Gnomes of Suburbia Read online

  "Are you all right?” He was frozen above her, half in, half out, his arms trembling with the urge to finish what he started.

  "I am just out of practice, is all. Continue.” She tried to encourage him with her hips, but he was having none of it.

  "I think we need to switch this around a bit.” He backed away from her and took her hand, pulling her upright. He walked over to the wingback chair along one wall and took his seat. He smiled and patted his thighs. “As fast or as slow as you want it."

  His erection drew her like a lodestone. Moving deliberately, she climbed up and moved to position him at her entrance. As if in a dream, she lowered herself inch by inch until his breath was heaving in his chest and she was trembling with the urge to impale herself completely.

  The decision was soon taken from her. After two whole minutes of her rising and falling at her leisure, he gripped her hips and surged into her, pounding upward in a beat as old as time. She hung on to the rock hard curves of his shoulders for balance as he thrust deeply over and over. Abby began to shake, an orgasm the likes of which she had never felt before building within her.

  And then he stopped. The bastard stopped.

  Abby glared at him, she hoped that one tenth of the fury she felt was in her eyes.

  He merely laughed at her and said, “Hang on."

  He rose to his feet, wearing her. He held her hips to his as he crossed the room and laid her on her coffee table. She was draped across it like an offering and he was in the mood to worship. He draped her legs over his shoulders and drove into her one last time. This time he hammered into her with the express purpose of achieving an orgasm for herself and for him.

  His fingers brushed the nub of sensation between them as he rocked and thrust into her. With all the previous stimulation, it didn't take her long before she was panting on the edge of release once again. As she gasped and shuddered with each impact, she noted the flaring lights in the room.

  Something was going to blow, and with relief, it was finally her. No scream, no gasp and no howl made it through her throat, but the magic that blasted loose, shook the very foundations of her house. Xander's eyes widened as he was dragged along in her magical wake and his own orgasm shook him in its grip.

  So much for first dates and self-control.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Waking from a post-coital snuggle to find an audience of gnomes facing you would have disturbed a lesser being, but having gotten what she was after, Abby was made of sterner stuff. Barely.

  Xander, on the other hand, jerked in surprise and threw the afghan from the back of the sofa over their bodies. “When did they get here?"

  "I have no idea. But they seemed to have missed the big show.” She tucked the blanket under her arms and levered herself upward.

  "How can you tell?"

  "They look neither shocked nor impressed.” She turned to give him a quick peck and it turned into a considerably longer one. Until a small and curious hand started to grope her ass, that is. “Knock it off, Harby."

  Sitting up, while ignoring Xander's newest arousal was a hard thing to do, no pun intended. “Guys. Shoo! Go do some dishes or reorganize the lawn. Sort the grass or something."

  "Do they actually do what you tell them to?” He caressed her hips and drew her against him as her tiny army filed out of the room. Mitsy and Ruffles dragged Harby between them.

  "Not usually, no. They just do what they want.” She looked around on the floor and located her shirt and jeans. His hands were warm and the ridge of flesh that was pressing against her tailbone was hot. She was saved from another marathon session by the unmistakable ring of a cell phone emanating from the heap of denim that had landed by the fireplace. “Uh, Xander. Your phone is ringing."

  "They can wait."

  He burrowed his lips into the hollow of her throat and she marvelled that he could almost wrap completely around her and reach every portion of her body at will. She let out a deep sigh and relaxed against him, loving the rise and fall of his chest under hers. It was only when a second round of breathing occurred that she had a sneaking suspicion that her magic had found some outlets.

  She held her breath and waited. A sudden heaving of the couch beneath them had her cursing and leaping to her feet. “Xander. The couch is alive."

  He lay flat, watching her nude body moving around the room, gathering her clothing right up until the moment when a velour tongue lapped at him from behind. At which point, he literally flew off the couch and landed across the room. “What the hell?"

  Her panties and bra were missing, but her jeans went on without too much trouble. The rough denim chafed at the inside of her thighs slightly, but she did them up with a sharp inhalation and the relief that she was no longer vulnerable. Her t-shirt made the obvious protrusions of her nipples stand out, but until she could get fully dressed, it was better than nothing. The odd vulnerability that followed sex apparently did not get easier with age.

  "Abby, why is the couch breathing?” He was back in his denim and looking at the rest of the furniture with trepidation.

  "All that magic I was generating had to go somewhere.” She wasn't completely honest. It had felt good to simply let go and let the energy flow. If she could claim ignorance on this one, she was going to. “You were no slouch, yourself."

  "Can you still recall it?"

  "Sure.” She took deep breath and sought out all the energy with her signature in the area. The gnomes were in the backyard so they were safe as she drew the power back into her. It was quite a bit of stuff to contain, and it was only when she had it all in her that she realized that she had not thought of where she was going to put it.

  Uh-oh.

  With a sense of desperation, she walked past Xander and knelt directly before her fireplace. She laid her hands on the stones and started to dump power into them. It took a while. The stone resisted her energy when she started, but soon was absorbing it wholeheartedly.

  "I don't know if you should be doing that inside your home. It could have unforeseen consequences."

  "As opposed to the foreseen kind? Puh-leese.” She was still giddy from their encounter and was not looking forward to coming down off the endorphin high. “My house, my magic, my business."

  "Fair enough. But don't say that I didn't warn you."

  "You are just crabby because the couch tasted your butt."

  "That is not true, but it didn't help.” His eyes gleamed in amusement. “We need to discuss a more important matter than my butt."

  "The mind boggles. And what exactly is that?"

  "Whom do you think just tried to blow you up?"

  If ever there was a sentence designed to stop all light-hearted conversation, that was it. With her charge dispersed, she returned to the couch and sat heavily while the enormity of the events, which preceded their coupling sank in.

  "Who would want to blow me up? Even before I was a Nexus, I rarely went out and pissed people off.” Well, there had been a few parking incidences, but nothing recent.

  He came over to comfort her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I do hate to tell you this, but as a Nexus there will be people who will want to cease your existence. Others will want to control you and some will wish to use you until you are powerless."

  Her head was in her hands now and she was in the pre-vomit position. “That is fantastic."

  He rubbed her back to calm her. “There are also those like your neighbours on Oak Point Way who love the new magic that you are bringing to our world. We are here to defend and protect you. Even when you don't want us to."

  She just wallowed in self-pity for a few moments. The hand on her back was nice, but she needed more. Squirming into the curve of his arm, she snuggled against him for the comfort that his heat brought her. It begged one thought out of her. “What happens to your power when we, uh ... Well, when your energy leaves your body?"

  "I control it and bring it back to my body after th
e exertion is done."

  Humph. She squinted at his arm under her hand and across her ribs and smirked. He had taken quite a bit of her power with him. The soft smile in her tone belied the seriousness of her next question. “How nervous do we need to be about the attempt to explode me?"

  "I am calling a neighbourhood meeting at your house this evening to discuss it. You had best lay in some snacks and beverages.” A quick kiss on her nose and the shirtless warlock was on his way out of her house.

  "Stay home and keep safe, Abby. We need you alive, and I want your body. Again.” A wink for goodbye and he was out the door.

  Abby was alone.

  Her gnomes were outside, probably with her missing underwear, and getting up to who knows what. She had just had some of the best and certainly the most athletic sex of her life and her partner had just swanned out of her house, none the wiser.

  Someone wanted her blown to bits, and if it hadn't been for her little creations, she would have been. Three cheers for the gnomes.

  Now it was time for serious business. A shower, a change of clothing and a set of comfy walking sneakers and she was ready.

  * * * *

  The phone call that had occurred while he was with Abby was one he had been dreading. The instant that he got into his home, the phone rang again. He picked it up and answered with, “Hello Councilman. What can I do for you?"

  "You can tell me why there was suddenly a pulse of magic that emanated from your location and continued outward?"

  "The Nexus lost control for a few moments, Councilman."

  "Have you learned her triggers?"

  The spot behind her neck, the skin under her breast, the inches between her belly button and her sex. “I have identified a few of them, Councilman."

  "When will you have your report ready? We need to know what we need to keep the Nexus happy."

  "She seems to be embracing the environment that we have been creating and it seems to be stimulating her creative and energy producing urges. Oak Point is definitely the right place for her at the right time."

  "It is good to hear. But please find a way to confine her emanations. They are setting off chain reactions across Canada and the United States. Garden ornaments are exhibiting a certain mobility that they have not before."

  "Sir, before we conclude, there was an attempt on Abby's life today. Someone planted a car bomb in her vehicle."

  The cursing on the other end of the line was indistinct, but heartfelt, “What was the result?"

  Abby and I got naked and writhed around on every piece of furniture in her living room. “The bomb was removed and the explosion contained. The perpetrator has yet to be located.” It was probably best to stick to the basics.

  "Find them. We only have one chance at a Nexus during this generation and I don't want her to die before the power she can bring is shared."

  Of course the power would be the major concern. Abby's life meant nothing to them without the potential magic she could produce. “We are attempting to locate the assassin and will, of course, bring them to the Council for sentencing when they are caught."

  "Excellent. Now keep the Nexus under control. I don't need my yard flamingo talking to me.” The councillor hung up the phone and Xander was left with a simmering anger.

  He wanted to find the person who had tried to attack Abby and take them apart with his own hands. To hell with magic, he wanted to go medieval on their ass.

  Abby was rapidly becoming a precious addition to his life.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Freshly showered, teeth brushed and in a fresh set of underwear under her jeans and the t-shirt that she has been wearing earlier, she was ready for a change of venue. The gnomes were nowhere to be found and therefore her car keys were still AWOL. “I guess I am walking."

  There was no one to hear her, but she felt perversely better for speaking into the silence. The air in the house had changed, it now felt friendlier. It had always been cozy, but now she was convinced that this was where she belonged. It felt good to be home at last.

  On that note, she steeled herself and left the warm and comfy nest that she had created and headed out to score some chocolate. Abby warily moved around her once-beloved car, not sure how to feel about it now that it had almost become the instrument of her demise.

  Her sneakers made a light thumping noise on the pavement. It echoed around the cul-de-sac of Oak Point Way. She passed Laura's stately home, then Randy's tidy yard and Seesee's funky and multi-coloured front door. The house on the end must host the fabled Miklos. The guy Seesee was crushing on.

  Based on what she already knew about the inhabitants of the Way, she wasn't sure that she wanted to meet him. Just the way that Seesee talked about him made her shiver.

  The walk was refreshing, the cool breeze lifting and frolicking with her still-damp hair and the path to the center of town led her clearly into Sargent. The countryside surrounding the small town was unspoiled. Brooks babbled, trees rustled and the path next to the main road was tidy and well maintained.

  It was the perfect environment for Abby to calm herself after the near death experience that morning. She wondered idly how Seesee would take the events of Abby's morning?

  Seven minutes of peaceful walk later, she found out.

  Apparently, How many Nexus’ does it take to defuse a car bomb in her front yard? was not a good way to break the ice.

  Upon hearing the flippant question and viewing the seriousness in Abby's eyes, Seesee's hair almost lost control. Her entire coiffure seemed to grow larger for an instant before it calmed and resumed its previous dimension.

  When she had calmed herself, and her hair, Seesee felt she needed to ask, “Are you all right? Were you hurt?” Her gaze assessed every inch of Abby that was visible to the eye.

  "No, just kind of stunned. Xander was there and he helped to remove it from my car.” She stopped her conversation there and waited for the latte that she had ordered when she came in.

  The beverage was delivered by a smiling server and Seesee held her patience no more. “Abby, tell me everything."

  "Well, I wasn't much of a student in school, mostly Bs and Cs. It was only when I took clay and sculpture in art class that I found my true calling.” She paused for a sip of the latte. Mmm ... lovely.

  "That is not what I was talking about Abby. Tell me about this morning. I felt the magic pulse, what caused it?"

  "The long story or the short one?"

  "The long one."

  "Goody. There isn't a short one. This morning I had my usual tutorial with Xander, then showered, then got ready to come here for a visit. The gnomes wouldn't let me leave. They had barricaded the door and all other entries or exits had been nailed shut. A pyramid of growling gnomes stood between me and my car and when Harby swallowed my car keys, I knew I wasn't going anywhere."

  "Bitsy had run out while I was in the shower to fetch Xander and he arrived at the door as I was contemplating gnome bowling. As soon as he arrived, the pyramid dispersed, little buggers. Bitsy came up to me and said boom, then ran with the others to watch Xander levitate the bomb."

  "It must have had a solar trigger, because as soon as it came out from under the car, it blew.” Abby shuddered in remembrance. “It was only after the shock of the explosion wore off that we saw that the explosion had been frozen in time and space. In a power ball of my own making. That was a shocker."

  "Really? Your power held it?” Admiration filled her face. Apparently Abby's feat was a little tricky.

  "Is still holding it. Will hold it until the power is diverted somewhere else I suppose.” She shrugged.

  "Really? So that was the power wave that happened? The bomb?"

  "Uh, no. To be honest, the power wave came later. I had an uncontrolled moment and that was the side effect.” She hoped her blush would be explanation enough. Apparently it was. Naked details were best left between her and Xander. And of course, the gnomes. Little perverts.<
br />
  Seesee expressed the shock that was still reverberating within Abby, “Who would want to kill you?"

  "You have got me. I don't really go around ticking people off and I don't date much so it must be a Nexus related vendetta."

  "What does Xander think?"

  "He said he was going to look into it."

  "I should hope so.” Seesee's lips twitched. She was not hiding her amusement well at all.

  "Well, it isn't like a Nexus is born into modern society every day. Perhaps someone feels that magic has had its time.” The philosophical approach seemed the best one to take. The adage of tough tacos would not be appropriate to the mood.

  "The world would be a sad place without magic in it."

  "I don't know about that. I managed just fine without magic for most of my life."

  Seesee looked surprised “But, Abby, whether you knew it or not, magic was always with you. It was inside you and waiting."

  "Okay, now that is just getting creepy.” The thought of something nesting inside her and waiting for its moment made her shiver.

  "Nevertheless, you have always been the Nexus, the gateway through which magic would flow. Speaking of which, what did manage to make you lose control enough to loose that pulse earlier? It was quite the blast of energy."

  Damn, now they were back on that track. “It was a residual charge that I dissipated after the bomb. There was just so much energy and I suppose I am still a little sloppy when it comes to controlling the power."

  Thankfully, Seesee seemed to accept that answer. “Well, sure. That makes sense. I say, all that time you are spending training with Xander is really paying off if that is the result."

  Her mind skittered down a whole other path before she could stop it. Finally she realized what Seesee was referring to. “What? Oh. Yeah. The lessons in self-control are working just fine. I suppose.” She remembered their other topic. “I mean, aside from that accidental burst."

  "I have to say that I am impressed. You have hugged me every time you have seen me this week and no power has transferred. You are doing very well, Abby.” The gorgon was all support and warmth.