Shadow Magic (21 page)
Authors: Cheyenne McCray
Fire simmered under his skin as he sensed her lies. She stumbled when he pulled her down the corridor. When they reached the end of the hallway, she yanked her hand away from his grip and glared up at him.
“What in the name of the Ancestors is your problem?” A little color had returned to stain her cheeks, the red looking bright compared to how pale the rest of her face was.
He narrowed his gaze. “You lied when you were asked if you had scried anything about your future.”
Hannah folded her arms across her chest and looked away. “I don't have anything else to say about it.”
Garran took her by the shoulders and gripped them tight enough that she returned her gaze to his. “Tell me what else you saw.”
Her lips firmed as she tried to jerk out of his hold. “I've told everyone what's relevant to our battle against Ceithlenn. I've hidden nothing important.”
She looked away again and he released her shoulders to clasp her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. “Do not lie to me.”
Fire sparked in her gaze. She wrapped her fingers around his wrists and tried to pull his hands from her face. “I don't owe you anything, Garran. Don't even think you can tell me what to do.”
Garran did the only thing he could think of to let her
know just how much he cared about her and wanted to be there for her. He held her face in his hands and brought his lips hard to her mouth.
know just how much he cared about her and wanted to be there for her. He held her face in his hands and brought his lips hard to her mouth.
At first she fought him, trying to pull his hands from her face, and kicked one of his shins.
Then to his surprise, she began kissing him back with such need and ferocity he could sense every emotion roiling inside her. Anger, fear, hurt.
Why did she feel hurt? The other emotions concerned him, but he did not understand that one.
Hannah released his wrists and wrapped her arms around his neck like she needed something to hold on to. Something to anchor her. He pressed his body against hers as he backed her up against a wall. He moved his hands from her cheeks into her soft hair.
So much fire. So much beauty.
The need to keep her safe so that she would never feel hurt again was so strong his skin burned with it.
Soft moaning sounds rose up from her and she delved her tongue into his mouth then bit his lower lip hard enough that he felt a quick moment of sharp pain. It vanished as she thrust her tongue into his mouth again.
Garran forced himself back to reality, back to what he needed to find out from her. He tore his mouth from hers and slipped his fingers from her hair until his hands rested on her hips. Her lips were moist as she looked up at him with her lovely brown eyes, and she still had her hands linked behind his neck.
“What happened, sweet one?” he asked as he studied her.
Hannah's throat worked and he thought for a moment she was going to refuse him. “They're gone.” This time the hurt he had sensed was in her voice, in her eyes. “The Dragons left me. I thinkâI think I've lost my power to scry.”
THE PAIN INSIDE HANNAH'S chest felt as if one of the Dragons had eaten her heart before it abandoned her. Saying the words aloud made her feel naked, stripped bare to her soul.
She pressed her forehead against Garran's shirt and held on to him, not wanting to let go. She wanted him to hold her forever so that she didn't have to face the stark pain of the truth.
The Dragons had left her. Scrying with her mirror had been her only method of divination since she was an apprentice witch, when her grandmother gave her the tools.
Now she had nothing.
Garran was quiet as he embraced her, holding her close, but he couldn't hug her tight enough to chase away the pain.
She clenched her dry eyes shut, but the images of her mirror shattering and the empty frame battered the inside of her mind. What had she done for them to leave her like they had?
Garran stroked her hair, whispering soft words that could only be Elvin. Words of power that flowed through her and lessened her pain until she felt like a boat rocking with soft swells of water beneath her.
Then a new burst of pain slammed down on her that his words couldn't protect her from. For a moment she felt like she was drowning in that water that had been rocking her so gently.
“Hannah.” Garran said her name loud enough to drag her from the feeling of being underwater. His sensual Elvin accent drew her. “Look at me.”
She didn't want to, but she forced herself to tilt her head and look up at him. His expression, his eyes, seemed to carry part of her pain. She didn't want that. Didn't need anyone to bear this burden for her.
“I'll be all right.” She slid her hands down his chest and felt his warmth, his strength, beneath her palms. He smelled so good. Of earth and moss. So grounding and real. She tried a smile, but it didn't work. “I'll figure something out.”
“Together.” He stroked her face, his expression intent. “But you must tell me what happened.”
The day had passed so quickly. The sun was setting, the last rays of sunlight fading away so that the dark windows of the building grew darker and the only illumination came from the warehouse lights above. As she watched Garran, his hair gradually changed until it was silvery-blue, and his skin returned to the bluish gray of the Drow.
She reached up and slid her fingers through some of his long hair lying over one of his shoulders. “I don't want to talk about it now. I just wantâneedâto rest before we go out on patrol.”
His liquid silver eyes remained focused on hers. “For now. Then you will tell me everything.”
The weights holding Hannah down were lifted away as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and started leading her through the maze of rooms to the one they had slept in before.
With no ceiling, the room was still fairly bright. The lights would not be dimmed or turned off until well into the night when everyone needed to rest. In the almost bare room was a pair of rolled-up sleeping bags, Garran's leather clothing, sword, and chest straps. And her pack.
An ache the size of a softball welled up in her throat at the sight of her pack lying next to a pile of her clothing.
Hannah wanted to turn and run the moment she saw it.
She'd left the pack in the room when she walked away
from the broken mirror and the circle. Cassia must have gathered everything together. Hannah glanced away, not wanting to look at it.
from the broken mirror and the circle. Cassia must have gathered everything together. Hannah glanced away, not wanting to look at it.
“I am sorry to leave you, sweet one.” Garran brought her around to face him again and he looked genuinely concerned. “You rest. I must go back to my realm to attend to matters there. It will most likely be morning before I return.”
The thought of Garran leaving created a strange sort of hollowness in her belly. But with him gone, it would give her time to do what she needed to. He'd never let her do it alone, and as far as she was concerned, now she had no choice. She had no other way to be of use to her Coven. To humanity.
Hannah took a deep breath, centering herself, drawing on her ability to maintain an air of calm despite the fact she felt anything but. She forced herself to relax her muscles as much as she could.
Together, once she showed him how, they flattened each of the sleeping bags to make a full-sized “bed” with one bag on top of the other. Even though they'd only spent one night together, the arrangementâthe two of them sharing a bedâseemed right, for now.
When her thoughts went back to him leaving for the night, her belly clenched. She'd scried him being in some kind of danger, but had believed it was in the future. What if he was heading into that danger now?
Should she go with him? Or try and convene with the goddess Anu, as she planned?
Her heart pounded and her thoughts whirled. It was all so confusing, her mind felt like it was going to fly apart.
Hannah sucked in another deep breath of air as Garran started to strip out of his human clothing to put on his warrior's gear. She knew what she needed, wanted to do, right then and there. She could give him a part of herself to help protect him. After she kicked her running shoes aside and tugged off her socks, she unbuttoned her jeans.
Garran had pulled his boots off, yanked his T-shirt over his head, then stilled when he caught sight of her. She kept
her gaze on him as she unzipped her jeans, dropped them to her ankles, and pushed them aside.
her gaze on him as she unzipped her jeans, dropped them to her ankles, and pushed them aside.
His throat worked and his muscles flexed as she pulled her T-shirt over her head, tossed it aside, leaving her in only her bra and panties. She unhooked her bra and flung it on the floor before easing her panties down and stepping out of them.
It was obvious by the darkness in his eyes and the intent expression on his face that he wanted her. The tightness in her nipples and the slickness between her thighs grew until the need for Garran was so great she could almost forget everything else.
“I should be leaving.” His voice was a husky growl as he unfastened the top button of his jeans. His erection was already a huge outline against the tough cotton material.
“Stay.” She took a step toward him. “Just a little while.”
It didn't take him more than two seconds to shove down his jeans, kick them aside, and face her in all his naked glory. His silvery-blue hair brushing his shoulders, his bluish-gray skin tightening over rippling muscles, his long thick cock rigid and ready for her.
He was magnificent.
Before she could catch her breath, he reached her and gathered her in his embrace.
Hannah wrapped her arms around his neck and her thighs around his waist as he carried her to the sleeping bags. His thick erection was snug against her belly, making her insides twirl like crazy.
And the expression in his eyesâshe'd never had anyone look at her like that before. Like she was the world to him. It didn't matter that it was just sex. For now she could slip into this feeling of being wanted and desired and needed.
Garran settled Hannah on her back, his hips firmly between her thighs as he pressed his weight on her, just enough that she felt protected from the outside world.
Garran brought his mouth to hers and rubbed the length of his erection against her slick folds.
Hannah almost said, “I need you,” before she bit it back.
If she didn't need him, though, then what were these feelings rolling through her? Lust? Or something more?
She refused to let any other thoughts cross her mind save for the way Garran was making her body feel right at that moment.
He moved his mouth over hers, kissing her so thoroughly her head spun.
More. She wanted more. And he seemed to sense exactly what it was that she had to have at that moment.
He adjusted himself so that his cock was at the opening of her core, then slid slowly inside her.
A cross between a sigh and a moan escaped Hannah as he gently began to rock inside her. She looked up into his intense eyes as his long, silvery-blue hair slid over her skin, brushing her cheeks and her shoulders.
So slowly he moved, his body feeling almost as if it were a part of hers. She kept her thighs hooked around his hips and gripped his shoulders as she closed her eyes. Focused on the sensations.
And released her magic.
Garran made a sound of surprise as she released her essence, letting a part of herself go to help strengthen him, to help protect him.
He stilled and she opened her eyes. “Don't stop,” she whispered. Her green magic glittered around them like a sparkling cloud.
“What are you doing, Hannah?” He remained motionless, deep inside her, his brow furrowed.
“Sharing myself with you.” She moved her hands from his powerful shoulders until she was gripping his ass and pressed her hips tighter to his. “Let me.”
Garran kept still as he looked down at her. “Only if I can do the same for you.”
Before Hannah could respond, Garran let warmth flood from his body to hers and he began sliding in and out with firm, solid strokes. She gasped and cried out at the intensity of the feelings he unleashed inside her. What had been
sparkling green around them blended into a fabric of both darkness and light, like the sphere that had carried them back from Alcatraz. Dark and beautiful all at once.
sparkling green around them blended into a fabric of both darkness and light, like the sphere that had carried them back from Alcatraz. Dark and beautiful all at once.
The darkness didn't scare her. It intrigued her and she embraced it, letting it join with her own magic.
The power they created together was beyond anything Hannah had ever imagined. It filled her soul, her heartâher entire being was energized and alive just from the combination of their magic.
She gave him as much as she could of her own essence but every time she did, he would give her just as much of himself. It wasn't draining, it was exciting, thrilling, exhilarating. Enough so that she could only think of him and nothing else. Nothing seemed to exist outside of Garran and her, their bodies and their magic.
His thrusts became harder and more powerful and Hannah gave a small cry every time he drove deep inside her, almost touching her magical core itself.
Warmth and protection flowed around them, a cocoon of pleasure that raised Hannah higher and higher until she thought they might be floating in the air.
Garran's expression tightened at the same time her climax began to spiral and spiral inside her, coming closer to the edge of what felt as if it would be nothing short of an explosion.
Their combined magic had an erotic scent to it. Not just the smells of sex but something deeper and more fulfilling. Frankincense. Honeysuckle. Mint.
Hannah started to writhe beneath Garran, unable to control the magic wanting to burst from every nerve ending in her body. He kissed her, putting power into his kiss, and it was like setting off fireworks inside of her.
She cried out and he stole the cry with an even harder kiss that made the climax tearing through her more extreme. The combination of their magic made the experience so heady, as if at that moment they were more powerful together than they could ever be alone.
Garran shouted as her core continued to contract around his erection. His cock throbbed inside her and she clamped down with her inner muscles, making him give another groan as he pressed his hips tightly to hers and remained motionless.
He braced his arms to either side of her head and held himself up as her mind spun and she tried to focus on his eyes.
Hannah sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him to her so that their lips met and he kissed her sweet and slow. Every movement of his lips and tongue caused her core to spasm. She felt so much pleasure that it filled her as if she would never feel pain again.
When Garran drew away, separating their bodies, the real world came crashing back down on her. The connection they'd just made barely cushioned the blow of the memories of what she'd lost today, and what was horrible and wrong in the future.
Garran settled on his side and brushed his knuckles over her face. “When I return, you will talk with me about what troubles you.”
She pushed herself to a sitting position as he stood and he took her hand to help her to her feet. Ignoring his statement, she said, “You need to get back to your people.”
He grabbed his leather pants. “And you need rest.”
Garran would be safe there while she did what she had to do.
She almost reached for her discarded clothing, but she didn't want him to suspect anything, so she picked up one of her red robes instead and slipped it on. “When will you be back?”
He was jerking on his boots. “Before the sun rises.”
Hannah nodded.
So would she.
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