Leanne whispered, “When I got the alert that the spell had triggered, I panicked. I was so afraid they’d disappear you before I could get here. But the coven nailed that protective amulet.” She pretended to buff her nails on her shirt.

“I was wondering…” Trev hesitated.

“About more witch stuff?”

“Tangentially speaking, I guess.”

“Ask whatever you want to know.”

He tried to conceal the devilish impulse driving him to press kisses along the side of her throat. “You said witches can’t get knocked up by accident. Do you even want kids, though?”

“Actually, yes. I didn’t think I would ever find the right person, and I was determined not to raise one alone, like Junie. So, if you’d asked before, I’d have said ‘Yes, but it likely won’t happen.’ Now…”

“Now?” he prompted.

“It’s a yes. Eventually.”

He kissed the tender spot behind her ear. “Should we practice?”

“You’re just trying to get laid.”

“Guilty. I have some adrenaline to work off.”

“Then let me assist you.” She offered him a slow, sultry smile.

Leanne stood, and Trev stared up at her, unable to believe his luck. The whole witch thing still seemed kind of surreal, but he probably would still be here even if he’d learned she was a succubus draining his life force. He took her hand and followed her to the bedroom, admiring the slow sway of her hips.

She pulled the blinds since it was daytime, leaving the lights off. The room was all shadows, sweetly seductive. Then she said, “Illusions aren’t my strong point, I’m better at glamours, but I feel like showing off a little. Watch this…”

Trev stood rapt, feeling like Odysseus must’ve felt on the shores of that rocky Grecian isle, watching Circe turn sailors into swine—awed and captivated and unable to look away. Leanne pulled a few stones and herbs from the locked drawer in her bedside table and manipulated them in what seemed to be a ritual style, then she whispered unintelligible words, and the air above the bed came to life with swirling lights, like ones cast by a spinning, patterned lamp, only without any source. It was achingly beautiful, and he longed to see those colors glimmering across her bare skin.

“Wow,” he breathed.

“Get naked.”

“You don’t need to ask me twice.”

He pulled off his clothes in a hurry, only to find his wife already in bed, beautifully bare and reaching for him with gentle arms. She was softness and radiance, all dewy determination, and when they kissed, it felt like the first time. Because it was, in a sense. Before, it had been practical, and while he’d known how he felt, he hadn’t been sure of her emotions.

Now he was certain. She loved him.