Open All Hours (Carnival Magic 2) (4 page)

“Best to leave them for now. Until daylight,” Vol said. To the departing Ellie and Arthur, he said, “Thanks.”

Leesa nodded at the couple as they left, but she was lost in her thoughts of how she would have to be a recluse until they found a cure. She didn’t want to think about the alternative.

Leesa looked up at Vol, acceptance of her circumstances weighting heavily on her. “So what do we do now?”

Ellie and Arthur walked back to the Carnival, hand in hand. After a few minutes of quiet, Ellie asked, “So… what did you think of that?”

Her normally upbeat boyfriend was pensive. He bit his full lower lip and Ellie suppressed the urge to kiss him. “It was strange. Never heard a story like that before, but I… I want to help, but I don’t know if I can. Not really the sort of magic I do.”

Arthur was the head magician at the carnival where he was part owner and the lead illusion creator for several magic houses all over the Eastern Seaboard. It was at one of his shows, where he’d taken her on their first date, when she realized she’d found her match.

“Someone has to know how. I feel sorry for her.”

“Yeah, but notice she didn’t tell us everything. Why was she out there? Did she know who this cult -- or whatever -- was? They’re obviously powerful. Will they come after us if we help her?” He shook his head and ran his free hand through his thick inky hair. Ellie smoothed one of the locks back into place.

“We can’t do nothing.”

“No,” he agreed. “Because if we don’t help, Vol will, and he’s --”

“A hothead at times. I know.” Ellie grinned. “And he likes her.”

Arthur didn’t disagree. His girlfriend had a knack for observing behavior. “Mmm,” he said. “When we get back to The Show, we can ask around to see if anyone knows anything.”

Ellie looked concerned. “It might not be a good idea to ask too many people. We don’t want anything getting out.”

“Don’t worry, I know who to ask. True carney folk are really closed mouthed about what goes on behind the scenes.” He didn’t tell Ellie that his bigger worry was that Vol was already in too deep.

* * *

Two days into training and Leesa was bone weary. While Vol was a great teacher -- patient and understanding -- he was also relentless. He caught her off guard several times, seeming to appear out of nowhere, saying things to make her angry.
Star Wars
was not better than
Star Trek
and she would never change her mind about that. But she was getting better at controlling her change, due in part to the reduced stress after getting a ten-day vacation from the job. Staying with her job, however, was dependent on her returning with a headline story.

Job worries were far from her mind at the moment. Her priority was dealing with this curse or spell or whatever it was. The change was no longer painful, but she didn’t have full control yet. Every so often, she would reach up under her braids and find a triangular, pointed ear or she’d find a thin layer of her silky black fur on the front of her belly while she was in human form.

“Okay, once more,” Vol said as she sat in his entertainment room one evening before the dinner rush.

“No,” Leesa said, panting. “No more today.” She had forced her change into feline form a total of five times that day, a new record for her. Now she was hot, and achy, her muscles burning like she’d been in Olympic trials.

“You need this, Leesa.” He’d been saying that for two days now. That she needed to get control over her shift, no matter how temporary it might be.

She turned to the big man kneeling in front of her. His T-shirt was snug, outlining the definition in his arms and torso and her skin tingled. Not with her shift this time, but with want. Her cat had begun to recognize him, his voice, and his scent, and responded to his tightly reined desire for her.

The past two days had been fraught with tension between them. Vol’s hands on her were so hot, they’d felt as though an imprint was left on her. Where he’d pressed between her shoulder blades to show her how to tuck her body to suppress an oncoming change. Her lower back where he’d held her tightly through a gut-wrenching muscle spasm, soothing her with whispered words as she cried in frustration.

Mostly though, he’d avoided touching her outside of those times. It was as if he didn’t trust himself to restrain his need. Leesa could sense his need now, likely a product of her cat’s instincts becoming part of her, and she wanted him to make a move. Her mother’s reprimand echoed each time she opened her mouth to say that she wanted him too.
No man wants a fast woman. Always let him make the first move
.

And she had. Shaun had been the one to approach her and ask her out for coffee that first time on Trident Tech’s campus. She’d been flattered and pleased by the attention and had grudgingly admitted her mother had been right about this one. After what he’d considered a suitable amount of time dating, he’d proposed and stated they would marry right after graduation. When Leesa asked why they should wait, he’d said that he didn’t want a wife without a degree. So she’d been understandably shocked when he put off their marriage for a few years, citing the need to build up his career. Six years into the marriage, he stated that she’d gotten too caught up in her career and wasn’t being a wife to him. Leesa had been stunned into silence. Seconds later, she’d found her tongue and let go of all her frustrations in one long diatribe, complete with finger pointing and the obligatory neck roll.

“That’s not what I need,” she said, keeping her voice calm despite the trembling in her stomach. She’d never made the first move, suppose she’d read the signs wrong and he was just being nice? Maybe the shifter community was like that, all helping hands, and free shape-changing courses.

The spark of interest perking up Vol’s features told her differently. His body language had changed from the relaxed, coaxing posture he’d been using to encourage her. It became tighter, a bracing of the arms, and shoulders, a pushing out of his already impressive chest. All of his senses were on alert, and his gaze on her turned keen, and focused, searching her eyes.

“What do you need, then?” he asked, flexing his fingers where they rested on his powerful thighs. His deep voice vibrated through her, leaving her thighs quivering, and damp. When he dragged his tongue over his bottom lip, she almost moaned.

This was her moment to decide. In just a few short days, she knew Vol wouldn’t force the issue -- not force a decision on her part nor hold her to an answer -- but it was putting her hard won self-pride on the line. Not to mention going against several decades of instilled Southern propriety. Damn, she was thirty-nine years old, a heartbeat away from forty, and she should be past those long held beliefs. Leesa forced the experience of her ex-husband out of her mind, instead opting for a proverb that had served her well in her career --
If you never ask, you never get
.

“I want you,” she whispered.

Leesa heard his sharp intake of breath and she was sure that he’d been holding his attraction back for her benefit. “Are you sure, Leesa?”

Self-doubt gripped her again. It had been so long since she’d been with anyone, and she bit her lip, thinking she might have misread the signs. She stammered as she frantically tried to backtrack, hating that she’d misinterpreted the admittedly unusual situation. She’d kept away from relationships since her divorce for exactly that reason. “I-I… understand. You… well… It’s probably --”

Vol took her face in both of his large, warm hands, effectively cutting off her speech. Before Leesa could take another full breath, his lips were on hers, sending rushes of desire straight through to her core. Breathing ceased to be a worry as she drank in his taste, of salted chocolate, and juicy red wine. He crushed his lips to hers, tasting, and teasing her tongue until Leesa’s world shrank to nothing except the kiss.

When he pulled reluctantly away from her, Leesa sagged in his arms before recovering her senses to begin to pull away. Vol held her fast, and pressed his forehead against hers, inhaling her labored breaths. “That was so there’s no mistake. I want you, Leesa. I just need to know that you want this for the right reasons. You’ve had a crazy few days and I --”

Leesa pressed her fingers to his lips, trembling when he sucked a fingertip. “I’m sure,” she replied.
Even if this isn’t forever, it’s what I need now
.

Vol brought his mouth down again, skating from her parted lips to her neck as Leesa’s head fell back. He took his time to unveil her, slowly peeling away the tank top from her skin and allowing his gaze to roam. Growing darkness outside intensified the LED lights Vol used indoors, making Leesa’s body seem almost outlined in a pale blue aura. She arched toward his hand and pushed the button of her jeans open. Her sex ached now, pulsing with readiness.

“Okay, darlin’,” he soothed, his touch gentle and seeking. When Leesa grabbed his hand and pushed it toward the new opening, he got the message and stripped off the snug jeans, leaving her clad in only her white panties. But as Leesa moved to shimmy out of those as well, Vol stopped her. “Let’s ease into this.”

His kisses returned, fierce desire reined in and she clung to him and her world spiraled out of control. He was her port in this storm and her grasp moved from his bunched biceps to the waistband of his jeans to the button fly. Deftly, she loosened all of the buttons and went to reach for him to slip him inside her hungry center.

He pulled her hands free and pushed them up above her head, pinning her to the floor. His eyes met hers and silent conversation passed between them. He knew she was desperate to forget herself in this moment and he pushed his denim-clad thigh up between her legs high, and hard. Leesa moaned at the pressure against her throbbing pussy and ground herself down on his thigh, rubbing her aching clit against it.

She knew she was riding him -- humping him actually -- but she couldn’t help herself. The pressure, the friction, felt good, his body was so hot, he was like a generator pumping out heat. She could scent her own arousal and her juices soaked through the thin panties and onto his jeans. Vol leaned down and took a puckered nipple between his lips and tugged. With a cry, Leesa arched her back to push more of the sensitive peak into his mouth. “More,” she wailed, her body pushing her for more contact.

Vol pulled away and Leesa gasped at the loss. He soothed her with words she didn’t fully hear, her blood was pumping so fast in her head. Leesa’s back came up off the floor as Vol worked two of his fingers under the barrier of her panties and plunged into her twitching pussy, then pulled her panties from her lifted hips.

He brushed his fingers against her silky inner thighs where they were wet from her own essence, lifted them to his mouth and tasted her.

Leesa groaned, needing to feel those fingers, that tongue on her flesh. She parted her legs wide, sending out a cloud of aroused female scent. Vol’s growl was almost pained.

His fingers found her slippery and steamy and he dove into her heat, twisting his wrist with each plunge. Leesa’s body rose and fell with each of his movements as she worked herself on his hand. She felt her orgasm building with each downward dive, his knuckle grazed her blossoming clit, bringing her closer to her peak.

Another stroke and he pulled his hand from her. Naked and breathless, Leesa stared at him, chest heaving and mouth parted with desire for him. Legs splayed, she watched him lick his lips before leaning down and giving her a long slow lick from pussy to clit. She whimpered.

Vol shrugged out of his jeans, his impressive cock straining against his black boxer briefs. Without thought, Leesa reached up and rubbed the bulge where it tented his underwear. He looked down into her eyes and seemed to find what he was looking for. When she pulled at the waistband of his underwear, he helped her and lifted out his heavily aroused cock. It bobbed up toward his flat stomach and Leesa took it in both hands and guided it to her mouth. Vol watched, eyes hooded, as she licked up the length of his proud shaft, circling the tip with her pink tongue. She then closed her mouth over the head and sucked.

“Fuck!” The expletive burst from Vol’s mouth and he leaned into her, letting her movements set the pace for the blowjob. She was enthusiastic, wrapping her furnace hot mouth over him until he had to pull away or risk coming too soon.

She looked up at him, confused at his abrupt withdrawal, until he lowered his large body back to her spread thighs. Vol saw the dewdrops of her arousal clinging to the wispy curls covering the entrance to her heat. Gently, he flicked at them, catching them on his tongue before parting her folds with questing fingers. He looked at his revealed treasure and swallowed hard at the sight of her opened like a rare orchid, coral center ringed with ebony, glistening wet below the jutting nub. He laved the petals of her sex, sucking and tugging on each lip until she quivered before moving to the slick pearl begging for his attention. This too, he lapped, then flicked until her fingers clutched at his shoulders and head.

“Suck me,” she begged and he gave that to her and closed his lips around the bud and tugged. Leesa came on a wail, letting the orgasm crash over her, drowning her cares, and replacing them with bliss.

When she stopped shaking, Vol pushed himself up on his arms and brushed his lips, damp with her pleasure, over hers. He positioned himself between her still open legs. He took his cock in one hand and rubbed the fat tip over her clit, then let it slide through her spasming pussy. He could see her juices flowing from her, and he looked up at Leesa, her soft eyes filled with pleasure. She reached down and spread her lips wider, inviting him in. With a groan, he pushed forward, burying himself in her slick, clenching walls.

She was tight, and he had to pull away and push forward twice more before he fully seated himself in her. Leesa accepted all of him, curling her legs around his lower back as he hit bottom.

“Fuck me,” she whispered.

He picked up the pace at her urging, pumping deeper, riding her sizzling cunt until she came again, coating his cock in her molten honey. He pulled out, and turned her over onto her hands, and knees, and kissed her hard before inserting himself in her again. Then he gripped her hips and sank in at a deeper angle, riding her hard. He reached around and rubbed her clit with a fingertip and was rewarded with a shudder and a tightening around his cock, sending his orgasm rushing up from his balls through his cock. Leesa collapsed to the bed as he poured into her.