Free The Cupcake Coven by Ashlyn Chase

where it was. As you can imagine, a lot of witches would love to get their hands on it.”
    “I guess so.”
    “I know so. The Stregareha witches are especially interested in finding it.”
    “Who are the Stregareha witches?”
    “Traditionally, they’re Italian. I imagine the American covens might have accepted members from other ethnic groups by now, but I don’t know for sure. They’re pretty secretive.”
    “So gettin’ back to Michele and her mother,” Dru said. “Did Hanna give it to them to drink out of?”
    “No. Michele thought she might have offered to make her mother one of the supernatural witches. But either her mom declined or that wasn’t Hanna’s intention at all.”
    “Why else would she show it to her if she was supposed to keep it hidden?”
    “Michele’s mom was sick at the time and eventually died. She may have wanted to cure her or something.”
    “Michele doesn’t really know?”
    “No. She wasn’t supposed to be listening. They thought she was happily occupied in the play room.”
    He smirked. “I know how that goes. Shasta and I were always eavesdroppin’ on the adults. Did they ever find out she was listenin’ in?”
    “Oh, yeah,” Rebecca said. “When they went to the kitchen to make tea, Michele snuck over to the table where they’d left it, and as soon as she touched it, it lit up like a Christmas tree.”
    “Whoa. That must have scared her.”
    “It made an impression. She never forgot it, even though she was only seven at the time.”
    “Did that make Michele supernatural? And if so, why was she so scared?”
    “As far as I know, Michele didn’t acquire any supernatural powers, but magic came to her easily. The reason she was so afraid is that a guy she had been dating was kicked out of the coven for using black magic.”
    “And she was afraid of him?”
    “Yeah. With good reason. He became obsessed with her, and when she tried to get away from him, he tried to kill her.”
    Ah, so that’s why she did a spell for protection and freaked out when her bottle broke, leaving a stain that looked like blood all over the carpet.

 
    “Can I walk you home?”
    A small smile flickered across Rebecca’s face. “That’s sweet of you, but I think I’ll be okay. I live upstairs.”
    “Oh! Convenient.”
    “Yes. By the way, I have a key for you. That way I can keep working without having to keep an eye out for you every morning.”
    “You trust me with a key to your home and business?”
    “Just the business. The door to my apartment is locked, and until I have a chance to clean the place, it’ll stay that way.” She chuckled.
    Dru was no closer to knowing what to do with Rebecca than he was ten minutes ago. To kiss or not to kiss? He never thought he’d have such a hard time with that question. Of course he wanted to kiss her. He’d wanted to all afternoon. But now, even though the awkwardness was gone, there was a table between them. His body cried out to hold her, to kiss her…to make love to her.
    She had asked him to take the bread to the soup kitchen, and of course he’d agreed. If his sister had fallen on hard times, maybe lost her cell phone and all her money in a mugging or something, it was possible that was how she was surviving.
    “Well, I guess that bread won’t deliver itself.” He rose from the table, smiling, and held out his hand to help her up too.
    She grasped his hand and as soon as she was standing, he swooped in and kissed her. She responded instantly. Her hand slipped around his neck and her fingers clutched his hair. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him.
    She opened her mouth and welcomed his tongue, meeting and swirling it with hers. He’d never had such an instant reaction to a woman before—especially one that seemed to completely reciprocate.
    He caressed her until he felt the dip at the small of her back and she let out a little moan. His body wanted to explore hers more thoroughly, but he was a