Magic In The Storm (16 page)

Pounding rain blended with the pounding of
her heart. As if of its own volition, her hand reached out and she
watched as her fingers skimmed across his muscles, gently
feathering across his hard, dark nipples. They slipped lower, past
the bottom of his ribs, which stood out from the stripes of muscle
that played across his stomach. A thin dark line of hair led down
from his navel, disappearing into his breeches. She gently traced
the line with shaking fingers. His hair was thick and coarse
against the soft heat of his skin.

The drumming in her ears grew louder as he
stepped closer, and her eyes were drawn up to his. Yellow and
orange flames, reflected the fire, dancing in his black eyes. They
moved ever closer to her, enveloping her within their deep, dark
depths. She sank into those eyes even as her mouth reached up to
meet his.

The kiss was gentle at first, but built
quickly into a hunger and desperation she had never even imagined
possible. Heat seared its way down her body, curling her toes with
pleasure. She couldn’t get enough of him. She couldn’t get close
enough.

Thunder rumbled through the cottage, rolling
away any remaining thoughts from Adriana’s mind. She was pure
sensation knowing nothing but soft skin, hard muscles, delicious,
hot mouth, and the persistent drumming, pounding, thrumming of the
rain.

Vaguely, she was aware of her stays loosening
and then slipping down past her hips and to the floor. She pushed
them out of her way with her foot. She needed to be closer, to feel
him, every inch of him.

His hard muscled chest pressed against hers.
His hands slid up and down her back sending shivers along her
spine. She warmed from the inside out.

No, not just warm—hot.

His hands finally came to rest on her bottom,
as his tongue plunged deeply into her mouth. He tasted fresh, like
the wind on a warm summer’s day, but it was the heat from his mouth
and body that suffused her and made her press closer still. The
thunder rolled through them as the rain wove its magic all around
them.

And then she was floating, her feet lifted
off the floor. She was secure in Morgan’s arms. The pounding of her
blood, the pounding of his heart, the pounding of the rain—they all
swirled together in her mind like watercolors across a page,
filling all of her sensations with color.

Morgan gently lowered her onto the rough
white sheets of his bed. He shed his wet breeches in one stroke,
and lay down beside her, pulling the coarse wool blanket tightly
over them.

As Morgan’s hard male body press against her
most secret feminine parts, another surge of liquid heat shot
through her. She ran her hands down his back, marveling at the
strength of him, and the contrasting softness of his skin. He
pressed ever closer, rubbing himself against her, nuzzling his face
into her neck. She could feel his hot breath tickling behind her
ear, then moving slowly down to her neck, from where he ran soft
little kisses down to her breasts.

A shot of heat ran through her as his tongue
lathed a sensitive nipple. She moaned, arching her back, willing
him even closer. He pressed his manhood harder against her tender
parts, rubbing ever faster as if demanding entry into her most
secret place.

“Oh, Adriana,” Morgan moaned, his voice deep
and husky.

And that’s when she heard it.

Silence.

The rain had stopped. A few drips echoed
loudly on the roof, and Adriana felt her mind swirling up as if
trying to peer through the thick watercolors that were still
smeared in front of her eyes.

What was she doing?

With a horrified cry, she realized she was
nearly naked in bed with a man who was completely unclothed! Thank
God, she still had her shift on, but it was untied and pulled down
beneath her breasts.

Morgan’s hard length pressed against her
again. Rubbing softly, but insistently at her most intimate
place.

No! This was wrong! She shouldn’t be... The
silence washed though her mind cleaning away the pigment and making
everything horribly clear.

She should not be here. Oh, God, what had she
done!

Stifling a whimper, Adriana jumped away from
the burning fire that was Morgan. Scrambling off the bed as quickly
as she could, she tied her shift tightly, covering her nudity with
shaking hands.

“What? What’s happened?” Morgan demanded,
sitting up and watching her, confusion pulling his eyebrows down
over his eyes.

“This... this...” Adriana could not even get
the words out. She bit back a sob of shame, throwing her dress on
over her head and slipping her feet into her shoes. She tied
together the bodice of her dress so she was decently covered, but
thought she might be sick to her stomach.

She pulled open the door and paused, but
could not bring herself to even look at him. “I...” she choked. “Oh
God!” She picked up her skirts and ran as fast as she could for the
abbey.

<><><>

“Morgan, what do you think you are doing
sending Oberon to the abbey? You know your mother will recognize
him!” Kat scolded him the moment she walked into the cottage.

Morgan tied another bunch of herbs he and
Adriana had picked to the rafters of his cottage. “But what else
could I do, Kat? She hasn’t come to see me in three days,” he said,
starting to climb down the ladder. There was no need to say who
‘she’ was, Kat would know.

“She’s left. Didn’t Adriana tell you she was
leaving?”

Morgan stopped halfway down the ladder. Pain
sliced through his gut so that he had to focus for a moment to keep
breathing. “No. She didn’t tell me.”

The pain shifted upward, tightening his
throat. He swallowed hard. “She left here rather suddenly the other
day, but didn’t say why. I might have done something...”

“It is quite possible that you did. She and
Lord Devaux left two days ago without a word to anyone other than
Aunt Vallentyn.”

Morgan dropped down to the floor, ignoring
the rest of the rungs on the ladder. “But then... why didn’t she
tell me? Why didn’t she say anything—or come talk to me.” He took a
deep breath. He had to think about this, to figure it out. If he
had hurt her... but, no, he’d been very gentle, hadn’t he?

Morgan began to pace back and forth in the
confined space of his cottage. The room seemed to shrink around him
as he took his long strides across the floor.

Adriana had seemed to be enjoying him as much
as he was enjoying her when they had been together. Could he have
moved too quickly?

He walked around the ladder that was standing
directly in the center of the room.

He knew he was the one who had suggested she
remove her dress, but she hadn’t seemed to mind, aside from a few
blushes.

He could not have kept himself from touching
her. She was so beautiful, and her skin so creamy and soft.

He turned and waved a hand absent–mindedly at
the ladder as he approached it again.

No, he was certain that if she had not wanted
him to touch her, she would have said something. Adriana was not
the type to do something she didn’t want to do. And she certainly
would not have touched him as well.

He turned again and strode across the empty
space.

He grew hot with just the thought of how she
had touched him. His body stirred with the memory. The fire,
burning in the hearth directly in front of him, caught his
attention. It was much too hot for it in this small space. He waved
an open hand and then closed it into a fist as he turned his back
on the fire, willing it to go out.

The way Adriana had touched him had not only
made his blood heat, but had filled him with the most delicious
sensations—tingles of pleasure and hot crackling energy. He’d
wanted her to feel the same way. He’d wanted her in every way—to
touch her, smell her, taste her...

“Morgan!”

Kat’s voice suddenly jarred him out of his
reverie. He stopped pacing directly in front of her. “What? Oh,
Kat, I’m sorry, I completely forgot that you were here.”

But she didn’t seem to be concerned about his
lack of manners. She was staring at him, her eyes wider than he had
ever seen them before.

She pointed to his hands. “Morgan, look!”

He raised his hands in front of him. Small
blue sparks were emanating from his fingertips. Leaping and dancing
about between his fingers. But even as he watched, they faded away,
and then disappeared altogether.

A shiver ran through him, but whether it was
fear or excitement, he did not know.

His eyes met Kat’s.

She pointed to the fireplace. “You put it
out. With a wave of your hand, you put out the fire! And, and the
ladder. You moved it out of your way without touching it—it just
slid away.”

Morgan spun around, looking at the fireplace,
which now had gently smoldering wood sitting in it, but not a hint
of the flames that had been there a few moments ago. He then turned
to the ladder standing against the wall instead of in the center of
the room, as if he had picked it up and moved it.

But he hadn’t, had he?

He turned once again back to his cousin. “Did
I...?”

She nodded her head dumbly.

“But how?”

“I... I don’t know. But I saw you do it.”

Morgan looked down at his hands once again.
They were tingling, but otherwise looked perfectly normal.

“What were you thinking about?” she asked
quietly.

“You don’t know?” he narrowed his eyes at
her. She had always known what he was thinking. If not his exact
thoughts, at least what he was feeling.

But she shook her head once again. “No. I
tried to read you, but it was as if there was a wall blocking me
from your thoughts and feelings. I couldn’t penetrate it.” She
reached out and touched his shoulder. Staring deep into his eyes
she said, “You are... confused and a bit frightened. I can see it
now, but I have to touch you to know.”

“But you’ve never had to before.”

“I know. Something has changed. And when you
were pacing just now, you were so intensely in your own thoughts
that I don’t think I could have read you even if I had touched
you.”

And then she paled. Morgan watched, startled,
as the color drained from her face. “What is it?” he asked, taking
hold of her arm.

“You... it’s just like your mother. I can’t
read her thoughts either. Not even when I touch her. She is the
only person whose feelings I can’t read. And now, I can barely read
yours.”

Morgan swallowed hard. He was just like his
mother? Did that mean he was finally getting the powers that should
have been his his whole life?

“Morgan, have you been practicing your
magic?” Kat asked nervously.

“Yes, but it hasn’t worked. Nothing has
happened, until now.”

“But you shouldn’t! We talked about this. My
goodness, we don’t know where this magic is coming from! Don’t you
see? This could be dangerous. I told you not to...”

“We agreed that you wouldn’t tell my
mother.”

“I haven’t!”

“Well, then, what could be so dangerous about
me finally gaining the powers that should have been mine my whole
life?”

He took another step toward her, his heart
was pounding as if he’d run to the far edge of the forest and back.
“What are you so frightened of? Not attaining my destiny, or me
gaining my powers?

Kat’s mouth opened and closed. “I don’t want
your blasted destiny. I’ve told you that before.”

“Then why shouldn’t I practice magic?”

She took a step back away from him, crossing
her arms in front of her. She stared back at him for a moment
before turning her eyes away. When she looked back at him, he could
see her pain in them much too clearly.

“Morgan, please, don’t be... I’m only trying
to look out for you,” she said quietly, almost beseechingly.

The sharp retort he had at the tip of his
tongue died, as did his anger.

“You have always looked out for me, Kat. You
have always been the one to stand up for me, and to encourage me
when no one else in my family would. That’s why I don’t understand
why you’ve suddenly stopped,” he explained as gently as he could.
Goodness knows, he didn’t want to hurt her.

“I haven’t. I just want you to be
cautious.”

Morgan shook his head, “As always. But the
time for caution is over.”

“I’m afraid you’ll develop these powers only
to lose them again on your birthday,” Kat blurted out.

Morgan stopped. “What?”

Kat wrapped her arms more tightly across
herself. “Your mother said that you would lose your powers on your
twenty–first birthday. If that’s true and you do, then you’re going
to be even more upset if you’ve been working hard to develop these
new powers and have gotten used to having them.” A tear slowly made
its way down her cheek. “I just don’t want you hurt, Morgan.”

Enveloping his dear, sweet, silly cousin in
his arms, he hushed her tears. “It’s all right, Kat. It’s all
right.”

“It’s not and I don’t...” she began, her
voice muffled against his chest.

“Yes, it is, because I’m not going to lose my
powers.”

“But your mother...” she said, pulling away
from him.

“My mother said that it I don’t develop my
full powers by my birthday,
then
I’ll lose what powers I
have. But I
am
beginning to develop my full powers, and I’ve
got to ensure that they continue to grow.”

“But how?”

Morgan gave Kat a sad smile. Immediately she
knew what he was thinking and began shaking her head. “No! Oh, no,
Morgan.”

“Yes, Kat. It is time. It’s time I took a
page from Adriana’s book and did everything, absolutely everything,
I can to keep that which is most important to me—my powers and my
destiny. Even if it means leaving those I love.”

Kat’s eyes widened in surprise. “But you
cannot leave the forest. You can’t break through the curses your
mother put up. And what about the suggestions she’s put into your
mind, are you going to try to break through those as well?”