Riding Magyk

by Allyson Young

  Jolene stepped forward and took Rhiannon’s outstretched hand. Rhiannon was beautiful. Her form was slender and stately, her skin a shade lighter than her sons’. Her long black hair was caught at the base in a jeweled clasp and streamed over one shoulder, falling across the loose woven garment covering her breasts. The older woman had bequeathed her golden brown eyes to her children, and those large orbs searched Jolene’s face intently before her own visage relaxed into a happy smile.

  “Welcome, daughter,” she said softly. “I feel your magyk, and my sons are blessed.”

  Jolene hurried to respond. She could only imagine what it was like for Rhiannon to find out not only one, but both of her only children were destined to mate with a human. Xander may have learned his xenophobia from his parents. Her polite response was as gracious and gentle as she could make it, and she accompanied it with a strong, subconscious emotional message. Her fears were immediately put to rest.

  “You love my sons, Jolene. I feel and know this, and what’s more, I know you love them despite how Xander treated you. Not that Sulie was any great help to you at that time!” At the twins’ protest, Rhiannon clapped her hands and shooed them away. “Go. I have arranged a room for your mate. She will have one last night alone. Perhaps she will run hard while she has the chance.”

  “Rhiannon! Don’t scare them so!” The large horse man with the same coloring as her men and their handsome, if older, features, offered his hand. “I am Agrippas Ahearn, daughter. The supposed lord and master of this family, although you can clearly see who rules.”

  Jolene’s hand was swallowed up in Agrippas’s larger one, and she felt his good heart. She sent the warm feelings back to him, and he looked startled and then extremely pleased. She watched as Sulie and Xander pushed through the door of the dwelling, alternately tugging her purse between them as they vied to carry it. She hid a smile and found Rhiannon studying her. Her future mother-in-law laughed out loud.

  “You will be good for those boys, Jolene Phillips. Xander especially. He gets too full of himself sometimes. But he has a true heart and will never let you down now he has committed himself.”

  Jolene couldn’t hide a small frown, and Rhiannon picked up on it right away. “I assure you, you have nothing to fear, Jolene. He was bereft without you, and he and Sulie could not comfort one another. Their father and I despaired.”

  “Come, daughter,” said Agrippas. “We’ll let you get comfortable before we sup, and then Rhiannon will help you prepare for tomorrow.”

  Jolene wondered what preparations were afoot, but mentally shrugged and followed where Rhiannon led. She liked her mother- and father-in-law-to-be and thought her parents would like them, too. Perhaps they could all get together at some point, if in her realm and with as much magyk as she could muster. Her head hurt at the thought of it, but she was committed to Xander and Sulie, and love would somehow find a way. Rhiannon opened a panel to a small but airy room facing out onto the meadow. The bed was wide and strangely shaped, with the middle higher than the sides. Rhiannon explained Ipotanes didn’t lie flat but leaned to the side when they lay down to rest in order to get to their feet with ease, hence the support. Jolene figured she would never have to worry about rolling out of bed and then stopped where those thoughts led her. She would always have her own bolsters, and the idea of being hemmed in, protected on both sides, cherished and held safe, made her heart sigh with contentment. They would probably have to commission a new bed to accommodate the three of them.

  Rhiannon left her to explore her room and the adjoining bath that had the highest commode ever. Jolene had no idea how she would be able to hoist herself up on it, but decided to cross that bridge when she needed to. There was nothing to unpack really, and she left her bag where it sat on the floor by the bed. She walked to the window and stared across the meadow, breathing in the sweet air that was smog and chemical free. It was glorious and so peaceful. She knew there were many other Ipotanes and other beings in the surrounding area. She could feel them. She thought she could feel Terach specifically. They were obviously giving her space, and she appreciated the courtesy. This must be what arranged marriages felt like, where the bride met the groom right before the ceremony. Jolene smiled to herself. She had well met her grooms and wondered how they would feel about being away from her overnight. She missed them, but certain parts of her ached a little and were a tad sore. Even being a witch didn’t seem to change those facts. It seemed her sexuality was very much human, even if she was going to have to do it in horse form at some point. It didn’t creep her out at all now. She had seen her men in the flesh as it were, and Rhiannon and Agrippas were clearly a happy and satisfied couple. She actually felt more and more like what she supposed an Ipotane felt.

  The objects of her desire quite suddenly presented themselves at the window. Jolene swallowed a tiny scream of surprise. They both looked like the cat that swallowed the proverbial canary, although she supposed she needed to find a better analogy. Perhaps they looked like the horses who found the gate to the orchard open. She looked from one to the other and waited.

  Finally, Sulieman said, “Arion has shown us the manner of our mating, Jolene. It will be in both human and Ipotane form. Away from prying eyes!”

  Jolene asked, “Which comes first?”

  The twins looked at one another and held quite still, looking remarkably like the marble bookends in her parents’ library. Sulie finally replied, “I would prefer as humans first, Jolene.”

  Something wasn’t right. Jolene already knew when her men were skirting around something. She gave them the look that seemed to get the best results, and Sulie huffed a little.

  “Xander is the oldest twin, so he must take you first, Jolene, in Ipotane form. We can both take you in human form, together. Arion says it doesn’t matter.”

  Jolene didn’t laugh. She absolutely wrapped that need up and tucked it away in the farthest recesses of her mind. It was just like grade five all over again where the popular girl had to settle the differences of her two best friends. Jolene had never been that girl, but she loved the experience now and tried hard to respect the issue at hand involving delicate masculine pride. She nodded her head gravely. It didn’t matter to her either. Bring it on. She wanted sex with them together, separately, and in whatever configuration they could devise. She wanted to taste them, too, and wondered how that had never happened. Perhaps Ipotane men weren’t as inclined as human men to long for blow jobs. Jolene hadn’t been a big fan of those herself until the twins had come along. But now she found herself wanting to do absolutely everything with them. The emotional component of this relationship enhanced and completed the physical, and she could have wept with gratitude. Sulie and Xander rushed the window at the hint of tears, and she laughed them away.

  “In human form first, Sulie.” She felt Xander’s stare and knew he had divined a hint of her thoughts, but she kept him out with more effort than she hoped. It was going to be a bugger after tomorrow when they would be more likely to read her like a book, just as she would read them. She could foresee some interesting times ahead. Her temper likely wouldn’t go away and Xander’s arrogance wouldn’t either. Sulie might profess to be the softer one, but he, too, had a will of steel. Jolene’s butt tingled in distant memory of that correction even as she winced inwardly at the idea of even contemplating that she could have separated these two. Well, if Xander thought he could correct her in the future, he’d better be prepared for more than a token resistance, unless she deserved it of course. Her pussy flooded at the thought of being mastered, and her horse men’s nostrils flared. Shit. Something else she couldn’t hide from them.

  Jolene withdrew and slid the window panels shut. She would see them at dinner and then meet with Rhiannon. By tomorrow Sulie and Xander would be pawing the ground, and if her need, too, would be huge, well, it would make it all the sweeter.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Jolene came awake to the sounds of insects buzzing and birds
singing the dawn chorus. It was still dim in the room, but there was the light signaling the rising of the sun in a short time. She stretched and smiled as she felt the cool sheets on her naked skin. Despite Sulie’s previous reassurance of available clothing, Rhiannon hadn’t been able to provide her with anything to sleep in, and Jolene was loathe to sleep in her clothes she had worn the day before. It felt natural to sleep nude now, and she suspected it would be her usual attire in bed from here on in. She wondered if her horse men planned to keep her naked all the times and resolved to make them produce that promised apparel. She supposed she could conjure some up if push came to shove.

  She clambered out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. Someone had thoughtfully placed a little stool for her to easily access the facilities, and she made use of them quickly before stepping into the stone shower. Many of the things in this realm were quite similar to her own except adapted to suit four legs. Most of the hoofed inhabitants apparently chose to live outside, with only loose shelters to take refuge in should the rains become tedious. It never got really cold here, and the heat was tempered by the constant flow of gentle breezes over the large bodies of water that abounded. Rhiannon told Jolene the dwellings were used more to store belongings, to bathe and to prepare meals, and occasionally conduct politics or business as was necessary. Jolene marveled that one could live outdoors in comfort and have one’s needs met with such little effort. She couldn’t understand why it was that anyone would leave this idyllic place and cross to a world filled with unpleasantness. She supposed it was because no one was ever really content with their lot, and that this realm’s inhabitants had more in common with her kind than they knew.

  The floral and grassy undertones of the shampoo and soap enveloped her as she washed her hair and body. Rhiannon talked with her about the ceremony at great length, and Jolene understood she would wait for her horsemen beneath an arbor of wildflowers, dressed in a robe woven from the softest grasses of the realm. Not that she had seen said robe. That apparently was tradition, and Jolene wasn’t allowed underwear either. She entered into a tiny disagreement with her future mother-in-law over that point and recognized a formidable fighter when she met one. Jolene decided to pick her battles and acquiesced. Xander and Sulie had kept their attention on their plates of greens and succulents during this discussion, and Jolene eyed them suspiciously. Once their mother was victorious, they had both looked at her with appreciation and gratitude, and Jolene realized how important it was to them that Rhiannon be allowed to follow tradition. She also understood their relationship, once mated, would be their own to build and grow because they would choose her over their mom, regardless. Rhiannon might be gaining a daughter, but she was also losing her sons. Jolene decided then and there to cherish the gift to the best of her ability. The evening had passed quickly. The twins’ need for her became more and more palpable until Agrippas banished them to their home, exhorting them to rest and be ready for the important event in the morn.

  She dried off with the soft woven fabric left for the purpose and pulled her brush through her hair, leaving it for Rhiannon to dress for her. When she went back into her bedroom, the small table had been set with tea and soft rolls, as well as some fruit. She ate it all, for despite the planned wedding breakfast, Jolene was worried about falling on her face with the tension taking her strength and making her knees weak. It didn’t feel like something was going to go wrong. Instead it was a heady feeling of intense excitement, but stressful nevertheless. Jolene also wished that her parents could witness this, as well as Uncle Marshall.

  “Jolene?” Rhiannon’s soft voice sounded on the other side of the privacy panels.

  “Come in, Rhiannon! Thank you for breakfast!”

  The horse woman stepped into the room and smiled widely at Jolene. Her arms were full of fabric and flowers and what appeared to be links of precious metal with sparkling stones embossed in it. Jolene hurried to throw the covers up on the bed so that Rhiannon could lay things out on it.

  Rhiannon urged her to sit on one of the specially designed Ipotane chairs, and Jolene felt like she was ensconced on a throne. The other woman braided her hair into a long tail and wove flowers through it, their scent adding to that of the shampoo. Then Rhiannon swept up the fabric and dropped it over Jolene’s head. It drifted about her and she marveled at the softness even as she shimmied the towel off and stepped away from it. Rhiannon scooped it up and took it to the bathroom while Jolene examined her reflection in the polished mirror. The soft ivory shade of the mature woven grasses suited her coloring, and the fabric floated without really touching to delineate her shape or hint at her attributes. The flowers looked like jewels against her dark hair. She uttered her thanks to Rhiannon and watched curiously as she picked up the gold links. Rhiannon began by wrapping the links around her neck in a loose configuration, then drew them down to her waist, between her breasts, holding them in place with one finger while she made a gorgeous belt around Jolene’s waist with more. Jolene could feel yet another set of links follow her spine up to her nape and the links wrap around her throat again. When Rhiannon let them drop and then tightened them around either breast, Jolene could see that she had manufactured a harness of sorts, one that molded and lifted and displayed her, her nipples already responding to the rub and slide of the fabric to nearly poke right through its softness. A set of links on either side of her waist completed the intricate weaving. Jolene knew, without asking, that they were placed to connect with Sulie and Xander, and was pleased they weren’t at her neck. That, she would have protested and refused. The rest of the robe covered her discreetly, all the way to her ankles, but her upper half was nothing less than decadent. Jolene recognized how the thin fabric further titillated because her darker nipples could be seen, and she and Rhiannon exchanged a look that spoke volumes. Sulie and Xander would be driven wild with desire and possessiveness.

  “It makes for a passionate mating,” Rhiannon confided. “Agrippas nearly choked the elder who performed our ceremony, and he was insatiable afterward.”

  Jolene privately thought it was a bit weird her future mother-in-law was so up front about sex, especially when it involved her sons, but there one had it. Maybe this realm, with its unspoiled environment, had the same healthy attitude toward sexuality, even if her golden harness was there to tease and stimulate. Jolene spun and stared at Rhiannon. Holy shit. She hadn’t even thought about birth control. She had been blinded by lust. Xander hadn’t lied to her about being free of disease, and he’d also indicated he wouldn’t impregnate her, but now they were to be mated!

  “Can I get pregnant?” she demanded.

  Rhiannon raised her eyebrows. “That’s why we mate, daughter. And in your case it is also to preserve my sons’ well-being! Your magyk could eventually consume them if you are not mated as you have been told. I so look forward to being a grandmother.”

  Jolene couldn’t believe she hadn’t considered that little issue. Holy shit. How would this thing work? Would she have one baby? A little horse person? Or two? Did twins run in Ipotane families? How about none? She wondered if she could run in this gold harness, and Rhiannon suddenly tumbled to the fact her future daughter-in-law was panicking.

  “Jolene! What is wrong? Are you all right?”

  “This going too fast. I’m not ready to be mated! I’m not ready to be a mother!” Jolene could hardly put comprehensive statements together, and her breath stuttered in her chest. She had just found the loves of her life again and the sex was incredible, but now she was going to be impregnated in another realm.

  Rhiannon clapped her hands just as she had done to garner Sulie and Xander’s attention. Jolene homed in on the sound and found she could breathe normally again. Rhiannon took her face between both of her hands and locked eyes with her. “It’s going to be fine, Jolene. You will not conceive until you are ready, and Arion assures me you will have human children who will be able to transform in adolescence. Sulieman and Xander must truly be obsessed
with you and their carnal needs that they didn’t share this after they met with Arion!”

  Jolene flopped back on the bed, uncaring about what it might do to her robe. She stared at the ceiling and wondered at her sanity. She was a witch, descended, apparently, from a long line of witches with relations in this realm of the hoofed variety. She had fallen, ass over heels for not one, but two horse men and after months of hell without them was marrying them both, no, mating them both and could expect to get pregnant when she was ready. Like she would know when that time came. She had barely come to terms with the fact she was a fully fledged witch! Wow. She needed her mom, but her mom would send an ambulance and two large men in white coats.

  “Jolene? Daughter, it is time. We need to get to the place of ceremonies.”

  She groaned inwardly and wondered what would happen if she left Sulie and Xander at the altar and fled back to her realm. Her heart nearly beat out of her chest at the idea of leaving them while the tiny sane part of her brain urged her to run like the wind. Like a horse. Rhiannon tugged her upright and led her from the room. Jolene followed along like an obedient dog and fought hysterical laughter. They passed any number of Ipotanes and several Caprines who were probably beginning to congregate as the time for the ceremony drew near, with her as the star. Jolene vaguely registered other attractive human faces and upper bodies above the lower halves of deer and the like. The females’ chests were covered in similar, loose, concealing garments, much like what Rhiannon wore. They all nodded respectfully and stepped aside for her and Rhiannon to precede them. The male Caprines in particular stared at her bound chest, and that registered more clearly for Jolene. Lust was what had gotten her here, and lust would keep her here.

  “They love you beyond measure.” Rhiannon’s quiet assertion brought Jolene closer to the present, and her magyk pulsed with the truth of that comment. Sulie and Xander loved her, and that was enough. Well, and the lust part was quite acceptable, too. The other stuff would sort itself out. It would because Jolene wasn’t having unprotected sex or mating with either of them until they had a chat about babies. With that life decision made, she went forward with a lighter tread and let Rhiannon position her under the arbor.