Jasper glared at them, daring Helan to object. For once, the god kept his silence. He looked at Jasper and then silently crossed the room to his daughter’s bed. Kneeling beside it, he reached out a hand and stroked the golden hair of his youngest child. His pain was plain to see to those watching.
He took a deep breath and turned to Jasper. “If you save my daughter’s life, you will have my blessing,” he said. “If you fail, I will take yours and all those that you hold dear.”
Turning, he swept past his wife and left the room.
“Forgive him, Jasper,” said Elena. “He is distraught.”
“Aye, I can understand that, but still, he has had things his own way for too long. It is time to move forward and think of others. You cannot always have what you so desire without causing harm to others, even if you are gods.”
Jasper returned to the worktable and proceeded with his spell. He decanted the cooling oil into a clear glass jar. This he placed on a square of red cloth and spoke his words of magic over it. When he was finished, he fitted a glass stopper on the top of the jar and walked out to the balcony. He left it on a shelf in the full sun and came back inside.
“The moon and sun must pass over the oil three times before I can use it,” he said. “In the meantime, I will stay here and keep watch over her. You can go home if you want, Richard.”
“Not likely. If you stay, then so shall I.” He walked over to the door and sat on a small stool, intent on guarding his best friend.
“I will get you both something to eat,” Mari said, slipping away.
Elena slowly walked over to Jasper and laid a hand on his shoulder.
“I had no idea that it was you she was pining for. If I had, I would never have kept you away for so long. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No, not at the moment, though I do thank you. We have to wait now for the cycle to finish and then I can bathe her in the oil. It is the strongest reversing spell that I know of, but I wonder if she can live long enough for me to use it?”
“Stay with her, Jasper. Let her know that you are here through your touch,” Elena said. “I will return when the time is up.”
She ran her hand down his arm, gently squeezing, before she left him alone with Leona and his guard. Jasper moved over to the bed and once again lay with his wife, pulling her close to him. He clearly remembered the last time they had lain together on their wedding night. Had it been then that their child had been conceived or was it earlier when she gave herself to him? No matter. All that concerned him now was reversing her spell and healing her body so that she and the child she carried might live.
He held her in his arms and spoke to her softly while she slept. Jasper refused food or drink until the eve of the third day came upon them. Mari coaxed him into taking some food and wine so he had the energy to continue once the sun disappeared in the sky. Agreeing, he asked for a tub to be brought so he could bathe himself before he performed the ritual on his beloved. He also asked for a large bowl of water for the bath he would give her and asked that they leave the room. Jasper would find them when it was all over.
Jasper dropped his clothes on the floor and stepped into the tub. A few drops of the oil he had prepared for purification when he needed to cast a particularly strong spell were added. Once his body was cleansed and anointed, he stepped from the tub and wrapped a white sheet around his hips and slowly undressed Leona.
He brought the bowl of clean water over and dipped in a soft cloth. Jasper wrung it out and methodically washed her body. When every square inch was anointed, he dried her. All the while, she lay immobile, not moving or showing any signs of life, apart from the pulse that throbbed faintly in her neck.
When the sun dropped from the sky to be replaced with the moon, Jasper took the oil and warmed it between his palms. He poured some out into his hand and rubbed them together, a generous sheen coating both of his hands. Starting at her feet, he coated every inch of her skin. The spell called for the enhanced oil to soak into the body, revitalizing all the cells that she had called on to shut down. He could do nothing more but wait and see if he had been in time to save her.
Jasper lay by her side, his arms wrapped around her unresponsive body. His heart cried out in pain but his wiccan teaching was telling him that all things were possible and if she wanted, she would return to him.
It was the heat of the sun that woke him the next morning. The brightness of a sunrise and the feeling that someone was watching him. He opened sleep-deprived eyes to see a pair of bright green eyes close to his. His breath sucked in. Was this part of his dream? He could feel her warm breath on his face. Tentatively, he reached out and touched his lips to hers. She sighed against his mouth and pushed her body closer to his. He wrapped his arms around her and he pulled her atop him. Jasper squeezed her tight, the tears running unchecked down his face; he buried his head into the side of her neck.
“Sshhh, my love,” she whispered, her voice weak, while kissing his face. “It is over now. You are here with me.”
“I am such a fool, mo ghra. I could have lost you and our child forever.”
“I should never have doubted you would come for me, but I did,” she whispered to him, her voice raspy and low. “I was weak and that is not a trait that comes easy to a goddess. Perhaps I would fare better being the wife of an Irish lord. I am sure there would be less scrutiny and expectations in your world.”
“I can promise you that there will be no expectations that you cannot deal with. I just want to have you by my side and to be happy raising our children,” Jasper said. “Speaking of which,” he rolled her back onto the bed and put his hand on her soft rounded belly, “you could have come to me when you found out. I would never have sent you back here. I would have protected you from your father’s anger.”
“I was an emotional wreck and not thinking straight. Forgive me for putting you through this, my love.”
He silenced her with his mouth, his actions being all the answer that she needed, and she gave herself over to his touch.
“I need you so, my love, but if you want to wait until you are stronger, then wait we shall.”
“Love me, Jasper.”
He kissed his way down her throat, the pale skin cool to his lips. Her body lay relaxed under him. Cupping his hand on the gentle swell of her stomach he traced his tongue down her body. Jasper gazed up at her, the energy from their child creating an unbreakable link between them. He feathered kisses over her growing belly and gave a small laugh when she pushed his head lower.
“Eager, aren’t you, my love?”
“I missed you so much. Just the thought of our lovemaking tempted me many times to come back to you.” Leona purred when his fingers found the warmth between her thighs. She parted her legs and sighed with contentment.
Jasper dipped his mouth and ran his tongue down her center, tasting the warmth he had been missing. He slipped a hand under her butt and lifted her to his mouth, sucking greedily. Leona pushed against him, twisting her fingers into this hair. After so long apart, it took no more than a few moments for him to bring her to a shattering climax.
He looked up at her lying back against the pillows. She had a satisfied smile on her face. “You did miss me, my love.” Pulling himself up on his arms he kissed her mouth before plunging his cock into her moist pussy.
Try as he might, he could not hold back. Weeks of sleeping alone had taken its toll and he raced toward his own climax, spurred on by the way she rose up to meet him with each thrust. He lay on top of her, his cock throbbing as his seed pumped into her body.
Jasper pulled her over so they lay facing each other, his arms holding her close. “I hate to do this to you, but there are people waiting to see you.” He stroked a lock of hair from her face and kissed the skin beside her mouth. “I dare not keep them waiting too much longer.” He kissed her lips and smiled. “If truth be told, I can’t wait to show them that my wife is fine and ready to go home.”
Leona laughed and pu
lled his face back for a kiss.
Jasper helped Leona dress. He called for food and wine and hand-fed her before carrying her in his arms out to the balcony. In the grounds below, Mari and Richard waited for a sign that she was alive. Her sister screamed out when she saw her and raced up the stairs to where Jasper held her protectively.
“Oh sister, you scared me so,” Mari said with a sob in her voice. She cradled Leona’s face in her hands and kissed her brow. “Never, ever do something like that again.”
“You have no need to worry, Mari. She will never have the need to doubt my love again. Now it is time to take my wife home.” Jasper turned to Richard. “Shall we?”
“With you, my friend.”
“I will come with you too, if that is alright?” Mari said.
“It would be my honor to have you in my home, sister-in-law,” Jasper replied. “My mother would love to have you visit.”
“Let us go and tell Father then, shall we?” she said. They followed her to the portal and then to the throne room in search of her parents.
By the time they left for Jasper’s home, forgiveness had been given grudgingly by Helan. Jasper carried Leona into his house, shouting instructions to the staff to make ready a hot meal for everyone and he headed for the library where he deposited his wife on a comfortable couch in front of the fire.
His mother was elated to have her back and to see him with a smile on his face at last. She fussed around them all, the life coming back into her eyes now that she had someone to worry over. The news of the baby was the saving of her, thought Jasper.
This was his home and his family and now; finally he was a happy man.
Epilogue
The sound of the baby cooing in her grandmother’s arms greeted Elena and Helan when they visited. The family was in the garden, enjoying some rare sunshine when they walked down the hill from the portal on the cliffs. Jasper met them at the gate, at peace with his in-laws now. A lot of soul searching had gone on among the gods since Jasper had gone to bring home his wife. There was little they could do but go along with the way things were. It was Leona and Jasper’s wish that their child would grow up with all of her grandparents in her life and even Helan could not deny them.
As they walked into the garden, Elena turned to Jasper.
“I told you, did I not, that your mother would come back to life with grandchildren around her skirts? Little did I know at the time that we would share this grandchild. I stand by my words before, Jasper,” she said. “She is a lucky woman, your wife.”
Biography
Ann swears she was born with a book in her hands and has never put it down. A lifelong love of reader has finally culminated in achieving her dream of writing...and publication.
She lives in the middle of the desert in a small mining town with her own handsome hero of many years. Ann has always loved the ups and downs of life in small communities and she shares this with readers in her rural romances.
Strong sexy heroines with a good dash of sass thrown in feature in her stories. Of course these women need an equally strong hero. Bring on the outback hero and watch the passion ignite.
When not writing Ann enjoys reading, gardening, walking her very large dog, Hugo, and fighting with her computer.
Irish Seduction Page 10