Page 29 of Witches and Wine
Dion took my hand in his, leading us past dozens of swaying bodies either simulating sex or discreetly having it right there on the dancefloor. Dion made a circular gesture above his headand the females he’d referred to as maenads began to follow us, dropping their trays or stopping their dancing to let the male demons take over. He didn’t stop until we stood in front of a charcoal door with crimson-red borders and a velvet rope hanging across it.
Dion slipped a hand to my ass and pulled me to his side, shoving the rope away and using his burgundy magic to unlock the door. Just as white moonlight spilled from the door’s crevice as it opened, I caught sight of the metallic sign on the front.
The VIP Room: By InvitationOnly.
I’d expectedto walk into a room, per the label on the door, but what I stepped through was a portal to anotherrealm. It wasn’t a lounge area with plush seating or a rounded table in the center for a dancer. Forests of thick canopies extended as far as the eyes could see, a bonfire roaring in the central cleared space on the dirt. The flames were so expansive I could feel its heat on my face from afar, and I pressed a hand to my cheek.
“Dion,” I whispered, my voice wispy and ethereal. “What is this place?”
Dion took my hand, leading me closer to the fire and rubbing between my knuckles. “My sanctuary.”
The maenads sprinted past us, their arms raised to the starlit skies, whooping and screeching with joy. Two of them began removing articles of clothing, leaving them in a wayward trail behind them. I tensed at the sight.
Dion gently pulled me to him. “Nothing will happen here that you don’t want, Chelsea. But know, this is youropportune moment to be completely unbridled. No judgment. No consequence.”
The notion struck a surge from my toes to my core, and when the music played from the branches above, I squeezed Dion’s fingers. Biting back a smile, I kicked off my heels and followed the maenads to the fire, joining in a tribal woodland dance and circling it. The flickering flames made my vision hazy when I peered through them, spotting the maenad he’d called Tambie staring at me from the opposite side. Dion leaned against a tree, watching me with a glowing amber gaze. Between Dion’s lustful eyes following my curves and Tambie’s seducing glances, I found myself fully letting go.
My hands trailed up and over my breasts, some of the dress peeling back and exposing a nipple that puckered once the heat from the fire mixed with the cool forest breeze hit it. I spun circles in the dirt, letting it cake between my toes, my fingers raking through my hair, and I moaned from the unfamiliar freedom settling over me in delicious waves.
“Let it out,” a female voice whispered.
“Complete abandon,” said another.
My magic pooled in my belly, pulsating and thrashing. The way my body moved delved into something far more feral than the swirling arms and swaying hips it started as. The magic in my veins sizzled up my arms now, striking every neuron on its trek to my head. When it reached my mind, something snapped inside me. Visions of three women dressed in flowing white robes dancing around a similar fire and repeating a chant in a language I couldn’t understand flashed before me.
A delicate hand, not Dion’s, cascaded over my cheek, enticing me to open my eyes. A maenad offered me a sparkling grin, continuing to dance. “No judgment, Chelsea.”
Rough fingers trailed up my back, settling on my dress’s clasp. I’d recognize that touch anywhere—Dionysus’ touch. Withone precise flick, he’d undone the clasp, and the top part of my dress fell to my hips, exposing my breasts. Dion kissed first my shoulder, then my neck. “How do you feel?”
Moaning, I let my head fall back, expecting it to land on his shoulder, but it met with abandoned air. Gasping, I turned to find him, but Dion had become a chuckling shadow, mixing with the other mirages created by the moon and fluttering flames.
A feathered touch grazed the side of my left breast, and I shivered.
“No consequence,” Tambie, the maenad from earlier, said, standing in front of me now. She leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to my lips like a calming breeze.
My eyes fell shut again, several feminine hands dragging through my hair, tracing my shoulders and down my arms. My magic swirled around my body and in between my legs like infinity. Two maenads took my hands, one in each of theirs, leading me somewhere. Another tugged the dress down my legs from behind me, and like a choreographed routine, I stepped out of it.
Lazily, I opened my eyes in time to scan the mossy seat they were guiding me toward. It was fit for woodland royalty. Dionysus’ throne, perhaps?
Dion’s scent filled the air, and I knew he was behind me before he’d outstretched his hand. Turning to face him, I splayed my fingers toward his head, encouraging my magic to dance around him. It paid particular attention to the top portion of his skull, and I suddenly became curious about what his beast looked like. Would he show me it here?
A deep, guttural growl fluttered from Dion’s chest, and he grabbed my ass, pulling me flush against him. “The witch desires to meet my beast, does she?”
Licking my lips, thirsty for it, for him, I faintly nodded.
Lightly, Dion gripped my face and methodically shook his head—left to right. “Say it,mágissa.”
Puffing my chest, I let my fingers play in his maroon magic floating from his skin, anticipating my answer. “Show me your beast, Dionysus.”
A feral grin tugged at the corner of Dion’s lips, those deadly canines already growing. His hand loosened on mine as the maenads guided me backward, and I held onto him until only our fingertips brushed and my palm remained outstretched. Dion didn’t move, standing still until the maenads lowered me to the mossy throne, encouraging me to settle into whatever was about to happen.
Following their instruction, I sat with my arms resting on the elongated, risen stones on each side of my hips. Instinctively, I drew my knees up, keeping them closed, and gulped at Dion’s burgundy magic building around him, growing denser and smokier than I’d seen it before. The maenads combed their fingers through my hair, Tambie using her claws to scrape against my scalp from behind me. Another female’s claws traced circles on my shoulders.
Dion displayed his arms at his sides, the smoke billowing at his feet, his transformation starting there—clawed haunches replaced toes and ankles, his legs became wider with bulging veins, and bulking with ethereal muscle. His length remained almost the same save for a bulbous portion that now formed at the top of his shaft. His chest and arms doubled in size, the hair growing denser and more wolfish. The claws I’d gotten a glimpse of earlier were larger and slightly more curved. Dion’s head fell back, a low roar emanating from his stomach, growing louder and more intense as the magic worked around his chin, settling on his forehead. When he lifted his skull, he peered at me with radiantly glowing amber eyes and two blackened, ribbed, curved horns extended from his temples, tucking against his head.
My magic burst from my skin, darting straight for the frenzy god, curling his arms and tugging him toward me. I sat up on my elbows, the maenads encouraging me with gentle strokes, using their hands to keep me still. Wetness formed between my thighs, my core throbbing, and stomach tightening. Dion chuckled and smiled with those full wolfish canines, the teeth behind them sharper now, too. He let my magic lead him to me, his arms extended in front of him, at my mercy.
When he reached the moss, I called my ivory magic back to me and bit my lip as Dion walked his fingers up my calf, resting his hand on my knee. “Shelikesthe beast.” He slipped his hands between my knees and yanked them apart, gaze falling to the wetnessleakingfrom me now because of him. “I knew there was a vixen in there somewhere, Chels.”
