Double Your Pleasure Bundle (41 page)

Charice could see the conflicting questions dance in Claire’s head, while Carmen’s huge smirk was hard to miss.

“Please say we’re interrupting something,” Carmen said.

Charice tried to think of a reasonable explanation for why she was being so intimate with a customer, but she had nothing. “Our customers were...”

“Just leaving,” Kye said. “Thank you for your help. Let me know if you find the stone. You can reach us by using that cloth. It was a pleasure, Charice.” 

He kept her gaze for a moment longer before turning to leave. He had to tug at his friend, who hadn’t even turned to acknowledge her sisters. Warren’s focus remained intent on Charice as he leaned over the counter, an intensity that felt like he could melt her clothes off with a blink of his eyes. 

Yep
, Charice thought. 
This one is definitely dangerous.

“Let’s leave these ladies to their business,” Kye said to him.

“Until we meet again.” Warren said.

Charice didn’t have time to say anything before they left the store.

Now, she had to face her relentless sisters, who would bombard her with questions about what just happened when she had no clue. Goody.

Chapter Two

It took everything Warren had in him not to storm back into the woman’s shop and take her for theirs. She’d been so close he could taste her strength on his tongue, and he wanted more. Touching her had been close enough to send him over the edge.

Charice was her name. The woman was a drug, and he’d quickly developed an addiction for her with a simple graze of her skin. He wanted to have her naked beneath him and screaming in pleasure as their powers merged as one.

He’d been hard since he laid eyes on her, such a pliable body he could explore days at a time. Curves that he wanted to discover with his hands and mouth. His cock ached for her as his power screamed to have her join them and make them complete.

“You need to calm down,” Kye said as he placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “If I could feel your power slipping out, she could too. We don’t want to scare her.”

“She’s ours. We shouldn’t have to wait for that damn Firewick to merge with her.” Warren dug his nails into his palms to try and center himself, so he could regain focus. He’d never been this on edge before. All because of that curvy woman with warm-brown skin he could kiss forever.

“I know. I felt it too, but she doesn’t know we’re her chosen. We have to wait until tonight. There’s nothing we can do until she chooses us in return.”

“She tried shielding herself from them,” Warren said. He couldn’t keep the disappointment from seeping into his words. “The remnants of the magic were still on her. That black smudge I touched on her cheek is proof. We can’t have her run from us.”

“Yes,” was all Kye could say.

Normally, Warren was the quiet one, so his friend’s lack of words made him angry. They couldn’t stand back and do nothing. What if that cloaking spell Kye gave her worked too well?

“I have to go back in.” Warren turned, but Kye’s strength held him back.

“No!” Kye shook his head. “I gave her that spell so she could see.”

“You gave her another cloaking spell. She won’t be able to join us if we can’t find her.”

“It wasn’t a cloaking spell.”

Warren stopped struggling, his eyes wide with confusion. “What the hell was it then?”

“A spell for her to know the truth. The truth about us when the time is right. This isn’t the moment for her, but it will lead her to us when she desires it. No sooner.”

Warren’s muscles tensed as he tried to rein in his power and silence his inner voice urging him to go back for her.

“The bond between the three of us has already ignited,” Kye said, his voice revealing surprise at their connection. “I didn’t think it would be this fast or such strong a pull.”

“You didn’t think she was the one. Remember?” Warren asked.

Kye had been reluctant to merge their powers with a woman El-Board had chosen for them. He and Warren had been a strong warlock pair for years.

They did well on their own, and the magical community respected them. That’s why Kye insisted they go behind the board’s backs and find the woman on their own. He refused to merge their powers with someone who could weaken them.

Charice was far from weak.

Warren could feel her power source as soon as they stood outside of her shop. The front door had been locked, but he was eager to see who held such inner strength that he used his magic to unlock it. He had to meet the woman that called to his own magic. He wasn’t disappointed.

“You thought she wouldn’t be strong enough for us,” Warren said. “I can still feel her essence flowing through me. She’s our equal, brother.”

They’d been friends for so long and shared their power over the years that they thought of each other as a brother. More than that. Their magic bond linked them metaphysically and emotionally.

Warren could feel Kye’s inner struggle, but he didn’t understand it. There was no arguing if Charice belonged beside them or not. She just did, and he’d rather it be sooner than later. 

Kye inhaled deep and turned to the shop entrance. “I can feel her too.” He waited a moment before speaking again. “We’ve already stayed long enough. If the board knew we defied them to see her, we’d be punished. They could take it out on her too.”

Warren’s eyes glowed bright blue with his power. He could feel the light consume his sight. “I won’t see her harmed. I’ll kill them first.” The thought of her injured angered him. Gods and goddesses help the person who threatened their witch. Even if that meant fighting the board, and no one ever crossed them.

“As would I. That’s why we need to go. We’re not strong enough to keep ourselves from doing something as stupid as fighting the Elemental Board.”

Warren knew he was right. The longer they stayed near her, the more risk their woman was in. He could see her fighting their connection, but she was their witch just as they were her warlocks. The board had never been wrong about that or any match in the past. Now, he knew why.

“Tonight, Kye. No longer than that. I’ve waited too long.”

“I know, my friend. I know.”

Although Kye had always thought they’d be better without their third, Warren longed for a woman to stand beside them as their equal. As enforcers for El-Board, they were charged with controlling witches and warlocks who broke their laws and rounding them up for sentencing. 

It was hard work but rewarding for the reputation it gave them. They were feared by many. It ensured they were obeyed as representatives for the board. That was their job.

But deep down, Warren longed to have someone to share other parts of his existence with. Someone he didn’t have to always show his enforcer side to. A woman to keep his bed warm at night and share his magic with during the day.

He and Kye had their one-nighters with women. Some they even had the pleasure of sharing, but none could match their abilities when it came to magic. Until now.

As hard as it was, Warren relented to Kye’s wisdom. It was like leaving a piece of him behind, but he followed his friend into the direction of the Firewick Festival and away from their witch. The only thought that comforted him was that the third part of them would be there later that night too, whether Charice wanted to or not. Try as she might, there was no hiding from the Elemental Board, and there was no hiding from her warlocks.

***

Charice’s sisters were boring holes in the back of her head as she worked. She could sense it, and it was annoying her to death. She’d taken out the stone and was grinding it down to a powder. She wanted to do it herself to keep her mind from wandering, but it didn’t help. 

She kept thinking about the two men who came in earlier. Warren and Kye. Names she could see herself calling out while wedged between them in bed. She thought about how each would look naked. Probably like gods on earth. 

She shook her head. They wouldn’t want someone like her. She wasn’t fit. Far from it with parts that jiggled. She probably wasn’t far from having things sag. Nope. She wouldn’t think about her body. That’s why she’d gotten rid of all her full-length mirrors. They just depressed the energy out of her.

Even with Charice’s busywork, her sisters were getting on her last nerve with their silence. Not one question from them. Only stares, which made it worse. They usually talked more than Oprah on a talk show.

“What?” She turned around to face both of them. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Claire said.

“Nada, sis,” Carmen said with a wink.

Nothing my ass
, Charice thought to herself.
Wait for it. It’s coming
.

She crossed her arms and leaned back on the counter and stared at them. Her sisters shared a voiceless look between them. Carmen was the one to break the silence, just like Charice knew she would.

“It’s just, how do you find two hunks in here when we couldn’t even spot one at the beach today. What’s up with that?”

“I didn’t go looking for them, Car.”

Carmen pouted. “Which makes it so much worse.”

“Why were you both at the beach?”

“To watch the Firewick setup.”

“Of course.”

“Don’t change the subject. What did those hot guys want with you?”

“They’re only customers.”

“Do you let all customers fondle you like that? If so, we should have lines out the door.”

“It wasn’t fondling. You’re exaggerating. Tell her, Claire.”

“I’m with Car on this one,” Claire said, crossing her arms. “When do you get so close to men you don’t know?”

“I’m not close to them. I’m not even sure what happened.”

“Magic,” Carmen said. “It’s always magic. We even felt it when we walked in.”

“What are you talking about?” Charice looked at them, but she knew very well what they meant. Those men gave magical strength a new meaning, and it continued to flow over her in their absence.

“She’s right,” Claire said. “When we came in, the place was thick with magic, almost stifling. It didn’t feel like yours though.”

Charice thought about the way she felt when each man touched her. She couldn’t describe it, but she knew it was supernatural.

They had to be warlocks of some kind. Powerful ones.

“Had to be the hotties then,” Carmen chimed in. “What are you pounding away at?”

Charice sighed. “I guess you’re going to find out anyway.” She opened the email and gave them a minute to process it.

Carmen jumped up and down, screaming. “You got called to Firewick! Why didn’t you say so? I’m jealous.” 

“Calm down. I’m not going.”

Carmen frowned. “What?”

Claire stared at her. “Is that allowed?”

“Probably not,” Charice said. She turned around to finish grinding the last fragments of the stone and to avoid her sisters’ shocked looks. “Which is why I’m doing a cloaking spell until it’s over. I refuse to be forced into a relationship with power-hungry warlocks.”

“They can’t all be that bad.” Carmen leaned over the counter with a dreamy daze in her eyes. The poor girl had always wanted to go to Firewick, more than any of them. Finding her warlock mates had been her life’s aspiration.

Charice wished she could give her sister what she longed for and switch places with her, but it didn’t work like that. El-Board summoned based on magical ability and progression. She guessed it made sense they would summon her first since she was the oldest.

She should’ve been more prepared for it, but she slowly filed the possibility of being chosen for Firewick away as the least of her concerns. Charice didn’t even see herself as that strong of a witch. She sold herbs and stones, for crying out loud. 

Running her business took all of her time, or more like she allowed it take all her time. It had been a couple of years since she’d even been on a date. She always put the shop before her social life. That was her sole focus after her family. She opened the store in downtown Kala West and brought her sisters on to work with her. That was her dream. Being mated to a pair of warlocks wasn’t part of it.

“You should rethink this, Charice.” Claire was reading the email again. “El-Board won’t take a refusal lightly. Can’t you just go and see what it’s about first? It’s happening at Central Kala Beach. They don’t even demand you to choose tonight. According to this, you just have to meet them. Not bind yourself for all eternity.”

Charice shook her head. “That’s what it says, but who’s ever heard the board giving you a choice in anything? What they say goes.” Charice pinched some of the stone powder out of the grinder. She rubbed it on the back of her arms.

“You know it starts in like five minutes, right?” Claire said.

“Which is why I need to hurry.” Charice unrolled the cloth the men had left behind and gripped it with both hands “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, sis,” Carmen said.

Claire huffed. “I still don’t like this, but good luck.”

Charice cleared her mind so the spell could consume her. The words lit up on the blue cloth and she read the words:

Powers with might and powers that be,

Come take me from the ones who see.

Allow that my path find pure and light

To show this soul when harm takes flight.

May clarity choose time to reveal me,

When spirits blessed forever unto thee.

Charice’s skin tingled as the magic rolled over her body like moving goose bumps. They flowed up and down her arms and legs. It felt like tiny animals running under her skin. Odd but not painful.

“What’s happening?” Carmen asked.

“I’m not sure.” Charice held out her arms. “Something.”

Suddenly, all the magic faded, and the feeling disappeared.

Charice glanced at both sisters. “Everything stopped. I don’t feel anything.”

“Maybe the spell’s a dud,” Carmen said, examining the ground-up powder.

“It’s one minute past the start of the festival,” Claire said.

“Then it must have work—” Charice words were cut off as the world around her shifted with a jerk. It was so quick that she had to lean over to get her bearings and keep from tumbling to the ground.