And then she’d offered her sweet body for him to taste last night.
Her lack of interest in sharing the ritual with him hurt more than he cared to admit.
“If you get pregnant, I will take care of you.”
She made a rude sound, grimacing. “Baloney. You have your position at the Summer Court, and I live here. I won’t take my children into the wolf’s den for anything, and you can’t just tell the Summer Queen you’re taking a sabbatical.”
Sabrina looked away, anger tightening her shoulders. “This is exactly why I said I wouldn’t do the rituals again.” She swung back to him, pointing at his chest. “Men say they’ll take care of everything, but they only want the sexual part of the ritual. When there is responsibility and work afterward, they run or find someone else and give some other excuse why they can’t pick up their end of the deal. You’ll be no different, except you have a legitimate excuse. You’re not even from my world!”
“Sabrina,” —he strode to her side and grasped her shoulders—“look at me, please.”
Slowly she raised her gaze to meet his.
“If we are blessed with a child from this ritual, I would move heaven and earth to stay with him.”
Sabrina shook her head.
“Peace, little witch. I speak the truth.” Desperation and hope leaked through his voice. “I would wish for no other to be the mother of my child. I could only hope I’d be a worthy father. I’d be delighted to be your husband.” Where were these words coming from? “And the father to your daughters.”
Her eyes opened wide and scanned his, her disbelief clear. “Have you been listening to Marty and his buddies? I don’t need a husband.”
Darius gritted his teeth. “This isn’t about need, Sabrina. This is about want. I want to be your husband.”
“Why?” She frowned. “You don’t even live here. You live in the Fae world with the Summer Court.”
“But I could live here. With you, and Tansy, and Holly. And…” He caressed her soft cheek with one hand. “Our child.”
“Why?”
She searched his face for an answer, her eyes flicking back and forth. Darius tried to put all his sincerity into his gaze, hoping she’d see his heart as well. He had to convince her because to walk away from her would gut him.
“I know how hard it was for you to raise your daughters alone. I don’t want you to have to do it again.”
Her lip curled. “That’s it? That’s why you want to stay here? To protect me?” She jerked out of his hands. “No thanks.”
“What?”
“I’ve done it before, I can do it again, Darius. I don’t need a man to make it better for me.”
Despite the hurt in his chest, he bit back his angry retort. “I said this isn’t about need, my lady. What do you want?”
Sabrina bit her lip as she turned away from him and he ached to pull her back into his arms. She wrapped her own arms around herself, her shoulders hunching as if to stave off some heavy burden.
He stepped closer with caution. She looked so vulnerable and everything screamed at him to make it better. But he knew she had greater strength than she showed.
“Tell me what you’d choose if you could, Sabrina. What’s your heart’s desire?”
“Oh, please. I don’t live in a fairytale.”
He chuckled. “I beg to differ. The Fae will be here tonight. I can’t think of any way you could be closer to a fairytale.”
As he’d hoped, he drew a laugh from her. “Tell me what you want, Sabrina.”
She took a deep breath and bowed her head, exposing her neck and tempting him to kiss it. He laid his hands against her silky arms and breathed in her feminine scent. It ricocheted through him, flooding his mind with illicit thoughts and visions of more of her skin exposed to his sight. His cock hardened and he resisted the urge to rub it against her firm buttocks.
“I want…”
“What do you want?” He brushed his lips against her neck and her breath hitched.
“I want a partner…a friend I can always depend on.” She let loose a low moan as he kissed her hair. “I want someone to love me for me, not because I’m a witch or a chess piece on the world board. I want a lover for more than just sex.”
He could be such a man. He could easily take the role and more if she’d just accept him for himself. And who are you, Darius? The question came out of nowhere and he wanted to thrust it aside, but it hovered in his mind until he had to acknowledge it.
Who was he really? Could he be her partner, her friend? Could he love her for the woman she’d become, the mother she was, and the witch she’d abandoned?
Yes.
“If you’ll let me, I can be all those things, Sabrina.” The words surprised them both, but he met her gaze steadily as she twisted to face him in the circle of his arms.
“Why do you want to?”
“Because I love you.” Darius leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, begging her to believe him.
“What?”
“I love you, Sabrina Foxglove. Let me be your partner, your friend, and your lover.” He ached to slide his hand down her back and grasp her ass, but he suspected she’d expect it of the lothario she thought him. He couldn’t deny her claim, but being a man who’d had many lovers, he knew when to hold back to coax his lady.
“How can I believe what you say, Darius?” She pulled far enough back to search his eyes again. “You have probably said it to hundreds of women over your lifetime. And you’re still single.” She grimaced. “Plus, I’ve only known you a few days.”
She spoke the truth, except he’d never said his words with such sincerity and conviction before. For the first time in the decades of his life, he meant them with all his heart. Sabrina had made him care, made him want, made him feel something other than lust. Her stubborn determination to take care of herself and her children without help had impressed him. It made him want to help her, if only to ease the worry lines on her face and the tightening of her shoulders.
You’re safe now, I’ve got you. The words he’d spoken on the bridge to Tír na nÓg rang in his head, and he wanted them to be true. He wanted to have her back, support her in the difficulties she faced. He could conceive of no greater service.
“I cannot change the past, Sabrina, I can only go forward from here.” He offered her his honesty. “I want to take the path with you.”
“What about the Summer Court?”
The Queen’s command echoed through his head: Convince the witch to do the rituals or you shall lose your longevity, your sword, your honor, and the Winterbourne name shall be stricken from our records. He smiled. The threat no longer worried him. Not only had Sabrina decided to do the rituals on her own, but he didn’t care to return to the Fae. If he stayed with Sabrina, he’d be content for his remaining years.
“Let me worry about the Summer Court. If our coupling during the ritual results in a child, I would rather stay here and raise our son or daughter with you.” He ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “Nothing would bring me greater joy than to see you holding our child.”
“Darius, I don’t want another—”
“Shh, peace, Sabrina. Please.” He didn’t quite know what he asked for, but he had to stop her from destroying his dream. Whether she chose to complete the rituals or not, he wanted to stay with her when the sun rose after Beltane. “Please say you’ll perform the rituals with me, and if I should get you with child, you’ll at least give me a chance to stay with you. I beg of you.”
She stared at him a long time, each moment measured in heartbeats as she studied him. Emotions moved through her eyes as the breeze ruffled the trees of the sacred grove around them. She seemed to gather herself, squaring her shoulders as she raised her chin, her eyes sad.
“I said I’d do the rituals. I’ll even do them with you. But if I get pregnant, you don’t have to stay. I don’t expect it of you.”
He growled and thrust his fingers into her hair. “Expect me to s
tay! I want to, Sabrina. I want you in my life after Beltane.”
“But the Queen—”
“Let me deal with the Queen. It may take me some days to resign and prepare my replacement, but I will not be staying in the Summer Court.” Darius met her gaze, his heart pounding with excitement. “Please say you’ll wait for me and trust I will return to you. Tell me you’ll allow me to be part of your life as your partner, your friend, and your lover. Please, Sabrina.”
Darius’s blood thundered as she took her time deciding. He’d never felt so desperate in his life, but he forced himself to be patient. The importance of her answer meant too much to him to push. Oh, Goddess, let her see the truth in my words.
“All right, Darius.” Sabrina gave him a tentative smile. “I’ll trust you. Do you really want to stay here, in this dilapidated homestead with more rodents in residency than most granaries, with me and my children?”
“Our children. And yes, I want to stay.”
She shook her head. “They’re mine, and you might have to work hard to convince them otherwise, especially when they become teenagers. Goddess help us both, then.” She shuddered, but smiled. “But I think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. We still have to perform the rituals.”
Darius wanted to wrap her in his arms, lift her up, and swing her around in jubilation. She’d said she’d wait, and he wouldn’t betray her trust. Tamping down his enthusiasm, he contented himself with a grin and nodded.
“Let’s start by practicing the energy merge between us. We must be in tune to allow the wards to be strengthened.”
“What do we need to do first?” She eyed the windswept ritual circle. “We don’t have to get naked yet, do we?”
His cock hardened with the thought of her lithe body shrouded in nothing but sunlight, but he shook his head. “No, first we dance.”
“Dance?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Two people moving together in a synchronicity of motion?”
Sabrina gave him a dry look. “I know what dancing is. Why do we need to do it?”
“During the ceremony tonight, we’ll be dancing to the chants before commencing the rituals. We need to practice connecting to the energy and each other while in motion.”
“Oh. Right.”
Darius held out his hands and waited for her to step into the circle of his arms. Sabrina took his hands in a classic waltz pose and time stopped. She fit him perfectly as if they’d been built for one another. It took me two hundred years to find the one woman who fits? He didn’t have time to wonder at the Goddess’s plan before Sabrina crooked an eyebrow.
“Are we going to move or are you just going to stand there, staring at me?”
Darius laughed off his hesitation. “I could spend all day staring at you, but we should really get moving.” He sidestepped, pulling her along gently. She moved with him in a gentle waltz step, her movements in sync with his. Each brush of her thighs against his tightened his groin and he prayed his cock would behave itself long enough to complete the rehearsal.
Too bad it’s not a dress rehearsal. Or rather, undressed rehearsal.
“You’re a pretty good dancer, Darius.”
“I’ve had a little practice.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” Sabrina grimaced and he tried to find something to say to take her mind off the multitudes of women he’d danced with over the decades. “Now what?”
“Can you sense the energy of the circle while we dance?”
He’d been feeling the rise in power as soon as they started to move. The sacred site responded to their presence as if recognizing those who could secure it. Power flowed like air currents, brushing against his mind with gentle tendrils of energy.
“Yes, I definitely feel it. I felt it when we arrived.”
“Good.” He led them in a clockwise circle around the fire pit, their motion easy and slow. “Can you see the energy?”
“See it?”
“Yes, in your mind’s eye. The magic of this place should look like beams of concentrated light. Each person is different. Some see colors, others see metals. One witch once told me the energies looked like different kinds of wood.”
Sabrina closed her eyes as they danced. He loved her serene expression as she sought out the magics surrounding the homestead. Because he held her, he experienced her stretching out her own senses, searching for the power coursing through the grounds. When she touched them, everything snapped into place and Darius jolted right along with her.
“Sweet Goddess.”
He couldn’t have said it better himself. Everything felt aligned with them as they slowly waltzed around the circle. He had to clear his throat to find his voice.
“What do you see, Sabrina?”
“Beams of light, each slightly different, coming from each tree in the circle.” She still hadn’t opened her eyes. “They’re like spokes in a wheel and the circle is the rim.”
“Excellent.” The energy between them surged and pleasure bloomed throughout his body. Damn, this witch held power. “These spokes are ley lines of magic, the life sustaining energy of the world. When they are in balance, they appear in proper order, like a color spectrum or repeating pattern of sizes. Each tree is a nexus point, directing the power to the altar of the Goddess.”
“The lines are supposed to be connected to the altar?” A frown appeared on Sabrina’s face.
“Yes. Why?”
“Because none of them connect to the altar.” She gasped in surprise. “All of them are connected to us. They’re following us around the circle.”
Unease bloomed in Darius’s chest. If the ley lines connected to them, it meant the energies within this sacred site had been neglected too long. He’d miscalculated their instability. He suspected even the Fae hadn’t foreseen the dereliction of the magics here. Bloody hell.
He’d heard of places so unstable, they’d attached to the most powerful being in the vicinity and snapped the unfortunate source in half. But the owner of such power had to be stronger than the average human to attract the ley lines, and Sabrina’s announcement meant what he’d suspected since he’d met her. She rivaled the Summer Queen in magical strength.
“What do the lines look like, Sabrina?” He spoke more harshly than he intended and she opened her eyes in surprise. “Are the lines solid and clear? Or do they roil like boiling water or a murky stream?”
She huffed a sigh and closed her eyes again. They kept dancing, but Darius’s heart raced with his sinking stomach. Dear Goddess, let the magics be easily healed. Don’t let them kill her. What had he done? By bringing her to this place without checking first, he may have signed her death warrant.
“They’re smoky and rolling, but not violently.”
“Thanks be to the Goddess.” Their strength wouldn’t take her down, yet, but if they didn’t do something to anchor the lines to the altar, the rituals would be too dangerous to perform. “Can you tug on them with your mind?”
“Tug on the ley lines?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We need to secure them to the altar, even temporarily, or we won’t be able to ward this site tonight. It’ll be too dangerous. Now, can you move them?”
“I don’t know.” She frowned harder, squeezing his hand as they moved around the pit. The wind picked up a little and dust particles sparkled in the sunny air. “How do I even attempt to move energy?”
Darius gritted his teeth and tried to think of his earliest magic lessons. “Think of them as ropes, solid enough to gather together in your mental ‘hands’. When you have them fixed in your grip, see if you can move them toward the altar, like tying ribbons to the May Pole.”
“I…can’t. It’s like they’re sticky.”
“Bollocks!” He swirled her closer to the altar in an abrupt turn. “Are they still following you?”
“Me? They’re only following me?”
“Are they still?”
“Yes.”
“Very well.�
� He danced them up to the stone steps and stopped, leaning her over the top tier. Pressing his chest to hers, he kissed her.
The explosion of pleasure shot out in every direction and damn near made him come in his pants. Sabrina moaned and clutched at his arms, grinding her pussy against the rigid bulge at his groin. Power swirled around them, urging him to tear her clothes off and sheath himself in her hot, silken depths.
Darius’s vision filled with spokes of rainbow light radiating from the woman he kissed. His eyes remained closed, but the contours of the sacred circle flashed in brilliant negative around them. Each strand of light pulsed power into Sabrina and she glowed with its particular color as the pulse passed. Vibrant flashes centered on her crotch and heat spread over his aching cock.
“I need you, Darius.” Sabrina’s husky voice gripped him by the balls. “I need you, now.”
Her kisses blistered his mouth with their lusty heat and he fell into them, his mind drunk on power and erotic desire. Darius unbuttoned her jeans and jerked them off before he came back to himself.
What am I doing?
The morning sunlight glistened on her trimmed mound and the scent of her arousal knocked him to his knees. His own arousal ramped up and he buried his nose in her succulent flesh, digging his fingers into her hips. He opened his mouth and tasted sweet heaven as Sabrina rocked her pussy against his lips.
“Oh, Goddess, yes, Darius. Yes!” Her fingers speared into his hair and she pulled him closer to her slick pussy.
Darius couldn’t answer with his mouth full of quaking feminine flesh, and he dove in, licking and sucking her ambrosia. The pulses of sexual energy increased in frequency, swamping his mind until only bringing his woman pleasure mattered to him. His woman, his Goddess. He’d serve her until his dying breath, and nothing would divert him from his path.
Sabrina whimpered and rocked her hips harder, striving for release, and Darius suckled her clit with delighted abandon. Sweet cream flowed into his mouth and he reveled in it. He’d never tasted anything better than his lady’s divine pussy, and he thrust his tongue into her weeping slit, seeking more.
The Beltane Witch (Cloudburst Colorado) Page 16