Black and Silver

by Gwendolyn Harper

“Do you ship these through the mail?” Ivy shook her head. “Most of my clients are local. I’ve mailed a few, but only when I needed to.” “Guess Boris is going to be busy shuttling you back and forth then.” Arching a brow, she glanced up. “What do you mean? I can get myself around just fine.” “As if Silas will just stand by while you hop on a bus,” Kat scoffed, sipping her juice. “There’s more of a chance of him joining the ballet.” A startled laugh escaped Ivy. “That’s a helluva mental image.”

“Erm… Can I…” He cleared his throat. “I’ll only be a moment.” Kat shrugged one shoulder, inching closer to Ivy to give him access. “Thanks.” It was the most awkward thirty seconds of Ivy’s life that wasn’t caused by her. When the kettle was filled, Edgar yanked it out from under the tap and practically ran back to where he’d been. Widening her eyes, Ivy looked to Kat in silent question, but the other woman simply jutted her chin up, casting sidelong glances at Edgar.

Crossing his arms over his broad chest, he glared a hole into the counter. By the time the water was ready, Ivy thought he’d crack the granite with just his eyes. Kat’s knee started to bounce. Alright, who walked in on who having a wank? Running his hand through his chocolate brown hair, Edgar made quick work of fixing himself a cup of tea and nearly spilled half of it on himself as he rushed for the door.

“See you later,” Ivy called. Edgar turned, bumping his shoulder into the wall and winced. “Ah, yep. See ya.” She waited four seconds before whirling on Kat. “Okay, what the hell was that about?” Kat blinked in feigned disinterest. “What do you mean?” Crossing her arms, Ivy arched a...

Sighing, Kat leaned back against the edge of the counter. “It’s… complicated. And a bit embarrassing.” “Those are my specialties,” Ivy said. Uncapping her juice, she took a long swig. “Go on then.” Chewing her bottom lip with one fang, Kat finally yielded. “Before I was… captured, Edgar and I…” “Did you two fuck?” “No, no…” Kat grimaced slightly. “I mean… Almost?” Ivy swallowed her gasp. “We kissed—made out, really—but ...

“So we waited.” Kat’s stare lowered. “And the next night, that fucker trapped me with his sigil and—” She took several steadying breaths. “Ever since I got back, Edgar’s treated me differently. He won’t be alone with me. He barely talks to me.” Edgar killed him, Silas’ voice repeated in her head. He’d had killed the demented magician who’d trafficked Kat. In Ivy’s opinion, that wasn’t something a person did on a whim after a late night snog.

“Maybe he just wants to give you some space,” she offered. “He knows you’ve been through a lot. He may be worried about you feeling… uncomfortable.” Kat planted on hand on her hip. “What feels uncomfortable is him avoiding me like I’ve got Pox. I just want things to go back to normal.” Ivy frowned. “Have you tried talking to him about it?” “I would if I could get him alone for five bleeding minutes.” She shook her head. “It’s probably too much for him. Every time he looks at me, he must remember how he found me.” Heartbreak twisted in Ivy’s chest, making every breath a painful wheeze.

Oh God, he looked good. Wearing a black button down with the collar left undone and his sleeves rolled to the elbows, he was a seductive mix of professional and relaxed that made Ivy want to crawl into his lap and stay there. His dark gaze landed on her, and scarlet rings flickered to life in his irises.

Leaning back a fraction in his chair, Silas deadpanned, “Hello to you too. I’m well thanks, and yourself?” Kat rolled her eyes. “I saw you an hour ago. You want me to greet you formally every time?” Ivy bit her lip to keep from laughing.

“I’m going to be present for every spell you cast to find the demon responsible,” he said, standing up and circling the desk. “That’s a non-negotiable.” Kat snorted quietly. “Worried we’ll keep you out of the loop?” “When Ivy performed the spell to open the warded door you were trapped behind, I saw her body contort in ways that would break an average human,” he said, glowering. “And that was only when coming up against the life force of one magician. I won’t risk her safety should she tap into an Infernal’s power.” The steel in his words struck Ivy sideways, reverberating to her core.

“To be fair,” she started. “I’d have been better prepared if I’d known the two were connected.” His blazing stare locked with hers. “But I appreciate your concern,” she added with a placating gesture. Kat glanced between them, as if studying a new puzzle. As Silas passed Ivy the paper, he said, “I’ll not put you in that position again. It was a mistake the first time.” A small, surprised noise escaped Kat, and the other two looked her way. “Sorry, sorry,” she said, shaking her head.

Folding the paper back up, Ivy started to follow but Silas stepped in front of her. “You weren’t at breakfast this morning,” he murmured, staring down at her with an emotion she couldn’t fully place. She cringed a little. “I know, I…” Ivy had slept past nine for the first time in five years. But that wasn’t the reason she’d avoided the communal breakfast, opting to make herself eggs and toast on her own, much to Boris’ chagrin.

Silas searched her face. “Were you feeling ill?” “No, no, nothing like that.” His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “Were you uncomfortable seeing me?” Ivy brushed a stray curl off her forehead. How the fuck was she supposed to explain herself? “No,” she said, voice thin. The red in Silas’ eyes dimmed, fading almost completely into his dark irises. “Don’t lie, witchling,” he warned. “I’m not lying,” Ivy snapped, pointing at him with the corner of the paper. “And I don’t appreciate you constantly assuming—” “I’m not assuming,” he cut her off. “I can smell it on you.” Ivy’s eyes flashed. “Then stop smelling me, you fecking weirdo!”

For a millisecond she dreaded her big mouth, worried she’d crossed a line or angered him. But Silas only chuckled low in his throat, the tips of his fangs visible just above his bottom lip. “Perhaps if you weren’t so enticing to smell, I’d be able to comply with your request,” he sa...

Taking half a step forward, he gauged her reaction before speaking again. “Tell me the whole truth. Why weren’t you at breakfast?” Ivy sighed. “Am I not allowed to have a lie in every once in a while?” His only response was to arch his eyebrow. “Jesus and Mary, fine,”...

Silas frowned. “Meaning?” “Meaning I didn’t want everyone sitting at the table to be shoving their face full of sausage, knowing full well I was imagining yours.” His expression changed with each heartbeat. Confusion. Thump. Realization. Thump. Feral amusement. Flame-like rings blazed to life in Si...

Covering her face with her hands, Ivy muttered, “I was trying to avoid this embarrassment, Silas.” He chuckled again. “Why are you embarrassed?” “Because…” She dropped her hands to her sides and groaned. “Last night was some of the best sex I’ve ever had, and we didn’t even have intercourse. Hell, you didn’t even really touch me. And I knew the second I saw you sitting at the table, drinking your coffee and reading your paper, I’d either combust or melt or some messy combination of the two and—” She inhaled. “I just couldn’t suffer the ...

Silas grinned, his chest puffing out. “We’re Incubi, Ivy. You could have strode in and straddled my lap to ride me and they wouldn’t have bat an eye.” She choked on her own spit. “I personally would have thoroughly enjoyed watching you squirm through breakfast,” he continued. Ivy barely registered he was backing her up again...

“Would have enjoyed smelling your honeyed arousal perfuming your skin,” Silas purred, leaning down until his nose was buried in her black curls. “Just like it is now.” Ivy blushed. Damn him and his supernatural abilities. “I don’t hear you d...

“Start to what?” Silas dragged the back of his knuckles up the side of her neck until his fingers tangled in her hair. “To embracing your desires,” he said, teasing her pulse point with the very edge of his fingernail. Ivy was three seconds away from turning to liquid and dropping to the floor. It wouldn’t be the worst position to be in. In fact, it give her perfect access to— Silas let out a low growl as his eyes fluttered closed. “Witchling…” She couldn’t help but smile. “I thought you couldn’t ...

A thrill ran through her at the image of him hoisting her over his shoulder and haulin...

Cupping her jaw, Silas ran his thumb under her bottom lip. “I’d like to introduce a new rule to our dynamic, Ivy,” he said, voice both seductive and firm. She blinked up at him, vaguely aware that she’d hooked her fingers into the front of his button down. “What rule is that?” “You no longer hide what you want from me.” He stared into her eyes, gently sweeping the pad of his thumb back and forth. “No more avoiding me because you’re...

Ivy started to balk. “But that’s—” “Intimate? Private?” He smirked and it was pure dark amusement. “Of course it is, little witch. That’s the point. I want to know every little thing that turns you on and gets you off, and then do them.” He leaned down until his lips were a hair away from hers. “With great...

You can always say no, Ivy. You hold the power. Part of her wanted to use that power and tell him to fuck off. The idea of disclosing her every sinful thought to a man hotter than Hell made her insides twist with mortification. But just like at the café, when everyone around them was focused on Silas but his stare never left her, she found herself fed up with her own bullshit. Her whole life she’d been made to feel less than, unworthy, ashamed. And here was a delicious, beautiful man offering her everything she could possibly want on a silver platter while looking at her like she was everything he wanted. The devil might have been a seducer, but Silas had him beat.

“I agree on one condition.” “Which is?” She forced her spine to straighten. “You allow me the time to get comfortable using my voice. I’m new to this and it’s going to take… well, practice.” Silas’ gaze warmed and something akin to pride spread across his face. “Of course, darling,” he murmured. “I vow to be nothing but patient and devoted.”

A quick knock at the door jam was followed by Kat practically swinging herself halfway into his office. “I thought we were—Oh,” she faltered, grinning at the scene before her. “Sorry to interrupt.” Ivy expected Silas to back away, but instead, he simply turned his head to halfheartedly glare at Kat. “You’ll be forgiven if you leave,” he said. Ivy poked him in the ribs subtly, but he didn’t yield. “Quit gnashing your teeth,” Kat laughed. “I’ll be gone in a flash.”

Kat winked before shoving off the door frame and disappearing. Releasing a breath, Ivy muttered, “I guess that’s my cue to—” Silas grasped her face with both hands, hauling her into a bruising, fiery kiss that threatened to scorch her insides. Coaxing her open with his tongue, he pressed deeper and deeper until she could barely breathe. Yet, with him holding her this close, she would happily learn to live without oxygen. Shoving her back against the wall, he tightened his grip in her hair and worked his knee between her thighs, pinning her in place. Ivy let out a helpless moan and he growled as he swallowed the noise.

“Your luscious scent will haunt be for the rest of the day,” he ground out, nipping her bottom lip. “Hard to believe I fed only yesterday, as starved as I am for you now.” Shivering at his words, she tipped her head back, hoping he’d take her bait and latch onto the column of her throat. But instead, he tenderly kissed her lips once more and released her, backing up a full pace.

If he were anyone else, Ivy would have felt a pang of hurt by being let go of, but the urgent need blazing in his eyes told her everything. He wanted her so badly he had ...

Clearing his throat, he said, “I’ll be in to check on things with you and Kat in a little while. Don’t perform any tracking spells without me present.” Ivy nodded. “We won’t.” Before she could talk herself out of it, she stepped closer and pressed a quick kis...

She waited until she was halfway to the kitchen before pulling her phone from her back pocket. Finding the text she’d sent herself, she opened the thread and started typing. Next time you want to pin me against the wall to make out, a helping hand to ease this ache wo...

As Boris prepared afternoon tea in Silas’ office, he scrolled through his message thread between himself and Ivy, barely hiding his grin. He hadn’t expected her to want to text him as often as she did, but he wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. Over the last four days, their sparse but sexually charged conversation had evolved into something much more familiar and easy. He had to admit, it was… lovely. That morning’s exchange had brightened his otherwise dreadfully boring block of meetings and phone calls.

Ivy: Since when did this place have a greenhouse??? Ivy: Wait, did you add a greenhouse to your property?? Ivy: I take it from your silence that you did in fact add a greenhouse to the place, and I’m also guessing it has something to do with me, so therefore I’m using it for my ‘baneful beauties’. Silas: Well I couldn’t have you choking to death on Wolfsbane pollen in your bedroom, now could I? Ivy: As you’ll recall from my answers to your kink questionnaire, I’m only interested in choking if hands are involved. And definitely not to death. Silas: I’d chop off my own arms before I let that happen to you. She’d sent a string of little grimacing emoji faces followed by another text. Ivy: Please don’t do that. I like your arms.

Silas: Oh? How much do you like them, witchling? The bubble with three dots had appeared and disappeared at the bottom several times before she’d finally sent her reply. Ivy: Enough to get turned on just watching you roll your shirt sleeves up or when you flex your forearms lifting something. Silas had almost purred like a smug leopard during his meeting with...

Silas: Perhaps I should be shirtless for our next session. Really give you something to stare at. Ivy: Listen you little devil, I’m handling toxic plant materials here. Stop distracting me. He’d laughed when he read the t...

Boris nodded. “She’s really quite something, isn’t she? She’s made tinctures for all of us—healing, pain relief, sleep aids, even for stubborn ingrown toenails.” Silas wrinkled his nose behind his cup. He didn’t want to know who needed that last one. But his valet’s sentiment stood. Ivy was truly someone special. And not just because of her magical talents. “Yes, she is,” he murmured.

“Is she going with you to the Gathering tomorrow night?” Silas froze. Fuck. He’d completely forgotten. Every Infernal leader in Dublin would be at one of the top tier’s clubs for an evening of posturing, expensive liquor, and eventually nothing much of interest other than to scowl at each other and complain they were all doing too much or too little. Silas had to attend—not just because he was one of the Incubi leaders, but because he had to answer for his overstep involving that Star Coven bastard.

“Boss?” Shaken from his thoughts, he made an affirmative noise at the back of his throat. “Yes, she is,” he said. He just might have to do a little convincing to get her to agree. Collecting the tray and extra sugar and cream containers, Boris said, “Good. I’m glad you’ll have her with you.” “Worried for my wellbeing around other Infernals?” Silas asked with a teasing smirk. “No,” Boris said, shaking his head. “You’re just happier...

He couldn’t even argue. Boris was right. He was happier ...

Excusing himself, Boris left him to tackle the rest of his work, but Silas only sipped his tea and picked up his phone. Silas: Are you busy tonight? Ivy: Oh yes, I have a very full schedule of reading up on the uses of arsenic from apple seeds and catching up on episodes of Kitchen Nightmares with Kat. He chuckled, able to hear the sarcasm through the message. Silas: That’s a shame. I was going to ask if you’d like to have dinner and dessert with me. Ivy: … What kind of de...

Perhaps Ivy had made a mistake. Shifting her weight, she inhaled deeply and released it as slowly as she could. She’d picked the vibrating dildo with the suction cup at the base thinking it would work perfectly for her to ride. And it did… For the first two orgasms of her session with Silas. But now her legs were burning, and her knees ached, and she couldn’t find a good rhythm at the right speed to get her off again with her joints practically turning to sponges with every shallow thrust. She loved feeling full though and didn’t want that to stop.

Being on the floor had been much more erotic than she’d anticipated, if only because she got to stare up at Silas as she rode the silicone cock, imagining it was his working deeper and deeper inside her. And the way he stared down at her… Fuck, it made her blood burn and liquid heat flood her with every heartbeat.

Hefting something up as he straightened, Silas turned and strode back to her. “Try this instead,” he said, placing a large black padded object in front of her. It was rounded, with a raised portion in the middle made of sleek heavy duty plastic. Ivy didn’t know what the hell it was. As Silas ran the cord to an outlet and plugged it in, she leaned back on her haunches and removed the dildo from her, turning it off. Whimpering slightly from the loss, she glanced up in time to see him looking over his shoulder at her, dragging his tongue over his bottom lip.

Just pounce on me already, she thought, keeping her thighs spread. You already watch me like you want to eat me. I’m right here. Devour me.

Grabbing a plastic bin from a shelf, Silas returned to where she knelt and popped the lid. “Have you heard of a Sybian?” He asked, dropping into a squat in front of her. Ivy shook her head. “Is that what this is?” “It’s similar, but I prefer this style more,” he said, setting the bin down between them. “It’s a very powerful vibrator that you ride. All of these attachments—” He gestured to the silicone items inside the tub. “—Hook on there, in the middle. And those dials co...

There were at least two dozen various attachments of different sizes, shapes, and colors, all with a flat side meant to slide into place on the motorized base. A few looked like they were made specifically for grinding on, while others were intended for penetration, and most were a combination of the two. Lifting a hand, Ivy started to reach for one but stopped herself, immediately flicking her gaze up...

Gently picking through the options, her skin warmed as she realized she could try all of these at some point. But she wanted that feeling of fullness again. Glancing to him again, Ivy let her stare drop to the bulge in Silas’ trousers, knowing full well he saw what she was doing, and picked out an attachment that was her best guess at his size. A soft growl rippled through the air, and she smirked. “Teach me how to put it on?” She asked innocently, holding the nude colored silicone in...

“The motor on this is more powerful than you’re used to, so we’ll go slow,” he told her, taking up the control dials. “Hop on, witchling. See how you like it.” Ivy swallowed, trying to ignore the nervous tremors in her stomach. She wasn’t sure why she felt timid—she was already naked and sweaty, arousal smeared on her inner thighs from her previous orgasms. But this was new, and something about how Silas settled back into his seat with the remote w...

Taking several breaths, she forced her legs to move, swinging one over the side of the padded base like she would a hobby horse. It was wider than she anticipated, and the position forced her to sink down onto the toy in almost one go. Gasping, her lashes fluttered as the silicone dick stretched and filled her. Just like he would, she thought, blinking up at Silas. “Too much...

Another soft rumble emanated from his chest, and he leaned forward, gaze locked onto her face. “Good,” he said, flashing the tips of his fangs in a grin. “Now let’s see how great it can make you feel.” He turned the dial and Ivy gasped sharply. Silas hadn’t been lying—this motor wasn’t like anything she’d experienced before. Bracing the heels of her palms on the edge of the base, she ground against the little raised nubs of silicone, working her clit in tandem with the powerful vibrations. “Do you ...