by Mari Freeman
Sonja let out a huff, not really surprised Mi-ma knew just what she was feeling. She looked out past Mi-ma to the yard. The buttercups were blooming, their bright yellow flowers glowing in the evening light. Spring in the mountains. It was always her favorite time of year. “How do I know what’s real and what’s…”
“How do you usually know, girl?”
Sonja wasn’t sure how to answer. “I don’t usually have to fight with so much garbage in my head, with someone tampering with my feelings.”
“Pffft.” Mi-ma waived her off. “We all do. Every day. Trust yourself to know what you feel. You’ve never trusted yourself or your Dragon. You’ve held it in for so long.”
Sonja stood, angry. Mi-ma knew her reasons. “But the scar. I can’t because of the scar.”
“Can’t ya?” She stood too and moved closer, putting her hands on her hips. Her expression became very grave. “How would you know? Your mamma had you hold it in for fear when you were healing, but you’re older, your Demon other is stronger and is a part of who you are now. You’re going to have to let it go. And I don’t mean in a vision. Trust it—and trust yourself.”
Mi-ma reached up and put her hand on Sonja’s face. Her thumb stroked her cheek. “As for that boy, treat it like anything else. If you want to know if it’s real, touch and feel it for yourself and you’ll know the truth of those emotions.”
She winked. Sonja felt herself being pulled backward and away…
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sonja was back in Cindy’s tiny apartment, staring at the ceiling. Cindy had gone to see if there were any rumors of anything strange at the levies or the riverfront. She’d be a couple hours and had promised to return with food and the fresh clothes she’d not found the night before. Said all the decent stores had been closed at that hour. Sonja smiled. Didn’t matter. Wearing Cindy’s big robe felt like being wrapped in a luxurious cocoon.
She put her hand on her side. The burning and pain were almost gone. At least it healed fairly fast. Mi-ma had to be wrong. She’d not even let the shift complete and her skin had suffered. As far as shifts went, Sonja’s full shift was in reality a pathetic partial. Nothing compared to a Were’s or a full Demon’s, and yet it would tear her side completely open. She shook her head as she heard another soft snore from the open doorway.
She felt his magical energy floating into the room. He was dreaming, and since her abilities were stronger now than they’d ever been, she could pick it up. Her body responded as much as her mind to the silkiness of his energy as it danced around her. It did feel very real, her attraction to him. Her desire to be with him.
She got up and walked to the doorway. He’d taken his shirt off and was sleeping in just his jeans. He was lying on his back with his bare feet crossed at the ankles and his hands crossed behind his head. He had a small grin on his face. He looked so calm and happy, as if he were lying on the bank of a lake, peacefully watching the clouds or something. She had to fight the urge to slip into his mind.
But not the urge to slip into the bed.
She eased onto the bed, sat beside him and gently brushed her hand over his chest, tracing the hair trail that led down to the top of his jeans. It was soft, and his skin so warm. The strong scent of overly perfumed soap that she knew to be Cindy’s somehow even seemed appealing on him.
She looked back to his face to see that his eyes had opened, but he’d not moved.
She lifted her hand and balled her fist. The impulse to run was strong but she wanted to stay. Sonja felt her heart rate climb through the roof. She may have even been shaking. She hadn’t the foggiest clue how to proceed. She’d actually never seduced a man in her life.
He wasn’t going to help, either. The grin was gone, replaced with a smoldering look that threatened to melt her. She swallowed hard, worried he would reject her in real life. In those visions, she had been unmarked and self-confidant. Neither of which was true right now.
One thing she did know was that she wanted to experience this with him when she was aware. She wanted to feel like she felt in those fantasies. And the only way that was going to happen was if she reached out and became the confident lover she became in the visions.
She reached back toward his chest, her hand trembling. He intercepted it in a tender grip. “No fears here.” He sat up slowly and kissed her knuckles.
She shook her head and ran her fingers through his hair. She’d wanted to do that back in the cabin, when his face was covered in beard and mustache and his locks were curly and wild. He was handsome then and he was handsome now. She leaned forward and let her lips press to his, just a touch, a tease. She felt him lean into her but he didn’t take command of the kiss. He was letting her lead.
So she did. Led him slowly back down to the bed, opened her mouth and pressed her tongue to his, exploring. She dug her fingers into the back of his neck, holding him close. His hands cupped her face, tilting her head until it was comfortable for both of them. She moaned at the velvety-smooth feel of his tongue mingling with hers.
Her body was on fire from that one kiss. His magic started to build around him with his arousal. Sonja pulled back, breaking the kiss, breathless and wanting. If he was going to shy away from the scars, she wanted to know before they went much further. Now or never. She sat up and started to untie the belt of the robe, glancing back at him. Ray was neither withdrawing nor advancing. He’d found a natural pose, leaning on one elbow. God, he was a sexy beast—and he was looking at her as if she were a goddess.
She pulled the tie loose and let the side covering her damaged skin fall open, exposing her right shoulder, breast and the scars. She stopped and waited for a reaction.
He didn’t move. His expression stayed hungry as she watched his face. He lifted an eyebrow. Sonja held her breath.
“What’s the matter, love?” He sat up and scooted closer. “What are you expecting here?” His finger traced up the inside of her thigh, stopping at the part of the robe that still covered her hips, preventing further exploration.
She wasn’t sure how to answer.
After an instant, his face changed. That little grin crept back to his lips. “You didn’t have the scars in your fantasies, right?” He shifted again, moving down the bed and rolling onto his stomach, his face hovering close to her belly, the scars. “That’s a shame.”
She wasn’t sure what to make of that statement either. She held her breath as he inspected the marred skin so close up. “I thought it was quite sensitive to touch.”
He blew a hot breath across the expanse of her stomach. The pleasure of it rippled over her torso and pooled at her core.
He looked up at her, leaning on his elbows. “I think you’re beautiful, Sonja. All of you.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over the scars right on the bottom of her rib cage. It tickled. It warmed. She wanted to swoon. She’d never swooned. Wasn’t really even sure what it was, but she wanted to do it. “Lie back.”
She shivered at the rough sound of the order but reclined on the bed, her movements causing the robe to fall open. Ray rested on one arm, facing her, looking down on her exposed body.
“Are you sure this is you here with me? No hexes?” He traced the outline of her breast with one finger. The gentle caress made her nipple draw tight and her breath catch.
She swallowed hard. She was under his spell. “The only one hexing here is you.”
Ray sent a spell to the door. It closed and locked. “Hmmm,” he murmured as he leaned in close. “Hexes are generally bad. Let’s see just how bad I can be.” And with that, he reached out his tongue and traced the outline of her scars, moving back and forth between rough and unmarred skin.
She thought she would leap off the bed, the scars were so sensitive. How did he know? Why didn’t the scars repulse him as they had everyone else for years? She’d spent her life hiding those scars and here he was, licking and kissing them.
His tongue traced the burn all the way to her hip. She could hear an audible moan from him as she spread
her legs in invitation. The muscles of his broad shoulders tensed and bunched as he crawled between her thighs. He looked at her, up her body, and the smoldering passion in his gaze alone could have made her come. He was hexing, all right.
He waggled his eyebrows at her. Sonja struggled to get out of the confines of the robe then rose to see him better, her elbows supporting her weight. “What are you up to?”
“Relax. Enjoy.” Ray closed his eyes and mouthed a silent spell. For a moment the room was still and quiet. Sonja’s core tightened in anticipation of what he had up his sleeve. His eyelids opened slightly and he blew out a beautiful pink stream of light and smoke. It covered her and tickled her clit like vibrator.
She arched into the sensation. “Dear Goddess!” It felt like fingers, lots of fingers, rubbing and vibrating, and his magic cooled her flesh at the same time.
After a few minutes of exquisite torture, it dissipated, and Ray replaced the magical sex toy with his tongue. The new sensation of soft, slick strokes after the cool feel of his magic made her toes curl and her fists search for something to grip.
She was going to come. This was better than the fantasy. And she wanted to tell him so, but her body was wound so tight with the need to release she couldn’t manage words. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, to slow her orgasm, but he thwarted her efforts by sliding a finger inside her. She could take no more. “Ray…”
“That’s it, baby. Let it go.” His request was really too late. She was there, her body exploding. He blew more of his magic across her clit as she came. The cold of his magic, the heat of his tongue and his fingers working on her made Sonja writhe long after the wave of pleasure passed.
He stood and shed his jeans and waited until she was aware of his nakedness before making another move. Sonja rolled to her side, admiring his build—tightly muscled but not huge, a hairy chest that wasn’t unruly and thick, strong thighs. Similar, but not exactly the same as her visions.
He had a scar too. A big one that started low on his left thigh and ran several inches down to his calf, curving slightly inward. It looked like a large slice. She’d ask him about it sometime. But not now. Now she wanted to explore his cock.
It was nicely shaped, like in her visions, but in real life he was thicker and the veins that she’d so liked were heavier. His balls were also large, and tight against his body with his arousal. She licked her lips.
He groaned, pulling her attention back to his face. Seems she had a similar effect on him. “The way you look at me, woman. It’s like you’re going to eat me alive.”
Sonja smiled and looked back to that beautiful cock. “Come a little closer and I just might.”
He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath then stepped to the edge of the bed. Sonja took him in her hand, enjoying the heat of his arousal, the firm, heavy feel of it in her grasp. She looked back up to his face. She wanted to see him when she took him into her mouth.
She extended her tongue and touched the swollen head. He fisted his hands at his sides. In one sweeping motion, she ran her tongue around the rim and over it several times, tasting him, exploring the most sensitive part of him. He growled.
“You’re the one casting spells.” His hand grabbed her short hair and held her still. “Slow down.”
Sonja stopped with him halfway in her mouth. If he wanted to control the pace, that was fine with her. She didn’t want to make him come too soon and miss out on having him inside her.
Slowly he pushed deeper into her mouth. His forearms and stomach were all rippled and taut with restraint. Then, inch by inch, he retreated until the tip of the head was barely touching her lips.
“No more,” he breathed.
She needed no more instruction. He’d teased her for days in those visions. She wanted to feel that glorious cock inside her. She rolled onto her back as he fumbled with a condom. She thought she heard him curse as he maneuvered between her legs. He took her mouth in a hard and heated kiss, his tongue seeking to tell her things words would never express.
Sonja pulled from the kiss. “Now, Ray. I’ve waited for this too long. I need you.”
She meant the words as she said them. She needed him. As he pushed in, she felt his magic surround her and her Dragon respond. She tried to rein it in. Nell had told her that changing during sex was the ultimate, but Sonja was afraid.
Ray must have felt her pull back. “Do I need to stop?”
Yes. No. Crap. Mi-ma had said to trust herself and the Dragon. She wouldn’t have Sonja do anything that would hurt her. She felt safe and strong in Ray’s arms, with his cock inside her. She shook her head and gripped his tight butt cheeks, pulling him in, grinding him deeper.
He kissed her forehead and inched back. His magic was whirling around them. He had no control over it. It was part of who he was. As was hers. She tilted her hips, giving him deeper access, and returned his thrusts, egging him to go deeper, harder.
He obliged, giving her what she craved, what the Dragon craved. And she did what she’d never done in reality.
She intentionally and willfully let the Dragon go.
“Do I stop?” His words were horse and desperate. Sonja’s guess was that he couldn’t even if she asked him to. But that’s not what she wanted anyway.
“Harder!” she gasped. The Dragon pushed as it had done in the vision. Sonja felt her body strengthen. Her side did burn, but Ray’s magic cooled and eased. Her bones and fingers contorted, growing only slightly, but her aura, her magic, screamed forth, giving to the experience, twisting with his, creating something unique to them both but born of their passions.
Ray let out a plea. “Sonja!”
She felt her side stretching but curiously there was no pain. There was only the odd feeling of magic healing as she changed.
Ray stopped and rested on his elbows, his face just above hers. “You’re shifting,” he huffed out between deep breaths. He was trying to control himself. His eyes were wild with desire. Desire for Sonja in her changed state. “Your eyes are amazing. They’ve turned amber.” He brushed her hair back. “Your skin’s so silky and I can see the Dragon, moving under the surface.” He pulled out slowly and eased back in. He looked to her chest and back to her face. Sonja raised her arm so she could see it.
There it was. Shimmering teal, and moving and breathing with her. Not taking Sonja over, but strengthen her, making her feel whole and free.
Hot tears streamed down her face. She couldn’t have held them back if she’d tried. Ray kissed her cheeks, trying to catch each one. He stared to pull out.
“Don’t you dare!” Sonja wrapped her legs around his thighs, trapping him above her, pulling him back inside her. “I’m fine. The Dragon’s taking care of the scars.” She kissed him. Knowing it was her trust in him, her feelings for him, enabling her to let go like this. Knowing that her feelings, no matter how much Q tried to influence her, were real when it came to Ray. Q had meant for Ray to be a distraction in this situation, and he was, but he’d also stood by her through the horrible decisions Q had influenced.
She relaxed her legs. “Go slow.”
“Am I hurting you?” The look of concern on his face was so cute.
She smiled. “No, Ray. Not at all. I want to enjoy it. To feel you.”
He kissed her again. Deep and hard. The same way he moved, pushing in deep, holding still and letting her body grip his cock before slowly pulling out. It was excruciatingly wonderful and it only took moments before Sonja felt her release coming. She clutched his biceps and Ray sent more magic over her skin as she let herself go.
Her Dragon roared just before Ray did.
His orgasm followed right behind hers. He pushed in deep and pulsed his hips, giving all he could for several more minutes. Then they lay still, locked in embrace for what seemed an eternity, a blissful eternity of advancing and retreating waves of pleasure.
Her Dragon receded as she lay beneath him. Still no pain. He rose, holding himself above her with extended arms, watching her change.
“That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced.” He looked down her body to the scars. “Why didn’t they tear this time?” Still breathless, he rolled off her and traced the scars with his fingers. She was as curious as he to see how they looked.
Sonja touched the place that had been inflamed ever since she was in Q’s mind. The skin was completely healed. She shook her head. “The Dragon’s magic, yours…I’m not sure. Maybe both. It didn’t hurt and it didn’t really tear. It was as if it healed as it stretched.”
“See? I hexed you after all.” He rested his head on her shoulder after a little kiss. He kept brushing his fingers along her scars. “So?”
The question sounded so timid. “So…what?”
“So. Before. It was all vision, fantasy.” He didn’t look up at her.
“Are you asking me if this was better than my fantasy?” She giggled. Was he worried, really? “After that?”
He rolled back on top of her, his face lacking any real concern. He winked. “I am a man. Can’t help but be curious.”
“I will say it was very nice to finally and consciously fuck you in person, Mr. Burgess.” Sonja glanced away coyly. “But you know. Fantasy is fantasy.”
His face fell. It was fun, getting to tease and play. They’d had no time to do anything like this. The situation had been so dire from the beginning, and a moment of fun was much needed.
He grabbed her arms, pinned them over her head with one hand and started to tickle her. “What? What’d I do?” She thrashed and screeched with laughter. When was the last time she’d laughed like that?
A loud knock startled and sent them both rolling onto the floor. Cindy bellowed through the door, “All right, you two. Enough slap and tickle. It’s getting close to dusk.”
“How long you suppose she’s been out there?” Ray chuckled.
“Long enough.” Sonja reached up and grabbed the robe. Ray rolled back on top of her, pinning her to the floor, and gave her one last long, toe-curling, lip-searing kiss.