Page 38

S tanding naked in the middle of the forest was weird. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to it. Naked might not even be a requirement, but it would be awkward if I accidentally incinerated my clothes and had to walk-of-shame it back to the cabin where people might be.

The trees did that strange acid trip wave if I looked at them for too long, so I closed my eyes and sat down in the moss.

My tiger’s eye pendant hung cold and heavy between my breasts.

A slow, deep breath had me feeling like I was sinking straight into the earth, so I dug my fingers into the moss as an anchor.

Hecate. I need guidance.

Soft starlight filled the grove, pinpricks of light floating like will-o’-the-wisps around us. Seth yelped, but he sounded far away.

Hecate coalesced in front of me, sitting herself in the moss. Hello, Logan. I see you’ve begun embracing my second gift.

Heat rushed through my body. Yes.

Her smile was gentle, playful. I’m glad.

He’s been lonely. You were meant to have him earlier, but Caden wasn’t ready.

I waited as long as I could to set things in motion.

It was hard for Seth. He didn’t know he was waiting, and it was an uncomfortable period of his life.

I tried to guide him to safe places while we waited for Caden to grow.

I’m pleased you’ve not let fear stand in the way of what you all need.

You said more are coming?

She nodded, reaching her hand to rest it against my cheek. The others will not all be so easy. They will teach you what you need to know to fulfill your destiny. I hope they will love you as well, but that is not something I can control.

Her words made me shiver.

Will one of them teach me magic?

You will learn it yourself in time. Each witch’s magic works differently. They may be able to guide you, as Melinda did, but the rest you must find out for yourself. Try now. You may find it comes easier now that you know what to expect.

I focused on the quiet smoldering in my belly, coaxing the embers until they flared to life, inflating from a candle flame to an inferno that warmed my skin and made the moist ground steam around me. With the heat came desire, the craving for the power to build until I was overwhelmed with it.

Hecate laughed quietly. Your power draws from pleasure. The more you experience and understand, the deeper the power will grow.

Oh gods.

Her hand slipped from my cheek, fingers sliding down my throat until it rested on my shoulder. Goosebumps followed. I knew by the smirk on her lips that she’d done it on purpose.

Focus your power into one spot outside yourself.

I lifted my hands from their moss anchor and tried to force all that burning power into one point. It shrank slowly, the effort making me sweat. Soon I held a small sun between my shaking hands. I squirmed. My pussy was making me far too aware of it.

Good. Now return it to your body. Hecate watched patiently.

I stared at the ball of energy, wondering how the hell I could manage that task. It slunk up my arms like lava, and while it was scorching, it was more akin to slipping into a hot bath than sticking my hand on a glowing stove like I’d expected.

The glide was slow and even, slipping down my chest and up my throat. Every inch of me throbbed as the warmth enveloped me, crackling with energy and light. The nearer it got to my face, the harder my heart pounded. My ears filled with the thunderous drumming of panic.

Peace . It is yours to command . Hecate’s voice gentled the rising fear.

I called it into me and the power sank into my skin, every bit as satisfying as a cock driving into me. I gasped, sucking in a deep breath and latching my hands back onto the moss again.

“Oh, fuck.”

Again. Make it dance for you.

Sweat prickled my skin. I was damp and glistening, and my scalp itched as I pulled that mini sun into existence again.

Just holding it was exhausting. I wished I could at least see someone else wield power.

I had no idea what was even possible unless I was going to use cartoons and anime as references.

Hecate’s smile snapped me to attention and she held out a ball of moonlight in front of her. Our powers differ, but you are correct that your human mind would find a reference useful.

She flicked her fingers and it split into two, circling above her spread palm.

The light rippled around us, dancing in flowing tendrils like it was made of water.

Her hand bounced and the power followed, snapping from that delicate flow to a fierce shard, to blinding light, to a burning temperature that made me gasp before stealing every bit of warmth away until my breath puffed before me.

The possibilities are truly endless. Hecate snapped her fingers and the balls of light vanished. It will do what you command, but it takes practice.

I stared at my own tiny sun, willing it with every fiber of my being to split into two. It shivered and roiled, but remained resolutely singular. The harder I pushed, the more my nerves tingled, the more I craved actual touch to soothe it.

“Come on . Little fucker. Split!” It shivered as if it were laughing at me. Seth and Caden actually did laugh in the background, but they both still sounded far away.

I fought with my sun until having that energy outside me had me sweating and panting.

This was harder than the kickboxing class I’d forced myself to go through when I was in university.

It was difficult to breathe and I was lightheaded, nerves sparking deliciously with the effort of trying to control the power.

Call it back. You can try again later when you’re safe again .

I pulled the sun into its snaking lava form, shuddering as the heat crept over my skin. I let it spread further this time, let it slide over my breasts and down my stomach, and bit back a moan as it warmed my clit. It melted into my skin and I flopped backward, breathless and needy.

Hecate vanished, and only Seth and Caden were in the clearing with me again. Caden knelt next to me, and his hand on my shoulder erupted a bone-deep burning that made my pussy clench and my clit pulse. His pupils were dilated as he looked down at me.

“ Caden .” It was hard to care that I sounded whiny and pitiful.

I needed .

His gaze passed from me to Seth and back again. “Both?”

I nodded, squirming on the ground as the heat swelled in me. I tilted my head to see Seth watching me with a dark, lustful look that had my stomach tightening.

“Both.” I barely managed the word.

I was getting dizzy, and then Caden’s mouth was on mine, an anchor that held me as surely as the hand that slid up to hold my throat.

I groaned into his mouth and bucked my hips.

Seth came around to kneel between my thighs and inched himself down, dipping that wicked tongue to slide against my clit.

I bucked again, mindlessly, probably delivering the equivalent of a punch to the nose with my pussy.

His hands pressed my thighs down firmly and I whimpered at the restraint.

“How do you want us?” Caden nuzzled my cheek and nipped my ear.

That was a lot of thinking for what minimal brain capacity was available to me. “All the ways?”

Maybe that was good enough. I couldn’t care less what combo or position they took me in as long as they took me. Seth’s tongue wiped my mind clean with a lusciously deep dive that had me arching off the moss.

Caden stroked my cheek, smoothing my sweaty hair from my face. “Do you want to play with us, too? Or do you need us to focus on you right now?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but only a moan slipped free as Seth pressed his fingers into me.

Caden pulled a travel packet of lube out of his wallet and dripped it over his fingers, pressing them between my ass cheeks.

I shivered and welcomed the intrusion, his fingertip pushing in slowly, retreating to add more lube until the glide was smooth and easy.

I rolled my hips, but between the two of them I couldn’t move very far.

“ Play .” I gasped it out, digging my fingers into the ground.

“That’s my girl.” Caden grinned wolfishly at me and I knew I was in the best sort of trouble. “Run.”

The word registered a half second before Caden leaned away and slipped into his panther form.

Oh.

I climbed on to wobbly legs, pulling away from Seth, and turning to the expansive woods.

The energy of the forest wrapped me up. Whispering trees drew me deeper, but my heart pounded too loudly to hear their words.

I came across a deer trail and turned down it.

Caden and Seth crashed through the ferns and underbrush behind me.

Adrenaline roared through my system. Even with the boost, I knew I wouldn’t be able to run for long.

My lungs were already burning and my panthers were closing in.

I wanted to be caught, but even though I knew it was Seth and Caden chasing me, my brain still screamed danger .

Predators were coming, and if I didn’t haul ass, I’d get eaten.

Each footfall on the path jolted through me. I could see them out of the corner of my eyes, one on each side. The adrenaline blended with hot desire as the fear, manufactured as it was, made my mind cloudy. My body thrummed, need burning bright.

I leapt over a fallen log and tripped into the moss and ferns, tumbling off the side of the path. A massive panther face appeared when I opened my eyes. They snuffled around me.

You okay, Lo?

I nodded, my tongue not up to forming words.

The other panther growled and pinned me down.

They shifted to human form, one after another, and set about wrecking me.

Caden’s hand slid around my throat and fastened his mouth on my nipple.

Seth stroked my clit and took over the other nipple.

I gasped and thrashed, my arms pinned by their legs on each side of me.

Gods.

It was so much and somehow not enough.