An Excerpt from Terri Pray's Magic's Touch

The how and why of what they were doing faded away into the back of her mind as her lips parted eagerly beneath his kiss, welcoming the soft, probing touch of his tongue. Safe. Despite everything there was a safe aspect to him that, like the blanket, wrapped her in a warmth she was reluctant to pull away from.

A deep shiver played through her body, hardening her nipples under the thin dress. She could smell him, that subtle scent of cinnamon she had first encountered when she had walked into his home. It lingered on his skin -- not overpowering, just there, enough to spark her hunger.

She needed him.

Realization hit full force. She needed, wanted, and desired him. All those times she had shut her feelings off, refused to date, refused to play bed skip with whoever had tried to catch her eyes, finally caught up with her. Only, it was more than that. He wanted her; since school he’d wanted her. He’d carried dreams of her through into college. Even now she could feel them at the back of his mind. Those carefully hoarded images of them kissing, holding each other, exploring their bodies under the light of the moon. Now he had that chance.

Unless she refused him.

Refusing the consort of the Goddess would be easier. I need him almost as much as he needs me.

Hailey turned to face him, pressing deep into their kiss, shifting until she was able to wrap her arms about his neck, pulling him closer. They shouldn’t have been doing this, but it felt right, so very right. He was there, in the back of her mind still, each soft shiver of delight that gained life was something he felt. The quickening of his breath, she echoed, her own pulse racing to match the growing beat of his heart.

Refusing him would have been like trying not to breathe.

“You’re still shivering,” he whispered against her lips. “Do I need to start a fire?”

“I’m not cold, though.”

“I know. I just thought it would help.” He suckled on her bottom lip, scraping his teeth against it, one hand reaching to tangle into her hair. She arched against his touch as his free hand drifted down her back, reaching under the blanket to cup her ass, massaging her firm curves lightly. “Say the word and I’ll stop; I won’t push this if you don’t want it. I won’t be angry with you if you want to call a halt to this. I don’t want to do anything with you that you might regret come morning.”

She did want it. Foolish though that made her, she couldn’t turn him away. It wasn’t just the bond from the spell. It couldn’t be something that simple, not with how her body now craved his touch. Her mind raced, trying to make sense of her reactions. She wasn’t the sort to throw herself at men. Even after her dedication prayer she’d kept her need under control, seeking self release rather than rushing into the arms of the nearest man.

Yet now she felt as though the floodgates had been opened.

Her thighs clenched, hips lifting towards his body even before he began to push her down onto the soft couch. With a low moan she pressed up into his touch, welcoming his firm caress as he smoothed from her back into the dip of her waist, curling upward until his fingers cupped one firm breast.

“It’s just the magic we shared.” The words fell like an act of betrayal from her lips, halting the gentle nibbling path of his lips across her neck. “We shouldn’t be doing this, not based on reactions to how we just worked together.”

“No, you don’t think that, not fully.” He blew across skin left damp by his touch, fanning the need within her being. “If you did I’d feel it, you’d tell me to stop and you know I would. We’re linked; I’d have to. Any hurt or fear you feel I’ll experience too.”

Empath. Linked with an empath. This was far more than just the bond of exploration, more than just the magic, a link of the soul and heart combined. Goddess, what was she opening herself up to?

A man who could read her emotions without ever having to study her body language, a man who would never hurt her intentionally because it would be a pain they shared. Someone willing to risk having his magic stripped from him if they were caught trying to help Karol. And a man who now aroused her body with something as simple as a few light touches.

Her mind screamed a warning that her body ignored.

Darrel nibbled down her throat, his thumb brushing over one hardened nipple, circling it. Her skin felt a thousand times more alive than she had ever known before, a tight rippling within her sex offered her hips fully to him even as she parted her thighs under the slightest nudge from his knee.

“So beautiful,” he murmured over her throbbing pulse. “Within and without. I can see it, all that gentleness, the passion and drive you hide from the world. Every soft, secret part you keep protected behind those walls you’ve built through the years.”

With a low whimper she traced her fingers down his back, shivering as she felt each light touch replayed by her own skin. “You’re no longer the brusque prankster I remember.”

“No more slugs, I promise you that.” He eased the straps down from her dress, lips replacing fingers over her throbbing nipple. Her fingers tightened on his back; she arched into the warm teasing touch of his seeking tongue as a thousand invisible fingers turned the skin of her breasts taut and scraped over the delicate skin of her parted thighs. Every part of her body ached for a deeper touch, craved for his fingers slipping into her panties to part the soft, warm, damp lips hidden beneath the brief wisp of cotton. His shoes fell to the floor, hers joining them within a few moments.

The bed. Normally, she’d have urged that they move to a bed, but she didn’t want to break the moment.

His hand cupped against her mound, lips nibbling across from one breast to the other, blowing softly over damp skin. She groaned in sheer delight, pressing up into his hand, rocking against his touch. What would Gem have said, or Karol? Goddess, it didn’t matter, his touch, his kisses, the feel of his back under her seeking fingers, muscles tightening, rippling beneath her touch. Alive. She’d never felt so alive as she did in this moment. His first gentle touch against her clit, even through her panties, tore a soft cry of delight from her lips as she pressed her hips into his caress.

Her panties were quickly slipped down from her hips, his fingers easing between the folds of her sex. She hadn’t let a man near her like this in close to two years and now her body craved his touch, needed it in the way a drowning woman craved air. She clung to him, pressing up into his hand, squirming towards his fingers as he brushed over her clit, one finger seeking out her core.

“Please.” Her voice was little more than a low groan, the slick inner walls of her pussy rippling on his finger, rocking down against his touch. “I can’t hold on. I need you. Now.”

“Wait.”

“No, please, no.” She didn’t want to wait; her body desired so much more, her sex cried out to feel him buried deep within. Her core clenched against his finger, rocking with each breath that found a spark of life in her being. She wanted, needed far more than a single finger.

A second finger joined the first, slipping further within her body, pressing against the small shell-like ledge within her core.

Had he read her need through their link?

“Goddess!” She groaned, a full jolt shuddering through her body, slick walls clenching, rippling on his fingers, the pressure building within her body to the breaking point. What was he doing to her? She’d never felt so, needed, desired as she did in this moment.

With a low growl of pleasure he shifted, tapping against the hidden shelf, building the heat within her slick, needful core. Teeth scraped against one ripe nipple, her fingers digging into his back, hips rocking up with each light tap against that hidden point of pleasure.

“Please. Now!” Had she actually spoken, or was that just her imagination?

Either way his only reply was a deeper suckle against the tight throbbing nub, his tongue twirling about wrinkled skin.

“Darrel,” she pleaded, scraping her fingers down his back, catching in the band of his pants. “Please, I can’t control this.” His zipper parted under her gentle insistence, his throbbing cock slipping into the palm of her hand. “Need to feel you in me, bonded outside, inside, one heart, one mind, one soul.”

He shifted further between her thighs. His fingers pulled free, the tip of his cock nudging into the heated entrance of her sex. His eyes almost glowed as he lifted up from her breast to speak. “Are you sure?” He didn’t need to ask, not with their link, but he did so anyway.

“Yes.”

© Terri Pray, July 2007
All Rights Reserved