Page 58 of Bewitched & Bewildered
“It’s a consumable potion. This isn’t supposed to happen.”
“Oh.” My brows furrow. I look at the potion on the ground.
My pants are tight. My cheeks hurt from smiling. A dazed realization clicks into place.
The potion only amplifies what is already there. It can’tmakethese feelings.
When I meet Juniper’s eyes, I wonder if she’s feeling the same.
I’ve wanted her since she walked into my shop the first day. She’s never looked at me the same way—never looked at me likethis.
We’re both leaning in. Warmth sparks between us. She’s a breath away. I lift a hand, brushing her dark hair over her shoulder. Every brush, every touch, hits me to my soul. The fabric of her dress is soft, crimson, silk…
A moan slips past my lips.
“It’s the potion,” she whispers, too quiet to break our awakening desire.
“I don’t know if it is.”
She swallows. We both know it’s more. Magic can’t create emotion—it amplifies it.
“I want it to be the potion,” she says.
“We can pretend.”
She smiles, and it’s enormous and dazed, unlike anything I’ve seen on her. Her fingers trail down my chest, dark nails scraping against the fabric. The soft breaths passing through her lips are nothing—but they sound like ecstasy to me.
I won’t pull away—I don’t want to—but she does. It happens suddenly, and I’m left cold and confused. With a jerking motion, she pulls her hand back.
It’s as if I burned her.
“I have to go!” she squeaks.
“Juni—”
“Close the shop.” She pulls away from me and scrambles for the door. “Shut the door. Lock it up. It should stop working in a few hours.” A giggle falls past her lips.
“What about the floor?”
“Water!” she says. “Ice cold water. It’s easy to clean. I would help, but…”
“You don’t have to go!”
I shouldn’t say it. It makes her laugh again. She’s laughing at the idea of staying with me. Ofbeingwith me.
I’m alone, left with a need I’ve been repressing. How can I push it back down? I don’t want to feel this pulsing, craving desire for someone who can’t stay…
She doesn’twantto stay. She’s gone.
JUNIPER
I call out sick for the rest of the day. Maple offers to make me soup, but I decline it. I’m going home to hide in my room.
Iamill, but it’s not that kind of illness. Soup won’t cure this. Nothing will.
A bliss potion isn’t supposed to make me feel lovesick, but it does. The potion can be arousing with the right people. When I took it with a group of friends, it felt like a casual high—a little laughter and creativity. When I took it with my partner… it was more likethis.
Hot, heavy, throbbing, needing. I’m dizzy with desire, and it’s for one person. He’s the one person I don’twantto need.
