“You’re sure you’re ok?” He asked again, his hot breath on my neck giving me goose bumps.
I nodded in agreement, letting out a loud moan when he entered me.
I felt his toes curl and his fingers clench as he began moving back and forth, in and out inside me. I met his every move, my hips thrusting forward and upward. My hands wrapped around his neck, and he moaned as he kissed me again.
As he began to speed up I lost myself in the feelings, I felt myself opening up to him and connecting to him in a way that I’d never done with another human being. My magic liked him, it reached out to his and they began to intertwine in their own euphoric dance as our bodies moved. Soon the orgasms hit me like a wave, and one after the other my body erupted as my hips met his. Something about the magic sent us to this other place where we were more connected, and I could tell he was riding it like I was. We held each other tight, kissing as Eric climaxed with one last hard push inside me.
We both paused for a moment, trying to catch our breath as the sensations in our bodies slowed down. He went to move, and as he did it sent a wave of pleasure through me so I pulled him back.
“Not yet.” I said quietly. He kissed me, a soft sweaty kiss that I would argue to be one of the best we’d ever had. He kissed my cheek and nuzzled up to my neck.
“I’m sorry we waited so long.” He said to me.
“It was totally worth the wait.” I chuckled. He kissed me again on the soft skin below my ear.
After a few minutes he got up, being sure to remove the condom and put it in my waste basket. He lay back down beside me and we lay in each other’s arms, naked on top of my blankets. I didn’t usually like being so exposed, but with Eric it was ok. I didn’t mind him seeing me this way.
He held me, stroking my hair gently, and I felt truly normal. It was supposed to be like this, and all that nonsense that happened with Jesse was bullshit. I almost wanted to summon him again so he could see, so he would know that I will be happy without him, and in spite of him.
“They’ll start calling.” Eric said after a few minutes.
“Who?”
“Millie. The others. If they don’t hear from us they’ll start calling.”
“So let’s tell them to fuck off and stay in bed. Or better yet, I’ll pack a bag and go to your house so we don’t have to wear clothes at all.” He laughed, kissing my cheek as I spoke. “How are we going to get there anyhow? Your car got smashed.”
“I have a rental till it’s fixed.” He replied.
“Awesome. While that sounds amazing I think we need to go get healed. Both of us.” He crawled down the bed and stood, moving around the side to help me up. “But a shower would be amazing.”
We showered together, and while there was lots of kissing and touching we didn’t do it again. I couldn’t stop looking at his amazing body.
He helped me get dressed, which proved oddly intimate. Once we were both done he smiled strangely at me.
“You want to pack a bag?” He asked with a big grin on his face.
I tried to hide my excitement, shrugging my shoulders only to flinch in pain. “Yeah, ok. I guess so.”
He laughed again and pulled me in for a kiss.
We didn’t talk much on the way to Millie’s, but we were constantly touching, his hands were warm and made me feel strong. I noticed some thin strands of white weaving up that hand as if my magic wanted to touch him too. The rental smelt oddly like disinfectant.
Part of me wanted to ask him, was I, no it, good enough. Would this just be a flash in the pan, and he didn’t feel like I did?
Foolish girl. That magic orgasm you all had was real. Unless that’s common for him, you're good.
We parked out front of Millie’s; I saw a car parked in the driveway that I didn’t recognize behind Millie's SUV.
“Someone else is here?” I asked Eric, he looked as confused as I was.
“I guess we'll find out.” He kissed my knuckles and we got out.
Millie looked happier than I'd ever seen her when she answered the door.
“Hey! I am so happy you guys are here! There is someone I would like you to meet.” She ushered us inside, and I held tight on Eric's hand like a small child grappling on a security blanket.
A man in his early 20’s sat at the table drinking wine with Nya. He looked short even though he sat, stocky and muscular. When he looked up and smiled I saw Nya's face and my tension eased.
“Camille, Eric, this is my son Ledo.” Millie placed a hand on her son's shoulder. “Ledo, this is….”
“The blanchmains and the Merlin.” He stood just below my eye level which made him short for a guy. “Nice to meet you both. I have heard a lot about you.”
“When we told Ledo that you guys had been looking into Excalibur he wanted to help.” Millie pulled us both out chairs, offering glasses of wine before sitting back down. She smiled, her face slightly pink with the warm glow of coming drunkenness.
Nya leaned forward. “My brother is a relic hunter.” She giggled.
Eric let go of my hand when he sat, motioning to me if I wanted wine that I refused. Mixing that with pain meds was a road I was not prepared to take just yet.
“What’s your interest in Excalibur?” I asked Ledo.
He laughed. “Who isn’t interested in Excalibur?”
“The sword is supposed to possess great power. That’s why I assume everyone wants it.”
“Is that why you want it?”
“As a descendant of the lady of the lake, I feel like it’s my birthright to protect it until the one who is supposed to wield it shows up.”
Ledo smiled again. “I'm a descendant too, remember?”
I took out my arm, rolled up my sleeve and extended my white hand to him. His eyes widened, and he reached out and poked the white part of my skin with his finger.
“I think I have a bit more of a stake in this, don’t you agree?” I smiled this time and he eased back, knowing he would not win the argument.
“What do you know about these immortal old ones?” I asked.
“Not a lot. Some think they're a myth. Some say that technically anyone over 500 years old should be considered an old one. Why?”
I looked at Millie. “You didn’t tell him?”
“Tell me what?” Ledo looked quickly from me to his mother.
“I met Dr. Frankenstein. Came into my office and everything. Calls himself Dr. Croft. He works for the Kinkaid’s. We had a little….issue with his granddaughter.”
Ledo raised his eyebrows. “Issue?”
“Long story.”
Ledo eased back in his seat, a big grin on his face. “I have a feeling you and I are going to get along real well.”
“So! You all need some healing!” Millie clapped her hands together.
“I'm good. Percocet’s got it handled.” I leaned back and grinned.
“Easy there,” Eric put a hand on my shoulder, “I think a little would be helpful.”
“Alright, alright.” I waved them on, and Millie and Nya got up and began going around the room gathering different things. “I'd be more worried about his powers being on the fritz.”
I turned my chair so I could watch as Millie and Nya went to work making what I thought to be a potion. They took down various vials and jars from a shelf that covered one of Millie's dining room walls, gathering bunches of dried herbs that lay out on a countertop.
The haze of the medicine softened the world around me, with Eric and I finally having sex my world glittered and sparkled and I smiled like a dope filled idiot. Punch drunk and floating, Millie watched me with a confused expression.
“I'm fine. I am used to recovering in non magical ways. Focus on him. Please.” I smiled and nodded at her, trying not to look her too closely in the eye.
After everything I went through am I
not entitled to enjoy some moments?
My attention turned to Eric's hand as it hangs at his side, the rest of them continue on around me as I stare mindlessly at him. The negative thoughts that plague my psyche have actually backed off for the moment, so I am not constantly worried about how sex changes everything.
Or am I?
Millie said something to me and I don’t hear her at first.
“Pardon me?” I asked.
“Great. Now that Cas's all zonked out on pain meds we have to figure out what to do about her demon without her.” Millie huffed in frustration.
“My demon? You want to shit on anyone about that I will summon my Moms right now.” I pointed at her.
“One of Bliss's coven is cozying up to Ted’s son Christian until they figure out what’s wrong with Bliss.” Eric told her and I growled at him.
“You don’t think that’s worth mentioning?” Millie exclaimed.
I shook my head. “No. I told that girl straight that Bliss is a snake and about the Kinkaid shit. And that if she fucked with Cuddy I will destroy her.” I said the last in a sing song voice, being sure to wink at the end.
“Oh! And I did this!” I held up my hand, eyed a blade from across the room and it shook before it flew off the table and into my hand, where I slammed it into the tabletop blade first so it stood on end when I released it. Everyone jumped, especially Ledo, and I laughed as Eric pulled the blade out of the wood.
“It was much scarier in my kitchen.” I tried to reassure them.
Millie rolled her eyes. “We will have to work on your intimidation tactics.” She handed us both several small vials. “It’s going to take a few doses. But they should help.”
I gave her thumbs up before turning back to Ledo. “Have you ever been to an auction?”
“Plenty. Why?”
“Well, my Dad had these insanely detailed files about items the Kinkaid’s acquired and this buyer that would get things for them. No clear picture or anything of who he or she is, no name just a string of aliases. I want to go to an auction and see if I can find this person, and they may be the first lead to find the sword.” I poured a little wine for myself and took a sip, my mouth felt dry. “I have a file on who had it but it was stolen from them, I am assuming, by the same person who is buying things from the auctions.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Call it my Spidey sense.” Or that my Dad believed it so I went with it. He'd also written out a physical description of two tall, beautiful but imposing women who he saw at several auctions that seemed suspicious. But I would keep that info close to the chest.
“Did they,” Ledo gestured to his Mom and sister, “tell you nothing about me?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
Nya laughed and rolled her eyes. “He’s trying to figure out how to break our Dad’s curse.”
“It’s more complicated than that. I'm a relic hunter by trade.” He sat up a little straighter, adjusting the sleeves of his plaid over shirt. “I could probably answer a lot of your questions. Any chance I could peek at your Dad’s files?”
“Nope.” I drank one of the vials. It tasted herbal and medicinal, felt warm going down my throat into my stomach. As it made its way down my esophagus it moved through to the ache in my neck and took root.
I smiled to myself, my eyelids getting heavy. My power crept up my arm, angry at the intrusion of this strange brew, and a stinging sensation began to tingle from the back of my head down my shoulders.
“Ruh roh.” I groaned as I rolled my shoulders around.
“What's the problem?” Millie asked.
“What did you put in that thing?” I rubbed my hand across the back of my neck. “My power does not like it at all.”
Eric stood and moved towards me, putting his hand on the back of my neck. Sensing his presence my power moved towards him, but remained tethered to the pain spot.
“That’s odd.” Eric said. “I can feel something moving under her skin. Can the potion hurt her at all?”
“No.” Millie and Nya said in unison.
I touched his hand on my neck. “No, it’s cool. I'm good.”
I felt something when our hands met in that spot, a piece of dark that sat on the edge of him. I wanted to pick at it. I wanted to scratch that thing and see if it bled.
“So I am going to an auction tomorrow afternoon. You all want to tag along?”
I smiled, leaning forward and smiling. “Absolutely.”
Ledo spent the rest of the evening filling us in about this auction the next day. An item in the auction catalogue fit most of the description of an item he was looking for; he insisted he needed to see it in person to confirm.
Eric helped me back into the car, eyeing me curiously. Exhaustion crept over me and I tried to fight it. After what happened earlier I so badly wanted to go back to his place and spend a naked night in bed, but with how I currently felt that probably wouldn’t happen.
As he drove I began to doze off. The rhythmic sound of the engine and the bump and thump of the tires on the road were soothing, I tried my best to fight it but soon enough I drifted off.
8.
The next time I opened my eyes I lay flat on a bed that wasn’t mine. Eric's smell wrapped around me, and when my eyes adjusted I saw his back rising and falling beside me.
His bed felt soft and comfortable. I could feel nothing, which I hoped meant that dumb healing potion worked. I reached out for Eric, his skin so inviting. Slithering closer to him I curled myself around his body and quickly drifted off to sleep.
The next time I opened my eyes I felt his presence behind me, the soft tip of his finger ran along the back of my neck and down my shoulder. He kissed me softly in the same spot, my toes curled in udder bliss.
“Good morning.” He said softly in my ear. I loved the feel of his breath on my neck.
“Morning.” I replied, raising my hand so I could touch his cheek.
“I like you being here in the morning.” His arms felt good around my waist. “I'm sorry we didn’t do this sooner.”
I chuckled. “Me too.”
“I'm making bacon for breakfast.”
“Just bacon? That’s a little weird.”
“No of course not. But what do you have against bacon?”
“Nothing. I just think it’s odd that you have been so interested in pork lately.”
He shrugged, leaning in and kissing me again. “Are you ready for today?”
“Fuck! What time is it? I have to call Ted.”
“Already done. I told him we will be out of the office today working on your new case. Lorcan Fitzpatrick is on the books and all.”
“But the auction has….”
“No, but you got a call from an unknown number last night. Could be your girl.” He chuckled. “So we could meet her after the auction.”
I turned around so I could see him, pulling him close and kissing his lips. Pain and stiffness made me flinch, and he pulled away and looked me in the eyes.
“You ok?” He asked.
I groaned. “I'm sore. I don’t know if I am going to take another one of those healing potions.”
“Gimme another day and I should be back to normal.”
“Are you sure? If you need time, then take some. I don’t know how any of this shit works. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself when I can heal just like a normal person would.”
The corners of his mouth upturned slightly in a smile. “A normal person?”
“Shhh. I can pretend.”
He kissed me and I closed my eyes.
We showered together, and he cooked food while I attempted to make myself look presentable.
Looking at my face in his mirror, it seemed different. A pinkish glow lit up my cheek bones, and my eyes sparkled in a way they hadn’t before.
&
nbsp; Could this be what happy feels like?
Eric made us both omelette’s that were amazing, with an insane amount of bacon on the side. I thought women only got cravings like that, it seemed a little excessive.
“You magic pregnant or something?” I asked him between bites.
He sputtered out a laugh. “That’s a weird question.”
“Once again, I have no idea how this shit works. And you are eating bacon like you’re eating for two.”
He shrugged, smiling at me as he popped another strip of delicious fried pork into his mouth. Before he could reply my phone started to beep, Ledo letting us know that he would meet us downtown at the auction house. He also texted a barcode we could use as a parking pass, something I’d not even thought of. Not being the one that drives it never crossed my mind.
We hadn’t packed my laptop so I got Eric to bring his, not that our phones couldn’t do most of the same things but I wanted something with more juice for emergencies. The truth of the matter being that a phone could never fully replace a computer, no matter how advanced the tech got, because of size alone.
But I’m sure one day they’ll invent a phone that’s screen can expand to 16 inches. They may have already and I am just behind.
We drove to one of the more posh parts of downtown Toronto, the parking attendant scanned the barcode Ledo sent and we were able to park in the underground for free. Ledo met us just outside the entrance, wearing a navy blazer and khaki’s he looked smart and professional. He chuckled at Eric and me, in our usual business casual clothes we wear to work. He seemed surprised to see Eric in a sweater with a bird on it, the same one he wore the day we first met.
“I’m happy we didn’t have to have a conversation about wardrobe.” Ledo shook both our hands.
“Of course not. We are professionals, you know.” I poked him in the ribs as we went inside.
9.
A mixed group of people made up the crowd, from older couples in their furs and pearls, to a bunch of younger folk in suits that cost more than I make in a month. I bit back the urge to growl at them when they walked passed me.
“Are lots of these people like you?” I asked Ledo.
Rise (Camille Bishop Book 3) Page 4