Winter Soulstice

by Eden Bradley

  Hot shards of pleasure knifed into her, so intense. Too intense. She called his name, exactly as she’d imagined earlier, over and over. Then he was coming, too, his fire-hot cum spurting through her fingers, onto her stomach.

  “Ah god, Destiny!”

  He collapsed onto her with a groan. She still shook with the aftermath of her orgasm. Weak, spent, but suffused with a pleasure she’d never known before—a strange and impossible sense of rightness she didn’t want to think about.

  It didn’t take long for Reece to recover. While Destiny lay bathed in the sweet, lambent afterglow of three earth-shattering orgasms, he propped himself up on one elbow, grinning down at her while he wiped her stomach with a corner of the sheet, then tossed it onto the floor.

  “I’ll have to ask your forgiveness. I don’t usually come like a teenage boy in a woman’s hand.”

  “Nothing to apologize for. I wanted you to.”

  “This time we’ll do it right.”

  She arched an eyebrow at him. “Already? You must be joking.”

  “Sex is no laughing matter to an Irishman, darlin’.” His accent seemed more pronounced than ever. “But I intend to make you come again, and by that time I’ll be good and ready.”

  “I’m not sure I can...”

  “Not to worry, I’ll help.”

  She laughed. “I’m sure you will.”

  “Let’s start here.”

  He drew a few languorous fingers up the inside of her thigh. She could swear she felt him tremble beside her. Or was that her own body shivering?

  “I’d like to taste you again, but I want to watch you come even more. I want to make you come with my hand and watch your lovely face. I’ll bet you’re wet for me already. ”

  He was right; she was soaked. Wanting. Needing. She couldn’t believe that after coming three times already she could still need more. But she did. The more he touched her, the more she needed him to touch her. What was it about this man? She couldn’t get enough.

  Even though she knew this time he would fuck her.

  God.

  She could imagine his thick cock entering her body, ramming her hard. She could almost feel it already. But it was his fingers instead that slid into her wet cleft, pushing deep inside.

  So good. So damn good. She bucked against his probing fingers as pleasure shot through her system, numbing her mind.

  “Yes, you like that, don’t you, darlin’?” he murmured. “You’re so wet. So ready for me. You’ll come fast. I can feel it already. Especially if I do this.”

  He moved until he knelt over her, so he could use both hands on her. With one hand still pumping his fingers inside her, he used the other to roll her clit between finger and thumb. It was electrical, roaring white heat that centered in her aching sex and spread outward.

  Her hips were moving in time with his hands. The first wave of orgasm approached, but she didn’t want it to end so soon.

  “Come for me, Destiny. Come hard. And then I’ll fuck you until you come again.”

  Oh god, yes!

  She let the waves overtake her as he worked her clit, giving it a hard pinch that sent her spiraling over the edge. She yelled his name, shattered, broke apart in a splintering kaleidoscope of heat and sensation.

  While she still shivered with the receding waves, he sheathed himself with a condom then pressed his cock into her. He was so big that her still-clenching pussy could barely accommodate him. But after a moment he pushed into her slick juices, filling her completely.

  She wrapped her legs around him as her mind and her body exploded. She was filled by him, and filling herself, all at the same time. The sensation was doubled, almost unbearably pleasurable. As he pumped into her, she felt the sensation of a cock being sheathed in velvet tightness. His cock, as though she were inside his body, experiencing what he was experiencing.

  What was this?

  Reece pushed himself up onto his arms, held himself over her, looked down into her face. And she saw herself. Saw herself through his eyes.

  Impossible!

  But there she was, her red hair a wild mass of curls, her green eyes wide with shock, her face and neck flushed. Her lower lip trembled.

  She tried to push him off her.

  “Reece. Please.”

  As he pulled out of her body, she felt that dual sensation of pussy and cock. As incredible as it felt, it scared the hell out of her.

  I have to get out of here!

  “Destiny. Did I hurt you?”

  She could hear the confusion in his voice. Well, she was damned confused, too. How could she feel what he felt? See what he saw? Her thoughts flashed back to her earlier images of his bedroom.

  She threw her damp clothes on as quickly as she could and yanked her purse off the floor. Her lipstick clattered out onto the hardwood, followed by her hairbrush and her day planner. She gathered them all and stuffed them back into her bag.

  “Destiny, please don’t go.”

  He jumped out of the bed, tried to wrap an arm around her shoulder, but she shook him off.

  “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m leaving. Now.”

  Hurt clouded his blue eyes. But he didn’t try to stop her. He was still standing, naked and beautiful, in the doorway of his bedroom when she took a parting glance over her shoulder. She ran out the front door, into the night and the storm, a faint perfume of lilacs following her.

  Chapter Four

  She was panting hard by the time she reached her baby blue VW bug. Her lungs burned and her heart hammered in her chest, with panic as well as from her eight block sprint through the rain. She fumbled for her keys. They slipped, fell, and she searched frantically until her half-numb fingers curled around the cold metal. She opened the car door and slumped into the seat, slammed the door and locked it.

  Her body was a mass of confused sensations. Still shuddering with the buzz of orgasm, she shivered with shock and cold. She reached out to turn on the engine, then switched on the heat. The rain clattered onto the roof of the car in a static cacophony, so loud she could hardly think.

  What the hell had happened to her? She tried to go over it all in her mind, but it was too damn weird. Why had she felt so instantly comfortable with Reece? Even though she’d never been so deeply attracted to anyone in her life, and simply looking at him made her pulse race with lust? How had he known how to touch her, as though he’d anticipated her every need? Could it really be a mere collection of coincidences? Then that last moment, when he’d slid into her body...

  She groaned. She’d never felt anything so intense before, so excruciatingly pleasurable. So frightening.

  Maybe she’d been so out of her head with lust she’d imagined the whole thing?

  No, the event played like a movie in her mind, crystal clear. Thinking about it made her want to cry, for reasons she couldn’t comprehend.

  She shook her head, shifted into gear, then pulled out onto the street. She would go home, have a nice long bath, maybe a cup of tea to clear her mind. No, a glass of wine was called for after the night she’d had. Hell, a vodka martini. Not that she had any vodka. A good Cabernet would have to do.

  She had every intention of going home. She really did. But something made her drive past Reece’s house.

  Through the delicate pattern of wrought iron in the gate she could see the glow of lights in the house. What was he thinking right now? What was he doing? She slowed down, let the engine idle for a moment. And what the hell was she doing stalking his house? God, she really had to get a grip.

  She gunned the engine and drove down the wet street. The white glare of streetlights shone on the slick surface, reflecting off the puddles of water. Since it hardly ever rained in L.A. the city was poorly prepared for a storm, and when it rained the streets always flooded. The intersections were the worst, and the one two blocks from Reece’s house was a perfect example.

  As Destiny tried to round the corner, she realized too late that her tiny car was no match for th
e small pond that had accumulated there. She barely made it through to the other side before the engine sputtered and died.

  Great.

  She turned the key. The engine whirred, but wouldn’t turn over. She tried once more. And again. Nothing.

  She leaned her head on the steering wheel while her whole body began to grow numb. What was she going to do now? It was almost midnight. Who could she call to help her?

  Triple A! She rummaged in her purse, dug through her wallet, and found her card. The emergency road service number was on the back. Good. Now for her cell phone. But five full minutes of digging in her big purse didn’t turn it up. She felt around her car seat with her hand, but didn’t find it there, either.

  She sat back in her seat with a sigh. She knew exactly where her phone was. On Reece Kellan’s bedroom floor.

  She pounded her fist on the steering wheel. Damn it!

  Either she’d have to go back there to get it, or she’d have to sit in her car, soaking wet in the middle of a storm, frozen and shivering, until dawn.

  She didn’t know which option was worse.

  She did not want to go back to his house. At least, that’s what she told herself, even as her stomach did a little flip just thinking about him. Either she was crazy, or something very weird had happened with him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know which.

  She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Lord, what a night she was having.

  Thunder rumbled in the distance. A few moments later a flash of lightening illuminated the darkness behind her closed lids. The face of Madame Anna came into her mind’s eye, as clear as though she stood before her.

  You are going to meet your soul mate... It always starts with attraction, doesn’t it? But this goes far beyond that. You’ll know. It will be unmistakable.

  Impossible! Psychic-babble. Destiny was very much grounded in reality, and things like that did not happen in her world. It was silly to even think about it. Besides, she had more important things to think about right now. Like how to get her cell phone so she could get out of this mess.

  She ran the two blocks back to Reece’s house, telling herself she would get her cell phone, then leave. End of story.

  * * * * *

  “Destiny, god you’re soaked through! Here.” Reece stood in the doorway in a pair of blue and white striped pajama bottoms, his dark hair tousled, looking too damn handsome. He held up a towel and draped it over her shoulders with careful hands, as though he knew it was a good idea not to try to touch her. “Are you all right?”

  “I came to get my cell phone. It must have dropped out of my purse.”

  She knew she sounded sullen, rude. She could almost hear her Nana tisk-tisking in the background at her poor behavior. And he was being so nice. Not a word of recrimination for her running out in the middle of the night. In the middle of sex, for god’s sake.

  “Yeah, I saw it on the floor and picked it up. Let me get it for you. Come in.”

  He was gone for a minute, and she took the opportunity to ruffle her hair dry with the towel. The house was warm, cozy. He returned quickly with her phone and held it out to her. She made a grab for it, trying not to come into contact with his hand.

  “Can I make you a cup of tea?”

  “I only came to get my phone. I need to get going. I have to call Triple A.”

  “You weren’t in an accident, were you? Come and sit down.”

  Why was he being so nice to her? So caring? She could see the sincere concern in his eyes.

  God, his eyes were blue.

  No, she wasn’t supposed to be noticing that! She was supposed to get her phone, then get the hell out of there. Away from him. Away from the strangeness that had occurred in his bed.

  Her body surged with yearning, both physical and...something else. Her head began to spin.

  Then he was touching her, making her head spin harder. He slipped a strong arm around her waist and guided her to the kitchen. She followed him mutely, feeling numb and exhausted.

  “Come on now, darlin’,” Reece was saying. “Let’s sit you down and have a cup of tea. You need to get dry and warm. Then we’ll talk.”

  He sat her on a wooden chair at a granite-topped table, filled a teapot with water, and put it on the stove. Destiny stared down at the striations running through the sandstone and amber colored granite. She couldn’t look at him. It was too confusing.

  Reece settled his big body down in a chair across from hers. “Now, tell me what happened.”

  “I went through this huge puddle, and my engine stalled. I couldn’t get it to start.”

  “Where’s your car now?”

  “A few blocks from here. I managed to pull it pretty close to the curb, so it’s not in the middle of the street or anything.”

  “Good, it’s safe. I think you’d better stay here until morning. We can call a tow truck then.”

  “I’d rather take care of it now.”

  “Destiny, you’re shivering with cold. It’s ridiculous for you to go back out into the rain wait for them. You can stay here.”

  She looked up at him and said quietly, “I want to go home.”

  He nodded. “Aye, I can see that.” He ran a hand back through his already mussed hair, blew out a breath. “Look, stay here tonight. I won’t touch you. I promise. I didn’t mean to scare you earlier. I don’t know...I don’t quite know what happened, but I understand why you left the way you did. I was fairly freaked out myself. But, you know, I’m a man, so I tried to ignore it in light of what else was going on. It won’t happen again. I won’t touch you. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  “It did happen...”

  “Yeah. Something happened, though I’ll be damned if I know what.” His dark brows creased.

  “I thought...I thought it was you who did it. Or that I was crazy.”

  “Well, if you’re crazy, then so am I. But I didn’t do it, whatever the hell it was.” His features relaxed, softened. “All I know is that up until that moment, this was the most incredible night of my life. And I didn’t want you to leave.”

  His words went straight to her heart and warmed her through, so that she hardly even felt her cold, wet clothes against her skin. Something inside her loosened.

  “Reece, what happened to us?”

  “I’ve no idea. Not even a theory, which is odd for me.”

  “Do you think it’s possible for people to...manifest things? To manifest their thoughts?”

  “You’re the psychologist. You know a lot more about the powers of the mind than I do.”

  Their conversation had a calming effect on her. This sort of problem-solving dialogue was something she was used to. And she found sitting in his cozy kitchen comfortably reassuring, with his big, solid body across the table from her.

  The kettle whistled, and Reece got up to make the tea. Destiny took the opportunity to look around the kitchen. It wasn’t large, but well-designed, with state-of-the-art, brushed-steel appliances and granite counters that matched the tabletop. Wood cabinets in a maple finish gave the kitchen a warm feel. She loved the look and feel of the room, had a quick flash of herself cooking there. She hadn’t had anyone to cook for in a long time. She’d bet a man of Reece’s size and build could eat. A man of his...appetites...would appreciate a good meal.

  What was she thinking?

  Reece set a fragrant, steaming cup down in front of her. “We really should get you out of those wet clothes.”

  “I haven’t agreed to stay here, yet,” she answered, wrapping her hands around the heat of the cup.

  “Shall I beg you, then?”

  She couldn’t resist the mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes. The corners of her mouth twitched. “I can’t say I’d mind seeing that.”

  “Ah, there’s that lovely smile, however grudging.”

  “Just as long as you know it’s grudging.”

  Reece Kellan was the kindest man she’d met in a very long while. He had a sense of humor. He was caring and considerate. H
er Nana would have loved him. And lord, he was the hottest piece of male flesh she’d ever laid her eyes on. She had to repress the girlish sigh that wanted to well up in her. He was almost perfect. Except for that truly bizarre moment...

  But maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe it was her. Or maybe they were both nuts. Either way, she was irresistibly tempted to try it again.

  She sipped her tea. It went down warm and sweet, and she felt as comforted by it as she did by Reece’s presence. She’d like to feel his presence right next to her. On her. Inside her.

  She groaned.

  “Is your tea too hot?”

  “What? No, it’s fine, wonderful.” She took another sip to hide the blush she knew was creeping over her face.

  “You should get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death, as my Nan used to say.”

  “You were close with your grandmother?”

  “Aye, she helped raised me. She’s the only reason I didn’t grow up to be a total hellion. Her and the willow switch she kept in the pantry.” He gave her a saucy wink.

  “In Ireland?”

  “In County Clare. I grew up in a small fishing village called Quilty.”

  ”Quilty?” A strange knot began to form in her stomach.

  “Yeah, why? You’ve heard of it?”

  “My Nana grew up there.”

  “Did she now? A small world. What was her family name? Perhaps my family knows her people. Everyone in Quilty knows each other.”

  “It’s Gallagher. Rose Gallagher. Well, I guess she was known as Rosheen in Ireland—”

  “Rosheen Gallagher? That was the very name of my Nan’s best friend growing up as a girl! She moved away to marry an American, and her whole family followed.”

  Goose bumps sprouted along Destiny’s spine. “Your Nan was Brighid O’Ryan?”

  “The same!” A look of awe crept over his features. “A small world, indeed. So you are the descendant of Rosheen...” he trailed off.

  She waited, but he sat there looking confused.

  “What? What is it?”

  “Did your grandmother never tell you of the vow they made between them when she left the country? That some day their two families would be joined together once more.”