Love Me Like a Rock

Chapter 1

Bram couldn't f*****g believe it!

One of the most sacred nights of the pagan calendar and his boss was making him hang out at a party. Not that he was particularly religious, but his sister Dana was going to tear a strip off his hide if he missed her coven's ritual tonight, after he'd promised to be there. Besides, this was a children's party and Bram wasn't all that comfortable around children. And let's not even think about the fact that if any of his brethren saw him standing here in a hotel ballroom, passing out candy in a black acetate cape and cheesy plastic fangs, he'd never hear the end of it.

"You're not Dracula!" One tow-headed boy of about six, who smelled strongly of sugar and candy-maker's wax, tugged hard on Bram's cloak.

"No, I'm not." Bram's voice was slurred by the fake fangs. "He gets invited to much better parties on Halloween. I'm the low-budget version. A second-cousin on his mother's side." He pushed just enough genuine power into his words to make the boy's eyes go wide. Nodding as if that answer made perfect sense, the kid took the candy bar Bram held out to him, then scuttled off to the next station.

"That wasn't very nice." The voice in Bram's ear didn't have a body to go with it, so Bram knew who it had to be. There was only one ghost on the team of paranormal enforcers the mayor had put together.

"Hey, Frank." Bram gave a grim smile to another group of approaching youngsters. "How come his honor doesn't have you doling out goodies?"

"There's the small matter of my hands - not to mention the rest of me - being incorporeal," Frank reminded him. "Actually he had me stationed in his pathetic excuse for a haunted house. Fortuitously all of the urchins have now completed that portion of the entertainment."

Bram laughed. Trust Mayor Pendleton to have a real ghost working the haunted house at his Halloween party for underprivileged kids. He passed out treats to the three kids in the next batch, then spoke to Frank again. "Yeah, well this part better finish up pretty quickly. I've got places to be tonight."

"Ooh, a hot date? Do tell?" He could hear the envy in the ghost's disembodied voice. "I remember those."

Poor Frank. Bram decided to take pity on him and tell him the truth. "Nah, not a date. I've got a Samhain ritual I promised to attend." His tongue tripped over the plastic fangs and he damn near drooled. Uggh! Enough! He surreptitiously spat the stupid things out into his hand and shoved them in the back pocket of his black chinos, then allowed his own canine teeth to lengthen. To hell with the mayor's better ideas!

Another group approached, made up of a bunch of littler kids this time, shepherded around by a grown-up. Bram had to look twice to figure that out, she wasn't much taller than the kids, but judging by the generous rack that filled the front of her cheap black witch's outfit, she was an adult. One more look had Bram adjusting the damn cape to hide the sudden hard-on that had sprung up in his pants. Oh, yeah, definitely a grown-up! But the mayor had screwed up when he'd dressed her as a witch instead of a fairy princess. Long platinum-blonde curls tumbled out from the pointed cardboard hat. She had big, slightly tilted green eyes and plump, glossy lips that would look just right wrapped around his c**k. He only hoped none of the kids she was wrangling were hers.

"Trick or treat!" Five of the kids chorused the refrain, but one small one began to whimper and point at Bram. He felt a frisson of power and cursed mentally. That kid was a damn wizard, or would be one day. Unfortunately His Honor seemed to have forgotten that kids with magic could usually see through the façade of humanity that Bram wore on a daily basis.

"Don't cry, sweetie, he's just a pretend vampire." The ersatz witch picked up the sniffling toddler and cuddled him close, while Bram passed out goodies to the others.

"Here's one for the little guy." He held out a lollipop to the woman, as the teary-eyed urchin hid his face in her generous cleavage. Lucky kid! Privately, Bram thought the tyke had already gotten the best treat in the place. Bram would happily trade every last piece of candy in Philadelphia for the chance to bury his face between those breasts.

"Thanks." Her voice was soft and breathy and her bright green eyes twinkled as she grinned at Bram. A human wouldn't have been able to discern color in this half-light, but Bram had excellent dark vision. "Sorry about Kevin."

She reached up to pluck the candy from his hand and just for a second, their fingers touched. And where they did, they burned. Just a momentary flare of heat, but it was like nothing Bram had ever felt before. If he'd thought he had a hard-on before, now he was going to have trouble walking, his body was so stiff. He actually felt dizzy for an instant as all the blood left his brain. She pulled her hand away like it was burning, so she must have felt it too. It wasn't just a shock of static electricity, it was magic and Bram knew he was going to have to ask the mayor about her when he got the chance. Maybe the little fake witch was a real one. Wouldn't that make his sister laugh?