“It’s a very simple question.”
“Simple in its construction, yes. But the insinuation behind it looms like one of the shadow folk, darkening itssimplicity.“ Holt glared, sniffing as he turned away. “I assure you, she is a whole ass adult. With a job and a 401(k) and everything. She packs snacks for me when we go places for the day. Her idea of a fun night out is board games. No, you didn’t mishear me. I said a fun nightout. We leave the house to play board games with her friends. It’s actually a lot of fun, I can’t complain. The place has really good sweet potato fries . . . anyway, I digress. You can rest assured that I did not meet her after volleyball practice at the local high school, which isclearlywhat you’re implying.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the way he was glaring at her, but she would be lying if she pretended that his words did not assuage her suspicions.
“That’s all I needed to know. Do you think she would want to be a product tester?”
He possessed the changeability one might expect from a cat, Ladybug thought, for at her words, he immediately brightened, his momentary offense forgotten.
“Yes! Do you know, if you keep churning out new products at this rate, you’re going to need a storefront. Just think of it, Ladybug.”
She was practically able to see the stars in his eyes as he put his arm around her shoulder, moving his hand through the air to direct her attention to some nonexistent reality.
“The Cat & Crow in exclusive partnership with Brackenbridge Spellcraft. Black awnings. Silver white lettering. Étagère with testers, abeautifuldisplay case of antique spell books and artisanal glass potion bottles.”
Her eyes followed the line of his hand, still hovering in the air before them. She wondered if he practiced these dramatic monologues before a mirror, or if he’d simply perfected the art of showmanship over the centuries.
“Beauty at the front. Health and family on a side wall with several display cases moving to the center aisle. Behind the counter – the pièce de résistance. Love spells. Hexes. Spellcraft of a caliber so high that its achievement could only be rendered by the most powerful of witches. We’ll spend a fortune on the bottles, but we’ll make it back on the bottom line. That’s a net-net investment. I’ll keep a small section over at the Bridgeton location, but here . . . Cambric Creek is where therealmagic happens. Elizabeth Alice Amaranth Brackenbridge, an herbal sorceress with a witchy pedigree you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else, on any continent. Can’t you just see it?”
She couldn’t, but she couldn’t deny that his enthusiasm wasn’t infectious.
“You should listen to the cat man, little bug. This future he paints for you is very ambitious sounding.”
Anzan’s low voice behind them was as serious as ever, lightly awestruck, and Ladybug was laughing even before she had shrugged Holt’s arm off her shoulder.
“If I wasn’t here to supervise, I might be concerned over how easily you are taken in by his shtick.” Turning to Holt, she shook her head with a smile. “This is for her,notfor you,“ she instructed, handing a small box holding the sample tubes of ointment. “Tell her to read the directions and record her results. And keep your nose and whiskers out of it, I don’t need you interfering with my data.”
Once he was gone, Anzan came to stand behind her, wrapping two arms around her waist while the remaining two massaged her shoulders.What on earth did you do before him?
“You must admit, my little bug,” he began solemnly, “the cat man’s ambitions for youareexciting. Just imagine, your own shop, where townsfolk of every species will come to have you heal their children and inflame their passions.”
At that, she twisted up, leaning her head back until she was able to peer up at him upside down. “We’re still in the testing phase for that last part. But since you have such strong ambitions today, you can assist.”
The first tube he unstoppered, once they had relocated to her bedroom, was the very first prototype, containing the smallest amount of his venom. She had concocted a gel-like consistency, one that melted into a slippery, water soluble viscousness. The recipe itself was relatively straightforward and would be easy to replicate in bulk. The same supplies from her soap line, purified water, a bit of plant cellulose, and of course, the most important ingredient — on tap in her attic, sustainably sourced.
“Don’t use too much,” she instructed. “I need to be able to tell if it’s potent enough on its own without overdoing it.”
He had constructed a web between the four posters of her bed, identical to the web he’d made that very first night he’d entered her bedroom. She was in the springy center, and although he had ensured that she was secure and would not fall, she was not fastened in place.
“You must tell me what it is I am to do, little bug.”
Her cheeks flushed as she grinned at him. She was undressed and her legs were open. “I’m very curious to know what youthinkyou’re supposed to do with it, if it is not abundantly clear.”
The sound of disgust he made had her shoulders shaking in laughter, his nose screwing up disdainfully as he shook his head. “I am merely trying to be a good laboratory assistant. You shouldn’t make assumptions when it comes to experimental safety, my Ladybug. What if I thought it went in your eye?”
She was still laughing when his fingers pressed into the lips of her sex, rubbing the slippery lubricant against her clit. Her head dropped back and her eyes fluttered shut, and all she focused on was the sensation. Warm. Pleasantly tingly. But none of the blazing fire to which she was accustomed, none of the desperate heat.
“Okay, wash this one off. Use that washcloth there . . . yes. That one. Make sure you put the same cork into that vial and set it aside. Please try to keep track of which is which.”
For the next hour, she felt rather like Goldilocks. One was too weak. One she feared might be too strong. Two of the vials were declared duds and set aside entirely. Ladybug considered, once he had wiped her clean again and was carefully opening the fifth tube, that she would need to isolate the winners of this testing round and try them again individually.You’re probably confusing your own data by doing it this way, but at least it gives you a starting point.Her clit was already plump and needy, the ointment she had deemed too strong waking her every nerve ending.
She reminded herself again that she would need to try this one on its own, isolated and independently of any others when he stroked the gel-like lubricant into her. Her eyes closed and her mouth dropped open, a breathy sigh escaping her.Herewas the fire. Heat surged through her, and she gripped fistfuls of web, desperate for something to hold onto as her hips lifted, meeting his hand. Anzan understood immediately.
“I think we have found the one that satisfies best, my little bug,” he crooned.
He was right. It wasn’t precisely the same as what she experienced with him. There was no match being held to her blood, no fire surging through her veins, and she was not twisting and writhing against his web in desperation . . . But she was flooded with arousal just the same, the heat making her pant, keening when he sunk two fingers into her.
“Does this make you feel good, my little witch? Is this what you need?”
