Paranormal Magic (Shades of Prey Book 1)

by Margo Bond Collins

  Shivering from the power of this potent magnetism between them, she knew she'd never want anything more in her life than this, thought she might die from the desolate feeling of emptiness until he took her again. When his lips found her breast, she writhed beneath him. Like Pavlov's dog responding to a treat, her nipples peaked, as did the sensitized bud between her thighs. Drowning in steamed heat, she groaned.

  He carried her to the bed and crawled in beside her. His hands moved under her shift to skim her hips and thighs, searching for her sex. She didn't stiffen this time when he entered her with his fingers, but surrendered to the shudders taking over her body. He stroked her clitoris, and brought her to the brink of ecstasy. Stopping momentarily, violet eyes met blue in an unspoken declaration of endless love.

  She felt his sex against her, hard and swollen with desire. His voice, like a heady drug, whispered around her. "Open your legs and wrap them around me."

  She would have done anything he asked, anything at all to feel the sleek primal heat of him sinking deep into her. Cupping her bottom, he held her still and entered her. She arched upward to meet his thrusts, every one, rough, demanding, urgent. A searing firebrand whipped through her body as complete fulfillment spread through every muscle and limb. She was home, safe and sheltered in the hot cradle of Balion's love. She wouldn't think about the battle, the future. There was only this golden warrior, his naked flesh against hers, his hard body inside her, driving her onward as she matched his every need.

  She surrendered to his passion with a burning desire she'd never felt for another and knew she never would again. He smothered her groan with his mouth as he drove deeper and harder, bringing her to a shuddering climax until she exploded in a downpour of fiery sensations.

  He loved her then, draining away all her doubts and fears. She found a feeling of uncontrollable joy as again she rose up to meet him, caress for caress, kiss for kiss, reveling in the intensity of their love. Carried beyond the point of return, she knew he was vaguely aware of her when he cried out her name. It sounded like a trio of sonatas rolling through her head melded into one delirious symphony.

  A feeling of deep contentment found her when he collapsed top of her, his breath harsh and ragged. Moments passed in blessed contentment as he held her and neither spoke. In her heart she knew dawn would come and steal him from her, but right now, this very minute, she was in his arms and nothing else mattered.

  From the corner of the room, the lovebirds cooed, the pleasing sound drawing Balion's gaze to them. "Ye are a puzzling woman."

  "I hope you don't mind. I'm rather attached to Samson and Delilah."

  "Samson and―"

  "Delilah, lovers from the…from our ancient Book of Code."

  He gathered her closer still, his mouth trailing kisses along the curve of her neck. With a groan and his voice still hoarse, he said, "Tell me about this man named Samson."

  She giggled. "I can't think while you're nibbling away at me." She drew a shuddering breath. "You wouldn't be interested."

  "Ye are wrong. I want to know about your world."

  "Okay." She placed her hand on his chest and wondered if his heart thundered like hers. "While Samson's enemies waited at the gates to ambush him, he stayed at the house of a harlot, a beautiful woman named Delilah."

  "With hair the color of autumn leaves," he rasped.

  Another giggle found her. "The ancient book does not say."

  "What did this wicked harlot do to him?"

  Her every bone ached as he ran his thumb across her bottom lip. "She summoned a servant to shave Samson's seven locks."

  He drew back and looked into her eyes. "The wench cut his hair? Why?"

  "To reveal the reason for his strength."

  Clasping her head between his hands, he embarked on a series of kisses over her eyelids, her nose and cheeks. "Ye are my strength, woman named after the sun. If ye leave me, I will not be strong enough to fight."

  Dread coursed through her veins. "You mustn't say that."

  He took her mouth and devoured it in a web of sweet arousal. Hot blood surged through every limb, and soft moans came from the back of her throat.

  Breaking from the kiss, he whispered against her lips, "Ye came to me in a dream once, and I knew one day ye would come to me in the flesh. Ye are beautiful, bewitching."

  "You came to me in dreams too. I didn't know your name, but I called you the golden warrior of my every fantasy." Long minutes later, sheltered in his arms, she said, "Balion, there is something else I must tell you."

  "Speak freely."

  "Do you know that Ainsley loves Jarlock?"

  "Aye, they have been close since they were nestlings."

  The rapid arrhythmia of her heart tempered a full-blown chuckle. "Close, my Light-Prince, they are so much more than close."

  Raising his body up to an elbow, he gazed down at her. "Speak not only freely, but openly."

  "She loves him and he loves her."

  Confusion crossed his handsome features. "Ye mean in the way I love ye?" She nodded and remained still as her words sunk in. His fingers found a length of her hair at her shoulder. "Jarlock loves Ainsley and Ainsley loves Jarlock in the manner a man and a woman love?"

  Another nod from Kira.

  "How can it be? Why did I not see it all these years?"

  "It's all right." She brushed a finger down his cheek. "You can't see everything happening in your kingdom."

  "To miss it between two people I love shames me."

  She held her breath. "You are not against the match?"

  "Nay, I can think of none better for Ainsley." His expression grew grim. "Ach! My father gave his word she will wed another."

  "Give them your blessing; tell your father marriage to another cannot happen. It would doom them both to a life of misery."

  A lengthy silence passed before he spoke. "Ye have spoken to Ainsley about this?"

  "Oh, no, there is no need. I see it in her eyes when he enters a room. She hides it the best she can."

  "I will speak to my father, but fear it is too late." He dazzled her with a blissful smile. "Tell me about this world ye live in."

  She sighed. "There is so much you would never understand. It is so unlike your world and everything in it."

  "Ye do not have birds, animals, keeps?"

  "Yes," she replied, weighing her words. "We have all of that." She hesitated. "Though scaled down, much smaller. Our keeps are not as big, our animals less beastly."

  "Ye said once there are men who would miss ye."

  "I did?"

  "Aye, the day I found ye in the forest."

  An unwelcome pain seamed her heart. "No one has ever looked at me the way you do, or loved me like you do, and no one waits for me." She kissed him passionately. "There will never be another for me as long as I live." The questions haunted her. What would happen now? What would become of their timeless love? He would never enter her world, and she didn't belong in his. Hopelessness strained her words. "Whatever happens today, know this, you take my heart and my soul with you, even beyond the battlefield if that is the wish of those who make such decisions."

  He brought his lips down on hers, kissing her with exquisite tenderness. With his mouth against hers, he whispered, "On my sacred oath, I will find ye wherever ye are."

  * * *

  Kira awoke in the middle of the night. Balion stood by the window gazing at the sky as if whatever haunted him lay miles beyond the borders of Locke Cress. She rose, snuggled into his arms and placed her head against his chest.

  "Ye have stars in your world?"

  "Yes," she whispered and pointed. "Like those." She felt his strong, steady heartbeat through the thin fabric of her nightshirt. "We have names for them."

  "Ye name the stars?"

  She sighed. Like the stars, time was eternal, and she knew this night would not last. Morning would come soon. "Yes." She pointed again to a bright cluster. "There is Orion, visible from almost any place in the universe. The pattern
of this star takes the form of a hunter."

  "Aye," he whispered. "I see him. And the others?"

  She took his hand and reached for another grouping below Orion and to the left. "There is Lepus, representing the hare Orion hunts."

  "And that one?" He pointed to the most brilliant star in the sky. "What is the name your people have given it?"

  "Sirius or the Dog Star. It is said if men stare at it too long they become weak—star struck."

  "And women, what happens if they gaze upon it?"

  "They become aroused."

  He turned her around until she faced him. "This will be our star, yours and mine. No matter what happens, ye will stop wherever ye are and look upon this star, and know that I watch it too."

  Her heart burst with sorrow and love. "I will gaze upon it every night, my Light-Prince and think of you."

  Balion lifted her into his arms and carried her back to bed. He dropped his body down to lie over the length of hers and removed her gown, his hands roaming over every inch of her naked flesh. The fire of the sun found her, licking, burning, searing through her as he took her to soaring heights again. Neither one slept for the remainder of the night. Kira's every thought was about the man in her arms and what would happen tomorrow.

  When the moon dropped from the sky, Kira's heart sank with it. From somewhere, she had to find the courage to face the day. She couldn't let him ride into battle with her tears etched on his memory. Somehow, she had to find the strength to say goodbye.

  Chapter 15

  Kira didn't want to watch Balion ride away. He slipped from her arms in the pale light of morning and she hid beneath the covers and cried out her misery. Long minutes later, something stronger than desperation drew her to the window. Outside, horses neighed and pawed at the earth with their mighty hooves, children wailed, and women wept. Dear, sweet Ainsley stood there, bearing up as one would expect from the daughter of a great King. Standing on tiptoe to reach him, the girl kissed her brother on the cheek and then embraced her father. A solitary tear slid down Ainsley's cheek, but only one as she turned to Jarlock. Balion watched her, his thoughts unreadable, but Kira knew the conversation they had about the vast love between his sister and Jarlock weighed on his mind. Jarlock turned from the girl and mounted, taking up a position beside the Light-Prince. From behind the ranks, a soldier rode forth. Tears came to Kira's eyes when Simon the Brave pulled his sturdy mount alongside of Jarlock's and drew the King's sword.

  Through a haze the scene played out before Kira. Warriors pulled their broadswords from their sheaths and raised them skyward. Leather scrunched beneath the weight of valiant men as they looked toward the heavens and prepared for death. Kira dropped her head and prayed like she'd never prayed before.

  King Roldan's voice echoed across the land, clear and calm as he faced his army. "I come to ride beside ye and defend our beloved Locke Cress. I, King Roldan, am resolved, in the midst and heat of battle, to live or die amongst ye, to lay down for the Gods, for my kingdom, and my people, my honor, my blood, even the dust of my bones. Umargo has invaded the borders of my realm again, and we must take up arms, defend that which is more precious than our lives—the future of our children and their children through all eternity. By your valor on the field we shall remain victorious, defeat Umargo once and for all. Hear me Goddess of the earth, the sun and the sky. Give us the strength to vanquish the enemy of my kingdom, the enemy of my people."

  The crowd roared. "Balion! Balion!"

  Kira's heart shredded. She couldn't stop looking at him, felt a driving need to memorize every detail of his face, burn it into her memory forever. His blue eyes glistened with heartfelt fervor; his long golden hair fanned out behind him and shimmered beneath the harsh rays of the sun. A sight to behold seated on his powerful steed addressing his army, Kira felt her heart would burst with pride and love.

  "In this solemn hour be faithful and courageous," he shouted. "Ride into battle knowing that although our lands have been invaded, our consciences are clear, our hearts true and pure. We fight for Locke Cress, for our King, and for his beloved people. We fight for everything most sacred to man, and, to save the world from Umargo's tyranny and injustice. Should ye fall in battle today, know the Gods will welcome ye, and the sun will shine again upon ye. We will be victorious, for if we are not, our sons and daughters have lost everything they are or ever hope to be. I, Balion, the Light-Prince of Locke Cress, ride beside ye; pledge to give my life for ye. In the name of our great King Roldan, give us strength."

  A deafening roar of whistles and cheers rose among the crowd. "Roldan! Balion! Roldan! Balion!"

  Kira clasped her hand over her mouth and allowed the unbidden tears to slide down her cheeks. Roldan and Balion turned their mounts toward the lush, green hills of Locke Cress, toward Umargo and the Jangamoors.

  * * *

  The keep floundered in eerie stillness with the inhabitants gone. A handful of servants remained, their soft footsteps treading over the stone floors as they went about their duties. Kira looked out the window, aware of the portentous stillness hovering over the land. The people went into hiding and waited to see who would reign victorious when the bloodletting came to a halt. She stood there for an eternity, blank, terrified, and shaken. And then she paced. She couldn't stay in this room, waiting like a caged fox, wondering, for God knew how long, about the fate of Balion and the people.

  She clutched the medallion and tried to keep a semblance of fragile control. That morning, she'd begged him to take the talisman, cried a river of tears, and still he refused.

  "Nay, lass," he had said. "It is your only hope of leaving Locke Cress. If Umargo wins the day, without it, ye are doomed."

  "But Sirene said you must wear it into battle," she'd said.

  "I cannot take it from ye." His eyes had turned dark and somber. "Kira, if I don't return, ye must call for Sirene, and she will help ye return to your world."

  "No!" Her hair tumbled forth to cover her tearstained face. "Do not speak of it!"

  He drew her into his arms. "I have given my oath I will find ye, no matter what happens."

  Remembering his words now, a shiver snaked down her spine. Despite the centuries between them he was but a mortal man. She walked to the bed, buried her head in her hands, and wept.

  Her voice floated down from the ceiling. "Ye are crying again, child."

  "Oh, Sirene, he refused to take the medallion." Kira's voice cracked under the hard-earned sobs. "I begged him to wear it, got down on my knees and pleaded."

  "I know, dear, I heard."

  For a moment, Kira's face turned hot. What else had Sirene witnessed between her and Balion? She dismissed the thought from her mind. "What are we to do? Balion may die and you will not get Barrett back."

  "Ye are strong of heart, Kira. Ye have the blood of your father in your veins. Ye are determined to see Balion live, are ye not?"

  "Yes, of course, I'd do anything, but what if it's too late?"

  Beside her now stood Sirene, her beauty blinding, her aura gleaming brighter than effervescent moonlight. "It is not too late, but I fear it will soon be."

  "What do you mean?" Kira's voice quavered. "Is Roldan's army losing?"

  "The battle is fierce, and many have died." She hung her head. "The King."

  "No!" Kira screamed. "It cannot be true, not Roldan."

  A tear slid from Sirene's silver eyes. "He fell by Umargo's blade, bravely."

  A cold knot formed in her stomach. "Balion?"

  "He lives, has slain many, but he wearies."

  "Tell me what to do, Sirene."

  A tense silence enveloped the room. "Ye must bring Balion the medallion."

  Despite her fear, Kira felt a sudden surge of confidence and strength. "How? Where? Take me there."

  "It is a wretched sight, girl. Ye must know before ye go." A soul-searching plea flitted through Sirene's eyes. "Do ye think, Kira, ye could call me grandmother just once?"

  "Of course." Her grandmother's las
t words gave her pause. "You said, just once. Does that mean I'll not see you again after this?"

  Sirene's slender fingers traced her face. "Kira, dear, whatever happens out there, remember ye were very lucky to find such love, a love that happens once in a lifetime. Hold it in your heart, cherish it forever, and, think of me now and then, know I will think of ye always, and pray your heart finds peace."

  Kira threw her arms about Sirene's neck. "I will remember you always, Grandmother."

  "Ah. Grandmother. It is solace to my troubled heart." The sorceress drew back and kissed her forehead. "Now, let us help save Locke Cress."

  It was not for Kira to question how, moments later, they stood on a hilltop overlooking the dreadful scene of carnage. Horses screamed, dying men littered the battlefield, and others were locked hand-to-hand, sword-to-sword in battles of savagery and butchery. The bile rose in Kira's throat, threatening to empty her stomach. She searched the throngs of blood stained faces, praying she'd see the Light-Prince. Please God, don't let him be dead. Moments passed and hope faded.

  "He has fallen, Grandmother, he's not among the fighting."

  Sirene turned her chin with a gentle finger. "See there, on that little rise, Balion fights with the strength of a tiger."

  A cry of relief broke from Kira's lips. As if struck by a thunderbolt, Kira shrieked, "The chant, Grandmother, you must tell me the chant!"

  "Remember every word, dear, not one must be out of order."

  Kira nodded.

  "In me resides a great sadness, a cherished one has passed. Born out of dust and moonlight, release him to me at last."

  Kira stilled her mind and listened to the words, but as the battle roared around her, it proved a near-impossible task.

  "Repeat the chant, child, time is running out."

  "In me resides a great sadness, a dear one―"