I can’t come up with an argument to that.”

“Good. Because you would lose.” He let her feet fall to the floor and slithered out of his shorts. He captured her hands attempting to touch him, and pinned her against the wall with a silver stare that warned not to try that again. She might be protected and unbreakable, but he was in control, not her.

She struggled against him, just a little. Taunting him with a possible escape, which only got a rise from the wolf. And a need to make her submit. He toyed with letting her go, the chase a thrilling vexation. Instead, he imprisoned her arms higher over her head, teeth grazing across her right breast threatening the peaked center with just a little pain. He found the other and did the same, Nina gasping. Jerking underneath his imprisoning grasp.

He found her mouth. With force. Taking. Rubbing the hungry part of him against her core. Fuck, she was a vortex of release calling him into her body. Begging for him to take her. Now.

Another growl vibrated against her neck. Teeth scratching across her skin. In fluid movement, he freed her arms, gripped her ass pulling her legs up around him, and shoved in.

Lungs faltered.

Maybe he should have let her taste him. He was going to explode way too fast. The first drive had him nearly there. He pulled to the edge and thrust in again, pumping all his pent up angst into her.

“Give me everything,” Nina coaxed in a gust of hot breath. Her legs tightened around him. He drilled into her, harder. Faster. His hands gripping her ass, the wall behind them punished by the brunt of his thrusts.

Her luscious center tightened with each push, ripping across nerves, his breaths turning into fevered grunts each time he slammed her into the wall.

Teeth planted onto her skin. Sharp wolf fangs tried like hell to sink into the flesh on her shoulder. Nina’s head pressed into the wall a euphoric cry on her lips. Though blissfully painful, his bite did not penetrate her skin.

As he bit, hard, a flash of white flipped through his brain. Hair, lots of it. Eva’s… something about that woman was so very… biteable. The thought seeped into his mind, disappearing into the depths of memory.

All that mattered was the woman he was currently slamming against the wall with all the force his hips could make. A thrilling vibration rocketed through him, into her, the pressure building in a frenzy to the finish.

Charlie blew apart. Nina tightened around him, her nails digging into his back.

And then her grip on him relaxed, the pressure blown and the pot cooling to a simmer.

He released his teeth hold on Nina’s shoulder with a spent gushing of air. Exhales thick and heavy in the effort. His forehead came to a rest against hers.

Neither said anything.

Just caught their breaths.

Charlie backed them away from the wall, carrying her like she weighed nothing at all, landing his butt on a sofa which lined the opposite wall. Nina straddled him, her chest heaving in ragged satiation.

“I’ll say it again, Charlie Howard. You are one pent up wolf.”