Shamelessly Spellbound (Spells That Bind Book 2) (22 page)

I had to admit that I found Trevor’s behavior regarding
Julia endearing, rather than annoying. If he hadn’t realized he was acting like
an ass, I might not feel that way, but Trevor recognized he was being
ridiculous, and that’s why he didn’t want me to tell Julia. Of course, I had no
intention of mentioning it to her, but I wasn’t ready to admit that to Trevor.

“I won’t say anything,” Gryph assured him.

“You want me to lie to your sister?” I asked, pretending to
be shocked.

“I could make it worth your while,” Trevor offered.

I gave him a sweet smile. “Don’t you have a conference
call?”

He cursed under his breath when he looked at the time. “I’m
not going to have time to make your breakfast or even make coffee for myself,”
he grumbled.

“I’ll bring you a cup,” I offered.

Trevor leaned in to brush his lips against mine. “You really
aren’t mad about me arranging for a bodyguard?”

“Under normal circumstances, I might be upset with you for
not discussing it with me first, but there wasn’t time, so you get a pass.”

Trevor grinned. “You are sexy as hell when you’re
agreeable.”

“You’re still going to have to convince me to keep your
secret about embarrassing yourself trying to protect Julia,” I reminded him,
which made him grin.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he murmured close to my ear.

“Get to work. I’ll make coffee while I talk to Gryph, and
then I have a meeting.”

Trevor’s eyes clouded with concern, and Gryph must have
noticed because he jumped in. “I’ll go with Ms. Melina.”

“Great!” Trevor exclaimed, clearly relieved.

Trevor hurried toward his office, cell phone in hand, to
take his call.

Julia raced into the room after Oliver, who was chasing one
of the bunny slippers. I had no idea where the other bunny slipper was hiding.

“Oliver!” Julia screeched. “We have to go. I’m meeting with
a client this morning!”

Oliver dodged back and forth before growling at the bunny
slipper.

“Oliver,” Julia said in a more stern tone, which her
familiar continued to ignore.

Gryph laughed as the bunny slipper ducked behind his legs,
growling and hissing. I was amazed by how irritable those slippers could be.
Then again, I might be even more irritable if I was being chased around by
familiars all day.

“I thought you were joking about the bunny slippers,” Gryph
said, trying to catch his breath and get his laughter under control.

Oliver raced around Gryph. “I said, stop, Oliver!” Julia
screeched.

“Oliver!” Gryph barked out, and the beagle immediately
stopped and dropped onto the ground.

Julia gave Gryph a shy smile as she scooped up her familiar.
“Thank you for stopping him. I’m surprised he listened to you. Oliver’s not
fond of werewolves.”

“He knows who the alpha male is,” Gryph told her.

“I should go or I’ll be late.” On those words, Julia
scurried out of the house as if she were being chased by a werewolf.

One look at the werewolf in the room told me he’d like to
chase her. In fact, based on the way his fist was clenched, I’d guess he was
struggling with his instinct to pursue her. I suspected things between Julia
and Gryph were going to get very interesting. I was predicting many more
incidents of Trevor making an ass of himself while acting like the
overprotective big brother. With a sigh, I decided I should probably have a
talk with Gryph about Julia.

“So, Gryph,” I began, not sure how to approach the subject
of Julia. “When was the last time you were with a woman?”

This might be too personal a topic to bring up with a
warlock I barely knew, but werewolves didn’t mind talking about sex.

Gryph thought before answering. “About three years. At
first, some of the females from the pack came by to see me. I think it’s
because I had a reputation for being kinkier than many of the other wolves when
I was in the pack, and there were females who wanted to take a walk on the wild
side. At least, that’s what I told myself on days I wasn’t feeling sorry for
myself. Sometimes, I’d think they were being sent over because the pack leader
felt obligated to take care of me after I lost my arm saving his ass. Either
way, a new leader took over and cracked down on intermingling with wolves
outside the pack, so the females stopped coming by.”

“Three years is a long time,” I began. “Maybe you should
take care of things.”

“What’s the deal with the witch with the sassy mouth?” he
asked, confirming what I’d suspected about his attraction to Julia.

“Her name is Julia,” I reminded him.

He shrugged. “Does her brother actually think she’s only
into women? Or, was he trying to scare me off?”

“He knows she likes men and women,” I replied. “Trevor also
knows you’d be able to tell if his sister was turned on by you, so I don’t
think he’d lie to warn you off. Trevor’s recently realized that his sister is a
grown woman who’s had sex, and he’s still trying to come to terms with that
realization.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Gryph said thoughtfully. “I’ll
wait to fuck her until after I’m done protecting you. That should give her
brother time to get used to the idea.”

I couldn’t help it; I laughed at Gryph’s assumption that it
was going to be that easy. It’s not that I hadn’t noticed how Julia reacted to
him. I’d also noticed she wasn’t happy about her reaction to Gryph. If I had to
guess, I’d say Julia was going to be more resistant to his advances than Gryph
expected. For werewolves, sex was much simpler than it was for witches. If two
unmated werewolves found each other attractive, they hooked up. This might be a
little out of Gryph’s realm of expertise.

“Have you ever been with a woman who wasn’t a werewolf?” I
asked.

“Nope,” he replied. “I guess I might have to be gentler with
her.”

“You also need to understand that witches are different than
werewolves when it comes to sex,” I began, feeling like I was talking to a
child—a very large child who could turn into a two-hundred and fifty pound
wolf. “Julia finding you attractive does not mean she’s going to have sex with
you. You’d have to do more to convince her than you’re used to.”

Gryph’s lips curled into a predatory grin. “Now, I like the
sound of that, Ms. Melina. Pursuing Sassy and luring her to me sounds a lot
better than simply fucking her. Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of fucking
her, but the convincing part sounds fun.”

“Trevor is going to have a heart attack,” I grumbled. “Let’s
get coffee, and we can grab food on the way to my meeting. We should also talk
about how much you charge.”

Gryph snorted. “You don’t need to pay me, Ms. Melina. I’m
glad to be doing something useful again. The pack pays me a nice retirement
pension since I was injured fighting for them. Even the new leadership can’t
change that.”

“First, I will definitely pay you,” I insisted. “Before you
even consider arguing, remember that you may be stronger physically, but you
don’t want to get on my bad side.”

Gryph chuckled. “You are right about that, Ms. Melina.
What’s the second thing you want to bring up?”

“You have a pension?” I asked because, for whatever reason,
I’d never pictured werewolves having any sort of retirement or disability plan.

“I worked for the pack,” he reminded me. “The pack has a
good retirement plan, and it pays in full if you’re unable to continue working
due to an on the job injury. Like I said, you don’t need to pay me.”

“I’m paying you,” I insisted. “Let’s get moving.”

“You can tell me more about Sassy on the way to your
meeting,” he suggested.

It would appear that when Gryph decided to rejoin the world,
he jumped in with both feet.

When we hit the thirty day mark, I half-expected Melina to
refuse to follow through with the affinity test. I knew she still wasn’t
convinced I wouldn’t grow tired of her. I also knew she wasn’t sure how the
Council of Witches, my father in particular, would react to her power. From
what I’d gathered, she’d done a lot to keep the council oblivious to her demon
magic. They all knew she was a powerful witch, but few knew that it was what
she’d inherited from her father that made her truly dangerous.

All in all, I thought she was handling things well. That is,
I’d thought that until I found her pacing the bedroom, muttering vile threats
against my favorite body part. I didn’t think she’d follow through with any of
those threats since she seemed fond of that body part.

“What’s wrong, honey?” I asked, approaching her with
caution.

Her glare would have been scary if it didn’t turn me on so
much. “Did you have to tell Dylan about our affinity test tonight?” she asked
in a deceptively calm voice.

I shrugged. “He’s my closest friend, and you had to know he
was going to push me for details after he found out you were staying here.” Her
attitude about Dylan knowing was pissing me off. “Besides, I wasn’t aware it
was some huge secret. Your whole family knows about it, so who cares if Dylan
knows? I can’t tell my friends? Are you ashamed of me?”

There was a moment where it looked like she was calming
down, but it quickly passed, and she was back to being mad at me. “Are you
seriously going to try to turn this into a woe is Trevor conversation?”

Actually, I was trying to piss her off because Melina had
more confidence when she was angry. I’d spent enough time around her to know
she was nervous, and I didn’t want that. A good fight was just what she needed.
A nearly violent, angry fuck would have been better, but we didn’t have time
for that, much to my disappointment.

“It sounds like you’re either trying to get out of this, or
you’re embarrassed because it’s me you’re taking the affinity test with. Which
is it, Melina?” I asked, trying to sound pissed. I’m not a very good actor, but
from my perspective, I sounded convincing.

Melina opened her mouth to say something, but then she
closed it and studied me. “You’re playing me, aren’t you?”

I grinned and prowled toward her. “If we weren’t running
late, I’d be playing with you. Do you have any idea how fucking hot you are
when you’re mad at me?”

Melina’s eyes darkened, and I’d bet anything that if I slid
my hand into her panties, I’d find her soaking wet for me. “Who else did you
tell?” she demanded.

I figured Melina wasn’t going to like my answer, but I
wasn’t about to lie to her. The fact of the matter was, most people had already
heard about the affinity test. Each main family was supposed to have a
representative at every meeting. That wasn’t always the case, and people tended
to find excuses to skip meetings that weren’t as interesting. It might sound
egotistical, but I suspected there would be a good turnout for a meeting where
I took an affinity test.

“We’re on the agenda for tonight’s meeting,” I reminded her.

“We’re what?” she shouted, which led me to the conclusion
that she’d assumed we were going to show up and ask to take the test. As soon
as I’d mentioned the affinity test to my father, he’d put it on the schedule,
and that schedule had been sent out to everyone.

“You know it’s rare for the council to allow an affinity
test when it’s not on the schedule.”

Taking several deep breaths, it appeared that Melina was
back to being nervous about tonight. “You’re right. I’m just not good at being
the center of attention.”

I had to laugh at what she’d said. “Are you kidding me? You
seem to enjoy being called before the council about the witches on your show.”

“That’s different,” she said, waving off my words. “I like
arguing in public. This is really personal. It’s almost like we’re letting
people watch us have sex.”

“It’s too late to worry about it now,” I told her. “Let’s
get this over with. If it makes you feel any better, my father arranged for us
to be first on the agenda, so you won’t have to wait like Allie did.”

Melina’s face softened. “You are definitely going to have to
make this up to me later.”

There was no mistaking the seductive quality of her voice,
and my dick jerked against the zipper of my pants. “Fuck me,” I hissed. “Keep
that up and you’re going to make me embarrass myself in front of the council
tonight.”

Her husky chuckle as she sashayed past me was proof she
planned to make me pay in a way I would love.

Allie and Dylan were waiting for us outside the room where
larger council meetings were held. The Council of Witches had a huge compound
at Bishop Ranch in San Ramon. The building contained witch training, various
offices, and two council meeting rooms. One room could hold fifty people. The
other could seat two-hundred and was rarely used. I’d never actually been to a
meeting in the larger room, but it appeared that was where we were meeting
tonight.

Dylan had a cocky smirk as he approached Trevor and slapped
him on the back. “How are you holding up?”

“I can’t wait,” Trevor admitted, looking excited and
definitely happy.

Dylan’s smirk turned to a full grin. “I’ll bet you can’t.
You’ve worked hard to trap Melina into this. Getting her here without resorting
to kidnapping must be a huge relief.”

“Idiots,” I muttered, appreciating the fact that at least
Allie looked more subdued.

“I can’t believe you announced this to everyone,” she said
quietly. “This is going to be a circus.”

“Announcing it wasn’t my idea,” I told her, glaring at Trevor
again. “I know the witches must be coming from everywhere to see the infamous
Trevor Dupree finally take an affinity test.”

“People are probably also coming because of you,” Trevor
stated.

“He’s right,” Dylan agreed.

“Me?” I asked. “Why would they come because of me? Is it the
show?”

“It’s because you’ve never dated a warlock,” Allie pointed
out.

That was something I hadn’t considered. It’s not that I
thought I was some unknown witch. My ongoing battle with the COW’s, Allie’s
term for the Council of Witches, regarding the witches on
Night High
had
earned me some notoriety among the witch community. I’d had more than a few
warlocks try to approach me after that, but I’d turned them down. Until Trevor,
I’d never dated a warlock. Although, technically, I wasn’t dating Trevor. As
was Trevor’s norm, we’d skipped that step, not that I’d missed it. In all
honesty, I hated dating.

Looking around, I noticed that the room was filling up
quickly, as people waited to get into the meeting. “Oh, Goddess,” I breathed out.

“It’s okay, honey,” Trevor murmured, slipping an arm around
my waist, which I really appreciated since for the first time in my life, I
thought I might faint.

“There’s the happy couple!” my aunt Lil called out as she
approached us. She wasn’t alone. Along with her were my mom, my aunt Muri, and
my dad. At least, I could be grateful that it appeared Demetrius and my sisters
weren’t in attendance.

“Stop embarrassing her, Lil,” my dad grumbled, looking
irritable like he always did. Only the slight twitch of his thin lips indicated
he was happy.

“What are you doing here, Dad?” I asked, knowing he couldn’t
go into the meeting. As a full-demon, he wasn’t welcome in council meetings,
and I suspected they wouldn’t allow him into the compound if he didn’t have the
support of not only my mom’s family, but her ex-husband’s family.

“I came to have a word with your warlock.” My dad’s smile
was somewhat scary and involved him flashing his pointy teeth. Since my dad
hadn’t threatened Trevor yet, I was assuming he liked Trevor. Although, my dad
threatening someone didn’t always mean he didn’t like them. He threatened
Demetrius on a regular basis, and they were good friends.

“Ralph,” my mother warned. “You are not going to bully
Trevor just because he cares for your daughter, are you?”

My dad shook his head. “I want to make sure we have an
understanding. Let’s step outside for a minute,” he suggested.

Trevor nodded and kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll be right
back,” he told me.

“Dad,” I began, “do not harass Trevor. Tonight is bad enough
without you threatening bodily injury.”

My dad laughed, and that’s when my mom’s ex-husband,
Demetrius Talbot, joined the group.

“I didn’t miss the talk, did I?” Demetrius asked.

“The talk we had weeks ago wasn’t enough?” Trevor asked
Demetrius.

“Oh. My. Goddess.” I stretched each word out for emphasis as
I glared at Demetrius. “You talked to Trevor weeks ago?”

“Without me?” my dad asked, sounding hurt.

“I had a meeting with him, and figured it would be best to
make sure he understood how much our girl means to me,” Demetrius responded,
giving me a warm smile that made me want to smack him. “So, am I in time for
the talk?”

“There will be no talk,” I told them, but the idiot men
ignored me.

“We’re heading out now,” my dad explained to Demetrius, and
they led Trevor out of the room.

“Did you have to call Demetrius?” I asked my mom, knowing he
didn’t normally show up at meetings or look at what was on the agenda.
Demetrius Talbot only showed up at a meeting when someone called to tell him he
had to be there, usually my mom. They had a strange relationship.

“Of course not,” my mom insisted. “Your dad knew Demetrius
would be upset if he didn’t get to talk to Trevor before the affinity test. I
am annoyed that Demetrius talked to him before. I can’t believe he didn’t tell
us you were involved with Trevor. Clearly, he knew before we did.” My mom shook
her head and smiled. “I’m sure he didn’t want to reveal anything about you and
Trevor until you were ready to talk about it. He means well.”

“Demetrius realizes he’s not related to me, doesn’t he?” I
asked, and it wasn’t the first time I’d asked that question. For whatever
reason, Demetrius had taken on the role of second father, and my dad welcomed
his intrusion in my life.

My mom laughed at my question, and that’s when I noticed all
of my sisters entering the room. I guess it had been too much to hope my entire
family wouldn’t be there.

“They may have to turn people away,” Dylan noted as he
looked around the room.

“Maybe I’ll get lucky and my dad and Demetrius will scare
Trevor off,” I mused.

My mom gave me a one-armed hug. “We both know that’s not
what you want, but I am sorry this is turning into such a circus. At the same
time, I’m really excited about tonight. Trevor is perfect for you.”

“Yes, he is,” I said so quietly that I wasn’t sure anyone
heard me. Then again, I was saying it more for myself. I could do this because
Trevor was worth it.