Tethered 02 - Conjure (8 page)

“The sensation of a warm wind that presses against my skin,” he said. His breath was as smooth as honey. “My Air ignites your Fire, and your Fire warms my Air. Hasn’t all of this already been explained to you by your lover boy, Kace?”

“Somewhat,” I said. I opened the door that led to the narrow stairway of the attic. We climbed the stairs and I turned the knob on the red door.

Binks came rushing up the stairs and dashed into the attic before either of us. I flipped the light switch on and watched as he trotted over to the love seat, where he hopped up and sat, staring at the two of us as we entered. It was almost as though he knew Theo was not supposed to be in here, like he knew what he stood for. What he was made of.

For all I knew, Binks did know, and that thought sort of freaked me out.

I watched as Theo crossed the room, carrying his array of materials, and wondered what exactly he would be making with it all. Leaning against the wall behind me, I continued to stare at him—taking in his lean, but thickly muscled body from where I stood. His biceps rippled and tightened with every move of his arms. His solid form blocked my view of what he was doing, but I imagined he was organizing everything that had been crammed into his arms neatly across the table.

“Are you planning to continue staring at my backside, or are you going to come around here and see what it is that I’m doing at some point?” Theo asked, the sound of his voice startling me in the quiet of the room.

I cleared my throat and pushed away from the wall. “I wasn’t staring at your backside. I was just giving you some space.” Lie. But he didn’t need to know that.

My chest tightened as I remembered how moments ago I had sent Kace and the others away because I’d said I wanted to be alone, and now here I was, standing in my attic with Theo. The one person I shouldn’t even be around, considering what his family had possibly done to me, or were doing to me, I should say. Worse yet, I was checking him out.

What the hell was wrong with me?

Theo gathered a pinch of something from one of his bags as I walked toward him and tossed it into what I could now see was a small white bowl. The air in the room seemed to pop with an unknown energy that teased my nose with its mysterious scent. Binks hissed from where he sat, still perched on the love seat in the corner of the room.

“Guess he’s not a fan of whatever it is you’re doing.” I glanced at Binks and scowled.

He regarded me with intensely disapproving eyes as he flapped his tail against the love seat in an irritated drumbeat.

Awesome. I’d managed to push away those who cared about me tonight, let a Hoodoo Conjurer enter my house, and pissed off my cat. Great way to kick off the weekend.

“Most familiars aren’t,” Theo said calmly. He cast a quick glance at Binks and then returned his attention to the white bowl in front of him.

Surveying the ingredients spread out before him on my table, I realized I’d been wrong about a few of them. First, there were no roots like I’d assumed. And second, everything seemed common, like something I’d find in my kitchen cabinet.

“What is all this stuff?” I asked. I picked up a piece of something green—like a sprig of a dried plant—and sniffed it. The smell was familiar, but I couldn’t name it.

“I’m making a cleansing, or purification, bath,” Theo said without looking at me. He reached into a Ziploc bag that looked like it was filled with crushed-up eggshells.

“Oh.” I raised an eyebrow. Who was he making that for? Me? “What’s all this you’re putting in it?”

He paused in sprinkling the eggshells into the bowl and glared at me. “The stuff the recipe calls for.”

I set down the sprig I’d been sniffing and took a small step away from the table. Theo’s jaw tensed and I got the impression he’d rather be anywhere other than here right now.

“Whatever,” I muttered. I walked over to the love seat. “I was just trying to make conversation.”

“Crushed eggshells, marine salt, dried basil leaf, basil sprig, a tablespoon of sage, a pinch of bloodroot, quartz crystal essence, and a spoonful of holy water…that’s what’s in it,” Theo growled over his shoulder, as though he didn’t appreciate having to explain anything to me. “And now they’re done.”

“You made two?” I asked. I watched him pour the mixture from the bowl into a white cloth bag. It looked like one spell to me.

He turned to look at me and pulled the strings on either side of the bag and then dangled it from his fingertips in the air. “I combined two powerful cleansing recipes.”

“Cleansing is like cleaning, right?” I asked. “Will that get rid of this tether thing?”

“I’m hoping,” he said. “Where’s your bathtub? Let’s find out.”

“Downstairs,” I answered in a bemused tone, curious as to how he was going to do this, because I was not about to get into someone’s yucky, used bathwater after them, regardless if it was for a spell or not.

“Where’s the biggest one you have?” he asked as we descended the narrow stairs that led to the second floor of the house.

“Umm, I guess that would be the one on the second floor.” I didn’t like where this was going. My stomach twisted as I thought of what I was more than likely about to do.

“Let’s use that one then,” Theo said, oblivious to the torment my mind and stomach were going through in the moment.

I led Theo across the hall and into the bathroom with the largest tub. He wasted no time in turning on the water and stopping up the drain. Once the bath had filled a little, he tossed the sachet of ingredients in. In a matter of minutes, warm steam filled the room, which wafted the scent of the recipes he’d created through the air and straight to my nose. I realized then that the sprig I’d smelled earlier was the almost licorice-like scent of basil. I watched as Theo stirred the water with his dark fingers, mixing the ingredients well. He stood, letting the tub continue to fill, and began to peel off his white tank top.

“Oh, God, wait a minute! Let me leave if you’re gonna strip and get in.” I bolted for the door, my hands covering my eyes like blinders, but Theo caught one of my arms. Warmth licked around the area where he touched me.

“You have to stay,” he said, giving me a smoldering look as he released his grip on my arm and tossed his tank top to the floor. “We have to do this together since the tether is on both of us.”

My cheeks flushed as I tried to look anywhere besides the sculpted muscles that made up his dark stomach and chest. “I was afraid of that.”

Theo reached for the button on his low-hung jeans and undid it as he slipped out of his sandals. “This is nothing sexual, don’t worry. I wouldn’t try anything with you.” The way he said it—like it was a joke for him to be attracted to me in any way—stung more than I liked to admit. “But you have to undress too and sit in the tub with me for at least twenty minutes.”

My heart was going to explode. I didn’t think I’d ever sat in a bathtub with a naked man for twenty minutes before. Ever. And most definitely not with one who seemed so unattracted to me.

This was going to be the most embarrassing moment of my life.

Theo’s pants hit the floor and I averted my eyes away from him standing before me in nothing besides his navy blue boxer briefs. Kace popped in my head. I prayed he would never find out about this moment, because there was no way to explain this and have it not sound like cheating.

“I’ll leave these on…just because. You leave yours on too,” he instructed and then I heard him cut the water off and a slight splashing as he climbed in.

I took in a deep breath and tugged my shirt over my head. After tossing it on the floor, I pulled my shorts down and slipped out. Wearing only my bra and panties, I climbed into the water with Theo.

“This isn’t some way to off me, is it?” I asked after I sunk down in the water and crossed my arms over my chest. I wished it were a bubble bath. That way, I would at least have some form of coverage. My leg brushed against Theo’s by accident, and I jerked it away and pressed it against the wall as quickly as possible.

“No,” he said, studying me from across the tub with his brightly caramel-colored eyes. “Why would I do that?”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, it is your family trying to get me to leave, isn’t it?”

Theo shifted in the water so he was sitting up straighter—his way of appearing more intimidating to me I was sure. Truth was, he didn’t need to sit straighter for that. He intimidated the hell out of me no matter his stance.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that with you. Client protocol,” he said, sounding all official.

“Are you kidding me?” I scoffed.

He crossed his arms, his biceps bulging from the motion. It was then that I noticed the thick, dark, tribal-looking tattoos that covered his arms and upper torso. His skin was so dark I’d never noticed them before. I allowed my eyes to travel the length of his beautiful body displayed in front of me while I waited for his reply, taking in every ridge and valley of his daunting perfection that was visible.

Which in this case was a lot.

“I’m not one for kidding, really,” he said flatly.

I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. “No, you’re right about that. You don’t seem like the type to have a sense of humor.” I turned away, resorting to counting the white tiles that made up the wall while I tried to determine how much time had already passed.

Why was I letting him get to me this way? It had to be an effect of the tether and our corresponding elements, because Theo may be sexier than sin—especially right now—but his personality canceled all that out easily.

“I’m glad you don’t seem to care for me,” he said, his voice velvety smooth.

“And why is that?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the tiles, even though his words had caught me by surprise.

“Because it makes things easier.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I muttered, finally shifting to look at him again.

He was staring at me, his eyes a shade darker than normal, with an intense, smoldering look that made conflicting emotions sweep through me. My mind was telling me to get the hell out of the water and keep my distance from Theo while my body was telling me it was intrigued by everything about him.

“The more things you don’t like about me, the easier it will be for you to remember I’m dangerous to you…me and my family.”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I pulled my arms around myself tighter and attempted to press my body against the wall of the tub even more. After I counted to sixty silently in my head, I cast a quick glance at Theo and noticed his eyes were closed and his lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Time seemed to drag on while I watched him continue with whatever chant he was performing, his eyes closed, as though he were in some form of trance.

We remained this way for what seemed like forever.

“Time,” Theo said in a low voice.

I stood without speaking and grabbed my towel. Barely pat-drying myself off, I wrapped the towel around myself and stepped out of the tub. I waited for Theo to speak, to let me know what we were supposed to do next and if his cleansing bath had worked.

He didn’t speak and I couldn’t tell. The warmth was still there, buzzing beneath my skin from his nearness.

“Well?” I prompted, folding my arms over my chest again and flashing him a snarky look that I was sure he didn’t like.

“Well, what?”

“Aren’t you going to get out?” I demanded. “Did it work?”

“I need a towel first and I don’t know yet.”

“You don’t know?” I snapped. How could he not know? Wasn’t this his forte—Hoodoo?

“Exactly,” he said. “I have to test it first.”

I walked to the linen closet and pulled him out a towel, realizing I’d grabbed the only available one hanging. “And how do you do that?”

“I use a spell against you.”