Page 28 of Hell and Hexes
“They’re no good,” I confessed. “Useless.”
“Silly woman. They’re beautifully constructed. You’re a very talented witch.”
“Iwasa very talented witch.” I abandoned the wine bottle, walked over, and took the charm from his hands, placing it with the others on the counter.
“You still are a very talented witch. You’re the best of all the witches. You’re the best couch-witch ever to have walked the face of the earth.”
I laughed. “I’m glad you think so, but that doesn’t change the fact that these charms are nothing but a bunch of buttons on a string.”
“They just need to be charged,” he countered.
“And that’s just what I can’t do.” I struggled to keep the bitterness from my voice. “I don’t know if I can ever do that again. Maybe I’ll craft the charms and have Cassie charge them, although they won’t be the same as me doing it myself. I guess it’s better than nothing.”
He put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me toward him, kissing me with a thoroughness and a passion I hadn’t expected. The moment his lips met mine, something thrummed through me. As the kiss deepened, it was like lightning in the room, bringing every cell in my body to attention, electricity igniting me. Fire roared through my body and I found myself wrapped around Eshu, trying to touch every bit of him, drinking in his kiss as if I had been in the desert for days.
When his mouth left mine, I was breathless, my weight against him as he kept me upright.
“You’re not broken, my Sylvie,” he whispered. “You’re not dead or damaged. You just need to trust.”
I had no idea who I was supposed to trust, but I felt like I was going to cry at his words. I wasn’t broken? I wasn’t damaged?
“I died, Eshu. I died and was resurrected because a reaper refused to cut the cord. Because a reaper loved my twin sister enough to shove my soul back into my body. What if…what if I’m not the same? What if some part of me that died never returned? I’m tired all the time. My magic is weak. I feel as if I’m walking every day through unfamiliar ground.”
He smiled, his hands cupping my cheeks. “The last? The walking through unfamiliar ground thing? That’s life, my couch-witch. The rest? It doesn’t matter. None of that matters. You’ll always be a witch. You’ll always have magic. It might not be the same magic as before, but it will still be magic.”
I gestured to the charms. “If I still have magic, then why are those useless? Why can’t I power them?”
“Because your spark needs rekindling.”
Was this a cheesy come-on? Was this where he told me that sex with him would bring my power back? I knew that demons accentuated both Cassie’s and Bronwyn’s powers, but those were demons who they’d bonded with. I doubted sex with Eshu would do the same.
Although I was willing to give it a try, because right now sex with Eshu was at the top of my to-do list.
“Here.” He turned and picked up the charms, dumping them in my hands. “Just feel your magic and let it fly.”
I closed my eyes and held the button charms gently. My fingers smoothed along the plastic edges, felt the woolen thread that held the buttons together, felt the shape and size and the holes of the charms. I pictured their colors in my mind, thought of understanding, affection, and calm, of creative and innovative solutions to problems.
I felt Eshu’s hands on mine. I felt his fingers caressing my knuckles. I felt the heat of him near me, the caress of his breath on my cheek. Once again, his energy soared through me. He kissed my neck and I shivered, trying to concentrate on the charms and failing. Everything faded away except the feel of his lips against my skin, and the surge of his energy lighting me up inside. It was like a rush of electricity, like lightning, like dying and being reborn into something timeless.
Like the ebb of the tide, I felt Eshu’s power begin to slide away. The golden glow dimmed, and once again I was aware of the charms in my hands, of my legs that trembled so hard I could barely stand, of the press of the demon’s body behind me, of the dampness between my thighs.
Of the hard length of him pressed against my rear end.
Snatching the last bit of energy before it left me, I pushed it into the charms, thrilled to feel them heat in my hands. It left me feeling tired and drained, desperately in need of sleep. But there was something else I needed far more right now.
Sitting the charms on the counter, I turned around and wrapped my arms around Eshu’s neck, my eyes meeting his.
“Thank you,” I murmured, placing a soft kiss on his lips.
“What I have is yours, my couch-witch,” he murmured back. “But that wine you offered before will be a sufficient expression of gratitude.”
“How about I offer you something else instead?”
I kissed him again, but this time he gripped me tight, rubbing his hips against mine and refusing to let me pull away. I gasped, and he took advantage, his tongue exploring my mouth as his hands did the same with my body. I yanked the shirt from his pants and fumbled with his belt, making a frustrated noise when I couldn’t manage to get the darned thing to unbuckle.
He wasn’t having the same problem. While I was smashing my fingers trying to get his belt undone, he’d already pushed my shirt up, unhooked my bra, and managed to get my pants down to my knees. I pulled my mouth from his, thinking I might have to grab a knife from the butcher block to cut the darned belt off him and lost my balance, nearly falling to the floor.
Eshu grabbed me, lifting me up to slide my pants off, then setting me back down to practically dislocate my shoulders trying to pull my shirt over my head.
