Sylvia Day - Magic & Mayhem

“I’ll ring in Abby’s purchase,” Kayla piped in, moving in to take Brianna’s place behind the register.

Brianna stepped out from behind the counter and perused the shop, hunting for her cat, hoping he hadn’t slipped out the door behind that tall, dark-haired man. Lately, Max seemed so restless, wandering off at will.

As she searched, that same tall, dark man lingered on the curb outside, drawing her attention. Oddly enough, as she angled her head for a better look, sparks shot through her body, and the fine hairs on the back of her neck began tingling in anticipation. Anticipation of what, she couldn’t be sure. Her palms grew moist, her pulse kicked up a notch.

The man twisted around to face her and shot her a panty-soaking smile. Her hormones rocketed to life like they never had before. His sensuous lips turned up over perfect white teeth, his strong athletic body beckoned hers. When his mesmerizing green eyes locked on hers, her breath caught on a gasp. Lust slammed into her, forcing her to bite down on her bottom lips to avoid a breathy moan. The heat and longing in his eyes licked over her flesh. Her skin grew tight with dark desire, and she began to ache, deep between her legs. Brianna squeezed her thighs together, hyperaware of the dampness pooling in her panties.

Oh God! Those eyes.

They were so familiar.

So. Hauntingly. Familiar.

Max?

XANDER TORE HIS GAZE FROM THE SEXY WOMAN INSIDE THE magic boutique, a woman who’d been getting under his skin for the last year without even trying. She’d made him wild with the need to touch her, to taste her, and to feel her heat between his legs. He longed to anchor her body to his and gaze into her dark brown eyes. He longed to run his fingers through her honey blond hair and cover her mouth with his. But mostly he longed to bury himself in her silken sheath and make sweet passionate love to her all night long.

Soon, he promised himself. Soon.

He took a moment to stretch out his arms and legs, enjoying the way his long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans felt against his skin. After glancing up and down the street, orienting himself in his environment, he moved swiftly down the sidewalk. He loved the way the midday autumn sun warmed his face, loved the way the breeze bristled his hair, but what he loved the most was walking on two feet instead of four paws.

In an automatic gesture, he brought his hand to his mouth and licked, grooming himself. As his tongue connected with skin, not fur, a soft chuckle rose from the depths of his throat. That was definitely going to take some getting used to, especially after living in feline form for the last few decades.

Feline form.

He scoffed. Thanks to the spell Council had cast on him many moons ago.

Okay, so maybe he’d gotten a little out of control in the past, using his powers for personal gain and not for the betterment of mankind, and maybe he needed to be taught a lesson, but Jesus, roaming the earth as a real tomcat certainly seemed a bit excessive to him.

Now, thanks to Brianna, he was human again, and he had absolutely no intention of ever going back to walking on all furry fours.

Brianna. Sweet, temperamental Brianna.

Little did she know that her incantation to bring forth her perfect lover, one who knew her better than she knew herself, one who could fulfill her deepest darkest desires, would temporarily break the spell on him. Because he, and only he, fit that bill to a T.

Over the past year, not knowing who he really was, Brianna had whispered all her sinful little secrets to him. She’d murmured all the naughty, delicious things she’d like done to her, over and over again, and tonight he had every intention of fulfilling her fantasies until they were both sated and drained.

Should Brianna fall in love with him in the process, and kiss him, like she really meant it, before the stroke of midnight, before her dream lover was destined to disappear, then and only then would the feline spell be broken forever.

As Xander negotiated his way through the crowd, a bevy of flyers stapled to a post caught his eye. He stepped up to them. “Ah, yes the Halloween bash.” He grinned. The perfect setting to seduce his sweet Brianna and make all her dreams come true. The perfect setting to get her to kiss him.

Deeply.

Thoroughly.

He’d naturally have to keep his identity a secret until she’d fallen in love with him. He couldn’t risk Brianna’s discovering he was Xander, for fear that she’d heard the horrid legend. Horrid, but true. No doubt she’d keep her distance and assume he was sweet-talking her between the sheets in a bid to get her to fall for him, to kiss him, so he could go back to his rebel ways. She’d be mistaken, of course. After living with her for the last year, he now knew no other woman would ever compare.

Brianna James had changed his ways.

His grin turned wicked. She had no idea that when she conjured that forbidden spell, it would change the fate of her future. And his.

Forever.

Brianna pushed open the heavy glass door and stepped out onto the curb in time to see the mysterious man round the corner and disappear from her line of sight. She felt such an odd, unexplainable pull toward him but resisted the urge to follow.

The wind picked up and blew her short blond hair in front of her eyes. Brianna tucked it behind her ears and twisted around to make her way back inside.

She took a moment to sort through everything that had just transpired. The incantation. Her missing cat. The mysterious man with gorgeous green eyes that resembled Max’s to perfection.

O-kay.

She couldn’t deny that over the past few centuries she’d seen stranger things. But it was a lover’s spell that she had cast, if she had indeed cast it, not one that changed a cat into a man. She had to be mistaken, she just had to be. Because the alternative was far too preposterous. Wasn’t it?

Brianna stepped back into the store and noted the time. She spotted Kayla emptying the cash drawer and realized it was past closing time. She’d been so mesmerized by her mystery man that she hadn’t even noticed Abby leave.

Kayla locked the safe and handed her the key. “Looks like you had a successful day. I do love Halloween for sales,” Kayla said, bright-eyed.

Brianna smiled and tucked the key into her jeans. Striving for normalcy, she asked, “Have you seen Max?”

“Nope.” Kayla nodded toward the stairs that led to Brianna’s upstairs apartment. “He’s probably already up there fast asleep. I swear that cat sleeps twenty-one hours a day. The other three he’s out prowling. What a life.”

Brianna bit on her bottom lip and nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she agreed wholeheartedly. Kayla had Max’s routine down to a T.

“He’ll show up eventually. He always does,” Kayla added, and grabbed her wind jacket. She made her way to the door. “Everything is secure, all you have to do is lock up. So I’ll see you tonight right?”

“I don’t know-”

“Come on, Brianna. There just might be a special Halloween treat waiting for you at the party. A treat so sweet it will give you cavities,” she added with a wink.

Brianna chuckled. “Do you ever think of anything else besides getting laid.”

Kayla puckered her lips in thought. “Does oral sex count?”

Brianna rolled her eyes. “Good night, Kayla.”

“I’ll see you at the party.” With a wave, Kayla disappeared, leaving Brianna alone to once again mull over the events. After locking the front door, Brianna made her way to the stairwell.

“Max,” she called as she ascended. “Where the hell are you?”

Worry gnawed at her insides after a thorough search of her apartment turned up nothing. Could he have gotten out again? She hated the thoughts of Max out prowling on Halloween.

Suddenly she remembered that she’d left the spell tucked inside a pile of flyers. Brianna rushed down the stairs in record time and grabbed the stack, rooting through them.

Oh. Shit.

Her stomach lurched. The parchment paper was gone.

Her mind raced. Abby! Kayla must have given her a flyer. Dear God, what if the spell actually worked. She couldn’t let that fall into the wrong hands. Although the incantation was specifically written with her desires in mind, such spells could mutate and evolve to satisfy the deepest, darkest desires of those who read it.

Without haste, Brianna grabbed a sexy, black satin sorceress costume off the rack, pulled it on, and headed out the door, to the Halloween party.

She had to find that incantation and destroy it before her magic caused a whole lot of mayhem.

XANDER SMOOTHED DOWN THE COLLAR ON HIS PIRATE COSTUME and mingled with the other guests at Abby’s Halloween bash. Bottle of beer in hand, he roamed the room, weaving his way in and out of partygoers, waiting for Brianna.

His sweet Brianna.

A sexy, temperamental woman who longed to indulge in a few sex games with her very own pirate, not to mention a few other bad boy characters that she’d love to have a little playtime with.

While waiting for Brianna to arrive, Xander took a long pull from his drink and perused the room. He spotted Abby making her way through the crowd. A man in the corner dressed in a black-and-silver genie costume couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. Not that he could blame him, really. Dressed in a very sexy, very revealing purple gypsy costume, she looked stunning. But the truth was Xander only had eyes for Brianna. So he continued his wait.

Fortunately, his wait was short-lived.

He knew the minute Brianna walked through the door. His entire body felt her long before he saw her. Xander twisted around, willing her to look in his direction, for when she did, the night no longer belonged to her. It belonged to him.

Brianna frantically searched the room, as though looking for someone, or something. When she caught his gaze he could hear her breath catch on a gasp and see her eyes open wide with instant recognition.

“Brianna.” He mouthed the words and crooked his finger. “Come to me.”

She complied. Time seemed suspended as she sailed across the wide expanse of floor, closing the gap between them. Xander swept his gaze down the length of her sexy sorceress costume, then inhaled, pulling her warm natural scent into his lungs. Her feminine aroma nearly drove him to his knees. When she stepped into his personal space, the air around them charged with sexual electricity. Everything in him reached out to her.

Fueled by his need to taste her, to touch her, he ran the pad of his thumb over her plump lips, then circled his arm around her tiny waist, anchoring her to him. At that precise moment he decided that he’d like nothing more than to spend the rest of his life pleasuring her the way she deserved to be pleasured.

Dark lashes fluttered over come-hither brown eyes. Color bloomed high on her cheeks. Her sensuous voice was low, hesitant, but underneath the waver he heard the desire, the need. “Who are you?”

He brought his lips to within a hairbreadth of hers and breathed a kiss over her mouth. Her nipples pressed into his chest and tightened. His desire mounted when he felt the way her body reacted to his close proximity. “My sweet Brianna. All you need to know is that tonight I am the man, or rather the pirate,” he said with a grin, “who is going to make all your fantasies come true.” He fingered the soft material of her costume, his mind visualizing the path his tongue would take while ridding her of her clothes.

Her mouth fell open, her eyes widened. Clearly, understanding had dawned.

“The spell,” she whispered.

“Yes, the spell.”

“She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.

No more questions. Just know that tonight you are mine.” He slid his hand down to the small of her back, then traced the curve of her lush ass. “Say you’ll be mine, Brianna.”

She nibbled her lip, as though undecided. But her hesitation lasted only seconds. Xander knew she wanted this as much as he did, so much so that she’d gone against her own best interests and written a forbidden love spell.

She sucked in a breath, then whispered, “Unbelievable.”

He chuckled and pulled her impossibly closer, until she could feel his arousal pressing insistently against her hip, clamoring for attention.

She gulped air and glanced around as though realizing where they were.

Wanting to ensure their privacy while he did delectable things to her body, he lowered his lips to her ear, and whispered, “Say it, Brianna. Say you’ll be mine.” Jesus, her nearness made his whole body quake in heated anticipation.