“You silly lathron!”
“Lathron?” Iris asked.
Anandra began to walk toward a brand-new door where sunlight lit the outdoors in a most splendid way. It lit up Anandra’s stars, too, and Iris took in their sparkling light, her eyes dancing across Anandra’s skin before they settled on her face. “Lathron are a type of bird. They repeat back whatever they hear. You still have much to learn about this world, my dear. And I will be happy to teach it all to you. Now, do you want to see your parents, or not?”
“Yes, I do, I really do! And I want them to meet you, too. What should I tell them? What should I call you when I introduce you?”
“Anandra the Great, Slayer of Beasts. And hearts.” She winked at Iris, and her stars shone brighter still. Iris knew that, in that moment, it wasn’t the sun that was making them glow so brightly.
It was her.
Loved
Out of This World?
Now fall
Under Her Spell
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Under Her Spell
by Maggie Morton
Available now from Bold Strokes Books
Under Her Spell preview
Terra glanced out her window again, seeing the moon was still full but a bit higher in the sky. Where was she? Athene was almost never late for their rendezvous, as punctuality was one of her many, many loveable traits. What could be keeping her?
But then Terra heard a soft knock on her door, and it slowly opened, and Athene entered the room on quiet, slippered feet.
“Are the bunny slippers new?” Terra asked.
“They were a regrettable gift from my aunt. She’s visiting right now, so I’ve been wearing them around in the morning and at night. That’s not the worst part, though.”
“No? You mean something like hot-pink and lime-green striped bunny slippers with psychotic-looking googly eyes can get worse?”
“Yes,” Athene said, easing herself down onto Terra’s quilt-covered bed. “They used to squeak.”
Terra laughed at that, then cleared her throat. “You poor thing. But…what do you mean ‘used to’?”
“I kind of let Onyx chew on them last night—his idea, not mine. That cat is part devil, I sometimes think, but he’s still helpful in my spells.”
“I need more than a super-attentive familiar to help with mine,” Terra said, not without a hint of disappointment in her tone.
Athene sighed, reaching out for Terra’s hands and pulling her onto the bed to her right. “If only your mother…”
Then Terra let her face fall, her lips turning down into a sad pout. She had intended to use those lips for kissing tonight, and not much more. After all, it was their second-to-last night together before the goddamned quest, and they’d already said everything there was to say. About how they’d miss each other. About how worried they were about Terra’s chances, since she had so little power, power that could have been practically immeasurable if it hadn’t been for her mother…but no, Terra decided. Tonight was not for worries or sad thoughts about the past.
“I’d rather kiss you now than start crying,” Terra said, her voice soft.
“Me too, my love.” Athene cupped the back of Terra’s head, her fingers flowing through Terra’s short-cropped curls, their striking blue-black the first thing Athene had noticed about her—as she’d told Terra the first time they were alone and able to talk. That talk had led to late-night meetings in Terra’s quarters, late-night meetings that led to amazing sex, and, after a while, amazing love.
Their first time together had not been the first time either of them had gone to bed with a woman, but it had been the first time Athene had come while in someone else’s arms. She was amazed, she had told Terra, amazed at how well Terra’s hands had worked her body…her flesh. And Terra, in turn, had been amazed at how aroused Athene had become, with only a few kisses against each breast, her hand buried between Athene’s thighs—a hand that had gotten soaked in seconds, Athene’s wetness dripping down those thighs as they kissed and touched and moaned, Terra whispering dirty things into Athene’s ear as she worked her clit.
Maybe it was her words (Athene later told her no one had ever talked dirty to her before). Maybe it was the excitement and Terra’s immense desire for her (she’d only had sex twice before, with two different—and, as she told Terra, seemingly disinterested—partners). And maybe they just had some sort of magical chemistry on that night, because Athene got Terra to come, too, her mouth tight on Terra’s cunt, as Terra continued to talk dirty to her, growling word after word about how naughty she was, and how dirty she was, bedding down with one of the staff, one of the people who was normally far below her, and now she was the one servicing Terra, instead of the other way around.
After they’d both come an equal number of times, Athene turned to face Terra, a very serious look on her face. In an equally serious tone of voice, she’d told Terra that she didn’t look at the staff the way Terra thought she did, and that while it had been hot while she’d been eating her out, “You shouldn’t assume that I look down on you normally. You’re far too beautiful for that, for one thing.” Terra had turned her head down, a flush rising to her throat and cheeks, and Athene had told her she looked exceptionally cute when she blushed.
Terra was desperate to see her again after that, and the desperation was returned in kind, because that night turned into a long trail of nights, turning into over a year of amazing—but private—romance. And it came with many, many more nights just as hot as that first encounter.
But tonight would just be sex, because the love part was too painful. After all, Terra thought, as she began to unlace the front of Athene’s silk nightgown, tonight would be their last night together for…well, best not to think about that. What an arousal killer, worrying about missing each other. No, instead, she chose to take in Athene’s chest as her nightgown slipped off her breasts—breasts she couldn’t find a single flaw in. Just like Athene’s face, its shape narrow and delicate, with equally delicate features and the most kissable lips imaginable. Lips that she was kissing right now, kissing with a hunger she hadn’t expected to have. She felt ravenous, starved for contact, her desire mounting so intensely it almost drew the breath out of her. And then, when Athene took her hand and placed it on her right breast, the breath was drawn out of her, a quick, loud, exhale of warm air, warm air that made Athene shiver as it hit her skin.
Or perhaps the shiver came from the feel of Terra’s fingers on her nipple, gently twisting it back and forth, the nipple hard with arousal, arousal that Terra knew had spread down to her lower parts as well. She knew this from the way Athene began to squirm a little as she tweaked her nipple, which she did a little rougher than usual, but her roughness didn’t get any complaints out of Athene. No, instead she got a gasp, and a soft, “Please…”
“‘Please’ what, my girl?” Terra was grinning now, loving the power she had, able to turn Athene on so easily. It had always been like that, unlike any of the women she’d been with before their first night together. And now, a year and a half in, nothing had changed. At least, nothing when it came to the sex they had. Their sexual experiences hadn’t dimmed a bit. The orgasms, and everything else, had only gotten better.
“Please…please, I want you to be rough with me tonight.”
“Sounds good to me.” Only a little time passed before she grabbed both of Athene’s wrists and slammed her to the bed. “So, you want to be my slut tonight? My whore? Is that what you want?”
“I’ve been reading some books, books with stuff like this in it, and they really, really turned me on.” Athene looked down shyly when she said this, but with a fair bit of excitement on her face as well.
“You sly little coquette! You slutty little bibliophile!” Terra chuckled, a low laugh that seemed to hold an unusual touch of darkness in it. “Just say ‘warlock’ if I get too rough. The thought of a man should turn both of us off right away. Just say that and I’ll stop.” Then she sunk h
er teeth into Athene’s shoulder. She didn’t use an especially small amount of pressure. It was a test, to see exactly how much Athene could take and whether those books really did it for her as much as Terra hoped.
But Athene took it like a champ. She did shriek a little as Terra bit her, but it was a quiet shriek, and she said, “Thank you, mistress,” as Terra loosened her mouth and then stopped. She didn’t thank her when Terra bit her again, this time on the top of her left breast, this time a little harder. But Athene gave her the gift of a moan, because as Terra closed her teeth around her flesh, she also took her hands off Athene’s wrists and started to grind her palm against her crotch. Terra’s hand got incredibly wet as it worked away against Athene’s panties, panties that were soaked through in an impressively short amount of time.
“You seem to like this, my lovely bottom.”
“Yes, I must. I…I think I, um, more than just like it.”
“That’s good, because I really, really, really like it, too.” As she growled each of those last six words, she ground her hand against Athene’s panties, and when she finished her sentence, she slipped her hand inside them, finding that this was one fucking wet cunt.
“Goddamn, Athene, are you ever wet! You’ve never been this wet before. Seems like we’ve learned something new about you tonight.” She slid her fingers down Athene’s slit, finding a larger-than-usual clit in its certainly usual spot, and she began to rub it with her middle finger. With her other hand, she braided her fingers through Athene’s long, full, golden hair, softer than silk and definitely far more beautiful. But she wasn’t going to admire Athene’s hair tonight, or compliment her in any way, unless it was to tell her how well-behaved she was, and how good she was at getting wet, and how pleasing it was to have such a submissive slut bottoming to her.
No, tonight Athene’s hair was only a tool, one with which to control her. Terra did just that, grasping most of it in a tight fist and then yanking it back, hard, as she added another finger to Athene’s clit.
Athene had already been moaning a little, but now she was getting louder and louder. Terra noticed that she looked nervous, too. “I’m worried that I’ll get too…fuck! Too loud! Oh, God, I’m going to get so loud, so loud. Oh, I’m close, Terra, I’m close.”
“Are you going to come for me, my little bitch? Am I going to steal an orgasm or two from that sopping-wet cunt of yours?” She couldn’t help but be slightly surprised at the words that were coming out of her mouth, and how easily they were coming to her. They’d never done anything like this before. It had always been gentle until then—lovely, and very, very hot, but there had been no hair pulling, no biting, and only a small amount of name-calling.
But at the last second, Athene threw up her arms, and a bubble of light suddenly surrounded the bed. Terra realized then that Athene had almost never come that hard. Nor was she often this loud, her cries echoing off the glowing circle of light around them. And as Athene came, Terra’s heart began to beat hard, because she almost couldn’t stand how beautiful Athene looked in that moment of ecstasy.
Fuck, she thought. Fuck, I’m going to miss her too much. How was she supposed to get through the next however-many-days this stupid, goddamn, sucky quest would take? It was all for the best prize in the world, though, the best prize imaginable—Athene’s hand in marriage.
It was Terra’s turn next, and Athene’s gentle touch—with just the right amount of pressure in just the right places, and especially at just the right times—drew all thoughts of the next day out of Terra’s head, and she worried less and less each time she came.
But soon—far too soon, in her opinion—it was time for her lover to leave. Not just her lover, no, because very few people will risk their lives for someone they just enjoy falling into bed with. No, there was much more to their relationship than that. Far more, because as Athene kissed her good-bye, she took Terra’s hand in hers, and when she released it, a glowing, ghostly band was wrapped around Terra’s left ring finger.
“How sweet!” She smiled widely and thanked Athene as she quietly opened the bedroom’s door and shut it slowly behind her. Sadly, it was time for them to both try to get some rest before the next day.
But after Athene left, and once she was back in bed, ready to sleep, Terra waved her hand over the ring, making it turn into mist and then disappear. It was too sad, however sweet Athene’s gesture had been, to see a ring on that finger, a ring that might never appear for real. She still had just a little hope that she would be successful, that her disguise would work the next night and that not only would she be allowed to compete, but that she would win. One of her last thoughts before she drifted under was one of hope.
Magic, even the most powerful in the world, should never even try to match the magic of true love. But was she right?
About the Author
Maggie Morton lives in Northern California with her partner and their two cats. She is the author of Dreaming of Her, winner of an Alice B. Awards Lavender Certificate, and Under Her Spell. Contact her at [email protected].
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