Page 28 of Hooked on a Witch
He laughed low and shook his head. “Secret concoction from a friend good at remedies, but it’s not horse liniment.”
“I think they’re pulling your leg, then.” She didn’t get a chance to argue further before he cupped the back of her calf and rested her sandal on his thigh. Her foot looked tiny against him. He examined the bites and applied a small amount to each welt. Amazingly, the itchiness disappeared within seconds.
She tried to think of anything other than the intimacy of her foot on his hard thigh. So close to…Don’t look.Of course, her gaze went there. The hard bulge between his thighs signaled he wasn’t immune to what bounced between them.
His gaze swung upward. The intensity in his eyes was thrilling. With a frown, his capable fingers left her leg and touched her neck. “Mosquitoes got you there too?” He rubbed softly over a welt.
She couldn’t answer, hypnotized by his touch on her skin. Her body remained frozen and her breathing shallow as he explored her neck and upper chest for more bites. His fingers dipped beneath her neckline, finding a welt. He slipped his hand into her shirt and applied the concoction.
“More?” he asked.
She swallowed hard. “I’m good.”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “Where’d you really get this stuff?”
“It’s a potion from a Wiccan woman who lives down near Savannah. She’s a sweetheart and likes giving me stuff like this when I visit. She’s also a great cook. Her biscuits and grits are incredible.”
“Is she someone you like for more than her biscuits?”
He chuckled. “Don’t go sounding jealous, darlin’, or I might think you like me.”
A bird cried out while flying overhead. Another answered. Egrets. They sounded irritated. He gazed in the direction of the ocean.
“No jealousy here.” She hopped out of the car.
The birds cried out once more. Alarm traveled down her spine.
He caught her arm before she could move away. “Do you feel it?”
“Yes”. She batted at a mosquito on her arm.
“Something’s off. The birds… Put the flowers on the seat.” He slammed the car door and grabbed her hand in a tight, painful grip.
At a jog, he pulled her toward the side of the house and down to the creek bed. It wasn’t a short walk, but at the speed he was dragging her through the damp forest, they made it to the water in minutes. He squatted next to the twenty-foot wide creek and placed a hand in the water.
“Yeah, it’s infested with monster mosquitoes down here. Worse after the rain.” She batted a few away from her face. With a kick she flicked wet debris off her sandal-clad feet. The shoes weren’t intended for marching around damp forest. She plucked out a leaf caught in her left shoe and flicked a tick off her leg.
“There’s something out here far worse than bugs. I don’t know why you’re attractive to the shittiest of the scary shits, but they’re here.”
“The land is protected by an old spell. Only those of nonthreatening intent can get on the property.”
“Unless the trespassers are far more powerful than whatever your people laid down.” His arm wrapped around her waist and yanked her away from the creek, into the thick woods and behind a tree. Something smacked into the bark above their heads. He whispered, “Ericthonians.”
What?Shannon sensed a strange power around them, something simultaneously slithery and forceful. How could someone with an evil purpose get through the protections on the property? “What are Ericthon—”
He put his hand over her mouth and whispered into her ear, “Shhh.”
Clouds drew in overhead, darkening the forest until only flickers of light peeped through the leaves. The temperature dropped several degrees.
“No sounds or we both die.” He removed his hand from her mouth and led her to the left. He halted behind another large tree and gestured with a finger against his lips to keep silent.
The threatening presence marched nearer. Not one, but many.
She whispered, “Who’s out there?”
“Not one hundred percent sure yet, but if it’s what I think, then we’re both up shit creek.” He gazed at the rapidly moving water. “Too exposed for us to try to get across.”
