"Those fingers in my hair
That sly come hither stare
That strips my conscience bare
Its witchcraft" – Frank Sinatra

Mac stood on the stage tuning his bass watching as the club started to fill up. The fact that it was Halloween night contributed to the larger than normal turn out. There was even a costume contest going on and first prize was $1000. That drew all sorts of costumed characters who normally didn't come out on a Wednesday night.

Halloween wasn't something Mac Taylor enjoyed. He supposed it came from too many years as a cop, but even before that, he just didn't really get into it. Claire tried to drag him out to Halloween parties, but he always managed to adjust his duty schedule in such a way so that he worked that night.

This year, he didn't try to reschedule. Although, he decided that since he was in the band, he was excused from wearing a costume. Hell, on some levels, he supposed that being in the band was his costume. When Tico walked up on stage in his usual white shirt and black pants, he smiled. Tico didn't do the costume thing either.

Rudy, the keyboard player, showed up dressed as a vampire, complete with fake fangs and blood dripping and Joe, the guitarist, showed up dressed as a hippie. Something told Mac, it neither costume was much of a stretch.

He wondered if Sarah would dress up. She'd mentioned to him that she might, depending on whether or not she could get home in time to change her clothes. When he'd talked to her at 4, she thought she'd be coming straight from the office.

"Well, well," Tico said, looking over Mac's shoulder, "There's one sexy little witch coming this way."

Curious, Mac followed his gaze, catching Sarah as she took off her leather coat. A sloe smile crossed his features as he took in her costume. She wore a low cut black dress with a pair of impossibly pointy black stiletto heeled pumps, that on its own was enough to make him sit back and take notice, but she'd also donned a tall black witch's hat trimmed in purple feathers, a black cape, and a necklace with a black bat with glowing purple eyes. It was understated, but sexy as all hell and it was very much Sarah's style.

"Mac, I'm tellin' ya, if you weren't datin' her," Tico teased, stepping behind the drum kit.

"Yeah, well," Mac shrugged, with a good natured chuckle.

"Stop starin' at me, Tico!" Sarah admonished, stepping up onto the stage.

"Darlin', you are the sexiest witch I've ever seen," Tico said, "I can't help it!"

"Sexy? Me? Puh-leese!" she rolled her eyes.

"I don't know," Rudy piped up, "I'm diggin' the cape…"

"If I'd have known you guys were gonna react like this," she laughed, "I'd have dressed like this a long time ago." She turned to find Mac watching her with a smile. "And what about you, Detective Taylor? I'm sure you have a comment…"

"I do," he nodded, his tone casual, "But I'll save them for later."

She knew it was cliché, but something about the look in his eyes sent a chill down her spine. Despite the relaxed exterior, she could see the way her outfit affected him and it thrilled her. They'd been seeing each other for a few weeks now and despite her efforts to take things slow, she had fallen head over heels for the sexy detective.

"I bet you will," she smiled, with a toss of her dark hair and a fake evil laugh

"Damn, woman," Rudy laughed, "You are feeding every one of my sick twisted fantasies right now…"

"Watch it, Rudy," she winked, "Or I'll get you and your little dog too!"

XXXXX

As they worked their way through the first set, Sarah played up the witch costume to the crowd's enjoyment. When Tico joined in with some off color comments, the crowd roared with laughter. They'd had a couple of requests for songs with a Halloween theme, so thanks to Tico's fake book, they were able to work in "Witchcraft", "Black Magic Woman", and a finally their own version of Screaming Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell On You".

Tico told Sarah to make it her own and that she did. She vamped it up, playing it off as a much sexier song that it was. The crowd loved it, judging by the cat calls, whistles, and the applause at the end. That's where they broke the set.

"Girl," Tico laughed, "You were smoking!"

"Thanks, Tico," she laughed with him, "I was afraid I was taking it too far."

"Hell no," he dismissed, "You were great!"

"You know what we should do next set?" she excitedly said, "That really funky version of Ring of Fire we did on my birthday."

"Perfect! We'll work that in…any other ideas?"

"Let's end the set with the Addams Family song," Rudy laughed.

"Works for me…" Tico nodded. "I'm gonna go get a beer. Anybody want one?"

"What I want," Mac said, setting his bass in its stand, "Is some fresh air."

"Hell yeah, it's like a thousand degrees in here," Sarah agreed, fanning her cape out to make a breeze.

"Uh huh," Rudy slyly said, "You two go get that…fresh air…" He gave them an exaggerated wink as he walked off the stage.

"Are we that transparent?" Mac asked as they walked through the club.

"To them, I guess we are," she shrugged, following him out the side door into the small alley. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the crisp fall air. As she released the breath, she opened her eyes and found Mac watching her. "What?"

"You do that every time we come out here," he replied, pulling her into his arms.

"I do," she nodded, "Is that a problem?"

He shook his head, pulling her closer. "None at all."

"Mac Taylor," she giggled, feeling his body's reaction to her touch. "You are just happy to see me, aren't you?"

"Always," he replied, kissing her fully. "But tonight…there's just something about that costume."

"You like it, huh?" she asked, as he kissed the side of her neck.

"I like what it does to you," he said, his lips brushing against her skin, as he worked his way to her neck.

"What it does to me?"

"You're more…playful, relaxed…" he stopped at the spot behind her ear that he knew would give her a chill, "And sexy as all hell."

A soft moan escaped her lips as he trailed his tongue over that spot. "Damn, what you do to me…"

"I'd say the feeling's mutual, Ms. O'Neill," he chuckled, pulling back and studying her face in the dim overhead light.

"What are you thinking?" she asked, leaning forward, her lips brushing his.

"I'm thinking, that it's a damn good thing we only promised two sets tonight," he gruffly said, kissing her fully. "Because any more than that and I would be having my way with you in this alley."

"Mmmm…." she returned, pulling back, "We're gonna have to do that some night….but not tonight…"

"No?" he asked, pulling back and looking at her.

She shook her head, "Nope, for two reasons. First, we need to get back inside…"

"And the second?"

"You haven't seen all of the costume…" she winked, slipping out of his arms and ducking back into the building.

XXXXX

"So," Sarah began, walking into Mac's apartment and taking off her coat. As usual, he hadn't left a light on, something that she always did before leaving her own home. "You liked my costume, did you?"

"I did," he said, stepping up behind her and slipping his arms around her. "If I remember correctly, you said there was more to it?"

"There is," she returned, tossing her hat onto the sofa. "You might want to turn the light on so you can see it…."

He let her go and turned on the end table lamp. She quickly slipped out of her coat and tossed it after her hat. Then, as he turned to face her, she reached back and unzipped her dress. She felt a bit nervous as she slipped the dress from her shoulders. She still didn't know what he found so attractive about her body. Hell, she was in her 40's and had given birth twice; she wasn't a model, not even close. But that didn't seem to make a difference to him at all.

As she slipped the dress off to reveal the black and orange lace bra that barely contained her breasts and the matching panties and garter belt that, thankfully, managed to cover what needed to be covered, the now familiar look of desire took over his features.

"Well?" she asked, dropping the dress to the floor and stepping out of it. "What do you think?"

Without a word, he reached out and pulled her into his arms, giving her a kiss that was so forceful it nearly took her breath away. "You," he began, "Have been torturing me all night."

"Have I now?" she purred, as he backed her down the hall towards the bedroom.

"You have," he returned, stopping long enough to give her another breathtaking kiss. "And I think it's time I returned the favor…"

"You're going to torture me?" she asked, a delicious chill running down her spine at the thought of just how he would torture her.

"I may just make you scream," he roughly said. Laying her down on the bed and leaning over her, he claimed her lips in another searing kiss.

XXXXX

Mac woke slowly and looked over at the alarm clock. It was 4:45 am. He was no stranger to seeing this time of the morning, either due to work or his omnipresent insomnia; he was as familiar with the middle of the night as he was with the middle of the day.

He was surprised that he'd actually slept for a couple of hours. Looking down at the brunette who slept with her head resting on his chest, he smiled, knowing that she was the reason he slept. He kissed the top of her head, resting his face in her dark curls for a moment.

"You leaving me already?" she mumbled, her lips brushing his chest.

"Not yet," he replied, running his hand along her back. "I've got a couple of minutes before I have to get up."

"You going running this morning?"

"Don't think so," he wryly said, "I got my work out last night."

"That was last night," she yawned, laying back onto the pillows and looking at him.

"Trust me," he winked, "It counts. We got quite a work out last night."

"Don't complain," she laughed, "You're the one who threatened to make me scream."

"And you're the one who tortured me all night long," he returned, rolling onto his side and pulling her closer. "Remember, you get what you give."

"Mmmm…" she smiled, running her hand along his chest, "Remind me to torture you more often."

"Wise ass," he laughed, kissing her forehead. "I should get up and go running."

She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, "No way. You're mine until that alarm clock goes off."

"I'm yours longer than that," he returned, his tone a bit more serious. "I'm yours as long as you want me."

Sarah smiled at him, "Be careful what you promise, Mac. Because I believe I'm going to want you for a long, long time."