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Category: Erotica/Paranormal Erotica
Description: Calista Carlyle is running for her life. A new age shop in Salem needs a temporary employee, and Calista sees it as great opportunity to lay low in a place her bank manager boss and ex-boyfriend would never look for her. But will the owner of the store, a sensuously mysterious Wiccan, be too much to handle? Or will his magic touch be just what she needs? Henry Fraser has been biding his time. For the past two years he's had psychic visions of his soul mate. He knows her body intimately, knows just where to touch. But can he touch her heart before she flees from her past again?
eBook Publisher: Freya's Bower/Freya's Bower, 2009 2009
eBookwise Release Date: June 2009

15 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [89 KB]
Words: 17784
Reading time: 50-71 min.

Henry stopped just short of placing the card on the table and glanced at the thin black cloth that blocked the entranceway. The air stilled and his heart beat faster. Soon.

His mouth watered while he envisioned her body writhing beneath his. Her creamy skin beckoned, large rose-tipped breasts rippled, waves lapping a low tide as he thrust into her like a piston. For the past two years, premonitions of her left Henry unable to form relationships with the flesh and blood women around him, but she'd be coming soon. A rock-hard erection tightened his pants.

A slight squeak from the chair across from him brought him back to his wide-eyed customer. So full of hope, she mistook his smile for one that promised a future of happiness for her while he drifted off into his own lust-filled thoughts.

Frowning, Henry tried to find an easy way to soften the blow. "I see chaos surrounding you for the next year or so. Perhaps it's all the stress involved in planning a wedding. Maybe...."

"No," the nameless tourist stated before he could offer advice. "I know planning the wedding will be wonderful."

She smiled a village-idiot grin. Henry only wished she had as much sense. He glanced at the diamond sparkling on her finger, but didn't have the heart to tell her it wouldn't be there long. His customers never wanted the full truth anyway. They welcomed specifics with good news, but when it came to the bad--generalities. Then they could interpret it the way they wanted later.

This young girl would have a tough time of it though. The cards showed she'd meet her intended in a few years. Heaven knows he'd waited long enough for his own soul mate.

Henry smiled and shut his eyes. Soon his personal vision would be his, and his hands would roam the exquisite body denied him for too long. He knew every inch of her, witnessed them touching a thousand times over. But right now he needed to banish his personal precognition and finish the reading.

Calista Carlyle hung her backpack on the hook inside the ladies room door at the Salem visitor center and fished inside for her wallet. She needed to stop running, even for just a few days. Salem, Massachusetts, with its throng of tourists in the middle of July, was a good place to disappear into the masses.

Pulling the straight brown shoulder-length wig off her head, Calista ran her hands through her blonde curls and scratched her head. The wig itched. She'd let her hair grow out, so it hung much longer than when she left her Arizona home three months ago. Maybe she'd just dye it.

She'd been on the run for the past three months, staying no longer than a few days in each new locale without any idea where she'd end up. It had to stop. She needed to rest, to resume some sort of normal life--even though deep down she knew life could never be normal again.

Calista managed a quick change out of her jeans into a pair of shorts and a thin-strapped shirt. The temperature had risen at least ten degrees in the last hour, and she'd roast wandering around town in her heavier outfit.

First order of business? To secure a room for the evening--preferably one with air conditioning. But finding something suitable might present a problem. Tourist season in Salem meant full hotels.

An hour and a half later Calista trudged on defeated. Even the bed and breakfast inns hung 'No Vacancy' signs. She'd just have to move on to the next town. Before she headed back to the bus station though, she planned to have a decent meal, check out the town a bit, and at least pick up another tee shirt. She needed to travel light, but finding a laundromat every few days got old fast.

Strolling along Essex Street she bought a couple of cheap tee shirts and another pair of shorts, the most she had afforded herself since she left her life behind. Weary from travel, she stepped inside the first sandwich shop she spotted and sat down at an outside table.

Actors dressed in period costumes roamed the street, players in the town's Cry Innocent production that depicted the persecution of innocent people proclaimed as witches during the infamous Salem Witch Trials of long ago. Calista knew first hand about persecution. And innocence. But she'd escaped judgment.

Hopefully.

Changing her appearance and blending with the characters who wandered through the city might prove just what she needed, if she could find a place to stay. Maybe in the next town over or maybe one of the locals knew of a hotel with a vacancy.

She paid the check and continued her trek up Essex Street, stopping dead at the sight of a man smiling at her from the doorway of a shop a few feet in front of her. A haunted smile paralleled eyes filled with torment and longing. More unlike Aiden than any man could be. She shook her head and tried not to think about the past or the seemingly perfect life she once led.

Drawn to the man who smiled, she returned his gaze. Deep-set midnight blue eyes that could lead a lamb to slaughter met her. Knowing eyes. Bedroom eyes that hid behind thick black lashes. His long raven hair draped across his shoulders, longer than she'd ever thought she'd find attractive, but begging to have her hands run through it. His full, luscious mouth welcomed her lips.

Snap out of it. A man is watching you, admiring you, and you're staring back. Not a smart move. But he has to be a local. Cautious, yet determined, Calista decided to use his obvious attraction to aid with her dilemma.

She approached the door, and he stepped back to allow her to enter as if he'd been waiting for her. His black tee shirt stretched tight across his wide chest, and his black jeans fit snugly. A pentacle dangled from a black rope chain around his neck. Okay, not normally her type, but the way he looked at her made her lick her lips, which produced an even broader smile from him.

A woman donning a long black dress advanced in her direction, serenity emanating from every pore. "Can I help you? Do you want a reading?"

Calista gaped at the woman. What on earth was she talking about? And more importantly, did this delicious man belong to her?

"Tarot? Astrology? Runes? Or do you just want to look around?"

Mr. Tall Dark and Mysterious stepped forward, and his voice caressed the air. "She's not looking to have her fortune told, Jenna. She wants a place to stay."

Calista jerked her head back to the man standing next to her and gawked at him. "How?"

"Nothing psychic about it." He glanced down to the list of hotels she held in her hand.

Calista's shoulders relaxed and she laughed. "Every place seems filled. Do you know of anything else close by? Maybe the next town over?"

"How long are you planning on staying?" he asked.

Something in his eyes told her he knew better than she did. "Not sure. Depends on whether I can find a job or not. Just something to get me through the summer."

The moment the words left her mouth she realized she meant it. Salem would be home for more than a few days. The last place Aiden would look, Salem would camouflage her.

"Any experience with money?" Once again his question seemed rhetorical.

Calista held back the laughter. Experience with money? She'd worked in a bank. "Some," she said with lowered lashes.

He stepped a few inches closer, the sweetness of his silken voice enveloping her. "Can you run a cash register?" Magnetized, his gaze held hers.

"Sure, no problem." Contrasting his seductive melodic tones, Calista's voice rubbed against her tongue with the roughness of gravel.

The corner of his mouth tilted in a grin, and he turned from her. "Then we have a position right here." He pulled out a hand-written sign from behind the register that read 'temporary help wanted'.

"Jenna is going to visit family in a few days and she'll be gone for a couple of weeks. If I'm doing readings there will be no one out front with the customers."

For a split second Jenna seemed surprised. "Yeah, vacation. Thanks boss. I didn't think you'd let me go if we couldn't find anyone to fill in."

Calista surveyed the interior of the shop. Okay, not the local Wal-Mart. If she needed to explain what some of the items were to a customer, she'd have a hard time, but she couldn't afford to refuse either. She smiled. "Now if you can just help me find a hotel."

"There's never anything in Salem during the summer. All the chains and B and B's fill up pretty fast. There's a Quality Inn in Peabody though. Not that far," Jenna said.

"Is there public transportation? I don't have a car." Calista looked from Jenna to her new boss and eyed them anxiously.

"Cabs, but that can get expensive." Jenna caught the eye of Mr. Mysterious and Handsome and glanced at the back of the shop. He smiled and nodded.

"There's a small apartment upstairs," he said. "We use what would be the bedroom for inventory. The kitchen and living area we use for breaks. The couch is a futon and there's a full bathroom up there. It has a separate lock from the store, so if you don't mind the clutter and me taking my breaks there while you're in the store, you can stay for free. At least that way I know you'll arrive on time." He passed a glance to Jenna who ignored the implication.

He held out his hand. "I'm Henry Fraser, proprietor of Hexed."

Calista regarded her surroundings. "Hexed?"

"That's the name of the shop. We do readings; sell herbs, candles, and other items for ritual magick."

"W-w-witchcraft? Real witchcraft?"

Henry winced, took a deep breath and sighed. Evidently she wasn't the first person unnerved by his practices. Then he smiled the kind of tolerant smile an adult would give a child who misspoke out of ignorance. "Don't worry. You don't have to believe."

"But...."

Jenna piped up. "We're Wiccan, so we believe in harm none."

"Wiccan?"

"Our religion. We believe we must always strive for goodness. Actively help humankind. What we do comes back from the universe three-fold. So we would never do harm, because that would come back to us times three. There's nothing to fear from us," she said, implying the outside world caused the danger.

It rang true for Calista. Glancing around it became clear. They had offered her the gift of safe haven.

Jenna tugged on her boss's sleeve. "Since you have someone to replace me, can I leave a few days early? She could start tomorrow."

"If the lady agrees you can consider yourself on vacation."

"Oh, please say yes." Jenna turned to Calista and bobbed up and down with enthusiasm.

Biting her bottom lip Calista weighed her options. Not many choices. Jenna bobbed faster and stuck out her lip in a pout. Calista rolled her eyes. "Show me to my room."

Jenna squealed delight and threw her arms around Henry. Calista's stomach knotted. Jealousy overshadowed every other emotion, even fear. Her arms belonged around him, not Jenna's. Calista didn't understand how she knew it with such certainty, but she did.

Look on the bright side. No running and a place to stay, perhaps even for the whole summer. And for the next few weeks, some alone time with Mr. Hot and Yummy.