Soul Magic

by Jennifer Lyon

  “Did I look like I was hurting to you?”

  He hadn’t. But she couldn’t think …

  “It doesn’t hurt me like it does you. Carla, I’m not going to watch this. I won’t.”

  She turned slowly, looked up. The veins in Sutton’s arms were pulsing against his skin, the muscles were popping and twitching, his jaw was set and his hands curled into fists at his sides. He was holding back from touching her. Now he looked like he was in pain, whereas before … “I don’t understand.”

  He lifted his arms, opened them for her. “Just come here, damn it.”

  She took a step and he folded his arms around her, pressed her head against his chest.

  And then he relaxed.

  It only took a minute for the burning lances in her head to fade to a mild ache. But Sutton didn’t even twitch, his arms stayed firm around her, his heart beat strong and steady against her cheek. She asked, “You don’t feel it?” Maybe she was mistaking what was happening. Maybe he eased her pain but wasn’t actually feeling it himself.

  “Yes. Stabbing in my head.” He pressed his cheek against the top of her head. “Wing Slayer Hunters were built to handle pain. It’s not a big deal. But for witches, you feel it immensely. And yet, you take pain and heal others.”

  His arms felt so good. Warm, strong, and safe. “Usually it’s only a few minutes worth of pain. Normally our chakras break the pain down and get rid of it.”

  “You don’t have to go to the astral plane to get the prongs out, do you?”

  “No. When I did it with my mom and Darcy, we went outside so I’d be closer to the elements. But I thought maybe with you, with the eagle, I could do it in here. That’s what I came in here for.”

  “You should have tried this before getting Pam.”

  “I needed to get her back to the physical plane first. She didn’t have much time left.”

  He was silent, but his hand circled her back.

  “And I thought maybe the break with Keri … I thought maybe he wouldn’t be able to reach me anymore.”

  Sutton raised his head.

  She looked up at him.

  “You’re my soul mirror. Not Keri. That wasn’t Keri talking.” He used both hands to brush back her hair.

  She believed that, at least on an intellectual level. Keri had told her to save the Eagle, she wouldn’t blame her now. It was Styx’s mind tricks, but the sheer horror stayed with her on an emotional level. She shifted the subject a little with, “We are obviously connected, since I pulled you in again. This is dangerous. I have to get the prongs out.”

  “Tell me what to do.”

  “I just need to open my chakras and concentrate. It was so much easier to open my chakras with Pam, so I must be getting stronger. I felt the eagle, too. He was helping me.”

  Sutton looked down at her with his intense eyes. “He loves the feel of your power flowing through us. You are getting stronger. Sometimes the flow starts to bulge in spots, like it’s going to burst out of control, like a bulge in a hose. But the eagle smooths it out and keeps it going.”

  “It must be weird for you.”

  He leaned down and skimmed his mouth over hers, back and forth.

  Carla dug her hands into his waist. The feel of his lips against hers ignited her nerve endings, and made her stomach clench with need. She felt his erection stand up against her belly.

  He lifted his mouth. “Weird? I feel your power, that deepest part of you, streaming through me. It makes me want to taste all your skin, then taste your core until you are covered in the scent of your power. Then I’d spread your thighs as far as I could, slide inside you, and ride the feel of your power around my cock. I’d want to come right then, but I wouldn’t, not until I drove you to release, the release that sets you free to fly just like my eagle. And then I’d come, pumping in you while flying with you. So weird doesn’t even begin to cover what it feels like.”

  Her thighs clenched while her core pulsed and swelled. The raw essence of his words, along with the intimacy of being so closely connected to him, made her almost hurt to feel him inside of her.

  Her chakras snapped open like rapid gunfire, adding to the waterfall of sensations. It was too much, too fast. Winds swirled around them, lifting her hair and billowing her shirt. Electricity crackled. The TV on the wall flipped channels. Her powers were bouncing all over, searching for a connection to Sutton and his eagle.

  Sutton held on to her and grinned. “Having a little trouble, witch doctor?”

  “It’s not funny.” She tried to glare at him but the wind whipped her hair into her face. She twisted her head to look at the TV.

  It went off.

  The snaps of electricity calmed, but the wind kept blowing.

  Sutton left one arm around her back, and used the other hand to pull her hair from her face.

  She went stiff, trying to stop the yawning ache opening inside of her. “My powers are searching for you.”

  His amusement vanished. “I’m right here,” he said softly.

  All her life, she had carefully shown people the part of her they wanted to see. Witch, or scientist, or lab rat. She had dated smart men, and they’d wanted the smart woman, not an emotional witch. She’d always had to divide herself, hold back. But this bond forming between them, it meant she had to pull him into her, melding them so deeply, he saw, felt, and experienced all of her.

  Deep enough to eventually know if she really was the other half of his soul. She knew that kind of thinking was exactly what Styx wanted. He was trying to weaken their bond and control her. Then destroy her and Sutton.

  She had to get the prongs out, not just for her, but for Sutton. She was going to get him killed if she pulled him out of his body at the wrong time. Firming up her resolve, she said, “Okay. The quickest way is probably sex.”

  The winds settled down. Sutton dropped her hair, and rubbed her face with his thumb. Gentle strokes from the corner of her mouth to her ear while staring into her eyes. “Yeah? You think sex is quick?”

  Her powers responded to that, bubbling and popping. She tried to think of something clever to say, but sighed instead.

  Sutton moved fast, dropping his hands and pulling off her small T-shirt.

  She was left in her pale-green bra and jeans. “That was quick.”

  He grinned again and dropped his gaze to her breasts. “Pretty.” He cupped both breasts with his hands and stroked her nipples through the material.

  She put her hands on his chest and his shirt disappeared. Sutton reached for the button of her jeans and slipped it free. He grasped the zipper, tugged it down, and parted the denim. “Very pretty. Green panties.” He slid his finger over the material. “Silky.”

  Heat blasted through her, making her muscles soften and her skin tingle. Her five chakras were open, her powers chasing his touch.

  He eased her pants down her legs, pulled off her sandals, then her pants.

  Leaving her in just bra and panties. And him kneeling on the floor, his massive shoulders bunching and relaxing. She could see his big eagle tattoo spread out on his back. Carla reached down and stroked the bird.

  He lifted his feathers beneath her fingers. It was incredibly sensual to feel the feathers slipping between her fingers and over her palms.

  Sutton stood up.

  She eyed his pants, staring at the huge bulge where his erection strained against the material. She wanted him naked.

  “Uh-uh. Not while I’m working.”

  She frowned, looking up. “What?”

  “Working, baby. Helping you. If you’re a good witch, and we get those prongs out, then you can have your way with me.”

  She tilted her face up. “Is that a bribe? Are you bribing a witch? Do you know the penalty for bribing a witch?”

  He grinned at her. “What’s the penalty?”

  She had never felt this way with a man before, free and wild. She glanced down at his pants again. “Tasting you. As long as I want to.”

  His cock l
eaped in his pants, straining harder. He slid a long finger into the cup of her bra and lazily played with her nipple. His voice throttled down to a sex growl. “Then I confess, I’m bribing you. Most definitely bribing you. Do you want that in writing?”

  Witchcraft pulsed behind the nipple he touched, making her push against him and moan a little. “Your confession is noted. No mercy will be given.” To make her point, she pressed her palm against him.

  Sutton made a noise in his throat and his eyes flared. “No mercy, then.” He moved so fast she was staring at the empty space in front of her before her mind registered that he was behind her. She felt his hands undo her bra, then he slid the straps down her arms and let it fall to the floor.

  His mouth brushed over the curve of her neck.

  Her nipples tightened into pebbles and she leaned back against him, arching into his stroking fingers.

  Sutton whispered against her skin, “This is working sex, remember?”

  “Yes.” Had to get the prongs out. Right. “I need to focus and channel my powers.”

  He lifted his mouth from her. She shivered, not quite knowing what he was going to do. He traced the top of her panties across her back. Then he hooked his fingers in them and drew them down her legs.

  Her heart hammered.

  He rose, put his hands on her hips, and pulled her down on the corner of the bed between his spread thighs. She could feel the material of his pants against the outside of her legs. He smoothed her long hair down her back, then put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her back against him. He cupped her breasts, teased her nipples, squeezed gently, then stroked them in layers of sensations. “Carly.”

  She closed her eyes, letting her magic rise and reach for him. Opening herself. “Hmm.”

  “I feel your magic, baby.”

  “It’s working. Your eagle, he’s touching me.” She trailed off, feeling his wings slip around her, holding her. Keeping her safe.

  “He’s going to hold you.” Sutton leaned down and drew his tongue over the sensitive spot on her shoulder.

  She tried to concentrate, drawing her powers into a stream she could funnel up to her head. To the spot where Styx had marked her.

  “Easy, you’re thinking too much.” He dropped his hands from her breasts to her thighs, and lifted her legs, hooking her knees over his hard thighs. That left her spread open. He kissed along her shoulder, moved up to her ear, sucked the lobe.

  Carla leaned into his mouth, let her legs relax.

  He moved to the shell of her ear. “You’re going to let me in, right Carly?” He parted her with his fingers, then stroked her, tracing her seam, up and down, his fingers soft and teasing.

  Her powers went wild, suddenly blooming in hot waves, spreading out and out.

  Sutton growled low, his chest vibrating with it.

  Her desire became desperate. She pressed against his hand, looking for relief. Witchcraft raced and pinged and popped inside of her. Her skin was so sensitized that any touch drove her wild. The feel of his naked chest against her back, his mouth tracing her ear, his fingers stroking between her legs.

  “Let me help you. Pull me in.” He rubbed his fingers up and down along her exposed flesh, teasing her clit, then sliding down to circle the entrance to her body, and back again, until she couldn’t bear it any longer.

  Carla grabbed his thick wrist, shifting her hips, shifting him, until one finger slid inside of her. Almost filling her.

  “Yes. Hell yes. Take another finger.”

  She wasn’t doing it anymore. All she did was hold on to his wrist while he slid in a second finger and pumped. “Push, Carly. Push your power.”

  All the popping, sparking, racing powers suddenly found their mark. They gushed toward her spine and starting flowing up in a stream.

  “Good, good, I feel it.”

  She shuddered, his fingers buried in her, propelling her higher. She had to concentrate when all she wanted to do was feel.

  “Hold on, not yet.” He drew back a little. “Can you find the prongs?”

  Tears of frustration burned her eyes but she focused hard and pushed her powers toward the pain-memory that had formed in her brain.

  They hit a shield and bounced back.

  No! She pushed harder, pulling the returning powers back into the stream and packing them tighter. Eagle was with her, sweeping his big wings, catching the magic and funneling it into a stronger and stronger stream of pressure. Together, they were more powerful than ever.

  A backwash of magic spread in her, making her swell and hurt. It went beyond desire, beyond lust, to a cellular level.

  Sutton eased his fingers out of her and lifted his other hand to cup her forehead, pressing her head against the curve of his pectoral muscle.

  Her magic ramped up, fighting the shields, battering them, in an almost animalistic attempt to get to his hand. Then, in a move of sheer cunning, her powers found a way around the barrier, around the prongs, and piled up at her forehead.

  A throb began right between her eyes. Not the prongs, but something else. All her skin hurt and her organs felt like overfilled water balloons. The throb built, and her powers kept feeding it. She couldn’t stay still, the pressure was so intense, she arched and hissed.

  “Enough, damn it.” Sutton pulled his hand off her forehead.

  “Wait,” she cried, not knowing what was happening, but it was important. All her instincts told her to let the power keeping building.

  “No.” He lifted her in his arms, turned, and laid her on the bed. Carla forced her eyes open, but they wouldn’t focus. Everything was blurry. The white ceiling looked like fog. Where was Sutton?

  Then she felt him, his hands lifting her legs, sliding his hands beneath her thighs to her butt, and cupping her. Then she felt his head press between her thighs. Oh! He was … his tongue touched her. She couldn’t see, but she could feel. The wet slide of his tongue set her on fire. She bunched the comforter in her hands, squirming against him.

  The pressure in her head built with each stroke of his tongue. But the pleasure … she was splitting in two.

  He penetrated her, licking deeply. While he used his thumb to stroke and tease her clit.

  “Sutton!”

  He growled against her and her world splintered. Spasms of pure ecstasy gripped her, wrenching cries from her. She surrendered all control, holding nothing back. At the same time her magic crested and exploded. A kaleidoscope of colors burst between her eyes.

  Sutton was there gently lapping at her, stroking her, keeping her on the waves of pleasure.

  The colors kept spinning until her sixth chakra shot open. Her regular vision went completely blind as her third eye opened. The spinning colors slowed and crystallized.

  She saw a bird’s-eye view of a group of buildings. There was a ranch house, a barn, a row of bunkhouses, and some structure with a brick chimney jutting out of it. The sun was just setting, trees and thick brush surrounded much of the flat stretch of land. Vehicles were parked around the edge in neat lines. There was a two-lane dirt road leading up to the area.

  What was she seeing?

  The scene moved closer, the buildings becoming clearer. She could see that the shelter around the chimney was just a roof and four legs, which was odd.

  Getting closer and closer, she saw beneath the roof.

  More brick. Boxy … maybe an outdoor barbecue sheltered from the rain?

  The scene blinked, and suddenly she was inside the barn. It smelled strongly of copper and blood. She recognized the cement floor that slanted to a drain. It was the same room as the visions she’d been pulled into by Styx.

  Fear kicked her hard, making her skin itch with sweat and she felt herself panting, wanting to pull away. Her third eye blurred.

  Then she felt the heat of a large hand sliding beneath her hair and kneading her neck.

  Sutton.

  Just the feel of him sharpened her third eye. She looked left to the stables.

  Styx.

&n
bsp; He stood in the middle of a raised walkway stretching past what looked like six stalls. For a witch hunter, he wasn’t very big, maybe six feet and one-eighty. She barely took in his dishwater-colored tousled hair, his lean face and thick chest, and jeans. What she zeroed in on was the knife in his hand.

  Her third eye showed her the image of her sister in the shiny silver. Keri was in that knife! We’re coming, Keri.

  Her sister’s hazel eyes locked onto her from the knife.

  Carla couldn’t feel her, not like she had before she’d bonded with Sutton, but she thought Keri heard her. Thought that would give her the strength to hold on. Hope and excitement surged in her heart.

  Keri’s likeness in the knife lifted one hand and pointed to the stalls where Styx was staring. Like she had something important Carla needed to know.

  Then Keri started to fade and her image melted away, as if whatever magic Keri had used to show herself to Carla had drained her.

  No, Keri come back! We’re close, we’ll find you! Fear skittered through her. Keri was leaving, her soul dying. She’d used a burst of residual magic to show herself to Carla. No, she’d wanted to show Carla something.

  She realized she was hearing whimpers. Not her sister, she hadn’t been able to hear Keri. The sounds were coming from the stalls that Keri had pointed to; Carla peered in and saw five witches held captive. Ancestors help them, she could see the electric wiring threaded around the stalls and into the floors. They had five witches, all of them standing, trying not to touch anything. Two of them stood on one foot at a time, another one kept jumping up and down.

  Styx watched them all, his thin mouth curving into a nightmarish parody of a smile.

  A hiss sounded and there was shuffling, then screams …

  Oh God, the screams.

  Styx laughed, throwing back his head and roaring with amusement.

  Fury slammed into Carla. She didn’t need magic to know what the sadistic bastard was doing—regularly shocking the witches to keep their powers disconnected.

  Fast as a snake, Styx jerked his head around. “Where are you? You can’t hide from me!”

  She felt the lances in her head burn. He was trying to grab her mind again. Not this time! She concentrated on building walls sizzling with electricity around her mind.