Cate Tiernan - The Coven

Bridget is fine and fat. She's a champion mouser and can even catch crickets.

My job is dull but fine. Angus is leaning some beautiful woodworking. We have little money, but we're safe here.

— M.R.

"I guess you're wondering why I asked you to meet me," I said as Cal slid into the front seat of my car on Wednesday afternoon.

"Because you wanted my body?" he guessed, and then I was laughing and holding him tightly and he was trying to find a part of me to kiss that wouldn't hurt. I was ninety percent better, but my face was still sensitive.

"Try here," I said, tapping my lips gently.

Slowly, carefully, he lowered his mouth to mine and applied just the slightest pressure.

"Mmmm," I said. Cal pulled back and looked at me.

"Let's get in the backseat," he said.

This seemed like a fine idea. The backseat of the Valiant was huge and roomy, and we felt comfortable and private as the November wind blew against the windows and whistled beneath the car.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, once we were cozily settled. "Did that arnica help?"

I nodded. "I think it did. The bruises seem to have gone away really fast"

He smiled and gently touched my temple. "Almost."

I had planned to tell him about what I'd seen yesterday, but now that we were together, the words flew out of my head. Contentedly I lay against him, feeling his hands smooth my skin, and I didn't want to think about following Bree or spying on her.

"Does this feel good?" Cal asked, sounding sleepy as he stroked my back. His eyes were closed, his knees were bent, his feet propped on the side door handle.

"Uh-huh," I said. I let my hand roam up and down his firm chest. After a second I undid the top of his shirt. I slid my hand inside.

"Ummm," Cal whispered, and he turned a little so that we were facing each other, chest to chest. He kissed me so gently and so softly that it didn't hurt a bit.

Then I felt the shocking, hot sensation of my skin against his and realized our shirts had somehow edged up so that our stomachs were touching. It felt amazing, and I wrapped my leg around his hips, feeling the tiny ribs of his brown corduroy jeans pressing against my thigh through my leggings.

As I pressed myself closer to him I kept thinking, He's the one, the one, the one. My only one. My muirn beatha dan. The one meant for me. This was all supposed to happen.

Cal pulled back a little bit then spoke against my cheek. "Am I the first person you've been close to?"

"Yes," I whispered. I felt his lips smile against my skin, and he held me tighter.

"I'm not your first person." I stated the obvious.

"No," he said after a moment "Does that bother you?"

"Did you sleep with Bree?" I blurted out then winced, wanting to erase the words.

Cal looked surprised. "Bree? Why." He shook his head. "Where did that come from?"

"She told me you did," I said, trying to prepare myself for the answer, to act like it didn't matter. Gazing at my fingers resting against his chest I waited to see what he would say.

"Bree told you that she slept with me?" he asked. I nodded.

"Did you believe her?"

I shrugged, trying to suppress the panicky feeling that was building inside me. "I didn't know. Bree is gorgeous, and she usually gets what she wants. I guess it wouldn't surprise me."

"I don't kiss and tell," Cal said, considering his words. "I think that stuff should be private."

My heart threatened to explode.

"But I'll tell you this much because I don't want it between us. Yes, Bree made it clear she was into the idea. But I wasn't available at the time, so it didn't happen."

I frowned. "Why weren't you available?"

He laughed, brushing back my hair. "I had already seen you."

"And it was witch at first sight." The words just slipped out. I winced, wishing I could take them back.

Cal shook his head, bemused. "What do you mean?"

"Raven and Bree said that you're only with me because I'm a witch, a strong witch."

"Is that what you believe?" Cal asked, his voice cooler.

"I don't know," I said, starting to feel awful. Why did I ever begin this conversation?

Cal was silent for a couple of minutes and very still. "I don't know what the right answer is. Sure, your powers as a witch are really exciting to me. The idea of us working together, of helping you learn what I know, is… tantalizing. And as for the rest I just… think you're beautiful. You're pretty and sexy, and I'm drawn to you. I don't even understand why we're having this conversation, after I told you about the muirn beatha dan." He shook his head.

I was silent feeling like I had dug myself into a hole.

"Could you do me a favor?" he asked.

"What?" I asked, afraid of what he was about to say.

"Could you ignore what other people say?"

"I'll try," I said quietly.

"Could you do me another favor?"

I looked at him.

"Could you kiss me again? Things were just starting to get interesting."

Laughing, wanting to cry, I leaned down and kissed him. He held me to him strongly, pressing me against his body from chest to knees. His hands swept over my back, my sides, and explored my skin underneath my shirt. I felt his fingers smooth over the small birthmark I have under my right arm, feeling its raised edges.

"I've always had that," I whispered. He hadn't seen it but it was a rose pink mark about an inch and a half long. I had always thought it looked like a small dagger. It made me smile to think of it now: I could say it looked like an athame.

"I love it," Cal murmured, feeling it again. "It's part of you." Then he kissed me again, sweeping me away on a tide of emotion.

"Think about magick," Cal whispered, and my scattered thoughts couldn't comprehend his meaning. He continued touching me, and he said, "Magick is a strong feeling, and this is a strong feeling. Put them together."

If I had tried talking just then, it would have come out as gibberish. But inside my mind, his words strung together and made some sort of dim sense. I thought about how I felt when I made magick or gathered magick: that feeling of power, of completion, of being connected to things, being part of the world. With Cal's hands on me I felt a similar and yet very different sensation: it, too, was power and a kind of gathering, but it was also like a door leading somewhere else.

And then I got it. It all came together. Our mouths together, our breaths wreathing themselves together, our minds in tune with each other, my hands on his skin, his hands on mine, and it felt almost like we were in a circle, when the energy is all around, there for the taking.

There was energy surrounding us, wrapping us together, and my shirt was pushed up, my breasts against the warm skin of his chest, and we were holding each other tightly and kissing, and magick sparked. Any words I said then would be a spell. Any thought I had would be a magickal directive. Anything I called to me would come.

It went way beyond exhilarating.

When we stopped and I opened my eyes, it was dark outside. I had no idea of what time it was and glanced at my watch to see I was late for dinner.

Groaning, I pulled down my shirt.

"What time is it?" Cal murmured, his fingers already reaching for his buttons.

"Six-thirty," I said. "I have to go."

"Okay."

As I reached for the door, he pulled me back against him so I sat in his lap.

"That was incredible," he whispered, kissing my cheek. He gave me a big grin. "I mean, that was incredible!"

I laughed, still feeling powerful as he opened the car door. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said. "And I'll think about you tonight."

He headed back to his own car. As I climbed into the front seat of Das Boot and started the engine, emotion almost overwhelmed me.