Page 45 of His Blazing Witch (The Silver City #3)

Oh, Moon Goddess. I can! I smile uncontrollably. This is amazing... Liam is lying right behind me, but I've never felt him so close. It's like I have a direct line to his wolf, it's the best I can describe it. This is so unique and it feels so good to be so connected to him this way... After a little while, he stops licking and kisses my neck instead.

"Damn, you're already healed... except for your scar. Yep, you really do heal a bit faster than us."

"Warn me next time you plan to go all bitey, still."

"Sorry..."

He chuckles and kisses my shoulder. Hm... I should learn not to forgive him so fast. I turn around to face him, and Liam smiles, kissing me on my lips next. Yeah, I like that a lot. We keep kissing a little more, simply lying in bed, and I don't feel like doing anything else. I do feel a bit... dirty, but I'm super sluggish for some reason. I'm not even tired. Why would I be? I slept most of the day. I just don't want to move for now...

"...Aren't you going to bite me?"

I growl.

"No," I retort.

"No? Mara, why not?!" he protests, propping himself on his arms.

"That's your punishment for biting me like a savage, you bad boy."

"But..."

He's freaking cute when he pouts, I just want to keep going for a little while. I sigh and struggle to sit up next to him. Hm, I don't feel too well... and I'm feeling a bit dirty.

"I want to take a shower," I say.

Liam blinks a couple of times as I get out of his bed.

"S-seriously...? Mara, you aren't going to mark me?"

"Nope."

"But you can't mind-link me then! What's the point of me marking you one-way?!"

"Well, at least now, you can't mark anyone else," I chuckle.

"Mara!"

Oh, this is just too fun... So this is one-way, huh? So interesting. Although that explains why they can mark even human partners, although there's no use in their human partners marking werewolves; they have no wolf to mind-link with.

Things are different for me, of course. I can feel my wolf dying to bite Liam, and she's a bit mad at me too. Is it strange the wolf in me experiences her own set of emotions? I guess this is more like an underlying side of my own thoughts. Like when I go against my own desires, and take a different path. Well, I guess we'll be on a different path for a little while. I don't feel like forgiving this bad wolf so easily after he bit me without warning, and so savagely too...

Despite feeling odd, I make my way to his bathroom, purposely leaving the door unlocked. I need to pee and then take a shower... I can't remember what expectations I had of sex, but the real thing is really... I don't know, more down to earth than expected. Not in a necessarily bad way, though. I feel like I've learned more about my own body... and Liam's. I could learn some more for sure...

I get the water running above me. It feels good, to calm down my hot skin and wash off all of... this. My legs are a bit weak, though, for some reason. To be precise, all of my lower body is. I sigh and sit down in the shower, enjoying that it's a rather large one, although my butt doesn't appreciate the hard floor.

"Mara...?" Liam calls me, with a little knock.

"Come in."

I hear him carefully step inside and smile. He's surprisingly cute and cautious when he thinks I'm mad... I like this.

"I brought you something to change into. ...Can I shower with you? Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah," I answer, as he steps in. "I just felt like sitting down. My lower half is a bit... numb."

"Oh, okay. I thought you were feeling faint or something. ...Should I help you wash, then?"

"I'd like that," I chuckle.

He seems to finally understand that I'm not that mad, and with a sigh of relief, he gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing the soap and a body sponge. I hear him sit behind me, and his knees appear by my sides. I really like the size of this shower...

Liam gently starts taking care of my back and arms with the foamy soap, and Moon Goddess, it feels good to just let him rub all the soreness out of me. I really like his hands... He's gentle, and I can close my eyes and let the smell of the soap and steam get to me. A few minutes, that is all I need and I just enjoy this quietly. This feels good, after everything I've been through... in the last forty-eight hours. Moon Goddess, I was falling from a building yesterday, and lying in a hospital bed just this morning. Now I just had sex for the first time with my werewolf boyfriend. Do witches ever get a break from craziness? I feel like I've been on a rollercoaster lately... which is why this little break with Liam feels amazing. I probably needed this without knowing I did. Just me and him, teasing each other, having sex like a normal young couple, and bickering a bit to make up later. This is just... freaking awesome.

I keep my eyes closed and wrap my knees in my arms, leaning my head on them, just to get some rest and enjoy this.

"I... realized we didn't use protection," he suddenly says.

"I realized too," I smile without opening my eyes.

His hands on my back stop.

"...Sorry. I was a bit impatient. I'll be more careful next time, but uh... what do you want to do about it?"

"I won't be pregnant just from that," I chuckle.

"Hey, are you underestimating my"

"Liam, I'm talking about my cycle. Chances are extremely low at the moment if I'm not wrong, and I know I'm not. Moreover, I'm a witch, I know how to take care of myself and my body. Don't worry... I'm just surprised you didn't know better yourself."

"W-well, it's not exactly as if I was prepared. I mean I should have, but"

"It's not all on you. But don't worry, I'll find some spell for it without trouble, so I don't risk getting pregnant every time we get naughty. I don't want children at the moment, and neither do you, I suppose?"

"Not really. Maybe later. Damn, I didn't think we'd have this conversation about having kids already."

I chuckle,and agree. Are we really already talking about possible future kids when we were as reckless as teenagers just minutes ago? We still have a long way to go, though.

"...Isn't it better for you to use medicine?"

"What do you mean?"

"As opposed to your magic... you know, for contraception. Wouldn't it be safer to use actual medicine rather than... witch stuff?"

I chuckle and turn around to face him, a bit amused.

"Aren't you supposed to be the expert on witches? Of course my magic is safe to use on my own body! It's just about creating a simple spell, and I'm sure dozens of witches have done the same before that. Are you telling me Sylviana didn't?"

To my surprise, he rolls his eyes, looking elsewhere and obviously a bit annoyed too.

"Why do you have to ask about my ex now?" he sighs.

"Because your ex was a witch too. Come on, don't tell me you never had this discussion with her before?"

He remains quiet, and certainly avoids my eyes.

...Wait a minute. I feel like I'm missing something. There's no way an accomplished witch like Sylviana valued human medicine over our magic and witches' knowledge. I've learned enough from my training with little Mara to know the oldest witches were midwives! There is nothing we don't know about women's bodies, and certainly about not making babies at random. So why would Sylviana not have had that talk with Liam?

"Liam... don't tell me you and Sylviana never...?"

"Moon Goddess, that is private!" he suddenly exclaims.

He gets up and backs away from me, but I can tell he is embarrassed. I'm so shocked I chuckle nervously.

"Are you serious? Liam?"

"First, it's nothing funny," he retorts. "It's very private. Secondly, I'm not completely ignorant! It's not like nothing happened, we did... stuff. We just never went that far. Sylviana was older than me, and she... uh, kept..."

I did not expect that. I don't know what teenage Liam was like, but I'll definitely say Sylviana was a saint for resisting him. Or just not... into that? Damn, I have a lot of questions I do not want to think about right now. I slap my cheeks and try to organize those thoughts that are popping up.

"So this was also your..."

"First. Yes."

I stay speechless, and barely remember to close my mouth. I hear him sigh.

"Fine, laugh if you want."

I stand up to face him, a bit annoyed now.

"Why would I laugh?" I retort. "I'm not going to make fun of you, there's nothing to laugh about!"

"But earlier"

"I was surprised, Liam!" I exclaim. "My boyfriend is a walking sex bomb who had a past with another woman, older than him, to boot! I never imagined you'd be a virgin like me! Well, I wasn't even sure I was, but... anyways. I don't find this funny, okay? I promise. Actually, I wish you'd told me. I would have felt less... I don't know. Inexperienced."

"I still have more experience than you."

I slap his shoulder.

"I won't make fun of you, but don't you start boasting!" I growl.

He finally laughs. I want to stay mad at him a bit longer, but I can't. He's just too cute, too sexy, and too much for me to handle. I cross my arms, but Liam is quick to wrap his around my waist, binding me in his embrace. I try to pretend to pout, but my lips are twitching and not convincing enough. He leans in to give me a kiss, and this time, I really can't resist. I wrap my arms around his neck for more caresses. He gently pushes me toward the wall, getting the two of us under the hot shower.

We begin a wild game of trying to kiss between the water, chuckling and letting our lips and faces get wet. I play with Liam's hair, pushing it back and forth, even sideways, anything I want. While he lets me do that, his hands go to my lower back, grabbing and patting my butt. ...Does he really like my bottom? To my surprise, he keeps fondling my butt cheeks for a while, and suddenly, uses his grip to lift me up. I laugh from suddenly being taller than him, and wrap my legs around his waist. Holding me, he resumes our kisses, and I realize I might like kissing him from above...

Our kissing gets a bit less playful and more sensual. Mm... I just want to keep kissing those lips forever. Liam's thin lips are not giving me any rest. We keep going, and my hands go down his back and up his neck, caressing his large back... Damn, I wish I could grab his butt too. I chuckle at that thought and keep kissing him, until he gently bites my tongue.

"What are you laughing about?" he mutters against my lips.

Should I tell him? Hm... I'm not sure I want to. I shake my head, and just insist on some more kissing before letting my lips drift to his face. I kiss his cheeks, with the little spikes of his beard sticking out. He's better without it, though. I like a clean shaven Liam... I keep going, to his cute nose, and switch to his eyes. He closes them, and I want to kiss his eyelids, but... His scar appears, and even when it's closed, that white layer over it bothers me.

"Liam... don't move."

"What?"

Thankfully, the mark from Sylvianaˇs spell is on my other hand. But this side, I can take care of with my other hand. I apply my fingers against his scar. This scar was caused by magic, but Nora couldn't heal it... I see. This isn't just a scar, as expected. A curse Whoever did this intended to kill him, and it left traces.

"Mara..." he sighs.

"I said, don't move."

My serious tone gets him to obey, and I do hope I'm not too heavy, but I really need to focus right now. I can feel it. It's very small and insidious, but... there's definitely Dark Magic contained in that wound. No wonder Nora was unable to do anything. It is small, well hidden, and a more complex curse than it seems. Now, I'm even more glad I spent time finally learning proper witchcraft with little Mara.

"Do you trust me?" I ask, a bit worried.

"A hundred percent, Mara."

"Alright... Seriously, don't move, okay?"

He doesn't answer, but I feel him freeze like a stone. I take a deep breath, and light my fire. I do my best to control it, so the fire is a fully magic one. It can't hurt Liam. I slowly bring it closer, and sure enough, I feel the Dark Magic inside react. It's like a worm trying to stick to a rock, resisting my magic and squirming. Damn it, weˇll see if you can stay in my mate's head any longer. Liam still doesn't move, but I can tell he wants to. I feel his jaw clenched. Is he in pain?

I try to go faster, and my fire fully covers the area around his eye, going inside. It's not the kind of fire Liam could feel, but that curse isn't dying without a fight, probably struggling. Don't you resist me, you little piece of sh-...

Suddenly, I feel it. It's gone, completely disintegrated under my fire, erased. I gasp, a bit unsure. I get rid of my fire, and stare at Liam's eye, my throat in a knot. The scar is still there, but...

"Liam? O-open your eyes..."

He obeys, his eyelids slowly go up.

Oh, shit. His eye. I want to bawl like a baby. For the first time, both his eyes stare at me with the same color. I see the shock, his irises widen, and he suddenly puts me down, out of breath.

"W-what the..."

"I figured I should try," I chuckle, grabbing his face in my hands. "Can you really see me? Is your eye okay? Does it hurt?"

"I-I can. Moon Goddess, Mara, I see you perfectly!"

Holy shit, I'm so happy! We both laugh and smile like crazy, and Liam hugs me, ecstatic.

"Damn, Mara, you're... amazing," he chuckles against my ear.

"Thanks," I reply a bit nervously.

He suddenly retreats to unlock this hug, but puts his hands on my buttocks and lifts me up again, picking up right where we stopped. We kiss like crazy love junkies, half-laughing and playfully biting each other's lips gently. This time, we quickly move on to something a lot more sensual. Our hands start grabbing every piece of flesh we can, and our breath accelerates at the same rhythm. We both get the same signals, the urge to do more. Liam suddenly shifts to kiss my neck, driving me crazy.

"Are. You. Sure?" he asks between each kiss.

"Yeah... I think I'm... healed already," I gasp.

"Damn."

Yeah, I think I'm going to love that super healing ability of mine too... Liam swiftly moves, and once again, I feel him between my legs, the heat spiking like crazy in my stomach. Oh, Moon Goddess, are we in a rut or something? I can't stop. He can't stop. Maybe the hot water helps too. The steam, and everything. I just... I want more; I'm okay with being lewd as long as it's with Liam. I mean, Liam's just my type of hot....

He begins moving, fast, and I have to take deep breaths. Body healed, yes, but not used to this yet. Oh Moon Goddess, it's already... so much better. I feel it. I feel him ramming inside me, driving me crazy. He's excited, and I don't think it'll be long before we both get there. We keep kissing and moving, so excited, nothing else matters. I'm impressed by his strength, I have to hold one wall of the shower. He keeps going and going, driving me fucking crazy. I hear my own voice echoing in this glass cage, and I just might love the sounds of my own pleasure mixed with his manly groans. Oh, this is really, really good... and somewhat addictive. I try to control my pleasure, focus on my breathing. Deep breaths, Mara... breathe...

"...Mara?"

I open my eyes, a bit confused. I hear Liam chuckle.

"Sorry, tiger... Too much. I think you passed out."

"You think...?"

"Sorry," he sighs.

He leans in to kiss my forehead.

"You were, uh... mumbling some weird stuff. And, that spell thing on your hand too, it began to move."

I panic, and suddenly sit up on the bed. Liam dressed me in one of his shirts, but that's the only change. The spell on my hand is back to exactly how I remember it. He sighs, and lies down next to me.

"It stopped doing weird stuff as soon as you woke up," he explains.

"...It probably needs me to sleep for real," I say.

I woke up too soon. I let out a long sigh, and lie back down next to Liam, who chuckles, and wraps his arm around me. I notice he's only wearing his boxers Damn, I can't believe I missed the end of our action. I swear next time I'll be in top shape... He chuckles.

"What are you thinking about that's making you frown?"

"Not telling you. Good night."

I close my eyes, a bit stubborn, and curl up on the mattress. I hear him chuckle and turn off the lights before coming back to hug me. Hm... Time for some sleep, dreams, and magic.

I didnˇt think I was that tired, but Liam's warmth behind me quickly soothes me. I breathe slowly, waiting for the darkness to come... and some answers.

Strangely, I'm aware I'm dreaming from the start. It is an odd sensation, like I'm in a place I'm not supposed to be. I look down, but I can barely control myself. I'm... floating, but my body feels too heavy to move. I manage to lift my hand. As expected, the spell is still there... It looks more like some key, though, and parts of it are now strangely glowing on my skin. Or, my dream representation of my skin. I need to keep in mind this isn't real...

Am I supposed to do something? I look around once again and finally, the landscape changes. I'm back in Nora's garden, a few steps away from Sylviana's tree. Except that the tree looks very different. It's full of leaves, its bark is as good as new, and there's no trace left of that tree's decay I saw today. However, those leaves are strangely white and glowing. I approach, a bit at a loss. What is this...?

Suddenly, something moves from behind the tree. I step back, wary of it.

A snake. I frown. A large, thick snake with green skin slithers along the tree's roots, hissing and coming my way. Oh, no, no, no, how am I supposed to flee that thing? It looks about as tall as me! I try to light my fire, but in a dream, I have no idea how to, nothing responds the same. Moreover, I soon stop trying; what if I set Liam's bed on fire without knowing? No, I can't be careless with magic, not again. But then, how do I deal with that thing?

Perhaps it's not that dangerous? I try to step forward, but it suddenly hisses and shows two pointy fangs. Okay, nevermind. We are not going to be friends, not today. Then what?

To my surprise, something suddenly jumps in front of me. It's so large I'm scared at first, until I recognize the large tiger on fire.

"...Spark?"

He growls loudly at the snake in a defensive stance. Moon Goddess, is my cat defending me? I didn't expect magic cats to be sidekicks even in dreams... although this is a magic dream.

Spark keeps growling furiously at the snake, standing between it and me like a wall of fire. I quickly understand he's defending me, making sure that snake can't get near me. I carefully stay behind him, unsure what to do. The snake tries to get past Spark to attack me, but every time, he's met with a violent bite, or a swipe of Spark's gigantic paw. It lasts only a few seconds, but after a while, my cat seems to have had enough of this. He growls furiously once again and jumps on the snake, claws out.

Something happens.

The snake vanishes in some dark smoke, and by instinct, I grab Spark to pull him back. I don't like this... The smoke keeps growing, darker and thicker. My tiger cat growls, curling up his giant body around me, and I don't like this either. This thick, dark cloud keeps spinning and surrounding us, like the eye of a hurricane. I'm... getting cold. Like, very cold, which makes no sense when a fire tiger is literally standing next to me. Yet, it's real. I'm shaking, and my breathing goes crazy. What do I do?!

I look at my hand, and more of those symbols are glowing. If it is some sort of key, it should be helping me, not sending me to some trap! Or is this some sort of security? I step forward, despite Spark's growling. I have a feeling we won't get a second chance if I don't solve this now.

Putting my marked hand forward, I literally dive it into the wall of black smoke.

Moon Goddess, it's ice cold... Still, I keep going, I know there's got to be something about that spell on my hand. The ice crawls on my hand like hundreds of small little needles. Damn, that hurts... I keep going, despite Spark and my inner wolf both growling to warn me. I know I can do this. ...Just a little more...

Suddenly, the dark smoke vanishes.

I stumble a couple of steps back, exhausted. My hand hurts, but when I look, the spell is glowing again... almost all of it this time. Good... So I was right. What was that black smoke, some sort of security check? Damn it, witches do know how to keep their secrets. My hand is going to be numb for hours...

Spark comes up to me, gently rubbing his large face against my arm. I think I like his big cat form, he's even bigger than I am... We both finally look up as the dark fog disappears. We are back, or still at the tree, but the snake is gone. Instead, a large blue butterfly is there. Itˇs on the tree, immobile against the bark. With that kind of size, it has to be another manifestation of magic... It suddenly flies up to me and, unsure, I extend my arm to it. The butterfly gently comes to me and as soon as it lands on the spell, the scene changes again.

I'm in a small house that feels... familiar. It's not Sylviana or Nora's house, it's... Clarissa's. I keep looking around but I'm pretty sure. I recognize some details that she had put in that particular sketch. Everything is exactly how she remembered it... The little windows with their blue curtains. The empty vases, and the piles of books on a table. I observe a bit more, intrigued. There's a strange necklace with a large, blue bead with what looks like an eye in the middle.... It takes me a few seconds to find the answer in my witch knowledge. It's an evil eye, the Turkish Nazar. A protection against evil charms, envy, and jealousy...

Suddenly, a little girl comes running in. It's a bit strange because I can only focus on a few things at once, as if my field of vision was narrow, with everything else blurry or disappearing as I move. Still, I focus on the little girl and immediately, I recognize her. It's us . Clarissa, the young little girl.

She's wearing a bracelet with the same beads as the large one hung on the wall and a white dress. She smiles and runs toward a fireplace.