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  Faking Familiar

  A Familiar Magick Prequel

  Abigail Kade

  Copyright © 2019 by Abigail Kade

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  1. Tobias

  2. Arthur

  3. Tobias

  4. Arthur

  5. Tobias

  6. Arthur

  About Abigail Kade

  Also by Abigail Kade

  1

  Tobias

  The sound of a lawn mower had never been my favorite sound, and it was even worse at the ass crack of dawn. But ever since my new neighbor moved in, I didn’t mind so much. He never wore a shirt when he did yard work and watching his muscles move was my new favorite show. I imagined what he would look like right now pushing his lawn mower around the yard, his back muscles rippling under his tan skin as he moved limbs or emptied out the bag with the clippings. Sweat would be running down his chest, maybe disappearing into the waist of the jeans he liked to wear. The longer I imagined him out there all sweaty and sexy, the more aroused I got. I had just deciding to take matters into my own hands, as it were, when the rustle of the covers at the end of my bed let me know my bed partner had heard the racket outside too.

  “Damn that man. Can’t he ever do that at a decent hour of the day. Maybe four in the afternoon? I’d be awake by then.”

  Sitting up, I watched my now grumpy cat uncurling from his sleeping position I liked to call ball of fur. Reaching down, I ran my hand down Chester’s soft gray fur, and he began to purr, rolling over so I’d rub his fluffy belly. My hand stayed on his head and neck, though. I wasn’t falling for the “belly trap”. I had enough scars to show for all the times I’d fallen for it before I learned to never touch the belly.

  “You’d be taking your third or fourth nap by then, so you’d still have your sleep interrupted and bitch about it. Come on lazy bones. We have some work to get done ourselves.”

  Chester stood up on all fours performing a long drawn out stretch as only a cat can, back high and tail out. Then he lightly leapt down from the bed and sauntered out the door to the kitchen. I knew he’d start bitching if I didn’t come right now and feed him. Truth be told, he could fix his food himself. He had enough power of his own to open the cabinet and pour the kibble. He thought he was above doing things for himself, however, and just liked to be waited on.

  He was special. One of a kind, actually. No other cat I’d ever heard of could talk, that was for sure, but it went further than that. He was the last familiar in the world, or that’s what my parents liked to tell me and my brother, anyway. I had no idea if it was true, but I’d never met or heard of another true natural born witch anywhere I’d lived. Of course there were practitioners around, believers and those who could use their latent gifts to push their will into the universe and manifest the outcomes they desired. They called themselves witches, and in a way, they were. But they weren’t like me and my family.

  Our magick was born to us. It was our gift from the Universe, to hold the power of the elements. Originally, there had been many families with many different gifts, but something had happened, and we were all that was left. Our family held the element of the Earth. We could manipulate the ground and anything that originated from the Earth. Thus, the reason I’d decided to become a landscape architect. My brother had gone for a job in precious metals and dabbled in oil because it was lucrative, and he was nothing if not materialistic. Money had never been important to me. Love and the tending of growing things was the heart of my talent.

  As I waited for the shower to heat up so I could jump in, I wished, not for the first time, that I had the magick of water instead of earth. I could make a gorgeous garden with just a thought, but I had to wait around and fiddle with the taps every freaking day to get the water between freezing and scalding. I checked the water and it was still tepid, so I walked over to the tiny window that just so happened to look into my favorite neighbor’s yard. He had finished mowing his small yard, and now he was washing his windows. The water from the long-handled brush he was using had splashed onto him as he went from the bucket to the windows and back again. Sweet goddess he looked like sex in tight wet jeans.

  My pajama pants began to tent as I continued to watch him move from the bucket of sudsy water to the windows and back, over and over again. He seemed to be doing extra steps for each window, but I wasn’t complaining one bit. After a few more minutes of silently lusting, I was fully hard and leaking into my pjs, so I decided to finish what I’d started in bed earlier. Watching the water slide down his cut abs into his jeans, I pushed my pants down and circled my hard cock with one hand and grabbed my balls with the other, pulling just a little. Oh, yeah, that was so good. I tugged slowly, trying to match his strokes with the brush over the windowpanes. As I watched, though, he seemed to be speeding up. I heard thunder in the distance, but he never stopped, moving on to the last window, he slushed the water over the edge of the bucket and raised the brush up above his head, letting the water pour down over his head and chest. Flipping hell, he was my fantasy come to life with all those muscles and wet, tan skin.

  As he scrubbed faster, my hand moved at the same pace. I was too turned on to slow down at this point, and in no time, I was almost there. As I reached the edge of coming, he glanced over his shoulder, and I froze. His eyes focused in my direction, but I didn’t think he could see me. Could he see me? My window had begun to fog, so I suppose the hot water had finally kicked in. I wanted to wipe the fog away so I could see his eyes more clearly, but then he would have definitely seen me.

  Would that be such a bad thing?

  I decided it was worth the chance, so I grabbed my towel off the rack under the window and wiped the moisture off. When I dropped the towel back on the ground, I finally looked back out the clear pane. He was still looking my way, but this time, his eyes found mine. The thought that he was watching me tug one out watching him made my hands go back to what they’d been doing. I tugged my cock and pulled at my balls, and all the while, he kept looking me in the eyes with an intensity I’d never experienced. The sky seemed to get darker, and I could hear thunder even nearer, but I never moved my gaze from where it was locked with his.

  Getting brave, I moved one finger back and massaged around my hole. Mmm, it was almost too good, but I wouldn’t let go yet. I wanted to see if he would do anything or just watch. I knew I was swaying back and forth with my movements, but I was beyond caring. He had to know what I was doing. Didn’t he?

  When I finally gave in and pushed my finger against my hole, letting it breach the opening just enough to give me chills, he lifted one eyebrow and let a sexy smirk move his lips up before he licked them long and slow. He’d dropped his brush at some point, so his hands were free. One moved to rub across his chest where he began to play with his nipple. Damn.

  The other hand slid down his slick chest, disappearing into the top of his jeans, then lower, and lower until I knew he was cupping his own hard length. His lids lowered slightly into a sleepy, sensual gaze, and his movements began to mirror mine. Oh my Goddess, we were masturbating together!

  My hands moved faster, one finger going in and out of my ass, and my other hand jacking just the way I liked with a small twist at the tip. I wouldn’t last. I didn’t want to. I just wanted to come with him. Come for him. Oh, if only he could tell me to come, it would be one of my fantasies come to life.

  We stood there moving in unison, separated by only a few feet and the windowpane. Then his movements became mo
re jerking, out of sync, and I knew he was close. I moved faster to catch up, my eyes almost closing, but I refused to lose the connection we’d forged. It was at that very minute it happened. He winked and mouthed one word.

  Come.

  I came the second I realized what he’d said. I felt it move up from my ass and lower back, and the force was so intense I even managed to shoot a few drops onto the glass between us. I released my softening cock and, without losing his gaze, I swiped the drops off the pane, showed him with a smirk, then sucked my finger into my mouth. That was when a bolt of lightning hit somewhere nearby and he closed his eyes yelling out as he finally came.

  The thunder that rolled through the air after the lightning seemed to break the link we’d just shared. I shook my head and self-conscious feelings flooded in as the skies outside opened up. The heavy rain made it impossible to see him clearly anymore. I couldn’t have looked at him anyway after what I’d just done. What the hell had I been thinking? I hadn’t been thinking. That was unacceptable behavior. No matter if he’d seemed happy to be a voyeur and play along with me, it was just a game to him probably. That made me sad on top of feeling embarrassed for some reason.

  With jerky movements, I snapped the blinds closed and cleaned up the wall where I’d made a mess, then jumped into the shower. The water had been hot earlier. It was going toward lukewarm now, so I cleaned up quick. Even though I was cold now, my face couldn’t get rid of the permanent blush of embarrassment. What would I say to him the next time I saw him? What would he say to me? Would he avoid me now? Oh Goddess, what had I done?

  2

  Arthur

  “Nice storm that blew up, Atherton. What have you been up to?”

  I dropped the towel I’d been using to dry my hair and glanced over at Lucy on her perch. She was looking out the sliding glass door, but when she finished her sentence, she turned her head. Her black and white feathers were pristine as usual, and her amber eyes caught mine.

  “I have no idea what you mean, Lucy. It was a natural storm.”

  She ruffled her feathers as she always did when she was annoyed. “Bullshit, Atherton. There was nothing natural about that storm. It shook the house and caused the lights to flicker. The magick was so strong on the wind that I could have felt it a mile away.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

  “Obviously, you don’t know, or you wouldn’t do shit like that. You know you can get into a whole fuckton of trouble if another witch finds you and they’re not the friendly kind. I thought your grandad had drilled that into your stubborn ass, but I guess not.”

  “But Lucy, Toby is a witch, and he didn’t notice.”

  Her black and white feathers shivered, and she raised her wings out, “Toby is a witch, but he knows fuck all about his kind. So, you were with Toby?”

  I broke eye contact finally and escaped to the kitchen. Well, tried to escape, because Lucy followed right behind me, flew past me in the doorway, and beat me to the kitchen island where she had another permanent perch.

  “Don’t avoid the fucking question, Atherton! What were you doing with him? Did that pain in the ass numbnuts cat of his finally convince you to ask him out?”

  “I take great exception to that, Lucille. I’m neither a numb nuts nor a pain in anyone’s ass.”

  Chester had come into the kitchen by whatever means he usually used and jumped up onto the island next to Lucy. She squawked and shuffled herself to the far end of her perch to get as far away from the cat as possible.

  “Shut the fuck up, fur ball. You've been a pain in my ass since the first day we moved here and noticed Atherton taking an interest in Tobias. So mind your own damn business.”

  Chester slinked down the length of the island to get closer to her again, so she shuffled back to her original position.

  “Language, Lucille. And I can’t be a pain in your ass because technically, you don’t have an ass, do you? You have a tail. So, I’d be a pain in your tail, not your ass.”

  Lucille finally got tired of the conversation and flew back into the living room to resume her perch by the window. While she was going, I was sure I heard her cursing Chester and each of his ancestors all the way back to the stone age.

  As I made myself a quick lunch of a turkey sandwich and chips, Chester sat on the island, staring. He was unusually quiet today, but I was waiting for the pitch to start up like it always did.

  “You know it’s very rare to find another witch. I’ve been telling you that for months. Tobias might not know much about his kind, and that’s all his mother’s fault and can’t be helped now, but he needs a compliment, and you’d be perfect. You should quit dicking around and ask him out already.”

  And there it was.

  “I told you I will when I’m ready. Since the first day you let your fuzzy butt into my house and sat right where you are now, you’ve been telling me the same thing at least once a week. Why is this so important to you, Chester?”

  Chester tilted his head to the side and answered, “I really don’t know, but it feels like something I need to do. So, I’m doing it. Just ask him out, and I’ll leave you alone.”

  From the other room, Lucy sang out her unique warble, then yelled, “For fuck’s sake, Atherton, do what he says so we can be rid of him once and for all!”

  I stood at the island eating my sandwich in silence. When I was done, I took the opportunity to pet Chester, starting at his head and sliding my hand down his back. He arched into my hand in the universal sign of a happy cat, and I smiled. He was annoying with his one-track mind, but I knew that familiars could be incredibly prescient where their families and main protectors were concerned. When I had pet him for several minutes, I made up my mind, then let my hand glide all the way down his tail and yanked it gently. I got a playful swat in response, but if he’d wanted to hurt me, he could have.

  “Okay, you win, Chester. Let’s pretend to return the simple, non-magical cat to his owner again, and I’ll ask Toby out. Will that make you happy?”

  “Immensely, Atherton.”

  Chester head butted my hand and let me pick him up gently and walk next door.

  Toby was cute and sweet, and, as of this afternoon, I knew he was hot as fuck when he came. It was time to finally make a move.

  3

  Tobias

  “Arthur, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how Chester keeps getting in your house.” I took the damn cat from his hands and motioned for him to come in. When he passed me to head to the living room, I couldn’t keep from staring at his delicious ass as he walked away. Damn, he was gorgeous coming and going. Fuzzy butt started struggling, so I looked down at Chester in my arms and stuck my tongue out to him. The bastard took a swipe at it with his claws.

  “Damn cat. What the hell are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking you need a fire lit under your ass to ask Mr. Perfect out. I told you I’d take it into my paws if you didn’t get off your ass and ask him out, Tobias. I’m just getting started.”

  “I don’t need any help. I’ll do it when I’m ready.”

  Chester flexed his front paws and dug his claws into my arms until I put him down. The tiny beads of blood welled up, but his next words had the blood running cold.

  “You know you’ve told your mom you’ve got this amazing beyond belief boyfriend for the last six months. You have a week. Time’s running out.”

  Damn. He was right. Shit.

  I left Chester in the hall and went to find Arthur looking out the back window to my garden. Without turning around, he said, “Damn, Toby, you have a way with plants. Your yard is gorgeous. I can’t even keep the ferns on my front porch alive.”

  I was staring at his ass again while he was speaking. It was cupped lovingly in those tight jeans he always wore. The denim stretched just right making me dream about cupping those cheeks, kneading them in my fingers until he was begging me to take a lick or a bite. Mmmm, I was hungry, and his ass could be a full freaking meal. I was distracted, so my answer was def
initely unfiltered.

  “I can have a talk with your ferns if you want. They’re usually lazy attention whores and get thirsty just to make life difficult.”

  Arthur turned around and gave me a look that told me whatever I’d just said was NOT normal. “You want to talk to my plants? Are you the fern whisperer?”

  Deflect! Deflect!

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Dr. Doolittle. I don’t actually talk to the plants. Do you talk to your animals?”

  I did talk to the plants, but he did not need to know this.

  The sun was shining through the back windows, forming a golden halo around Arthur’s head. The light seemed to caress him—which was impossible—but it made him look like he was in a real-life photo filter. Gah, he was perfect. Way too perfect for me.

  “No, I don’t talk to the animals, smart ass. If I could, I’d find out why your cat keeps showing up in my house.”

  The golden halo of otherworldly light was my excuse for the words that spewed from my mouth. It’s the only explanation.

  “I’m desperate for a date. Family thing next week. Would you be my boyfriend?”

  Freaking hell, I could talk to plants and harness the power of the Earth, but one gorgeous guy in my living room with an ass of a god and I was a complete idiot.

  “I’m so sorry for the word vomit. Oh, damn, I didn’t mean to say vomit. How unsexy is it to say vomit to someone?”

  I was losing it. Completely losing it and had no idea how to stop myself.

  “Toby, it’s fine. Slow down and tell me what you need to tell me.”

  Arthur walked over to me and put his large hands on either side of my neck, fingers interlaced at the back and thumbs lifting my chin. Oh, holy crap I liked that.