Dora Divine

Having a friend who owned a bookshop was a booklover’s dream, and the fact that Toby gave her free books in exchange for a little shag now and again was the perfect set up. They both got something they wanted and Dora’s library was growing every month. She had actually been expecting to see him when her last book had been delivered, because it had been a week before her birthday and some pre-birthday sexy times would have been nice, but that one had come with the post as many of them did. Post-birthday sexy times were just as good, and now apparently there was something more? “How do I get these personal deliveries more often?” she asked with a flirty wiggle in her hips, trailing a finger across his jawline before heading into her bedroom to get dressed.

She stepped over the shirt she’d thrown on the floor earlier while chasing a naked Pansy out of the room, and then dropped her towel on the bed as she made her way toward her wardrobe. “Which one is it this time?” she asked from inside her closet. Toby had a good sense of what she liked to read, sometimes it seemed as though he was in her head. He did a spectacular job of picking out different authors and genres for her, most of which she ended up loving and inevitably would end up in his shop looking at more of the same. Sometimes Dora even considered that their little arrangement might have all just been a ploy to get her in his bookstore more frequently. He probably had a few witches he kept as regular customers that way. “I really liked the one last time. I finished it in only a few days.” She came out of the closet in a colorful dress, barefoot, with her damp hair hanging wildly around her shoulders.

Dora enjoyed surprises, at least the nice sort that Toby had in mind for her. Some surprises weren’t all that enjoyable, like finding out that a tropical holiday with your best friend meant having to raise a child for the next 17 years of your life. They were down to 16 years now, if that was any consolation – which it wasn’t. Pansy’s first birthday was only a week away, and Dora had plenty of party planning left to do, which meant she might not have as much time to devote to Toby’s book as she normally might have. She wouldn’t expect to take more than a week to get through a book but Pansy’s birthday party had to be absolutely spectacular, and with her having a full time day job and seeing Hunter quite often in the evenings, she would have very little free time this week to divide between her social life and her private one.

Toby complimented her and Dora beamed. “I know,” she said, trying not too hard to feign innocence as if she hadn’t purposefully curated her entire wardrobe to show off as much skin as possible. She pressed herself up against him with an excited bounce. “Come on, I wanna see what I got.” He could roam around in a towel for all Dora cared, though she hadn’t realized anything had happened with his clothes to make them unwearable at the moment. If she had, she might have offered him something to wear that Fin or Ollie had left at some point.

Dora beamed at him before turning and heading excitedly downstairs, taking Toby by the hand. There wasn’t any rush as she’d again forgotten that she had a child to take care of at that moment, but it was exciting, nonetheless. Anyone who didn’t absolutely love getting presents was not someone Dora wanted to meet. Toby’s arrival had been amidst chaos, so she was sure where exactly to look, but quickly enough she spotted a bottle of wine laying on its side and a paper-wrapped item sitting on her buffet. She picked up the bottle and sat it right side up on the buffet, admiring the label that looked like it probably cost a bit more than Dora would normally spend. “Ooh,” she said admiringly. She looked at Toby with a grin, then picked up what she knew to be the book and carefully tugged at the wrapping.

Ripping the wrapping off the gift, Dora turned the book over to look at the cover. The title ‘Wings of Darkness’ was overlayed on top of a picture of a woman running away from a dark house, the silhouette of a muscular man in the only lit window. Dora squealed excitedly. “I’ve heard good things about this one,” she mused aloud. She turned the book over again and looked at the back cover, then turned to the front page and began to read as she wandered out of the foyer and headed for the lounge. “There’s glasses in the kitchen” she called to Toby without lifting her nose from the book.

Dora was unaccustomed to having a house elf to order around, though she wouldn't have batted an eye at the opportunity to possess such a luxury. The last time she'd had anyone to clean up after her was when she'd lived at Hogwarts, and following her school years her flat was modest enough to keep tidy without much effort. She had pondered asking Fin for an elf for her birthday, Christmas, or just because she deserved one, but he had an aversion and she'd simply not got around to it yet. Toby, on the other hand, was so used to it that he'd summoned his elf to tend to his needs even when visiting friends. She supposed it was fitting; Dora would tend to his carnal needs (as was obligated by their unspoken arrangement) and the house elf would busy itself with the rest. Dora was happy to take advantage of Toby's wealth in more ways than one.

Lounging on the sofa, Dora turned the page of her new book. Green eyes scanning the words as the imagery played through her mind. Distant whining pulled her attention for a moment as she realized she'd not asked after Pansy since passing the babe off in a hurried daze, but the noise subsided after a few moments and Dora decided the child was probably fine. She went back to her book, tucking her hair behind her ear so as to not obstruct her view.