Wicked by Any Other Name (14 page)

Listening to her lower half, she edged her fingers between his shirt buttons and encountered warm skin. When that wasn't enough, she released two buttons, giving her enough room to slide her palm inside. She noticed his breathing grew more ragged as her fingers splayed wide across his chest.

He slipped his hand under her sweater and cupped her breast with his palm, gently kneading her softness. Her nipple peaked under his touch.

“One good silence spell and we could be in your room in seconds.”

“I don't think that would be a good idea,” she replied, mentally kicking her nether regions' saucy ideas out of her head.

He nodded and rested his chin on the top of her head. “I know you're right even if I want to disagree.” He dropped a kiss against her hair and walked back into the kitchen. He looked out the window and Stasi, standing behind him, could see the spheres were gone.

“It wouldn't hurt to ward the doors again after I leave,” he told her, kissing her until she was senseless, then he hurried out before he gave in and tried to change her mind to allow him to stay.

As he walked down the stairs Trev sensed the power of the wards Stasi set. He left, knowing she would be safe behind the protection spells.

But it did nothing for the way Trev felt in leaving her. He cursed the hard-on of all hard-ons as he climbed into his car and put it into gear. He would have preferred spending the rest of the night with a warm and willing woman. Especially one he already knew was as generous in bed as she was in every aspect of her life. Instead, it looked like he'd be spending it under a cold shower. He made the return trip to the resort in record time.

Trev shed his clothes on the way to his bathroom and stepped into a shower that dropped water so icy it was amazing he didn't turn into an icicle.

As it was, the cold shower did nothing, as his erection didn't droop a speck.

In the end, he took things in hand, so to speak. With Stasi's delicate face firmly planted in his mind it only took a few pumps of his hand to bring him to orgasm.

He only wished it had been her hand or her lips on him.

***

“Are you going to smile or cry?”

Stasi looked up from her slumped position on the bed. Blair, now in her robe, stood in the doorway. “Maybe a little of both.”

Blair's eyes widened. “The hearts are working.”

Stasi flopped back onto the bed. “I hate those hearts! I wish they'd just disappear! Do you know how hard it is to look at him and not see them? To ignore them if we're around humans who can't see them?” Stasi slid up the bed until she sat against the headboard. Bogie materialized from his bed and curled up on the pillow beside her.

Blair dropped on the end of the bed and sat cross-legged.

“Jazz just called. She said she had a sense something was wrong up here.”

“That's an understatement,” Stasi said dryly. “Did you tell her what happened so far?”

“I told all.” Blair's smile grew wider.

“You didn't!” Stasi grabbed her pillow and threw it at her friend. “How could you tell her that Trev and I—!” She faltered.

“Danced the horizontal tango? Bumped pretties, because no way I can say bumping uglies. Hit the mattress. Augh!” She ducked as a trickle of ice-cold water dripped from a small glass floating over her head. “No, I didn't tell her about Trev, but it shows where your mind went. She'll figure it out on her own anyway. She asked why you left a message only saying we had some problems as if it's nothing major when it's a lot more than that. I told her it's best she see it for herself. She said she and Nick will be up tomorrow night.”

“The more help the better,” Stasi said, meaning it. She knew if there was a major problem, they'd need all the help they could get.

And if anyone was good at solving problems, it was Jazz Tremaine.

Stasi ran down the back stairs as a large black Lincoln Navigator slowed to a stop by the bottom. She shaded her eyes with her hand until the bright headlights were switched off. The sounds of bickering could be heard through the closed windows and grew more heated as doors opened and the six occupants climbed out into the cold night air.

“All I said was that there was no reason why we couldn't make one more teensy weensy stop,” Jazz pointed out, following Nick to the back of the SUV. “Do you know how hard it is to find sno-balls nowadays? It's not like I can walk into any grocery store and find them. That mini-mart carries them all the time, both the pink and the white ones. I always stop to stock up on my way up here! It wouldn't have taken me longer than a couple minutes to run in and grab up whatever they had.”

The tall vampire's jaw was locked so tight Stasi was amazed it didn't snap. She was positive he'd be flashing some fang next. Clearly Jazz was now working on his last nerve, and it was rapidly shredding. “We were already running late, Jazz. Don't worry, we'll stop there on the way back and you can stock up on your precious sno-balls so you can go on a coconut marshmallow covered cake binge to the point where you'll be moaning and groaning with the stomachache of all stomachaches. But we'd already made enough stops. There was no reason to keep Stasi and Blair up any later than we had to.” He stepped over to hug Stasi and drop a quick kiss on her forehead before he moved to the back of the SUV and opened the rear cargo hatch, hauling out suitcases and tote bags.

“As entertaining as the two of you are, next time let's have a movie playing for the rest of the inmates. There is a DVD player and screens in there, you know?” Krebs, Jazz's mortal roommate, helped Nick sort out the luggage. He groaned as he pulled out one obviously heavy bag. “What is it with you women and tons of luggage? We're only going to be here several days.”

“You men are handsome all the time. We women need more work.” Letiticia touched the back of his neck with her slender porcelain-pale fingers. He instantly smiled back at the lovely vampire who had captured his heart.

“At least, now I can go inside and not be out here freezing to death,” Irma grumbled as Sirius hopped out of the vehicle after her. The ghostie mastiff immediately zoomed in on a nearby tree to mark it as his.

“What is it about you always claiming you're going to freeze to death during the winter or roast to death during the summer when, hello? you're dead!” Jazz picked up a tote bag.

“Blair, the kids are here!” Stasi laughingly called upstairs.

“Very funny.” Jazz ran over and hugged her tightly. “Just because Nick doesn't need to make stops doesn't mean there aren't others that have to,” she whispered in her ear.

“No one can have to make that many bathroom stops unless they have a bladder the size of a pea.” Nick's preternatural hearing meant he didn't even have to eavesdrop.

“We had to make a total of three stops and he acts like it was thirty.” Jazz directed a stern look at the two bunny slippers, who slid out of the vehicle wearing hungry eager expressions on their furry faces and looked around for their next opportunity for mischief. “You'd better keep your promise to behave or you won't be taking any road trips for centuries.”

Fluff chattered away, bending one ear then straightening it in an
aye aye sir!
gesture while Puff sighed, rolled his dark eyes, and bobbed a reluctant yes.

“Don't give me the Boy Scout routine because neither of you would have been allowed in,” Jazz reminded Fluff. “And luckily, you never ate one, either. That I know of.”

The slippers chattered away as they raced up the stairs.

“So you're all right with Krebs and Letiticia dating?” Stasi whispered. She knew Jazz hadn't been happy when Krebs started seeing a vampire. Letiticia was a client of Krebs'; he designed and maintained social websites meant for the supernatural communities and they'd met online.

Jazz grimaced. “Not completely, but we have an understanding. She doesn't lay a fang on Krebs and I don't push her outside on a bright sunny day.”

Stasi chuckled. “That will work.”

Frenzied barking sounded from the top of the stairs and intensified as Bogie floated downward. The small dog snarled and snapped at the slippers, who had stopped halfway up the stairs but didn't look the least bit intimidated by his canine warnings. He showed more restraint at the sight of Sirius.

“You behave, too,” Stasi chided the dog, who quieted down but still displayed a curled lip to show he wasn't taking any guff from reprobate bunny slippers.

“You have no idea what this trip has been like. Not only did Jazz say I couldn't smoke during the trip, the others backed her up. If you want to get technical, the only one who might be bothered by the smoke is Jonathon, and he's such a gentleman, he wouldn't have minded.” Irma started to hug Stasi then backed off as she remembered that as a ghost she'd only go through the witch, leaving a nasty cold sensation behind. “And don't you look pretty tonight! What a shame you had to stay up for us. Nicky was late picking us up,” she confided.

“And you look ready for the cold weather. It's not all that late now that the days are already growing shorter.” Stasi smiled as she admired Irma decked out in gray wool pants, a soft blue, green, and pink print sweater, and a pink fur-lined parka. Once Jazz had found the right spell to allow the ghost to update her wardrobe, Irma had tossed out her 1956 navy floral dress and gone wild for modern clothing. Even her gray perm was gone now, and she sported soft waves in a becoming shade of ash brown. The only habit from the 1950s she hadn't given up was her love for Lucky Strikes, even though Jazz had loudly decreed the car and the carriage house were no smoking zones.

“She wanted to wear ski pants, but I told her no way.” Jazz stamped her Ugg-shod feet on the ground and tucked her hands inside her jacket. “I love Samhain, but I do wish it happened during a warmer time of year. Has Thea shown up yet?”

Stasi shook her head. “She retreated to Paris for some
haute couture
therapy. She's in mourning.”

“What happened?”

She leaned over to murmur, “Her latest book didn't make the
New York Times
bestseller list.”

Jazz reared back. “But she at least made the extended list, right?”

Stasi shook her head. “Not even
USA Today.
”

Jazz's coral-glossed lips formed an O. “Whoa. She must be having a major meltdown. Ever since book lists were invented, her books under any of her pseudonyms have always been in the top ten for weeks.”

“It didn't happen this time and saying she's not happy is an understatement,” Stasi whispered as if afraid of being overheard.

“Then it's a good thing she's not coming. If she's having a witchy hissy fit it's better she destroy her own belongings and not yours.”

“Very true,” Blair agreed, running down the stairs and hugging each in turn. “We have wine waiting along with a pot of coffee on. We know Nick can partake and I assume you can, too?” she asked Letiticia.

“I can, thank you.” She smiled. “I've never been up this way, so I'm looking forward to celebrating Samhain with you.”

“We have plenty of guest rooms upstairs, but there's also special rooms fixed up in the basement,” Stasi said.

“I want to make snow angels.” Jazz hopped onto Nick's back and wrapped her legs around his waist and arms around his neck, dropping a quick kiss on his cheek. “Can't you see this big bad vampire as an angel?” She grinned.

“How many espressos have you had?” Stasi asked, guessing the source of Jazz's energy.

“Five, six triple shots, who's counting?”

“Hence all the bathroom stops,” Nick muttered, but there was still a devilish light in his dark brown eyes, as he walked Jazz over to a fresh pile of snow and arched backward, dumping her. She shrieked as the snow slid down her collar. With a speed that almost rivaled his, she grabbed his arm and pulled him down next to her.

Stasi laughed. She knew if Nick hadn't wanted to be pulled down into the snow, he wouldn't have allowed Jazz to get the better of him. She envied their banter and play as lovers who'd known each other for centuries. And she knew the trouble they'd had in the past. She was pleased to see they were beyond that.

“Honestly, get a room, you two!” Blair called out on a note of laughter. “It's going to be a blast having you all here.” She ushered them upstairs. “We haven't had anything close to a full house for some time. This feels very right.”

***

“Tell us what's going on with the lake and what happened last night,” Jazz said, once they were settled in the family room with glasses of wine.

Stasi began with the night she and Blair had discovered the barrier and odd lights over the water then told about Trev's spell and how it was destroyed, and ended with the previous night's orbs outside the window.

“When we woke up this morning there was a heavy snowfall and no sign of the orbs,” she finished. “But there was the sensation that something had tested the wards on the building. I think if they hadn't been strong enough, whatever those orbs were would have gotten in.”

Jazz was curled up in an oversized linen-colored chair with brick red and moss green pillows behind her. Nick sat on the floor beside the chair, leaning against Jazz's leg, and the bunny slippers snoozed on top of her Ugg boots that lay on the floor.

“I wonder why it wouldn't allow you to get too close or even figure out what it is?” Jazz mused out loud. She leaned over and picked up her boots, dislodging Fluff and Puff, who grumbled at being ousted from their soft bed. “I want to see the lake.” She pulled on her Uggs and stood up.

Krebs looked over from his prone position on the moss green couch, with his head resting on a linen-colored pillow set on Letiticia's lap as she stroked his hair away from his forehead. “Now? It's one o'clock in the morning!”

“You don't have to go, Krebs.” Jazz looked down at Nick with an expectant air. He sighed and stood up with fluid grace. “You don't need to go with us,” she told Stasi and Blair, who likewise stood up.

“It might be a good idea to keep the power base strong in case there's something else out there,” Stasi said.

“Then we may as well make it a group field trip.” Krebs glanced at Letiticia, who nodded.

Irma continued to rest in an easy chair with Sirius lying at her feet. “I hope you all don't mind that I stay behind.”

“Works for me.” Jazz grinned, pulling her coat back on.

“More snow,” Stasi groaned, when they walked outside and found the heavy white flakes falling in silence. Their boots crunched on the cold ground.

“You usually don't have snow this early.” Jazz looked around.

“Considering everything else, it's not surprising.” Blair adjusted her rust wool cap down around her ears and pulled on matching mittens. Stasi wore a matching set in teal blue.

“Does the lake ever completely freeze?” Krebs asked, dodging a low-hanging tree branch.

“No, and that has surprised us because we've had cold enough winters for it to happen,” Stasi replied. She stopped and looked down the path. “You can see the lights even from back here.” She pointed straight ahead.

They all stood quietly and watched the dance of green lights perform a ballet in the air.

“Nothing like this has happened in all the years we've come here. Why now?” Jazz voiced the question Stasi and Blair had been asking themselves.

Jazz slowed down when they moved past the trees. The three witches stood side by side, staring in horror at the lake that had centered them for so many years. Instead of the usual serene silver blue surface, the water was frothing dark blue with black waves, as if a volcano boiled deep within it.

The barrier was still crisscrossed with green and black stripes, and the cobalt ring around the edge that Trev had laid down in a powerful spell lay in pieces.

“Yikes!” Jazz shook her head. She cocked her head to one side as she studied it. “This doesn't make any sense. The only way an obstacle like this could happen is with the use of mega-watt magick. Yet, I can't even feel any form of power coming from the barricade. Maybe the wizard's spell did enough harm that now it just needs a little help coming the rest of the way down.” She held up her hand revealing a roiling orange-red flame that was triple the size of what she normally conjured up.

“
No!
” Stasi and Blair shouted at the same time Jazz threw the fireball at the barrier.

“Fuck!” Nick grabbed Krebs by the collar and threw him to the ground then hit the dirt as Letiticia also dropped flat.

The moment the fireball hit the barrier, a roaring sound assaulted their ears as a wall of flame swiftly covered the surface and flared back at them. Stasi, Blair, and Jazz were thrown backwards, pushed forcefully among the trees.

“Ow!” Stasi winced as her back connected with a tree trunk. She glared at her friend. “The barrier has its own protection. I told you what happened when Blair first tried to get it to reveal itself when it was totally invisible to us. Did you honestly think a fireball would make a difference?”

Jazz picked pine needles out of her hair. “Anyone can make a mistake,” she muttered in self-defense.

“Not when you almost turned us all into torches.” Nick glared at her as he stood up.

“Damn, woman.” Krebs got to his feet and helped Letiticia up. “I should have known better. You had to go all big bad witch, didn't you? What's your next plan? Blowing up the whole town?”

“Okay, sometimes I get carried away. And this turned out to be a bad idea.” Jazz groaned as she slowly rose to her feet and approached the barrier with belated caution. She winced as flames licked along the ground. She looked over her shoulder. “I thought you said the fire held no heat?”