“Och, nay, no magic, just the feel of us getting closer the old fashioned way,” he muttered tearing his lips from hers. He released a frustrated grunt as he arched and yanked off his plaid. The scratch of the fabric between her thighs made her yelp with pleasure.
Totally lost in passion, their lips were about to lock again when shadows started to form and she saw the outline of his face. “I thought you said no magic.”
“I did.” He hauled her tight against him, his throbbing arousal eager. “I do.”
“But, but…” When his lips crashed against hers, Cassie didn’t care what the hell she thought she saw. Their tongues began to dance again, so eager she honestly wasn’t worried about coming up for air ever again. Only when he tugged impatiently at her dress, apparently wanting it off, did they separate long enough for her to clearly see what had been flickering in her vision before.
Vision!
But not the normal sense by any means. He almost appeared ghost-like as a light blue light flickered over his face. His face. In and out of shadows and darkness but somehow there. Though beyond desperate to have him inside her, Cassie shook her head and put a hand to his chest, panting, “I don’t get it. What’s going on?”
Logan shook his head, brows drawn together, lips open, breath harsh as his eyes devoured her face. Everything she could make out, no, somewhat see was glowing blue… “Holy shit.”
His eyes dropped to what she was staring at and a slow smile blossomed on his face, brogue as thick as the magic she must be witnessing. “Yer ring glows for me, aye?”
Blazing, a shining light within her darkness, the stone nestled between the hands on her Claddagh ring glowed the color of Logan’s eyes. A beautiful pale blue with gossamer threads of gold that lit him up.
And her.
She could see her body when close to him.
Tears didn’t just come to her eyes but overflowed as she looked at him... as she again saw his face, all the more handsome for having seen it when blind. While somehow she knew— whether by the magic of the ring or by her own special vision—that though her sight was gone she had been gifted with this.
The ability to see him.
Logan MacLomain.
As she stared at him, her mind went back to the moment she had pulled into the Colonial’s driveway back in New Hampshire. The intent look in his eyes when he rode Athdara. Someone, somewhere, either a god or a wizard or maybe even a motherly witch had given Cassie an amazing gift.
Him.
This Highlander with his heart in his eyes.
A man she never would have imagined she was good enough for. But she realized as he gazed at her so lovingly that not only was she lucky to have found him but he was just as lucky to have found her.
Yes, his strength and support gave her courage but something about this moment, knowing that she was willing to accept his support and that she was stronger for it, was eye-opening. It was almost as if he lit the spark beneath a strength she had been working toward for years but only now acknowledged.
Not his strength but hers.
A strength found because she was finally willing to see that it was there.
That it had always been there.
“Do you see the glow as well?” she asked, voice not wobbly in the least. No, she was done with insecurity. In fact, she was done with being blind to what mattered most.
The woman she had become.
The woman she intended to live her life being.
“Aye, I see it,” he whispered, such pride in his eyes as he gazed at her.
“Good.” Cassie tore off her dress. Then she didn’t use the ring’s glow to guide her way but tucked it between them, flicked her tongue over his lips and sank into him. When he groaned in pleasure and clasped her waist, she let her head drop back and reveled in the feel of him. She rolled her hips and trembled at the undulating flutters shooting through her.
“Och, I love ye, lass,” he whispered as he trailed kisses everywhere.
Hips rolling and grinding, she gave into being a desired woman. A loved woman. Things that had never been hers. Within not only the newfound confidence but the deep-seated pleasure, there was a complete lack of fear.
Yes, some might say she wasn’t completely blind as long as she was with Logan. She would always see him. But there was still such closure. No more sunrises or sunsets. No more gazing at the ocean off the coast of Maine. No more eying her little Chevette and patting her on the hood.
That was all behind her.
Cell phones, television, technology, modern day…that was all behind her. Now it was something entirely different. Logan. Medieval Scotland. A king to keep safe. A friend to possibly save.
A new life.
Just not the one she planned for.
When Logan grabbed her backside and thrust especially deep, she cried out and pressed close. Any thoughts after that became null and void as they moved against one another. Frantic, heaving, they thrust again and again, painfully desperate to not just climax but be one. They nearly climbed one another they were so impatient, so out of control.
There was no darkness here but pure feeling, pure passion.
Pure love.
When her body seized and movement became impossible, he pulled her so tightly against him that she gasped. Apparently it didn’t matter if she was blind or not, a rainbow of colors burst across her vision as she quivered almost violently.
“Bloody hell,” he murmured over and over right before her sharp climax ripped him along for the ride. With one hand gripping her shoulder, he pressed his cheek to the top of her head and groaned, “Cassie,” with so much possessive passion another intense orgasm lashed through her.
They held one another for a long time, completely absorbed in how good they made each other feel. Time was completely lost. What was not lost to her were his words whispered against her ear, “Be my wif. Marry me, lass. ‘Twould make me the happiest Laird in all of Scotland.”
She smiled against his neck. “Wif?”
There was a definite grin in his response. “Wife.”
Finally able to muster the muscles to move, she pulled back enough to cup his cheeks. Though she felt the first rays of sunlight warm her back, she saw only the blue glow of his face as she gave him her heart. “By truly realizing how much I love myself, I can now easily recognize and tell you without a shred of doubt that I love you, Logan MacLomain.”
Then she braced herself, wondering if she should be honest. Because the old ‘her’, who she was prior to coming to Scotland, might have agreed to marry him in a heartbeat. After all, a girl like her wasn’t about to get many more offers, especially from a guy like this. Yet she wasn’t the old her anymore. Not in the least. It didn’t matter if the revelation had happened in such a short time…it happened.
So she went with honesty. “But I won’t marry you.”
Cassie didn’t miss the pain that flickered in his eyes but as was Logan’s way he nodded and kissed the back of her hand. The man truly was unendingly noble. So she finished her sentence. “Yet. I won’t marry you yet.”
“Yet?” he murmured, lips lingering on the back of her hand.
She nodded, trying not to drown in the adoring way he looked at her so she could say what needed to be said. “I’ll be staying here. Based on what I’ve seen, the shit’s not nearly done hitting the fan and my friends are likely heading this way.”
Cassie licked her lips and stuttered, “A-and I should b-be here when they go through that,” when he shifted his hips, apparently springing back faster than most men.
"And?” he whispered, trailing his lips up the underside of her arm.
“And I…um…” Cassie closed her eyes and pulled her arm away from his distracting lips. When she opened them, that same look of pride had returned to his eyes.
A small smile came to his face. “Go on, lass.”
Right. Go on. Cassie caught her breath and nodded. “I need to learn how to live my life blind. I thought it was going to be
in the twenty-first century, but I was wrong.”
“Aye?” He quirked the corner of his lip. “So ye’ll be staying but not marrying me then?”
Cassie nodded then shook her head when he shifted just enough to remind her how intimate their position still was. But what she meant to say was important so she cupped his cheeks and narrowed her eyes. “You are without question the most incredible man I’ve ever met and I can say with all honesty that I don’t want another. But I need to learn about the new me for a little bit.”
“The new you?”
“The blind me.”
Logan nodded.
“I need to acclimate and learn my way around your castle,” she said. “I don’t want to be the twenty-first century girl ‘saved’ by the Highland Laird. I don’t want to be the ‘oh poor her’ story.”
Logan said nothing, but that same look of pride was still on his face as he nodded for her to continue.
So she did. “I want to learn my way around and earn your clan’s respect not because I’m Lady of the Castle but because I’m me.”
“And who are you?” he murmured, watching her closely.
Cassie thought about it. Who was she? Was she the twenty-first century girl who needed to learn the ropes in medieval Scotland? Was she the girl who might’ve helped save Robert the Bruce?
Or was she the blind girl?
Their eyes held and she realized that while she was a little bit of all of those things she wasn’t really any of them. No, at the root of her, broken down into this singular moment, she was someone entirely different.
Someone she would enjoy getting to know better.
Leaning close, she whispered exactly who she was before kissing him. “I’m just a girl who believes that a woman can find ‘Happily Ever After’ by embracing and loving who she’s become.” She deepened the kiss then murmured against his lips, “And I suppose I have you to thank for that.”
He whispered, “Nay, lass. I couldnae have loved ye so thoroughly if ye were not exactly who ye were from the verra start.” His hands wrapped into her hair. “‘Tis good though that ye can finally see what I’ve seen all along.
What an absolute sweetheart.
“I really do love you,” she murmured, so astoundingly glad that they had made it to this moment. That she had found such an incredible man to share her life with. She was never more hopeful and eager for what lay ahead.
Though the enemy was not defeated, Logan and Cassie did get what they set out for.
The wee king was safe and the future of Scotland secure enough for now.
As it turned out, the quest of her Scottish Warrior had never been entirely about saving a young boy or even protecting his country but finding a love he deserved.
A love they both deserved.
So when their lips locked and the world faded away, they reveled in the end of a successful journey. After all, their ending, one built on acceptance, respect and true love, was by far the very best beginning.
Go Back
Persephone by Phoenix Johnson
First Print Edition August 2015
ISBN: 978-1-926514-18-5
First Digital Edition August 2015
eISBN: 978-1-926514-20-8
Published by Naughty Nights Press LLC
http://naughtynightspress.com/
Edited by Deadra Krieger
Cover Art by Fiona Jade
Copyright © Phoenix Johnson 2015
All rights reserved.
Persephone by Phoenix Johnson
Prologue
The fallen angel sat shivering on the cold, hard rocks while the waves crashed around her, roaring their fury at her. She didn’t know where she was, nor did she remember the events leading up to her arrival in this chilly, uninviting place. The icy, salty spray clung to the red feathers of her wings, making flight close to impossible. She had a feeling that she was supposed to be here, as though she was being punished. So she sat, huddled over and shuddering against the assault of the ocean on her pale skin. Maybe, if she could remember exactly what had happened she could figure out how to escape to a warmer place. She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and sobbed as the fog in her mind continued to hide her memories from her. It was hopeless.
Chapter One
The sun beat down on her back, warm and friendly. She loved spring; it was the season that meant baby animals and a fresh warmth that was a reprieve from the biting frost of winter by the forest. Breathing in deeply, she could smell the inviting smells of new flowers and grass growing within the beckoning woods bordering her village. A shout from inside the house behind her brought her crashing back to reality.
Persephone was the oldest daughter to Bruce, a failed blacksmith turned drunkard, and Priscilla, an aging, embittered seamstress whose talents were only sub-par. Their other five children ranged from eight to fifteen years old and were equally as bitter and angry at the world as their parents. Persephone was an oddity within the family. At eighteen years old, she was of a marrying age, but was only interested in reading and spending time in the forest—anything to escape her family for a few hours. It wasn’t like she shirked her duties of cooking, cleaning, and looking after her drunken father while her mother tried selling low quality clothing and her siblings were at school. She had just been doing everything around the house for so long that she finished her morning chores quickly. Her father usually spent most of the day sleeping off his hangover, so she was able to pass her time most days reading. She loved to read about women living on their own without having to support their useless, ungrateful families and only having themselves to answer to. She imagined the women in her books having families that did appreciate them. When she wasn’t reading as a form of escape, she would walk in the woods, then lie in the cool grass under the thick canopy of tree branches full of new leaves.
Today, however, Bruce—for in her mind she refused to recognize him as her father—was in a foul mood and didn’t sleep. Persephone heaved a sigh, gazing longingly at the branches that seemed to stretch towards her, trying to whisk her away to somewhere better. Soon, she promised herself and the waiting forest. She turned around and entered the house to find out what the drunken fool wanted now.
***
Almost an hour later, after much yelling and hitting from Bruce before he finally passed out, Persephone stumbled outside, grasping on to the doorway as though it were a life-raft. Her face hurt where he hit her, her ribs throbbed where she’d been kicked, and her eyes welled up with tears that she refused to let fall. She would not let him make her feel weak.
Holding an arm protectively across her battered ribs, she slowly walked towards the trees that sighed from the wind, and welcomed her into their midst. As soon as she entered the shade, the cool air kissed her bruised skin as though apologizing for not being able to defend her. Breathing in the scents of the forest, her spirits were lifted. She didn’t resist the smile that tugged at her lips, and Persephone walked further in until she could no longer see the village and house she thought of as her prison yard and cell. She leaned against a tall birch tree, trying not to breathe too deeply to save her ribs more pain. No matter how much she fought it, her tears refused to leave, destroying her serenity from moments ago, and a hitch in her breathing signaled that she was close to breaking down. The sudden silence in the woods was a welcome surprise that chased the tears away. A snapping twig nearby sent her heart hammering. If Bruce had woken up and followed her, this morning’s beatings would be nothing compared to the punishment she would receive for slacking off.
A handsome young man she didn’t recognize appeared from around a tree, not seeming to have noticed her yet. Persephone froze, not wanting to draw attention to herself in case he wasn’t friendly. There were many mean-spirited men in her village, as well as in the small communities nearby, and she hoped with all her might he wasn’t one of them. A breeze kicked up and sent the stranger's shoulder-length light brown hair fluttering and flapping like a living creature. The sun filterin
g through the leaves overhead dappled it so that strands shone like spun gold. He appeared almost like a deity, beautiful and lit by warm sunshine, as though nature itself was putting him in the spotlight. She watched as he walked through the trees, at peace in the quiet forest.
Persephone began to relax as the man slowly continued walking aimlessly, looking down at his feet. She took a delicate, hesitant step forward, clumsily waving her hand before placing it back at her side, feeling a fool, and instead cleared her throat to gain his attention. Fighting back a giggle as the stranger jumped, she took another dainty step forward, still slightly wary about who he was. His voice, when he spoke, reminded her of liquid honey, warming her as it slid over her.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” He looked at her strangely when she didn’t reply, and she realized she had stopped breathing.
“Th-that’s okay,” she stammered, his voice still affecting her in odd ways. “I’m just picking mushrooms and herbs. What are you doing out here?”
He jerked his head to look back in the direction he came, as though the answer would appear, then turned back and shrugged with a sheepish smile. “Trying to escape for a little.”
A kindred spirit. His warm brown eyes seemed to glow in the muted forest light, and the sun coming from behind hit his hair and it shone brighter than before, almost creating a halo. She shook her head lightly, berating herself for her fanciful thoughts. He was just an ordinary man. An ordinary man who was now a lot closer and stretching out his hand in greeting.
“I’m Adrian,” he introduced himself. “I’m from Adiron, just north of the forest.”
Persephone took his hand and a small bolt of electricity ran through her arm. Her eyes widened and she saw Adrian’s do the same.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not sure what happened there.”
Persephone smiled softly, though her heart still pounded from the shock. “That’s okay.” They looked at each other and laughed as they realized they’d repeated their first words to each other almost exactly. “I’m Persephone.” She chuckled, delighting in the merry sound of his deep laugh and the way his warm eyes seemed to dance, slightly crinkled at the corners from his mirth. “I’m from Mythosandria, just through the trees to the east. To be honest, I’m also trying to escape for some peace.”
Beyond The Veil: A Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set Page 271