Water Witch (14 page)

I nodded and stuffed the last piece of crust in my mouth. Something my mom said when I’d come home two months earlier rattled in my head. “Hey—” I forced myself to swallow and took a drink to wash it down. “Did you know him? Or did your parents?”

He watched me intently and nodded. “My father spoke with him once.” A faint blush crept up his cheeks, and he picked at the corner of the cardboard pizza box. I recognized it as nervousness, not a good sign considering the subject.

“Tell me?”

He noticed me looking at his fingers and stilled them. “I was young, but I’d seen you in my premonitions for years. When you wandered into the circular field one day, I felt your presence and went there to watch you. On my way, my father caught me and asked where I was going. He asked if I was sure I should meet you, if I knew what I was doing.”

His blush deepened and I put my hand over his. “Don’t be nervous. I grew up with weird skills, too.”

He gave me a grateful smile and continued. “When I was little, I didn’t understand how to choose which paths to follow. I would often tell people things they should not know, or interfere with necessary events. The results were sometimes disastrous.” He shook his head and frowned as if remembering something particularly bad. “Anyway, he was right. I was rushing off without thinking. But I wanted to see you badly. He offered to go in my place, but by then you had left. When you returned, you were with your grandfather. And though my father may have been able to hide from you, and certainly from any human and most witches, your Nunu sensed him. They spoke briefly while you played nearby, yet he was wary with you there. My father…was not blessed with divination. He understood, but not completely. He took your grandfather’s hand, intending to take him off plane for a moment. My parents often did that, to speak privately or to get some peace. For many Fae it is a common thing. But when your Nunu crossed over, he saw more than he should. His visions were like those of the Fae, complete and accurate, all potential paths revealed. He was old enough, and skilled enough, to process the information and understand what he was seeing, but it frightened him. He left quite upset, my father said.”

Well, that explained a lot. I tried to remember how Nunu had acted back then. Did he ever say anything to me about it? I couldn’t recall him talking about it at all, besides him warning me away from the field. But now I felt even worse for visiting there so much behind his back. “Did that have something to do with him dying? He wasn’t that old.”

“I don’t think so.”

I understood. There was really no way to know exactly how our actions impacted the future, and trying to figure it out would only make a person crazy. Looking at him, nervous and almost ashamed, I realized he must blame himself anyway. How could someone grow up with so much responsibility, always afraid of every action? “Hey, I’m sure nothing you or your father did made my grandfather die. I shouldn’t have even suggested that, I’m sorry.” I wrapped him in my arms, and was clear in my thoughts that I held no blame.

The wind howled through the trees outside, and a shiver shook me. I checked the weather report on my cell. Still a “category one hurricane, showing no signs of weakening.” I clicked off the display. The last time we’d been evacuated, we’d had half an inch of water in the house and lost the vegetable garden. Hopefully this time wouldn’t be as bad. Nothing I could do now about it, anyway. My mom had texted, telling me she was safe at Dana’s, and I messaged her back, promising to call in the morning.

Salil frowned at me, and I ruffled my hand in his hair. “Hey. Enough sad faces. We’re safe, we’re together, and we can’t do anything but stay in this house for the next twelve hours.” I pulled his face to mine and kissed him, and he relaxed into me. “I brought plenty of lube. Tonight, I intend to make
you
scream
my
name to the forest.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

It didn’t take us much time to end up in his bed. He seemed eager, watching me like he was memorizing every move I made. Which he probably was. “You nervous?”

“Not at all. I trust you.” His gaze traveled down my body. “And I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

“Mmm. I hope I don’t disappoint you.”

He shook his head with a smile and slid his hands over my hips. “Impossible.”

I did feel a little anxious, though. To be totally in control this way, and to be his first experience, was a lot of pressure. I was more a top-from-the-bottom kind of guy. Plus he was studying me so carefully, it unsettled me.

“Are
you
nervous?” He teased, giving my hips a light squeeze.

“Maybe. I’m not used to being in control.”

He burst out laughing and didn’t stop. Really it was way overboard, there was nothing funny about what I’d said. I pulled away and frowned at him. “What the fuck are you laughing at?” I wanted to be angry, but I’d never seen him laugh so hard; it was kind of adorable. He actually snorted. I cracked a smile and tried to cover it.

When he recovered the ability to speak, he returned his hands to my waist and urged me back into his arms. “You have always been in control. I do not like to think of you with other lovers, but I’d bet you had them working very hard to keep you satisfied.” He leaned up and kissed my collarbone. “I know I would do almost anything to please you.”

Was that true? I tried to think of all the men I’d dated…

“Stop.” The harsh sound startled me. When I saw his face, I froze. His jaw was tight, his eyes hard, his chest heaving as if it was a great effort to control his breathing. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” He let out a deep breath and relaxed his jaw. “Please do not think of other men while in my bed.”

“Oh, shit, Salil.” I kissed his forehead, his temple, his cheek, then whispered in his ear, “I won’t, I promise I won’t. Only us, okay? Only us from now on.”

“Thank you.” He buried his face in my neck.

If I hadn’t been nervous before, I sure as hell was now. Bad enough to be the guy he’d saved himself for, but now I’d made him insecure and jealous. Wrapping my arms around him tighter, I kissed the side of his neck, his shoulder, his chest, trying to get him excited again. Thunder rolled in the distance and rain pelted the side of the house, but I ignored it in favor of Salil’s smooth skin and eager moans.

“Will you…” His words trailed off and he turned his head to the side.

“What, Fae? What can I do for you?” I drew back to look at him, noticing the faint blush on his pale cheeks.

He closed his eyes and grimaced, as if embarrassed to admit what he wanted. I waited, kissing his jaw.

Finally he asked softly, “Will you lick me again? Like last time?”

“Ah, you liked that, huh?”

He nodded and smiled, still blushing but eyes locked on me.

I lifted his legs and scooted down, settling between them. He smelled clean, of soap and herbs, and I smiled, realizing he must have showered in preparation for this. Well, that kind of effort should not go unrewarded. I licked the crease of his thigh, his balls, his crack, while I stroked his hard cock with my fist. He moaned and arched up, offering me a better angle to reach his ass.

I started slow and teasing, and worked my way up to a rough probing with my tongue. When he was writhing against my mouth, begging for more, I pressed a finger in, pleased at how easily I breached him. Not nervous at all, apparently. Two fingers were almost as easy as one, and I doubted I’d need to bring out the little glass dildo I’d brought.

“You feel ready. You want to try?”

“Mmm, yes.” His cheeks were flushed and with the fingers of one hand he toyed with his nipple.

I found the lube and coated myself well. I’m not a particularly well-endowed guy, but most of my partners liked it that way. I tended to date guys who preferred to top, and being small, when we flipped they could accommodate me easily. Now, though, I felt insecure. Would Salil wish for more someday? He seemed to be enjoying this quite a lot.

I held myself and rubbed the head of my cock against his hole, pushing gently. He yielded easily and I slipped the tip inside. “Tell me if you want me to slow down, don’t let me hurt you.”

“Mm-hm.”

I doubted he’d say anything. He was intent on experiencing this, in whatever way I gave it to him. But his body couldn’t lie. It took some gentle working to get fully inside. Eventually I felt the incremental loosening of his walls around me and I started to move. He was no longer watching me so carefully. His eyes fluttered closed with each of my thrusts, his fingers dug into the crumpled bedsheets, and I felt a rush of pride at his obvious enjoyment.

“Vincenzo!” He moved one hand as if to stroke himself, but paused and shook, like he couldn’t manage it.

I pulled him into a better position, freeing one of my hands to help him out. Stroking him in time with my hips, I watched his face contort in pleasure.

“No, Vincenzo, no—oh—” He put a hand on my wrist, but he was too late to stop the inevitable, and he came, squirting all over his chest and my hand.

Goddess, his face when he came was beautiful, all wonder and surprise, as if he’d never felt such a thing before. He grabbed my hips and pressed his fingers against my ass cheeks, urging me to keep thrusting, a request I happily granted. It wasn’t long before I reached my own end, by that time under his watchful gaze again.

Afterward, we lost track of time, our post orgasmic haze melting into the bliss of touching, sharing warmth and breath, and trading soft kisses.

A crack of thunder shook me from my stupor. It was pitch black, hours had passed without me noticing. Panic welled up in me, and though I felt foolish for it I couldn’t tamp it down. “Salil, something’s wrong.”

His arms tightened around me. “I know.”

The quiet answer fed my worry, and my heart pounded in my chest. “What? What do you know? Salil?”

He had closed his eyes, and tilted his head away from me like he was afraid to spill a secret.

“Tell me!” Anger colored my terror. I shook his shoulders and dug my fingers into his biceps.

“The storm will be short, but do much damage to the waterfront areas. Several homes will be lost.” His voice was a robotic whisper, a reporting of fact.

As soon as he said it, I knew. I scrambled out of the bed and paced his room. I needed to do something, but there was no way to stop this. I scowled at Salil, sitting cross-legged on the bed, his eyes cast down in sorrow.

“You knew. All this time, you knew this would happen.” A small nod, and a frown. How could he have kept me away? Why hadn’t he warned me? “What if it was your house? What would you do?”

“Nothing, love. There is nothing to be done. No ward strong enough, no way to bespell everything. Some things are unstoppable.”

I found my boxers and stepped into them, then my sweatpants. I pulled on my sneakers without socks, stomped down the stairs and bolted out the front door. The storm still raged, but in the forest it was slightly subdued. I watched the eastern sky, where the lightning showed me glimpses of angry clouds. Fuck. Even here, the rain fell in sheets and the wind howled through the treetops. My house was gone. Or destroyed. I let the rain soak me and tried to see my family property in my mind’s eye. Nothing but rippling blackness, like a mudslide, and I hoped that wasn’t what was actually there but rather a block to my second sight.

“Come inside, witch. Do not be foolish.” His tone was sterner than I’d ever heard from him, and it startled me enough to turn around. He stood in front of his door, staring up at the trees above me nervously. I realized I was actually in some danger where I stood from falling branches. I took one step toward him, and he opened the door, a little satisfied smile on his face. My anger overwhelmed me.
No. I’m not hiding in there with him.
I turned and ran through the forest, across the circular field, and cut into the smaller woods that abutted the coven property. I was soaked and freezing, but ignored it. The bay had risen to an alarming height, the water lapped at the lawn and waves crashed against trees. I kept moving, fighting through the wind to my house.

The water had reached my back patio, the house no doubt flooded. But the real damage was coming from the surf. Waves battered my hastily-boarded windows, and tossed pieces of debris at the siding of my family home. “NO!” I climbed up to the roof, using the beaten remains of Noni’s old apple tree to get there, and then scrambled to the back edge. I tried to focus, taking a deep breath, summoning the power of the bay and soaking in the energy from the rain that pelted my skin.

I held both of my palms out, toward the raging water. I lost my balance and almost slid off the roof, but caught myself before I fell. I wedged my sneakers against the shingles and tried again, this time succeeding in blocking a small wave, which had been propelling a large piece of driftwood toward the back door.
Good.
Another wave approached, and I managed a partial block, diverting the brunt of its impact from the windows.
Okay, but you can do better than that
. I reached for more power, ignoring everything else, my awareness narrowing to just the stretch of water before me. Still, I was only able to block the smallest waves, but could at least dull the impact of the larger ones.

The water level rose with amazing speed, and soon the waves were breaking only a few feet from the low roofline. I was exhausted, but I couldn’t give up. The water would recede at some point, all I had to do was hold off the pounding surf until then. I couldn’t block the waves anymore, they were too strong and I was too tired. But I was able to re-direct them, protecting my house as much as possible.

The boards over one window broke loose, and were sucked away. Fuck! Not good. The next wave, even weakened, broke the glass. I cried out in frustration and pain, hot tears warming my wind chapped cheeks. “No.” I kept diverting waves, but a creak from below told me my fight was futile.
I can still fight this. I have to try.
With all the energy I had left in me, I pushed against the bay, managing to keep several large waves from crashing into my weakening home.

Then a wall buckled, and I skidded down the roof, stopping when my sneakers hit the aluminum gutter. I crawled up, slipping, not making progress. The sopping wet sweatpants I wore felt like they weighed fifty pounds. My fingers were raw, my body was weak, I had a scratch across my chest, and I knew I was making a whiny moaning noise. I laid against the roof and cried, rain stinging my bare back, trying to summon the energy to climb again.

“Gods damn you, stubborn witch!” Salil was somehow there, partially on the roof and partially in a portal. He knelt down and locked his hands under my armpits, pulling me roughly into the portal with him.

“Let me go! I can keep working if you help me!”

“No, sweet witch. We cannot fight this.” He rolled me away from the portal opening and it snapped shut, the sound of crashing waves suddenly muted.

I fought his hold, screaming and kicking like a child having a tantrum. “Salil! I fucking hate you!”

“I know, love.” His hands on me were warm and gentle, but firm enough to keep me contained. He wrestled me through the woods to his house. By the end of the short walk he was supporting most of my weight and I was sobbing against his shoulder.

Once inside, I pulled away from him and stomped to an empty corner, where I sat with my knees drawn up to my chin, sadness and anger battling inside me. He brought towels and a thick quilt, but I refused to look at them.

“Dry yourself, or I will do it. You need to rest, love.”

“Fuck you.”

He sighed and picked up a towel, rubbing it across my hair. I let him, tears rolling down my cheeks. He draped the towel over my shoulders and gestured to my wet pants. “Off.”

I peeled them off, only because they were horribly cold and I was starting to shake. The quilt looked pretty nice to me just then. He dried my skin as best he could in my position, and then wrapped the quilt around me.

“You need to sleep. You used a lot of power out there. Can I help you to bed?”

“Fuck you.”

He pressed his lips together and turned away. As soon as he was out of sight I curled up on the floor and closed my eyes.
Gone? Is the house gone?
I didn’t try for a vision, didn’t want to see. I took a few deep breaths, trying to think positively.
Maybe it will just be water damage, I can work with that
. The quilt smelled like Salil, and I thought of him stealing all my things. Protecting them from this storm.
Bastard. He’d known all along
.

I rested a while, but couldn’t sleep. Finally warm, I got up and went to his bedroom to dress in dry clothes. He was there, and I could practically feel his desire to hold me, but he let me pass without making contact.

He watched me, staying in sight but not speaking. I planted myself on the chair in his bedroom. I tried to bring up the radar scan on the national weather service website on my cell, but the service was too sketchy. I gave up, and restrained myself from throwing my phone across the room.