Free To Wrangle A Witch (Southern Sanctuary Book 3) by Jane Cousins Page B

drink
absently.
    “Please,
you have seen her right?  If anyone can take care of herself it’s
Hadleigh.  I have the scars to prove it.”
    “I’m
not surprised.  Is everything okay?  Has something happened?”
    “Hadleigh
says something or someone has been testing the building security defences at
regular intervals but nothing overt yet.”  Locke picked up two oversized
spoons and tossed the salad.  “I hope you’re hungry?”
    “Starving,
whatever you have in the oven smells wonderful.”
    “Thai
whole baked salmon.”
    “Wow,
a man of many hidden talents.  Is it just the two of us tonight?” 
She turned her head noting the nearby heavy wooden dining table had just two
settings laid out. 
    “I
did ask Nell if she wanted to join us but she’s on call at the hospital.” 
Locke didn’t look upset by the news he imparted, just carried on bustling
around the kitchen; wiping down counters, adding dressing to the salad, pulling
out two plates in readiness.
    “Is
there anything I can do to help?”  She asked, kind of in awe of the man, watching
as he opened the oven door, lifting out the fish wrapped in banana
leaves.   He cooked, he cleaned, he had a house to die for that he
clearly loved and decorated himself.  Was there anything he couldn’t
do? 
    “Just
grab the salad would you?  I’ll dish out the fish.”
    Five
minutes later Serena sat at the dining table across from Locke.  The smell
of lemongrass, chili, ginger and coriander wafting upwards from her plate to
tease her nostrils.     “I only hope this tastes as good as
it smells.”  She lifted a forkful to her mouth, closing her eyes as
sumptuous flavours burst over her taste buds.  “Hmmm, even better. 
Kudos to the chef.”
    Damn,
Locke swallowed hard quickly averting his gaze, the gorgeous witch in the sassy
red dress was way too tempting for her own good.  And when she made those
hmming sounds of pleasure all he could picture was her writhing under him
making those exact same sounds.  Reaching over he found his glass by touch
alone, abruptly draining the contents.
    “I
can’t believe I’m really out of that hell hole.  I keep wanting to pinch
myself but then I’m scared I might actually wake up back there.”  She
shuddered at the thought.
    “What
Marcus said, about the medical file on you… was that true?  Were you
dying?”
    “Yes
I think so.  My strength was depleted when I got there and then with
nothing to sustain me but some mold and the african violet, I don’t think I
could have held on much longer.”
    “Sek
and Mot didn’t visit you to gloat or check up on you?”
    “No.” 
She took a big sip of her drink, giving Locke a grateful smile as he lifted the
cocktail shaker and re-filled her glass then his own.  “I assumed they
were too busy out in the world with Xander trying to find a replacement witch
for their little ritual to bring their father back.”
    “They
kidnapped Hadleigh you know, almost killed her thinking she was a witch.”
    “No,
what happened?” 
    “Vaughn
saved the day.”
    “He
would, those guys are pretty darn wonderful.”  Serena smiled. 
    “You
must have started to get a bit worried there for a while, thinking they’d
forgotten about you?”
    “No,
at first I was worried they’d taken seriously the note Xander made me write
that said I was resigning and needed some space.  Then as time passed I
started to think… well I was kind of worried that they might be dead.” 
    “So…”
Locke searched around for another topic, anything to take away the sudden gloom
that filled Serena’s eyes.  “So if being an Earth Witch requires nothing
more than a propensity to run around wearing no clothes, why aren’t more
strippers witches?”
    Serena
laughed loudly.  “If only it were that easy to add numbers to our
ranks.  I come from a long line of Earth Witches, my mother, grandmother.”
    “Have
you called them, told them you’re safe?”
    “They
know, we spoke