Witchromance: Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy (Reluctant Necromancer Book 5) Read online

  She pressed her lips together, and I thought she wouldn't speak. Then her eyes met mine, defiant and full of pain. "They might not be my real parents, not in the way normal people have parents. But I lived with them for years. We ate dinner together and they made sure I did my homework and went to my school stuff. I…I guess I got attached to them. Stupid, right? That just gave the council one more way to punish me when they found out I hadn't told them you were shacking up with a magic user."

  I shook my head. She said her parents moved out of town. But it sounded like they'd been ordered to leave. I didn't really understand how she could consider her handlers her family…but that didn't mean it hurt her any less.

  I scrubbed a hand over my face. I didn't know what to do with her. Jazz turned and started down the steps. Stopping, she glanced back over her shoulder at me. "For what it's worth," she said softly, "I really did think of you as my friend. I guess I'm just too susceptible to attachments. That's what they'd say." She turned away. "Good luck, Esper."

  I watched her make her way outside, and into the little red compact car she'd parked out by the road and drive away, my emotions still a tangled mess.

  Sighing, I turned away from my ex-friend and made my way inside to deal with my murder.

  I found them all in the living room. Someone had lit a fire in the fireplace, and I went to stand by it, shivering as the heat of it chased away the cold that had settled in my bones from standing outside in the frosty winter air.

  Toma crossed to me and pressed a cup of hot cocoa into my hand, leaning up to kiss the corner of my mouth.

  "Thanks," I muttered, feeling even warmer at the touch of his pretty lips and his recently enhanced magic. I felt more settled here. Home, with my murder around me.

  Luna paced into the room wearing a pair of my sweats and a t-shirt with a dog on it. Toma had gotten me the shirt with a teasing comment about how much I liked canines. When he saw Luna wearing it, his Cupid's bow mouth curled upward in delight. I rolled my eyes. I'd like to see him call Luna a dog to her face. Jet got away with it. But he was Jet. Everyone just expected him to be an asshole.

  The werewolf still looked agitated. She shook her head when Toma offered to get her some cocoa, then she took up pacing between me and the couch, where Drake lounged with Jet, the familiar's feet propped up in his lap like he was still a cat with no respect for personal boundaries.

  "Hey," I said, drawing Luna's attention. "You okay, wolf?"

  She stopped pacing for a beat, then started right back up again. "Those fools turned tail when the witch showed up, but they'll be back. Apparently, Luke is the new alpha of my old pack." She waved a hand as if dismissing him. "He's strong and tenacious. But dumber than a box of rocks. He'd fight to the death over a bone, just to fight, even if he already had a whole plate to himself."

  I smirked at the dog-like analogy, then wiped the expression off my face. "What do they want?"

  Bright green eyes met mine. The wolf was closer to the surface than I'd thought, flashing at me through Luna's fierce gaze. "Me. They want me. But they're sure as hell not taking me back."

  Drake huffed a short laugh. "Of course they aren't. You belong to us."

  She rounded on him, eyes flashing. I knew Drake meant well, but that was the wrong thing to say to an alpha with blood in her eye. "I don't belong to you, vampire! If anything, you all belong to me. I'm the alpha here." Her fingertips had grown claws, and she clenched her hands into fists.

  I'd never seen her so on edge, so out of control.

  "Look," I said, setting my cocoa on the mantle and holding my hands up as I approached her. "No one here owns anyone else. Let's just--"

  Jet raised his hand. "Except me. You own me, stupid necromancer. I belong to you."

  I gritted my teeth together. He was so dumb. But I didn't expect Luna to round on him, eyes snapping and motions even jerkier than before. "He's right." She slanted a furious green glare my way. "You're blood bonded to the vampire. Your power twines with the mage in a way that says you've tied yourself to him in the past. And now you reek of the cat. Yet you refuse my overtures. What good is my power to you, if I don't have a dick!"

  I flinched back from her words, my face flaming with embarrassment as I realized she could probably smell what Jet and I had done. But my own anger followed right on the heels of that initial reaction. I straightened and moved closer to the angry wolf, getting right in her face. "Who I choose to sleep with has nothing to do with your stupid werewolf hang-ups. You need to get a grip, alpha."

  My power roiled in my belly, responding to my anger. I saw Jet sit up out of the corner of my eye. "Necromancer," he said, his voice low in warning. I felt him tug on my magic through our bond, as if he could pull me back off the ledge.

  Toma stepped closer to me and put a hand on my lower back, and his magic twined with mine, cool and comforting—and a shit-ton stronger than it had ever been. The sensation jolted me out of my anger, and I stepped back, away from Luna. "Will the wolves be back tonight?" I said, forcing my voice to be calm.

  She took a deep breath and let it out, but her eyes were still furious. "No. They were injured and scared. They'll regroup. Probably show up again tomorrow." She lifted her chin a notch. "I'm sorry I've brought them to your territory. If you would prefer, I'll go back to my apartment."

  I sighed. "Oh, just stop," I said tiredly. "Go get cleaned up and get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."

  Some of the tension left her shoulders, and I could literally feel her fighting with herself to not sound like a bitch. "Thank you."

  She strode off to the stairs, probably headed to one of the guest rooms I kept made up in case my siblings needed a place to stay.

  I slumped, glancing at the others. "What the hell just happened?"

  Drake rolled his ice-blue eyes. "Wolves and dominance," he said, oh so helpfully. As if he wasn't every bit the possessive asshole when he wanted to be.

  I waited for him to continue, but apparently, he thought that explained everything. Toma patted my back. "I haven't had a lot of experience with weres—at least not alphas. But we had to deal with them a few times when I lived with the coven. There was always all this protocol on how not to offend them. Alphas in particular." He shrugged. "She's had a rough night. She's probably feeling on edge because other wolves—another alpha, by the sounds of it—came into her territory."

  Awan stirred from where she'd been lounging against a bookshelf watching the drama unfold. "She hasn't been able to claim you the way she wants, puppeteer. It probably makes the wolf instincts in her feel that much more threatened and unstable."

  How was I supposed to know all this? And how did that give her any excuse to be so…so…asinine. But I made myself push away those initial feelings and nodded at what Awan was saying, trying to understand. I couldn't help Luna if I didn't at least try to understand what she was feeling. "I'll talk to her in the morning."

  Awan gave me a faint smile and scooped up the gun she had continued to lug around. "I'll keep watch over the house tonight. Just in case."

  Drake sighed and stood. "I can help with that. And I'll work on hauling some of our stuff inside." He smiled fondly at me and Toma. "You guys get some sleep." He dropped a kiss on my lips, turned, and brushed a kiss across Toma's forehead. Then he shot me a sly, silvery-blue look, showing a slip of fang as he smirked at me. "I mean actual sleep." I didn't miss the way his gaze slid to Jet, who was still lounging idly on the couch.

  I shoved him, and the vampire chuckled as he went to join the "supes who don't need sleep" club with Awan, leaving me alone with Toma and Jet.

  Jet stood and stretched, all long and lean, supple like a feline. I recalled how that wicked body felt pressed to mine and my cheeks went up in flames. Toma turned to face the fire and warm the front of his body. Jet's gold eyes met mine and he smiled, slinking toward me. He stopped inches from me and gazed down into my face, his magic tugging at mine playfully. "The bossy vampire said we should go to sleep, stupid necromance
r."

  I took a deep breath. Damn it. I never should have crossed the line with him. Now he was in complete control. Because I was totally fucking weak. "That's what he said," I managed to croak out.

  Jet's smile deepened, showing his pointed canines. Then he bent his head and pressed his lips to mine, and I tried really, really hard not to melt.

  Jet pulled back and I opened my eyes as he spoke. "Hello pretty mate," he purred, and I realized Toma had come to join us, his purple eyes sparkling with mischief.

  "Hello familiar," Toma breathed, his silky voice full of promise. He turned his gaze to me and inclined his head in question. "Do you mind, Esper?"

  I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak. I'd caught Toma ogling my familiar more times than I could count, but he'd always kept his hands to himself. Toma pressed up on his toes to kiss me, leaving me breathless. Then he turned his head expectantly, humming in pleasure when Jet obliged him, cupping the mage's face and tilting his head to better devour his perfect mouth.

  Damn it. How was I supposed to sleep now?

  Both men turned back to me, Toma pressing soft kisses to my collar bone on one side while Jet nibbled his way up the side of my neck to tug at my ear on the other side. "Shall we go to bed?" the familiar whispered into my ear, making me shudder.

  "Fuck yes," I muttered, earning a chuckle from them both.

  I spared a thought for Luna as I let them lead me to my bedroom. She was wrong. It wasn't her being female that was the problem. It was just our horrible timing. I wanted to go get her. Invite her to come join in. But that fury I'd seen in her eyes. The coldness in her voice. It was all too much.

  Then Toma was kissing me, capturing all of my attention, his power dancing over my skin like a caress. Jet got rid of our clothes, pausing to run his long, graceful hands over my body in a way that made me forget everything else.

  I'd seen how Toma looked at Jet ever since the moment he realized the familiar could take on human form. He'd been dying to get a taste of my familiar. And from the way Jet teased him, I was pretty sure that sentiment was mutual. I pulled back to watch as they kissed. Then jet bent to tease his tongue over Toma’s nipple piercings.

  “Shiny,” Jet purred in appreciation.

  Toma's shorter body bowed as Jet straightened, pulling the mage onto his tiptoes so their cocks aligned. The familiar wrapped his hand around them both and stroked, earning a groan from Toma. The mage wrapped his arms around Jet's neck and curled his fingers into the familiar's fine black hair.

  Powers That Be, they were so beautiful together. I ran a hand over my own breasts, down across my stomach to my clit, giving myself a teasing stroke.

  They broke apart and zeroed in on me. We moved to the bed and I promptly lost my mind, assaulted by clever fingers and lips and tongues. Teased into a quivering mess.

  Jet slid between my legs for the second time that day, and the reality dawned on me. He was mine. I could have him whenever I wanted, since he was always by my side. I recalled the reverence and yearning his voice had held when he told me he wanted to belong to me. My whole body reacted, and I clenched tight around him as he drove home.

  He knelt, slipping one hand under my hips to angle me just right, and I moaned, lifting my hips to meet his thrusts. With the other hand, the familiar gestured to Toma. In no time, he was sliding Toma's long, slender cock into his mouth with practiced ease, while he continued to slide in and out of me in the same rhythm, his motions inhumanly graceful.

  Toma hissed, his fingers slipping over Jet's soft cat ears before fisting in his silky black hair. "The teeth, cat!"

  I tilted my head to watch as Jet just smiled around Toma's shaft and took him deeper, then pulled off slowly, gently scraping his pointed teeth over the sensitive skin. Toma shuddered and gave the familiar a glower that was completely ruined by the fact that we all knew he loved it. I'd seen just what Drake's fangs did to the little mage enough times to know better. Toma might have a little bit of a fang kink.

  The mage tilted his head back and closed his eyes as Jet continued to work us both up to an earthshaking climax. I was almost there when I felt Toma's power swell. There was a strange sensation, like someone was touching my soul. Then my whole body lit up. I felt it through my connection to Jet's magic, the sensation rebounding between us, then I shattered, muffling my screams with the heel of my hand.

  Jet moved my hand away as Toma collapsed beside us. The familiar's kiss tasted like Toma as he grabbed my thighs and pulled me closer, slamming in harder and deeper. It was all too much and I came again, dragging my blunt nails down Jet's back as the familiar emptied himself inside me.

  As I lay there between them, trying to catch my breath, I felt the weird energy draining away, returning to something normal as my body stopped humming.

  "What was that?" I breathed.

  Toma let out a short, breathless laugh. "Sex, Esper. That was sex. Amazing sex."

  I mustered just enough energy to smack him weakly on his shoulder.

  Jet smirked at me, full of smugness. "That was your spirit mage playing with our souls," he said, reaching his arms above his head for a full body stretch, all content and satisfied.

  I felt Toma go rigid beside me. "What do you mean?" he whispered.

  I turned my head to meet his worried purple eyes. "You didn't know? It felt like you were…I don't know…inside me, and all around me at the same time."

  "It felt like you were inside our auras," Jet supplied.

  Toma blinked. "I'm…sorry?"

  I laughed. Jet sat up and tousled Toma's long, blue-streaked black hair. "I thought you were the smart one, pretty mate. Why would you apologize for sharing your soul with us?"

  Toma just looked at us, at a loss. I watched as his cheeks flushed a dark pink. "I'm not sure what I did or how I did it. But…it didn't scare you?"

  I turned toward him and wrapped my arms around him. "I know there was screaming, so I can see where you might be confused." I tried really hard not to laugh. "But no, it was not scary."

  Toma's face finally lost its overwhelmed expression as he laughed at my terrible humor. "Thanks for clearing that up for me, Esper. I appreciate it."

  Jet stretched again and pulled the blankets up from the foot of the bed, covering us up. Then he curled behind me, draping his long arm around my stomach. "Can I stay with you this way?" he whispered.

  Oh Powers, my heart. I met Toma's eyes and tried to keep my voice steady. "Oh, I guess so," I managed. "If you must."

  Jet nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck. "I must, idiot magic user."

  I chuckled and Toma reached up to stroke Jet's hair before tucking his hand under his cheek and closing his eyes.

  Sure, Hellsfork was being overrun by werewolves, and I had a pissed off alpha upstairs stewing. But for just a few hours, my life was perfect.

  Sometime in the night, I woke to darkness and a warm hand on my face. I muttered a sleepy inquiry, but settled again when a large, muscular body settled against my back and I felt the pull of Drake feeding, the energy vampire drawing from my aura to sustain his life. I rolled toward him and opened my eyes enough to see glowing silver eyes watching me in the dark. "We need to talk about getting a bigger bed," he whispered, his deep voice full of humor. There was no trace of jealousy, which never failed to surprise me.

  I settled against his side as he gathered a still sleeping Toma in on the other side. Jet was still curled up to my back, and he lifted a hand to lightly stroke Drake's belly in greeting, then subsided.

  I tried not to think about that combination. I did need to get some sleep tonight. Powers knew we had enough shit to deal with in the morning. "Go to sleep, idiot necromancer," Jet whispered.

  I snorted. Easier said than done with this lot. Still, I did eventually manage to drift off, encased in power and…love. It was so close to perfect. If only I didn't know Luna was fuming and Awan was out there somewhere in the cold, all alone.

  Chapter 3

  I woke up the next mo
rning alone in my bed.

  Well, almost alone. Jet was in cat form, curled up against my stomach with my hand buried in the silky fur of his belly. I stroked him absently as I tried to figure out how I felt about the fact that I had sex with someone who wasn't always…person shaped.

  I mean…sure, technically Drake, and even Toma, weren't actually human. But Jet was my cute little cat. Ugh. Then again, Luna was also prone to changing shapes….

  My mind wandered, and I found myself wondering what it would be like, to be with a woman. I'd thought about it, a time or two before, but the opportunity had never really presented itself. I hardly dated at all, men or women, before these weirdos blew into my life and turned everything upside down. My body flushed at the thought of Luna's curves pressed up against me in bed, her mouth on mine, all that strength wrapped in softness, and Luna's own personal brand of southern sweetness that hid a ton of spice.

  I shifted uncomfortably. Damn it. Now was not the time for me to keep focusing on my love life. I sat up, shoving Jet aside. The cat opened one eye and watched me move to the dresser to get out fresh clothes, then he rolled over onto his back and stretched. He fluidly morphed into a long, lean guy with rippling abs peeking out from the hem of his black t-shirt while he stretched his arms overhead. His yellow eyes narrowed, watching me with sort of smug satisfaction. Powers, we were all in trouble.

  I turned away and headed to the shower. When I emerged, I found Jet in the kitchen, watching Luna make muffins from whatever she'd scrounged up in my cupboards. She was wearing her borrowed sweats, her long hair in a high ponytail with little wisps coming down, and her face was slightly flushed. After her little outburst last night, I wasn't sure what to say to her.

  "There's pumpkin seeds in the cupboard over there, if you want," I said, sidling over to get a cup of coffee from the pot someone had made. "And chocolate chips."

  She moved to the indicated cupboard and got out the additions. "Thanks. I always get hungry after a run."

  I eyed her critically. "Like, a run, run. Or a furry run?"