An Excerpt from Sheri Gilmore's "Candy for her Soul " in Hard Candy
Take two tulip bulbs. With a new pin, scratch the name of one suitor on each bulb. Remembering which bulb represents which lover, plant the bulbs beside each other in a pot. Whichever one blooms first will be the one most deserving of you.
“Bullshit.” Natalie cringed at her whispered outburst. She'd been going through the journal for thirty minutes and still hadn't found a spell to do what she wanted -- fast.
She wanted to know how to make both men hers before Valentine's Day. She yawned and flung the book across the cushion to land in a patch of moonlight shining through the window. It had been a long day, and she really needed to go to sleep. The pale beams called to her, and she knew what she had to do before she went to bed.
She got up to stand in front of the window. For years she'd gone to the moon whenever she needed something. In New York, her nighttime rituals were impossible to perform with limited outside spaces and privacy. But, here -- she pulled the sheers back and looked into the backyard -- she could practice her magick without interruption.
Remembering the chair, she eased through the living and dining areas into the kitchen. At the door, she rummaged through the counter drawer for the needed items, then removed her nightgown and panties. The slide of the door chain sounded louder than she remembered. After slipping it free, she waited for any reaction from Nona. When none came, she stepped through into the chilly January air.
Her nipples peaked and her pussy clenched at the cold that nipped her body. She breathed deeply of the crisp night air. She loved winter nights. With a quick dash, she ran across the frost-covered ground to hide beneath the live oak tree. Here in the shadows of the old gnarly limbs and leaves, she could perform her ritual without anyone seeing her.
A concrete bench sat beneath the tree. Sweeping leaves and twigs from the surface, she used the flat area for an altar. With gentle care, she placed the single candle and box of matches she'd retrieved from the kitchen drawer, then crossed herself.
Lifting her hands to the moonlit night, she whispered the incantation she'd designed years before. “Moonlight that shines on me, hear my wish and grant my needs.”
She held her stance for a few minutes, but couldn't stop the yawn that claimed her. A faint breeze lifted the hair around her shoulders and she closed her eyes to let her meditative trance take her. In the distance, she heard the sounds of the night -- cars on the Biloxi bridge, the train crossing two streets over, dogs barking into the night air, and someone breathing.
Her eyes opened with a snap and she whirled around. A hand covered her mouth when she would have screamed. Her heart pounded against her chest and she kicked out with her bare foot.
He laughed. “Nice try, sweets.” The raspy voice whispering in her ear sounded familiar. He pulled her closer and she realized he was as naked as she. “That's right, don't fight. You'll only get hurt trying to resist me.”
A warm, wet tongue trailed down her cheek. When he reached her neck, his lips joined his tongue in a soft sucking motion against the vein that throbbed in fear and ... something else. While her mind screamed “run,” her body screamed “give in.” Desire wound its way down her neck, across her breasts, and settled in her groin. She pressed her thighs together to fight the need that swamped her senses.
He released her neck to trail back to her ear. “Hmm, you taste as good as I imagined.” The arm around her waist loosened. “Sweeter than that candy I offered you when you were seventeen.”
His hand wandered over her body. First he slid his fingers up to pinch her nipple between his forefinger and thumb, then he feathered down to twirl a finger around the curve of her navel. “You've grown up quite nicely. No wonder he wants you.”
Natalie moaned and shifted her hips. Whether in pleasure or an attempt to break free, she didn't know. The more he touched her, the more her cunt grew wet and throbbed.
He laughed, the warmth of his breath puffing small clouds of mist into the cold air. His hand slipped further south and hesitated above her pubis.
The anticipation became a physical pain. Through the pressure of his fingers, she muttered, “Come on.”
He did. Long, hot fingers combed through her pussy hair to reach their destination. When he entered her cunt, he released the hand over her mouth and she heard their moans of pleasure blend together. The familiar ache grew so acute she thought she would fall, but his arms held her tight against his body. The outline of his cock pressed into her back, and she thought of Nico.
“Don't think of him.” He plunged his fingers deeper. “Not yet. Think of me and the pleasure I'm giving you.”
Fantasy and reality blurred together, and Natalie couldn't be sure if she were dreaming or actually letting a complete stranger take control of her body. But ... he wasn't a stranger. She'd seen him before. The haze of desire swamped her senses.
She didn't care. Between the cold of the night and the heat of his fingers and lips, she lost all touch with reality. One minute they were standing with him behind her, his fingers deep within her body; the next moment he stood before her in the cold night air.
He reached past her head and produced a long-stemmed rose with petals so red they looked black in the moonlight.
“It's beautiful.” Her voice sounded like she spoke inside a tunnel.
“Like you, my dear.” He trailed the bud across her shoulders and between her breasts.
“I'm not beautiful.”
“Oh, but you are.” He smiled. His teeth flashed white in the pale light. “I know at least three males who think so.” The bud circled her breast. “Myself, Nico, and David.”
Natalie sucked her breath in at the throb between her legs. Why had he stopped what he'd been doing to her earlier? She wanted --
He continued the assault of her senses and teased her nipple to a point.
She bit her lip to keep a cry of utter need from escaping.
“Nona --”
“Can't see or hear us.”
“Who are you?”
© Sheri Gilmore, January 2005
All Rights Reserved
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