“Look, if you zap me with your sex magic, I won’t want to be your friend.”
The damn incubus caged me in with his arms, pushing me back against a gnarly tree trunk. His skin burned me, but my magic burned hotter. It exploded from the place inside my chest and consumed us both in a violet inferno. All I could see were two blue eyes staring back at me in surprise before the sound of a bear roaring turned off my magical valve and the fire vanished.
When I blinked, my bear had the incubus pinned to the ground. Given the size of Maverick’s bear, I was slightly concerned the incubus wouldn’t survive the encounter, but he apparently gave no shits.
“Ooh, you want a piece of me too, bear?” It took a moment to realize I’d burned all the clothes away from the incubus’s body. He rocked his hips up, drawing my attention to a very impressive…wait, why did his dick have metal attachments? I leaned in to get a closer look while my bear snarled and roared.
“Happy to share, care bear,” Zane grinned before blinking away and reappearing in front of me. He dropped a kiss on my neck, causing me to shiver. Maverick roared loud enough to make the entire forest quake. A flock of agitated birds flew up from the canopy, squawking angrily.
“Maverick, stop! I’m fine!” I yelled. “He’s being a dick!” Of course, my eyes dropped to the dick in question, making the idiot chuckle.
His tattoos flared gold again, but this time, I ignored my body’s urgent desire to mount the incubus and ride him like a cowgirl.
“It’s okay, pet, no need to be embarrassed. My dick can wait for you.” He wiggled his hips lewdly before a clawed paw threw him into a tree. As the incubus lay on the ground groaning, my bear shifted back into a man. Another indecently hot, naked man.
Stars above. This was turning into a real trial. Willow had made me watch theHunger Games, a human dystopian movie. None of the games had been this taxing. I bet even Katniss would have struggled to manage two idiotic magical males with coyote poop for brains.
“She’s my mate,” Maverick growled, the bear still present in his eyes. “You have no fucking right to touch her!”
But the incubus just laughed. “Oh, I think I do, and you know it, care bear. But that’s a conversation for another day.” Before I could question him, he blinked away for good this time.
“I don’t understand,” I admitted.
Maverick cuddled me closer, protecting me from the rain with his massive body.
“I’m taking you back to my cabin. You’re cold and wet, little witch. Once you’re warm and dry, you can tell me why that fucking asshole ofan incubus had you pinned against a tree in the middle of the fucking forest.”
Rage bled through his eyes as fur sprouted along his arms. I sighed. Shifters were so possessive. I sincerely hoped jealous tantrums every five minutes were not in my future, or things would get real old, real fast.
“Please take me to your cabin, my bear.” I nestled my cheek against his furry chest. My words seemed to calm him, for he relaxed almost immediately. I guessed that, for a shifter, taking care of their mate mattered to them. Well, that was fine with me.
All I wanted was some warm clothes, a comfy bed, and at least eight hours of solid sleep.
“I’ll always take care of you, my mate.”
Maverick scooped me up into his powerful arms and carried me away.
The early morning sun peeked through the trees as I staggered into the greenhouse to find Miss Windborne waiting for me, dressed in her usual utilitarian overalls. Fully expecting a severe tongue-lashing for skipping our mental shield lesson, my shoulders slumped in resignation.
She’d been so kind to offer extra tutoring, and I’d flaked on her without so much as an apology. What a horrible, selfish witch I was. If she wanted me to clean the chicken coop for the rest of the year, I would do it. It was no less than I deserved.
“Stop it, Raven. I’m not mad at you. I’m worried.” Miss Windborne’s soft voice cut through my meltdown.
“You are?” I croaked. The door swung open behind me and I sensed rather than saw Glynda.
“Oh, Raven! Are you okay?” She shot toward me and flung her arms around my neck. “I was so scared after you disappeared!” Stars, now I felt truly awful. Not once had it occurred to me Glynda might be worried. I figured she’d go back to her room and forget about little ol’ me and the fire-dog-monster-catastrophe.
If onlyIcould forget about it. When Maverick walked me back to my dorm at dawn, I’d seen the state of the dining hall and cringed. Someone had boarded up the windows, but smoke hung in the air. I hoped there was an earth witch on staff who could repair the damage.
Miss Windborne nodded at Glynda and pointed to some seedlings on the potting table.
“Can you deal with these while I talk to Raven?” My friend nodded. She squeezed my hand, gave me a look that said we’d definitely be talking about everything later, and then strode away. Miss Windborne gestured at a bench in a sunny corner of the glasshouse.
“Let’s sit and talk,” she said in a firm voice.
I steeled my spine and did as I was told.
“From what I’ve heard, your magic exploded last night. Is that true?”
