“Hi, sweet baby.” She scooped up the cat, and the animal burrowed deep into her arms. She’d never seen this kitten on the property before. She didn’t take the angel of death as a cat owner, which meant this tiny creature had arrived for her. Cats and witches had a bond that extended throughout history, and if a cat had followed her here, it was a sign it sensed her magic.
“You’re so pretty.” Belladonna hugged the kitty before setting her on the floor. “Are you hungry? Would you like a snack?” The cat curled around her ankles, purring enthusiastically, and Belladonna returned to the pantry to dig out a can of tuna. She pried off the top and dumped it on a plate while she made herself some popcorn, and the kitten ate half of the meal before drinking some water. The animal then sat by her feet while she heated the cider, and Belladonna knew she’d found a friend in this mansion.
“You need a name,” Belladonna said as she walked to the living room, kitty in tow. “What about Broomstick? Witchesdon’t actually fly on them, but I think it’s cute.” She turned on the TV and settled into the couch, the cat leaping into her lap. “Broomstick it is, sweet girl. We’re going to be best friends. I can already tell.”
“Since when do we have a cat?” a deep voice asked.
“Since ten minutes ago,” Belladonna answered, completely forgetting to ignore Vlad. “She was outside the kitchen window, and I let her in. Cats often flock to where witches live.”
“She looks small.” Vlad settled behind the couch, his eyes slipping good-naturedly to her outfit choice. “Is she sick?”
“Don’t think so,” Belladonna said. “Broomstick is still a baby.”
“Broomstick?” he repeated, a deep chuckle rumbling through his chest, and the sound wrapped Belladonna in warmth. She decided against her will that she liked it.
“What? It’s an excellent name for a witch’s cat.”
“It is.” Vlad leaned over her shoulders and stroked the kitten’s soft head with his tattooed hand, and it was strange to see the skull-inked skin that had caused so much pain and death scratch a baby animal behind the ears. “She’s pretty,” he said in a tone that told her he wasn’t talking about the cat, and as he straightened back to a stand, his palm brushed her shoulder. “What are you watching?”
“A Halloween movie.”
“Already?”
“Yes, already. It’s fall. The leaves are turning. The weather is cooler. It’s time to fill this house with witches.”
“What? No vampire movies?” he teased.
“Absolutely not. It would frighten Broomstick.”
“Okay then,” Vlad chuckled, and for a second, Belladonna considered asking him to watch the movie with her. She was married to this vampire. Gabriel wasn’t the man she hoped he was, and the longer she remained in this house, the moreshe realized her marriage was permanent. Vlad would never let her go. Not only because he’d forced her to wed him for some unexplainable reason, but a divorce would be a clear sign of breaking the peace. Vlad discarding her would be akin to him tearing up the treaty he’d signed with her mother, and while an annulment might have been feasible in the days following the wedding, she’d been married to the vampire leader for almost two months. This was her life now. He was her future, and she wondered if she should offer a truce to the husband she would spend eternity with. Could she forgive his sins? Could she sit on this couch with him and share her popcorn? Her thoughts? Her kisses? What would it be like to kiss Vlad? Would he?—?
She shut down that thought. She couldn’t think like that. Not when the man was pure beauty and strength in the flesh. Not when he was the kind of man who would ruin your life if you let him between your thighs. Not when he’d forced her to wed him. No, she wouldn’t ask him to stay and watch the movie with her. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
“Have a good night, little witch,” Vlad said, clearly picking up on her internal argument. “Goodnight, Broomstick.”
“Goodnight, Vlad.”
Goodnight, Vlad.She’d spoken to him, and what’s more, she’d said his name. His name on her tongue was magic he would sell his soul for, and that she had on the witch tee shirt he bought her made his un-beating heart race. She hadn’t ignored him, and he didn’t know if that was progress or a side effect of the sudden cat, but if that kitten softened his young wife toward him, Vlad would gladly tolerate the animal. Hell, he’d buy it fresh tuna steaks and organic milk if it encouraged Belladonna’s warmth. He didn’t understandhimself around the witch. He lost all rational thought, lost all control, and all he could focus on was the overwhelming desire to have her in his life, in his house, in his bed. He didn’t care that they’d been married for two months and hadn’t even kissed. As long as she was close by, filling the mansion with the scent of pumpkin spice and her fragrant skin, he was content. He realized she was mad at him for forcing the marriage, but his restraint crumbled in her presence. She was everything he wanted, all he thought about. He hated witches. Despised them his entire existence, and now all he craved was a witch. He coveted her smiles, her voice, her touch. He didn’t recognize his own mind, and while he should purge himself of this obsession, he knew he wouldn’t. Vlad couldn’t bear the prospect of anything taking that beautiful young witch from him.
So, he left the living room, but he remained close by. He grabbed his laptop and moved into the adjacent room. He worked while she laughed. He listened to her converse with the cat, but by the time the second film ended, her voice had fallen silent.
Unable to resist any longer, Vlad slipped into the living room. The movie’s credits were playing, but Belladonna was fast asleep on the couch; the kitten curled up against her belly. She lay on her side, one leg straight and the other bent beneath her, and Vlad froze at the sight. The funny witch shirt he’d bought her had bunched up around her hips, and he realized the top wasn’t the only new item she’d sampled. One of the lacy orange thongs he’d purchased clung to her skin, leaving her ass on display, and his cock twitched in his pants. She was so beautiful; it was almost painful. It took all his self-control not to trail his tattooed hand over the back of her thighs, not to take hold of those perfectly round cheeks. He’d been alive for a long time, some might say too long, and he’d seen a lot of women. He’d been with a lot of women, butnone could compare to his wife. She called to him as if she’d cast a spell, and he might believe his obsession was because of magic if he hadn’t double-checked that the wards were blocking her abilities. His desire for her, that deep-rooted need in his chest, came from something else. Something he was terrified to admit because if it was true, if his craving for her was more than lust, it would change everything. It would explain why his son was livid about his wedding, but not because he loved her. Gabriel couldn’t love her, not if Vlad’s suspicions were correct. He still didn’t know why his son wanted to marry the woman, and he didn’t understand how anyone could resist her beauty, but that nagging theory might point to why.
Vlad exhaled and grabbed the remote, forcing himself to stop fantasizing about slipping onto the couch and wrapping his arms around her bare body. He clicked off the television and then draped a blanket over her, covering those glorious legs he kept picturing wrapped around his waist.
“Good night, little witch,” he said, allowing himself one moment of weakness to brush her hair off her face. “Sweet dreams.”
Vlad started leaving his office door open while he worked in the hopes that Belladonna would pass by in her daily efforts to make his life miserable, and while she was doing a magnificent job of tormenting him, she was also the highlight of his day. Who knew being ignored by a young witch in shorts could be so exhilarating? Perhaps he’d spent too many decades interrogating and torturing the vampires’ enemies because he’d clearly lost his mind. He rarely saw the witch, the unrest outside this home setting his fangs on edge, but this war with his new wife oddly brought him a sliver of peace.
Until she walked by his office wearing just a tee shirt that barely covered her ass and a pair of ghost socks with two cats in tow. Vlad stood up and blinked his dark eyes.Two cats?Since when did they have two black cats? Maybe he was seeing double. He had to be.
He stepped into the hallway and followed as his wife wandered toward the courtyard. His office was located at the rear of the mansion, meaning she went outof her way to spite him. The cooler the fall weather became, the more time she spent outside… and the smaller her clothes became. Seemed she thrived on Halloween weather, and he thrived on the glorious sight of her beautiful form.
“Why do we have two cats?” Vlad chased after her, hoping she would stop before she reached the door, and to his relief, she turned around. She never answered him unless he asked about Broomstick, which was why he’d suddenly become a cat lover. “And why is that cat so big?”
“That’s Fang,” she said with a pointed look at Vlad’s mouth. “He was a stray with a bit of a temper and a torn ear, so naturally, I named him for you.” She scooped up the big cat as if he were the sweetest angel, and Vlad wondered if she was lying about the cat’s attitude until the animal hissed violently at him.
“You’re hysterical,” he said dryly as Fang cuddled against Belladonna’s chest with a mocking expression, taunting him with the reality that the cats received more of his wife’s affection than her husband did. “Although if you truly wanted to name him for his attitude, you should have named him after yourself, little witch. You certainly have me beat in that regard.”
