The Wild Side: Urban Fantasy with an Erotic Edge by Mark L. Van Name

I don’t.”
    “But you sensed things in Carmen’s room. And the magic in the phone. You weren’t just making it up, were you?”
    “No, it’s like I said. We’re all born with that stuff. But that’s all I got. Most of us get an Affinity by puberty. My sister’s came when she was six. But me? Puberty came and went, but the Affinity fairy never came calling. That’s what I mean about being a bad witch.”
    “Wait a minute. You can smell lies, and sense magic, and tell when things have happened. And you say that’s being a bad witch?”
    “It is compared to the rest of the Kith.”
    “Compared to the rest of the world, it’s pretty damned good.”
    “Yeah? I never thought of it that way.”
    “Then maybe you need to hang around some regular people sometimes.”
    That sounded suspiciously like an invitation, but I put it aside for the moment. “Anyway,” I said, “it would have been bad enough to just not have a Affinity. There have been others in the Kith who didn’t get one, or got one so useless as to be meaningless. But what I got instead is a special sensitivity to phones. Most of the time when I use one, I screw it up, which is why our connection was so bad earlier. I don’t use computers because of the internet tying in with phone lines.”
    “What about wi-fi?”
    “Funny thing. Once you’ve ruined three computers as a kid, you’re not tempted to risk another every time the technology improves.”
    “That’s rough.”
    “I would love to go online,” I admitted, “but not having a cell phone isn’t that big a deal. Half the people I hear on theirs are just telling their friends how bored they are. Anyway, I’d probably fry Carmen’s phone if I tried to use it.”
    “No problem. I’ll do it. You think we should call this Alejandro?”
    “Definitely.”
    Rocha dialed the number, then said, “I’ll put it on speaker.”
    After only one ring, a voice answered. “This is Alejandro,” he purred, and I felt my pulse quicken. “Is that you, Carmen? I’ve missed you.”
    The guy had, without a doubt, the sexiest voice I’d ever heard, with just a hint of some exotic accent.
    Rocha did not seem affected. “Who is this?” he demanded.
    “Give the phone to Carmen,” Alejandro ordered. “I don’t do boys.”
    “Listen to me, you son of a—”
    There was a click as Alejandro hung up.
    Rocha reached for the phone again.
    “Let me talk this time,” I said. I thought I could speak loudly enough to be heard on the speaker without coming close enough to hurt the phone.
    Rocha pushed redial.
    Again, Alejandro answered after the first ring. “Carmen?”
    “No, this is a friend of Carmen’s,” I said. “She can’t talk right now.”
    “But she’s sharing you with me,” he said with obscene insinuation. “What’s your name, Carmen’s friend?”
    “Maura.”
    He breathed deeply. “What a lovely name. And I can tell you’re just as lovely. Tell me what you look like, Maura.”
    It was so unexpected I didn’t have time to come up with a lie. “I’ve got dark red hair—”
    “Long and luxurious, or short and sassy?”
    “Um, about halfway down my back. My eyes are green, and I’m five foot seven.” I shrugged at Rocha, not knowing what else to say.
    “What are you wearing?”
    “Jeans and a black T-shirt.” The shirt had the Witch’s Haven logo on it, but I didn’t want to broadcast that.
    “I’m starting to get the picture, and it’s a beautiful picture indeed. Do you want to know what I look like?”
    “Sure.”
    “I look like a man with no interest in the world but you.”
    It was so cornball, but I shivered again—his words were affecting me like nothing I’d ever felt before.
    He went on to tell me what he’d like to do to me, which involved an outrageous amount of licking, plunging, and straddling, all of which sounded wonderful, even the parts I wasn’t sure were physically possible. I was beyond aroused. I forgot Carmen, I forgot why I’d called