First Cursed [Diablo Falls] Read online

  I move my hand down his abdomen just as the clouds part, throwing bright moonlight over my hand, which is about an inch away from Jamie’s huge erection. I stare at it for a moment before I come to my senses.

  I freeze. “Oh! Oh… Okay… Oh my god.” I close my eyes. Then I open them and cover them with my hand. I want to disappear. I turn my head away and feel so completely awkward I don’t know what to do. So, of course, I clamp a hand over my mouth as I start giggling.

  Jamie pulls up his pants and sits facing me. “Oh. Uh… Hazel, don’t cry. It’s not that bad.”

  I shake my head and then gasp for air, and then start laughing in earnest. “Jamie. I am so, so sorry. I laugh when I am nervous. It’s not funny.” I catch my breath.

  He shrugs. “Well, it might be a little funny, I guess.” He looks confused. “Not what you’d expect to find while walking in the woods at night alone. What are you doing here?”

  “I saw you. I thought you were hurt. I saw your face…” When I realize that what I saw in the vision wasn’t pain at all. I feel the heat rising in my cheeks. The faces he was making that I interpreted as pain were… quite the opposite. Then I remember. “You called my name…”

  Jamie gasps. I can’t tell in the dark, but I can imagine his face turning all shades of red. “Yeah… about that.”

  He goes silent for a moment and I feel like I need to reset everything so we can try to start over. I have no idea what Jamie knows about Diablo Falls or his grandmother, so I start slow.

  “You know that your grandma is a… a special woman, right? She told me that she saw things. That she frequently had visions. About you.”

  Jamie nods and raises his shoulders. “Yeah. Everyone knows she’s a witch. It’s why she loved living here. And she’s always talking about the visions she gets for me. Weird how it never happens with my brother, only me.”

  “Yeah. Well, today? When I fainted? It wasn’t a normal fainting. I mean… yes, I fainted, but while I was out, I had a vision of you, here, at the lake. But I thought you were hurt, because your face, the tension in your body…”

  His brow furrows. “And that’s why you came out here? Because you thought I needed help?”

  I nod. “I called Gertie today to ask her about it. She said that I was meant to watch over you.” I meet his gaze and I can’t help but smile. “So when I saw the vision tonight, your face was all… you know. Like you were hurt. Except when I got here…”

  “Oh man.” He laughs softly and rubs a hand over his face. “I can only imagine how that looked.”

  I stop for a moment and wait for him to look at me. “Still…you said my name.”

  “Yeah. Um…”

  I realize he’s about to try to explain. I move to get up. “I’m sorry. This is terribly awkward. I shouldn’t have come.”

  He wraps his hand around my wrist, gently, but firmly. “No. Hazel. You don’t have to leave. I did say your name… and before you get totally grossed out about that, I should explain. When you passed out today? You weren’t the only one who saw something.”

  Now it’s my turn to be surprised. “Really? Gertie never mentioned you had abilities.”

  “I don’t—I never had anything happen like that before. But today, when our hands touched, I saw you. And me. And we were…”

  “We were what?” I ask.

  “We were together.” His voice sounds low and serious.

  I arch a brow. “Together?”

  He nods. “We were touching.” He lets go of my wrist and runs the back of his fingers down the length of my arm. It sends a thrill through me.

  I swallow, hard. “Touching?”

  He leans toward me, his mouth inches from mine. “You tasted like strawberries.”

  “They’re my favorite,” I whisper as I close the gap between us.

  JAMIE

  Hazel’s tongue touches mine and it’s like the world disappears. She does, indeed, taste exactly like strawberries. I wrap my arms around her and pull her to me as we kiss. I ease her onto my lap and let the warmth of her seep into my skin.

  I run my hand down the length of her leg and it’s oddly familiar. I know I’ve only touched her in a dream vision, but whatever magic made that happen, it was exactly right. My hands seem to know her body.

  She runs her hands over my bare chest, scratching the hair and squeezing my nipple. The shape of her under her tee shirt is outlined in the glow of the fire, and I have the sudden need to see her naked in the moonlight. I slip a hand under her shirt and let my fingers guide me around her back, feeling her breathing grow rapid as we continue to kiss.

  She licks my lips and then trails her tongue down over my chin, to my neck, and then to my ear. She takes my earlobe between her teeth and her breath in my ear sends shivers down my spine.

  I pull her shirt up and she shrugs out of it, revealing a dark lacy bra cupping generous breasts. I lift her breast to reveal the nipple and take it into my mouth, sucking and flicking her with the tip of my tongue as she sighs.

  HAZEL

  He’s got a magic mouth. The way he touches me with his fingers and his hands and his lips… my god, it’s like I am alive for the first time in forever. I feel so at ease, so… connected.

  I take my shirt off and he attacks my breasts, his mouth sucking and warm on my tender skin. Sitting across his lap, I feel his cock grow stiff under my thighs. I shift until I can straddle him and grind against his hardness.

  He moans as I move over him and I look up at his face. He’s got the pain-pleasure thing going on and seeing him like that makes me giggle.

  “What?” He pulls away from my breast and smiles at me.

  “Your face. Definitely not in pain.” I swallow the giggle and have to bite my lip to keep from losing it.

  He shakes his head, serious. “No. Not in pain. Guess you read that vision all wrong.” He gets up on his knees and cups my ass, surprising me with his ability to keep me in his lap as he rises.

  He growls into my ear. “You’ve seen mine. I think it’s only fair that I get to see your not-in-pain face.”

  “Oh, really?” I say, teasing.

  He nods as he tips me over so I can reach down. “Grab the sleeping bag.”

  JAMIE

  The sound of the waterfall echoes through my tent as lay Hazel down on the air bed. Her long dark hair fans out like a wave. She’s beautiful, and whatever this is that has brought us together, I hope it never ends.

  “Why are you smiling?” she asks.

  “I don’t know. I guess I feel like the luckiest guy right now.”

  “Well, you’re certainly going to get lucky…”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  She smiles. “It’s all right. I’m playing.”

  “There’s something special about you, Hazel. I feel like we were meant to meet today. I should find out who drives that red VW Beetle and thank them for making me stop in front of your shop.”

  Her eyes go wide. “Is that what made you come in today?”

  I nod. “That car almost T-boned me coming out of the parking spot.”

  She blinks. “Interesting.”

  “You know what’s interesting?” I say, rubbing my hand over her flat stomach.

  “What?”

  “The fact that you’re still wearing those jeans.”

  “I agree. But they aren’t interesting at all. They need to go, actually.” She opens the buttons and slips out of her jeans and when she lies back on the bed I feel the twinge of heat that I felt when we first touched this morning.

  “Now this is interesting.” I bend and kiss her abdomen, and move my hands over her hips. She touches my cheeks and pulls me up to kiss her mouth. I let my tongue dive deep inside her as I slide her panties down her long legs. Then I pull away and make my way down, one kiss at a time.

  HAZEL

  I spread my legs for him, opening wide as he nudges me. His breath is warm against the soft skin of my thighs and gooseflesh rises. He licks up and down the insi
de of my legs and when he reaches my mound with his tongue, slick wetness gushes from inside me.

  I reach down and run my fingers through his hair, urging him toward me, willing him to take me in every way. His mouth is hot on me and when he finds my clit he pulls it between his lips and sends a pulse of electricity through my body that makes me grab him by the hair.

  “Oh my god. Jamie!” I lift my feet in the air and bend my knees, cradling him against my pussy. It’s not enough. I need more. I pull away from him. “On your back.”

  He does as I command him, and then I turn around and straddle his mouth, facing away from him as I guide my pussy onto his lips. I lean over and slip my hands into the waistband of his sweatpants and slide them off, revealing his eager cock.

  I lick the tip and run my tongue down the length of him and back to the top. When I take him into my mouth, he groans.

  His cock is thick in my mouth, and I let him fill me as we writhe together. I grind against him, my clit vibrating as he sucks and flicks. He thrusts into my mouth, his hard shaft moving against my lips as we find a rhythm and just keep seeking deeper and deeper pleasure.

  He pulls away from me gently and lifts me onto all fours. “Stay right there.”

  I do as he says and wait for him to climb around me, admiring his gigantic dick as it catches the moonlight.

  “You have a gorgeous body,” I whisper.

  “I was just thinking the same about you, Hazel.”

  He kneels behind me and touches me with his fingers. I wrap my hand around his cock and guide him inside me. He thrusts once, slowly and I feel the length of him fill me completely.

  “Oh, Hazel.”

  “Jamie.”

  He takes me from behind. I stand up on my knees and press my back against his chest, squeezing my breasts between my hands, enjoying the pressure as I pinch my nipples. His hands move over mine and follow my lead, pinching and squeezing until I am panting and moaning, begging him for more.

  JAMIE

  I don’t think I have ever been so turned on before. Hazel is a goddess and she has me rapt, waiting for any cue to her serve needs. My cock is rock hard and seeing her sucking on it was so fucking hot. She knows what she wants and she knows how to make me hers.

  She pulls away and turns to face me, taking my dick in both hands and stroking it slowly, achingly. “You have a massive cock.”

  I kiss her, moving my tongue in time with her strokes. “I’m glad you like it.”

  She pushes me back on the air bed and I let myself fall as she straddles me. I watch her guide me inside her and when she takes me in, she closes her eyes and rides me.

  I am in ecstasy. I sit up and cradle her against me, rocking with her. Then I press my thumb onto her clit and she cries out as she moves faster.

  When we climax together, it’s like an explosion of every single cliché ever spoken about sex. I drop to the bed, completely spent, utterly satisfied, and overwhelmed with an incredible sense of peace.

  We lay together, our breathing heavy, and our hearts racing. When I feel her hand move into mine, I weave our fingers together and we just lay there until we fall asleep.

  When I wake in the morning, she’s gone, but there’s nothing but good vibes in my tent. The sun is out and the lake is calling me. I roll out of bed, and walk to the water’s edge, naked as a jaybird and feeling more free than I ever have in my life.

  Hazel fills my mind as I swim in the cool water. The memory of last night plays through my head much like the vision had, but this time I am left feeling like I witnessed a lightning strike.

  The sex was out of this world, sure. But the connection between us, the heat—it’s like nothing I have ever known. I am sure she felt it too, and the best part is that it feels… right.

  But, she left so I’ll give her space. It’ll take some serious hiking to get her out of my head, but tomorrow, I’ll head home and see what she wants to do about this thing we’ve got cooking between us.

  HAZEL

  I remember waking at dawn, and watching a ladybug meander across the tent’s window screen, but I don’t remember getting up or getting dressed. I remember the way Jamie’s soft snores rumbled in his chest, and how he held my hand as he slept, but I have no memory of the drive home. I remember having the most incredible sex of my life, and feeling so connected and real with this truly singular man, but I can’t for the life of me remember what day it is.

  All I know is that I need to see Jamie again and I also need to open my shop and find a way back to reality.

  “Look what cat finally dragged in.” Skip shuffles into the kitchen. “You going to get that?”

  I realize the kettle’s been whistling while I stand absently at the stove. I pour hot water into my teapot and set the tea to steep. My dog sprawls out on the tile floor in the square of sun by the window.

  “Thanks for helping me get to sleep last night, Skip.”

  “A lot of good it did. You bolted right out the door only an hour later.”

  I feel a flush rising on my face as I sit at the table. “He needed me.” Well, I thought he needed me and it turned out he did—we needed each other—only not in the way that I thought.

  “He? Who is this mysterious he?”

  “Jamie. Gertie’s grandson. The one who came by yesterday morning.” Thinking of him makes me feel bubbly inside.

  Skip rolls onto his back. “Did you just sigh out loud?”

  I stop and think about it and realize I don’t care. I shrug. “So what if I did?”

  Skip rolls back to his side and watches me. “Is it breakfast time? I am starving.”

  “You know? I’m hungry, too.” I get up and open the fridge and pull out a couple of eggs and cheese, milk, tomatoes, and spinach. Then I head over to the pantry to get Skip’s bowl and load him up.

  “Um… Hazel?” Skip calls.

  I have my head in the pantry, looking for black pepper. “One sec!”

  “Take your time, by all means. I’ll wait,” he says, pretending to be insulted.

  I find myself humming as I locate the pepper. Then I see the salt and grab that too. Thyme and sage sound great today, ooh, and garlic powder and old bay, and chives… I pile the jars of various spices into my arms and stand up.

  When I turn around, I come face to face with a floating mixing bowl, a whisk inside beating eggs for me. And there’s a knife chopping tomatoes on the cutting board—by itself—and a pile of spinach waiting for its turn. The frying pan floats down from the hook and sets itself on the stove as a low flame pops to life on the burner.

  Tears well in my eyes at the sight of my magic working. It’s only been a couple of weeks, but weeks without any working magic feels like an eternity. Hope blooms inside me.

  “Don’t you dare drop those jars!” Skip warns.

  “You haven’t barked once today,” I say. I hurry to the counter and shove all the jars to safety as I try to make sense of what I am seeing. Is the curse finished? Can it be? But Marissa said only true love could break it…

  The thought is like ice in my veins. “Oh no. No way. That’s not possible.” I don’t love Jamie. Goddess knows I barely even know him. Sex—even if it’s the best sex in the universe—isn’t love. Maybe something like love is possible in time, but… “No.” I slap my hand on the counter and all the magic stops. The plastic bowl and whisk hits the floor, spilling eggs and milk everywhere. The whisk rattles as it bounces across the kitchen.

  “Why did you do that?” Skip demands. “I thought for sure some bluebirds were going to fly through the window any second now to serenade you.”

  “It’s not funny.” I turn off the stove and get a towel to clean up the eggs.

  “It’s kind of funny. Admit it.”

  I spend the rest of the morning poring over my Book of Shadows, looking for a clue to the curse Marissa set. There are so many ways to build spells, but I find no reference to any method to cause “true love” to end a spell.

  But this wasn’t a spell; it w
as a curse. That’s dark magic and I don’t have anything to do with that stuff. I head into the front of the shop and to the counter that still has the items from Marissa’s totem laid out. I hold my hands over the items and ask for guidance, but nothing comes. When I say the incantation meant to send the curse back to its maker, I picture Marissa’s sneering face in my mind’s eye and push the spell to her. Nothing happens. It’s as if the items have lost their power.

  My mind races. If that’s the case… it must mean that Marissa’s curse ended when Jamie and I got together. But, I don’t believe in love at first sight, and I am definitely not in love with anyone at the moment.

  “Gah!” I clench my fists and shout at the ceiling, the truth of my frustration coming to the surface. “And she isn’t that good a witch!”

  “Now there’s something we can agree on. So, if she isn’t that powerful, or that smart… maybe the curse isn’t a curse at all. Maybe it’s a spell and she got it wrong?”

  “Got what wrong?” I ask.

  “You know as well as I do how difficult it can be to translate the older spells. It’s not unlikely that she stumbled onto a spell and thought it was a curse.”

  “But that doesn’t make any sense. Whatever she meant to do, she succeeded in breaking my magic.”

  “True. But I was just reading in Gertie’s notes the other day about this… There are many spells that can interfere with the subject’s powers. There’s one type in particular that is known to wreak havoc whenever it is cast.”

  Skip’s words send a zing of dread through me. “You don’t mean…”

  My dog nods. “What if she thought she was cursing you—but instead she cast a love spell on you?”

  “Oh my god. That could be it. Skip, you’re a genius and the best familiar a witch could ever ask for.”