“Lessons?”Amellia knew she sometimes changed subjects dramatically in the course of one breath but her aunt far outdid her on tangential conversation gambits.
“The staff recognized power in you—didn’t you feel it?I’ve been waiting decades for one of my blood to manifest an aptitude with magic and now you have.Congratulations!”
Not sure she shared her aunt’s enthusiasm, Amellia swallowed hard.“I’ll uh check my calendar and we can set something up.”
“Soon.”Cheline was adamant.She rose from the stool, placing her mug in the sink and it was plain the visit was over.
Amellia gulped the rest of her coffee, too rare and precious to waste, and she and Hagan headed toward the store’s front door, shepherded by Cheline.
“Let me go first,” Hagan said when they reached the door, moving ahead of the ladies.
“I assure you there’s no threat.”Cheline sounded affronted and her forehead was creased in a fearsome frown.
Courteous but undaunted, Hagan placed his hand on the control panel.“Nonetheless, I was trained to be a prudent warrior and will reconnoiter before allowing either of you to come to any harm.”
Amellia found she was holding her breath as the door opened but only bright sunshine poured in.Hagan eased cautiously outside and a moment later he was back.
“I think we tore up your landscaping,” he said with a rueful grin.“But otherwise there’s no more fog and the coast is clear.”
“I’ll send you a bill for the damage,” Cheline replied, standing on her threshold and surveying the deep ruts left by the groundcar as it landed in the flowerbed.“I’m not upset but I have to present a professional and inviting façade for my customers.”
“No problem, as I said earlier, I’m good for it.”Hagan took Amellia’s hand and bent over to kiss Cheline on the cheek.“Thank you again for all you’ve done.I feel as if we’re family now—I hope I see you again, Amellia’s aunt.”
Giving her niece a wink, Cheline said, “Oh, I suspect we might be seeing you at the family gatherings from now on.”
“Any parting word of advice?”Amellia asked, reluctant to leave the sanctuary of her aunt’s store.
“Don’t open any more mysterious boxes from offplanet.”Cheline shook her finger at Hagan but even as she scolded him, she was smiling.“All right, be off, the two of you, I’ve got work to do.”She stepped back and the next instant the door closed with a thump as the lock engaged.
“I like your aunt,” Hagan said as he escorted Amellia to the groundcar and helped her over the torn-up earth and broken planters.“She’s a fine mixture of common sense and powerful magic.”
“Which apparently I might inherit.”Amellia sat in the passenger seat and grimaced.“I didn’t see that development coming.She sounded so smug about it.”
“I’ll drive you home,” he said as he took his place behind the controls and maneuvered the vehicle off the lawn and onto the road, where he proceeded to sedately drive.
ChapterSix
“Would you like to come inside for breakfast?”she asked, heart beating faster as they approached her neighborhood.“You aren’t going to work today either, are you?”
“After a night of fighting black magic?No way.And I’d love to have something more substantial in my stomach than coffee so yes, thanks, I accept your offer.”
Okay then.Good.”Flustered, she made herself more comfortable and stared straight ahead.An odd silence fell between them.It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable but there was tension in the air.Amellia tried to decide if this was a good omen or a bad one.Her alleged nascent magical abilities were no help.
When they reached her apartment building she directed Hagan where to park and then once he’d found the space and turned off the groundcar, she hopped out without waiting for him to come and open her door.
“Lead the way,” he said with a smile.
Together they trudged up the old-fashioned stairs.Her building was equipped with a gravlift but she wasn’t in a rush to run into any of her nice-but-nosy neighbors today, especially not wearing her less than fresh clothes or leading a handsome man to her place.Most people avoided the stairway.
As soon as she got inside the apartment, her cat was winding around her ankles, yowling as only he could do.“You’re not starving,” Amellia assured the pet, stopping to scratch behind his ears.She headed for the kitchen.“I’d better feed this spoiled beast or we won’t be able to hear ourselves think.He lacks a volume control.”
“Cute cat.”
“I found him as a stray at the spaceport a couple of years ago,” she said.“People tend to dump unwanted cats and kittens there because they know spacers like to have a cat for their ship, to control vermin or just for good luck.It gets to be quite a problem for the port authority.”And why am I running on about cats?What in the seven hells was she nervous about?Hagan spent the entire night proving how much he cared about her so he wasn’t exactly likely to eat and run.Or kiss and run.
Hagan followed her and she was acutely conscious of his presence in the small area as she served up the cat food.Putting the bowl on the floor for her pet, she pivoted to find Hagan right behind her and it was the most natural thing in the world to go straight into his arms and be kissed with flattering intent and passion.Hagan licked the seam of her lips and she gave him access to all of her, which he took like a pirate plundering a treasure.She was pressed so tightly against him she could feel his arousal against her body, hot and hard and ground her hips, seeking to soothe the ache deep inside.His tail traced its way up her leg in a sensuous tickling movement and stopped at the edge of her soaked panties.
Amellia made a sound of protest, wanting him to continue what he was doing but Hagan released her instantly.
