Something Wicca This Way Comes (4 page)

"What's the matter pretty boy? Are you
hungry?" He'd probably been hunting in those woods when they'd
found him. There was no way for her to guess when the last time he
might have had a good meal. "Wait here, I'll go see what I can find
in the kitchen for you."

The cat flashed sapphire eyes at her with
almost an air of desperation. Then he made a very unhappy yowl and
darted for the partially open door of her closet.

"Oh no!" She gasped, realizing it might be
another problem entirely. She didn't really want him using any of
her favorite shoes as a toilet.

Throwing the door wide, she started to reach
for him. Then jerked her hands back to stifle the horrified gasp
that emptied her lungs and left her no air to scream with. His
lithe little body was stretching and growing, as if something very
large was attempting to escape.

Thick muscles coiled and flexed as bones
shifted and relocated themselves beneath his glossy coat. Then the
fur began to fade, as if it had only been an illusion, exposing
smooth human skin underneath.

He straightened onto hind legs that now
resembled very human feet, and she realized that he'd grown to
stand a full head and shoulders taller than her.

The whole impossible event must have taken
only a few seconds, but to Liz it felt as if the entire world stood
still. She was trapped within a surreal place. Perhaps a nightmare
inspired by the magic ritual that she and her friends had performed
earlier, although she couldn't remember falling asleep.

As she watched, he grabbed one of her
dresses from a nearby hanger and wrapped it around his waist. Then
he turned and she received her second shock of the evening.

"Johnny?" She gaped, looking up into the
dark blue eyes of the stranger from the drive-in.

"Hi," he answered with a wolfish grin that
made her feel as if she were the one standing in the closet holding
nothing but a rumpled handful of dress over her naughty bits.

Her cheeks turned pink as she took a
hesitant step backwards. But he followed, catching her fingertips
in his free hand to prevent her from escaping.

The moment he touched her the world trembled
and tilted beneath her. A rush of heat and electricity raced up her
spine and sent her heart skidding up into her throat.

She could hardly breathe, much less think
clearly, which must be why she didn't pull away.

Instead, she watched with dizzy amazement as
he slowly entwined his fingers with hers, mating their palms, and
sending a flood of pleasure through every nerve ending in her
body.

"I probably should have waited until you
were asleep," he murmured, stepping so close she could feel the
heat radiating off from his body. "Then I could have slipped away
without you ever knowing my secret."

The breath she was holding escaped in a
whispery moan as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed each of
her fingertips in turn.

"But after I saw you tonight, laughing and
dancing in the circle with your friends, the firelight whirling in
your eyes. I think I fell a little in love with you. I needed to
talk to you. To touch you... To taste you."

For one heart-stopping second she thought of
the hungry, almost predatory way that he had looked at her when
they'd first met at the drive-in.

Then his lips were closing over hers and she
could no longer think at all.

His kiss was agonizingly soft at first. Just
a feathery caress at the sensitive corner of her mouth. But as she
helplessly leaned closer, he deepened it.

With his teeth and tongue he nibbled and
seduced her into opening, then he eagerly thrust inside, devouring
her tremulous moan.

Liz had been kissed before. But nothing like
this. He was stoking a fire inside her with every flick and swirl
of his tongue. Making her forget everything but the heat that
filled her body and awakened a storm of desire in her soul.

When he finally freed her lips, she was weak
and trembling in his arms.

Dropping her forehead to rest upon one
strong shoulder, she fought to catch her breath and rein in her
racing heart.

But it was an impossible task so long as her
held her this way, wrapped within the protective circle of his
arms, embraced by the heat and the earthy sweet scent of his
skin.

She had to force herself to brace shaky
hands against his chest and push him away.

"I don't really know you," she whispered,
putting some necessary space between them. She couldn't trust
herself not to rush back into his arms.

It had felt so good to be held that way. As
if she were a cherished treasure that he would readily fight to
protect.

"Then let me show you who I am," he offered
in a husky voice. "Give me a chance to prove that I am worthy of
you, my beautiful witch."

"I'm not really a witch," she frowned. "I
haven't been initiated yet."

He laughed softly and the deep, male sound
of it sent her heart racing once more.

"You've cast a spell on me," he argued with
a smile. "From the moment that I saw you at that drive-in. I knew
that somehow, some way, I must get to know you better. If your
friend hadn't run into me, I would have found another way to track
you down."

Liz thought of Beth and the napkin stolen
from the trash. Then felt a cold trickle of dread beginning to knot
itself in her stomach.

"The stranger’s token," she gasped. "The
ritual... Oh no!"

His brows drew together in concern.

"What is it? What's wrong? Did you forget
something in the meadow? Whatever it is, I'm sure it will still be
there in the morning."

She shook her head, but couldn't find the
words to explain.

"I... I think you should go. It's late and
my parents may come to check on me. I don't want them to find you
here."

His frown deepened.

"Liz, what is it? Did I say something
wrong?"

She shook her ahead again.

"No, I promise. You didn't say or do
anything wrong. I just really need to get to bed. But we'll talk
tomorrow, okay?"

Tomorrow, after she had a chance to talk to
Beth and find out if this was real, or if it was all because of the
spell they'd cast.

"Alright," he agreed slowly. "I guess I'll
come back in the morning."

"No," she interjected, feeling a wash of
guilt at the confusion and concern that filled his eyes. "Wait
until tomorrow night. Around six. Okay?"

That should give her time to track Beth down
and get some answers.

"Okay," he agreed, but he didn't look happy
about it. "I'll see you tomorrow at six."

She turned and rushed over to the bedroom
window, unfastening the lock and swinging it open.

By the time she looked back, the man was
gone. Standing over the rumpled dress on her floor, was the large
grey cat that she'd intended to adopt.

He blinked dark sapphire eyes at her, then
leaped up onto the windowsill, and vanished into the night.

She waited and listened for a minute,
already missing his company and warning herself not to call him
back. Then she slowly closed the window and locked it again.

It was only one day. If he really did case
about her, as he claimed, then one day wasn't going to change
anything.

At least she hoped it wouldn't.

Spell or not, she'd been attracted to him
from the moment she'd first looked into his eyes. And it had felt
so incredible to be held in his arms.

As she turned out the lights and crawled
into bed, she wondered what she would do if his professed feelings
for her turned out to be the work of magic rather than the
heart.

A Spellbound Heart

"Lizzy? Are you awake?" Her mother's voice
cut through the fog of sleep and brought Liz awake with a jolt.

Yanking back the sheets, she peered over the
edge of the bed, her eyes locking onto the rumpled dress lying near
her open closet door. It wasn't a dream. She'd actually watched a
cat turn into a man last night.

Even more unbelievable, that incredibly sexy
man had kissed her and told her that he wanted to see her
again.

"Elizabeth?" Her mother called again.

"I'm awake," she yelled back. "Just a
minute, I'll come out."

She dressed quickly and headed for the
kitchen where her mother was flipping pancakes onto a plate for her
father.

"Donna called for a few minutes ago," her
mother offered as Liz skirted the table and headed straight for the
front door. "Something about your cat running out in front of her
car this morning."

"Uh oh," her dad looked up from his
newspaper. "Sounds like I may be digging another grave under that
old elm this afternoon."

Liz felt the blood drain from her face as
she skidded to a halt and spun to face her parents.

"Was it a gray cat, with blue eyes?" Her
voice sounded thin and harsh with horror.

"I didn't ask her to describe the cat, Liz.
I can never keep up with all the cats you bring in and out of this
house. When are you going to stop playing with your pets and find
yourself a husband?" Her mother sighed as she poured a tall mug of
coffee for herself. "You should be cuddling babies, not looking
after strays."

Liz couldn't even begin to argue her
position, because her parents would have thought her insane.

Nobody would ever believe that her latest
pet was actually a handsome man in disguise.

She had hardly believed it herself, even
after watching him magically transform.

Only now he might be...

She couldn't bring herself to even think the
word as she ran for the new rotary phone that sat on the far end of
the kitchen counter.

Cranking the dial with shaking fingers, she
desperately for an answer, but the phone simply rang and rang.

Punching the disconnect lever, she tried
Beth's home, and received an answer on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mrs. Farren, could I please speak to
Beth?"

"I'm sorry dear, she just left. I believe
she is walking down to the mercantile to meet Judy."

"Thank you!"

Uttering a hasty goodbye, she turned to her
father.

"Daddy, can I borrow the car?"

"Sorry kiddo, I'm heading down to the club
after breakfast. You'll have to ask your mother to use hers, or I
could drop you off somewhere along the way."

"Please Mom, it's an emergency."

"A cat is not an emergency," her mother
argued.

"I met a guy last night," Liz countered,
concocting a small lie to help her cause. "The cat is his. I
shouldn't have let it out of my sight. Please Mom, I'll never
forgive myself if something bad has happened to him."

She was on the verge of tears now, imagining
a broken gray body lying helpless alongside the road.

"Alright, but have it back before dinner
this time."

"Thank you!"

Grabbing the keys off their peg she was out
the door before her mother could change her mind.

"Please don't be hurt," she prayed to any
god or goddess who might be listening.

There was a wide main street that ran
through the center of town and was crisscrossed by a few dozen
smaller roads.

She could search for hours and never find
the right one without some idea of where her friend had been
going.

Donna would likely be at the mercantile with
the others. And if not, they should know where to find her.

The mercantile was within easy walking
distance, but she might need the car later to search for the cat or
make an emergency trip to the veterinary clinic.

Her heart was in her throat as she pulled up
in front of the old red brick building, which held a central
location in town, making it a common gathering point for her
friends.

Judy and Beth were sitting at one of the
small tables out front, each of them sipping a soda and watching
some boys working on a truck at the garage across the street.

The girls waved at her as Liz jumped out of
the car and hurried towards them.

"Have you seen Donna? Do you know where she
is?" Liz gasped, fearing that every lost second might cost her
dearly.

"Sweetie, what's wrong? You look as if
you're about to cry." Beth was instantly at her side, ready to
offer her support in whatever crisis Liz might be having.

But how did you tell your best friend that
you'd fallen in love with a cat, and now he might be seriously
injured or dead?

"I need to find Donna," Liz repeated through
her tears. "Do you know where she is?"

"I think she was just doing some errands
around town," Judy offered, looking uncomfortable. As a
rough-around-the-edges tomboy, the poor girl was always unsettled
by tears.

"She was going to the library first, then
dropping of some clothes at the dry cleaners. I'm not sure what
else, but she's supposed to meet us for lunch at Skippers. You
could catch up with her then."