WILLEM (The Witches of Wimberley Book 1) Read online

  “After that you leave and get on with enjoying your prize while everybody else stays and enjoys champagne.”

  “I definitely get the better part of that deal.”

  Kellan smiled. Raider sniggered.

  “So what insider tips are you going to give me about how to please my prize?”

  “Since each prize is different, you’re on your own. Just trust that you wouldn’t have won if it wasn’t the right thing for both of you. You’re a matched pair. You couldn’t stop yourself from loving her.”

  “Love?” I might have sounded a tad alarmed. “I’m not promising that, am I?”

  “No. There’s no language about love in the vows.” Kellan gave me one of his stone-cold serious looks. I was beginning to be able to read him. “You’re not afraid of love, are you, Will?”

  “Afraid? No. I wouldn’t say afraid is the right word. I just don’t think love figures in my future because I don’t think it’s real.”

  “I see.” Kellan exchanged glances with Raider. “Well, stranger things have happened in Wimberley.”

  “How strange?”

  “It would take all the fun out of getting to know the place if we started telling tales.”

  “Tales? Or eye-witness accounts?”

  “We’ve both seen our share of things we once believed impossible.” Kellan pointed a remote at the wall. Book cases slid back to reveal a giant flat screen TV. “You like sports, Will?”

  “Not as much as people who go to games or sports bars, but to an extent, yes.”

  “What kind of sports do you like to watch?”

  “Hockey. The last ten minutes of basketball. The U.S. Open.”

  Raider laughed. “How about canoeing?”

  “Well, yeah. I like doing stuff more than watching stuff.”

  “We’ve got half an hour to kill before it’s time for you to get dressed. What do you want to do?”

  “See what’s on the History channel?”

  Kellan grinned. “Okay.”

  As it turned out, All Star Pawn Las Vegas was doing a rerun marathon and that delighted Raider.

  “This show is great!” he pronounced. “Those guys know everything in the world!”

  I’d never seen it before, but by the end, I had to admit I was impressed with how much encyclopedic knowledge the owners could regurgitate at a moment’s notice.

  When it was over, Kellan said, “Time to get ready.”

  “I’m gonna watch another one,” Raider said.

  Kellan handed me the hanging bag, which was a lot heavier than it looked. He opened a door to a large bath with dressing area. “We’ll help you with the robe. Just get yourself into the suit.”

  “I guess it’s a sure fit.”

  Kellan smiled. “You’re learning. That suit will fit you like it was custom made in Hong Kong.”

  With that he closed the door.

  I looked at myself in one of the full length mirrors and wondered, for the umpteenth time, if I knew what I was doing. The answer was no. I did not know what I was doing, but it was just a year and it promised to be a much better adventure than the one I’d been on in L.A. Actually that had stopped being an adventure after the first year and become an endless dreary existence of standing in line for auditions that never worked out. Another good reason to promise no more than a year and keep options open.

  First things first. I emptied my bladder. Wouldn’t want to interrupt rituals for a pee break.

  Black suit. White shirt with classic dress staved collar. Black tie. Black ostrich cowboy boots. Nice touch. I’d never worn cowboy boots before. They were surprisingly comfortable. And everything was a perfect fit.

  I ran a hand through my hair. Damn. Ravish was going to take one look and be glad I was the one she was taking home tonight.

  I opened the door and stepped back into the study. Raider whistled.

  “You clean up nice, Will.”

  He reopened the black hanging bag and withdrew the hooded robe. It was a kind of charcoal gray color, made of some kind of fabric that looked old, homespun or something like that. It also looked hot as blazes.

  “I’m not going to be very attractive dripping with sweat and red in the face.”

  Raider looked amused. “No worries. It’s air conditioned.”

  I gave the robe a dubious look. “Air conditioned.”

  Raider raised a blonde eyebrow. “Magic.”

  It wasn’t that I doubted the unusual things I’d seen and heard since arriving in Wimberley, but it seemed to me that the entire community was suffering from an attack of hyperbole. Perhaps it was a delusion. Who knew how much was really “magic” and how much was coincidence? I mean, anybody could get lucky with the stock market. Right?

  One thing was certain. The pull I felt toward Rave was real. I’d been separated from her for a matter of hours and was feeling anxious about it.

  “Get that thing on. Kellan will help you with the hood.”

  “Kellan will?” asked Kellan. “What’s wrong with you? You’re standing right next to him.”

  “I don’t help other men get dressed.” He turned away, then as an afterthought turned back with a twinkle in his sky blue eyes. “Now, if your prizes need help getting dressed…”

  “Stop right there,” said Kellan, then he turned to me. “Do not pay attention to this hulk. First of all, if he even thought about looking at another woman, Harmony would turn him into an icicle and hang him from a tree for birds to peck at.”

  Ew.

  “Second, he’s as devoted to her as if he was born a species that mates for life. Like swans. When he says stuff like that, it’s just his old life bubbling to the surface.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  Kellan glanced at his watch, then walked over to me. He fastened the loop hook at the neck of my robe, which made it fall into place and drape, um, like magic. Then he pulled the hood over my head.

  “Careful not to muss his cute little hairdo,” said Raider.

  Kellan gave Raider an irritated look. “Shut up. You’re starting to annoy me now.”

  Raider laughed like that had been his goal. “I’m not trying to annoy you, Kellan. I’m trying to annoy him!”

  “Well, stop it because your irritating behavior is like a shotgun spray.” Kellan pulled the hood down so that I could see if I tilted my head back a little, but it would be hard to see me with my face in shadow.

  “This is ridiculous,” I said.

  “It’ll be over soon. Then your prize will be yours and this indignity will soon be forgotten.” I sighed deeply. “Time to go.”

  We walked to the room where the ball had been, Kellan in front, Raider bringing up the rear. I focused on the floor since that was what I could see without effort.

  Officially Izzy was the family beagle, but Destiny thought of him as hers and Izzy thought of himself as belonging to her. Mostly. Destiny was a little concerned about leaving him alone because he’d been causing more than his share of mischief lately.

  She was looking forward to the party. The annual ceremonies weren’t a chore to attend. They were fun. There would be cousins and friends and a riotous good time they would all remember forever. There was no question that she was going, but there was the worry about what Izzy would do if left alone. Then she had an idea she thought brilliant.

  “There’s more than one way to skin a cat,” she said to Izzy.

  If she’d really thought about that saying, she would have been a little horrified. Witches had stopped skinning cats around the time the real Arthur united a cluster of those barbaric little kingdoms that are now England. Still, some of the language lived on.

  Opening her closet, she fetched the step stool, opened it and climbed up to reach her pink rolling Izzy-size suitcase.

  “Since you don’t seem to be able to behave yourself, you’re going to have to go to the party with me, in this suitcase. I will leave it unzipped enough for you to breathe, but you’re going to have to stay quiet and still. Understand? I
f you’re really good, I’ll give you a treat every fifteen minutes.”

  Izzy, who had no idea what fifteen minutes meant, looked at her with baleful eyes and sighed. He whined when she put him in the suitcase, but quietened when she gave him a T-bonz treat.

  “Shhh. Be good and you’ll get a bunch of those.”

  Her parents were curious as to why she was bringing a pink suitcase. So she lied.

  “Just stuff I want to show Roslyn and Temerity.”

  She lifted the bag into the backseat floor space of her parents’ SUV. When the vehicle started, she reached inside the bag, gave Izzy a couple of reassuring strokes, and a dog treat. It seemed her idea would work out.

  There were lots of tables set around the perimeter of the room and more in an adjoining room. It seemed they needed even more space to accommodate the guests. No expense had been spared. Each table featured a gorgeous floral centerpiece that was unique, but still part of the theme incorporating the same flowers, greenery, and ribbons. Each table was also laden with ornate china, crystal that picked up the smallest light, and silver that looked heavy enough to belong at Buckingham Palace.

  Guests were dressed in semiformal wear, men in suits, women in cocktail dresses. The prepubescent girls wore frilly party dresses. There were no boys, which seemed odd, but I supposed Rave was telling the truth about witches conceiving girls.

  Two tables occupied the space in the center of the room, each displaying a leather-bound book, a candle, a candle snuffer, and a bell. There was so much space left around them that they couldn’t help but command attention. And they would even if each one didn’t have a spotlight shining down on it.

  The room was brightly lit with all the chandeliers and sconces on full wattage.

  I looked around to see if I could spot Rave. Of course I wouldn’t know which one she was. That thought caused a momentary panic, that I could be giving vows to somebody I didn’t know. Then I remembered that, even if her face was hidden, I’d still recognize her voice. Anywhere.

  “Wait here,” said Kellan.

  I was standing in a corner with another hooded figure I presumed to be Cairn Connelly and the man who spoke for him at the dinner.

  “You’re going first.”

  “Yeah,” he said, voice a little shaky.

  “Don’t be nervous. It will be over soon and then you’ll be alone with your prize. What’s her name again?”

  I could see just enough of his face to know that made him smile. “Deli.”

  “Do you know her specialty? Her, uh, magic specialty?”

  “Yes.” He smiled again. “She can make it rain. Anywhere. It’s amazing.”

  I started to respond, but I felt a tug on my robe. Looking down I saw that it was Destiny wearing a big, beautiful grin. “Hi, again.”

  “Destiny. Hi. What’s in the suitcase?”

  She motioned for me to bend down then whispered, “Don’t ask.”

  I straightened, nodded, and said, “Okay. I like your dress.”

  “This old thing?” she said. “My sister looks beautiful tonight. You’re gonna like her dress.”

  “No way. Not Ravish. She’s the ugliest girl I ever saw!”

  Destiny giggled loudly, but stopped abruptly when the lights went down. “See ya.”

  She walked away quickly pulling her little pink bag and looking cute as a little girl could be.

  Turning my attention to matters at hand, I lowered my voice and said to Cairn, “Good luck, man.”

  “Same to you,” he replied. “Here goes nothing.”

  As Cairn and his prize came together in front of their bell, book, and candle, they were two indistinct figures obscured by hooded robes and could have been anyone. The spotlights on the two tables were prominent with all the other lights dimmed.

  Guests had left their tables and drawn close to the center forming a tight, crowded circle.

  Fortunately, they left enough space so that I could witness the proceedings. A female official in a robe that matched the couple’s stood on the other side of the table and instructed them to sign their names on the first page of the book. Her hood was back so that I could see she was an attractive fiftyish woman.

  Surprisingly enough, they were each asked to repeat only one vow.

  “For a year and a day, we vow to cleave only unto each other, honor our community, and keep its secrets buried deep in our hearts.”

  Deli took the candle snuffer and put out the flame. Cairn rang the bell.

  I jumped a little when everyone broke into cheering and applause. It was such a contrast to the quiet and solemnity of the ritual, but at least I knew what to expect.

  The couple removed their robes. He wore a suit similar in color to the one I was wearing, but the cut was slightly different. She wore a white cocktail dress that fell to just shy of her knees. If appearances counted for anything, they’d be solid because there was no doubt they were a beautiful couple. Judging by the way they looked at each other, they also believed they were halfway in love.

  They left the ballroom with people cheering until they were out of sight.

  “Your turn,” Raider said from behind, giving me a slight nudge to the back. Slight in Raider’s terms meant that I lurched forward.

  Funny how you think of strange things at strange times. It was in that moment that I realized that I wasn’t hot under all those clothes. Huh. Since I wasn’t prepared to put stock in the notion of magically vented robes, I concluded that they probably planted a hypnotic suggestion that my body would control its temperature.

  I walked forward, the hood either covering my face or leaving it in shadow. When Ravish reached my side, she took my hands in both of hers. I didn’t need to hear her voice to know that the robed figure in front of me was my prize. I was already so in tune with her energy that I knew she was mine by touch.

  We signed the book and repeated the vow just as the first couple had. It was at that point when madness ensued.

  It would appear that one of the little girls, wandering around the house because that was more fun than the party, had discovered Glory’s cat in his carrier in its usual dark and cozy spot under the kitchen island between cupboards. Naturally, the child opened the carrier and released the cat.

  Just as naturally, the cat trotted toward the ballroom to appease his curiosity and see what was going on. He entered the room unseen, saw the crowd and took a turn toward the open door and adjoining room, where the kids’ tables were set. That’s when he smelled it. Dog.

  Glory had not neutered her cat. So he met the indignation of canine on his premises with all the considerable indignation a tomcat would muster.

  Destiny had left her bag underneath the table at her spot in the kids’ room to join the crowd. When Izzy smelled cat, he stuck his nose through the zipper opening to get a better look at what was happening. When the beagle’s head popped out of the bag, the cat was infuriated to learn that he’d been confined while a dog had stowed away with a guest and been brought into his house. He arched his back and let out a long, malicious hiss.

  That act of aggression was simply too much for poor Izzy. Without the ability to exercise self-restraint, he immediately shifted into a black bear, simultaneously obliterating the once-cute pink bag, and answering the cat’s hiss with a roar that could be heard for miles.

  I heard someone near us ask, “What was that?” just before the crowd parted before the black bear like the Red Sea.

  Understanding the smarter part of valor, Rambo ran straight for us with the bear in pursuit. Pulling Ravish well out of the path of Izzy’s alter ego, I watched as the cat jumped up to the first couple’s table then leapt to ours, knocking the candle over, which put it out. The bear followed close behind, stepping on the table cover which dumped everything on the floor, ringing the bell in the process. He was followed by Destiny, yelling at Izzy to stop.

  I pushed my hood back then did the same for Ravish. “The candle’s been snuffed and the bell has been rung. So far as I’m concerned
, it’s a done deal.”

  Rave laughed then shimmied out of her robe revealing a white, low cut, beaded version of what it takes to gobsmack a fella like me.

  Following her lead, I got out of the robe and draped it over the nearest chair. “Let’s get out of here,” I whispered in her ear taking her hand and pulling her toward the door.

  She nodded enthusiastically. “The car’s out front.”

  “I’ll drive.” We ran toward the front door, hand in hand, until I stopped us. “Hold on. The ceremony has to be sealed with a kiss.”

  In the hallway between Kellan’s study and the ‘morning room’, I pushed Rave against the wall and proceeded to let her kiss me stupid. I knew it was dumb because my hard-on was bigger than the pants, but that’s what zippers are for.

  As soon as I was behind the Boxster’s steering wheel, I said, “There’s nobody at our house tonight, right?” She nodded. “Okay, then.” I unzipped to give my cock room to breathe. I never would have guessed the sight of my engorged penis would be such a turn on for Rave. She stared like she’d never seen male parts before.

  “Rave. You alright?”

  “You know the way home?” she asked.

  “Yeah. I think so.”

  “Drive.”

  I hit the accelerator but almost wrecked us when she bent over and took the head of my cock in her mouth. I wasn’t sure if I’d just gone to heaven because Ravish was giving me a partial blowjob or if I’d gone to hell because I had to concentrate on driving.

  “Rave. Goddamnit. Can you wait?”

  She let my dick go with a pop. “You started it.”

  So that’s how it was going to be. “Just till we get home. Just wait until we get home. Then I’m all yours.”

  “Promise?” She licked her lips which, again, almost had me running off the road.

  “Promise. Stay on your side of the car for one more minute. Then I will fuck you into next Tuesday.”

  She treated me to her fabulous whore’s laugh and made me even harder. “Holding you to that.”

  I didn’t want to bother with the garage so I parked right in front. When the car stopped, she rushed out of the passenger side and up the steps to the porch before I could even turn off the ignition.