by Amelia Shaw
She began to back away and I laughed.
“I don’t think Mother was either, Court,” I said. The more I learned what was going on in the magic realm, what would have happened to her and to us if we stayed there, the more I found myself understanding her. I didn’t want to admit it. The last thing I wanted was to relinquish some of my anger because I still didn’t think what she did was right. But I did understand it. “But she did what a good mother would do, and she sacrificed her life to make sure we survived.”
Courtney stared at me, soaking in what I was telling her, then nodded.
“Okay.”
She pulled her headphones onto her ears and walked off to her room, leaving me alone in the lounge room with my thoughts.
I collapsed onto the couch, letting the air leave my lungs in a big whoosh of relief. We were on the right track. Bella had come to my rescue, and Tavlor looked more excited about the prospect of re-instating me than I’d thought.
Now I just had to get ready for the night ahead.
With everything going on, with what was going to happen, I wanted a night where I was in full control of the outcome. Where I knew exactly what to expect. Where I could feel love and give love and not be scared, for once in my life.
Tonight, I was determined to finally lose my virginity to Tavlor.
THE REST OF THE DAY went quickly, with Tavlor and Bella studying, Courtney relaxing in her room, and me doing anything to stay busy.
I cooked dinner. I went for a short walk, then had a long shower and washed my hair. I didn’t want to be smelly before our time together. God, I didn’t even want to think about it.
Even though I wanted to make love to Tavlor, if he’d have me, I was still nervous. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect, but deep down, I knew I couldn’t control that.
Regardless of my concern, I knew without a doubt that I was ready for tonight. For Tavlor to spend the night in bed. Assuming he still felt as he did last time he was here. I was finally ready to cross the threshold that separated us and join together as one.
“Dinner time,” I called to the house as I arranged the food on the table.
Instead of conjuring everything up, I had decided to actually cook the food I served, which left me more nervous than I cared to admit. I’d managed to actually make a salad with everything Bella had grown in the garden, some eggs from the chickens—albeit from magical origins—and a meat pie.
At the thought of my mother’s friend who’d betrayed me, I frowned at the food. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.
“Are you alright?” Tavlor asked as he passed by me and squeezed my arm. My skin tingled at the touch.
“Yeah, what did the food do to you?” Courtney said with a chuckle as she sat down at the table.
I tried to laugh it off.
“All good,” I said. I didn’t want to tell them about Mallory. I didn’t think I needed to make a big deal of it. There was nothing that would change it now. “Just thinking about a few things, I shouldn’t be. Let’s have some dinner and relax.”
They all agreed, and we tried to stick to light topics through the meal, which generally meant stories of our mother and our weird childhood. Tavlor didn’t offer any stories of his own but listened intently to us. He even had a glass of our mother’s wine and laughed while we joked with one another.
He still looked stiff, still looked unsure between the three of us, but he was smiling a lot more, and his shoulders were down so there was no tension in them any longer.
By the time we’d eaten and laughed the night away, it was dark. And it was time to go to bed.
My heart fluttered. My mouth went dry. I rubbed my hands together, but they were clammy. I wasn’t sure any more about tonight. Did I really want this?
If you don’t do it now, you might not ever, a voice pointed out. If you want this, take advantage of it. Don’t wake up tomorrow, regretting that you had an opportunity that you let slip away all because you were scared.
I opened my mouth and smothered a fake yawn, looking towards my sisters.
“Bedtime, I think,” I said. I hoped I wasn’t as obvious as Courtney seemed to believe me to be.
Bella hid a smile in her books as she packed up to go to bed and Courtney sat on the couch with a huge grin on her face, as though preparing for a long-awaited show.
Tavlor looked towards me as though waiting for instructions and I stood up and flicked my head towards my bedroom.
“Coming?” I asked in a voice that was terribly high-pitched.
I cleared my throat.
He nodded and got to his feet. I was glad he didn’t ask questions. I was already nervous and I didn’t need him to inadvertently add to it, or I’d lose my nerve for sure.
My face was hot with a blush, but I stuck my nose in the air and walked all the way to my room without looking back at my sisters, who I knew were watching us. Let them think whatever they wanted. Eventually, they would be in the same position as I was. As the oldest, I took it as my duty to show them it was okay to feel for a man.
As I stepped into my room, faint laughter trickled from downstairs. I bit back a smile and closed the door. I tried not to let them get to me, but it was difficult.
My heart danced, like it was skipping every other beat. I rubbed my hands together, trying to get control over my nerves. I couldn’t relax. Regardless, I was determined to see this through no matter what.
This is what you want, I reminded myself. If it’s the last thing you get to choose to do, this is what you want.
The giggling continued and I cleared my throat.
The walls were definitely not thick enough.
I pointed to the door.
“Can you do the privacy spell on this room like you did at the library?” I asked, arching a brow.
“Yes.” Tavlor nodded once, but confusion settled in his eyes, as though he was asking why I would want to shut my sisters out. Again, his lack of having a sibling was obvious.
“Wait.” I put a hand up. “Can you teach me?”
Might as well learn something if I could.
“Of course.” He told me the words to say and the visualization required to complete the spell.
I released a breath and faced the door. I repeated the words. Magic rushed through me and around the room. I waved my hand to check the integrity of the, but I didn’t trust myself.
“Can you check?”
Tavlor nodded and with a smile, tested the walls with his hand the way my father had.
“Perfect,” he said.
A pulse of pride spread through my chest at the look on his face. I loved the fact that he liked how powerful I was. Though I still had so much to learn, he didn’t seem to be intimidated by my abilities in the slightest.
“Thanks for the lesson,” I said. My voice had gone quiet.
He stepped towards me as I shifted to look into his eyes. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted him to kiss me.
I don’t know if he read my mind, or I was subtle as a brick, but his hand slid around my waist and he pulled me closer. Into him.
And as he tilted my chin up with his fingers, my heart began to pound harder.
“Is there anything else you’d like me to teach you?” he asked, his voice husky.
My pelvis throbbed with desire. I sucked in a breath.
His irises had gotten dark, the aura around him intense and bordering on intensely magical.
“Yes. I would,” I said as bravely as possible. Then I ruined it by swallowing, obviously nervous.
He smiled. “And what is that?”
I slid my hands around his waist and clung to this man who made my heart sing. “I want you to teach me... everything.”
Chapter 15.
Tavlor’s lips pressed to mine so quickly, I barely took a breath before I was swimming in ecstasy.
His hands were on me everywhere. Gripping me, massaging me, sending pleasure through every touch.
Our clothes fell away with tugs and pulls, the heat
of our skin singing as he carried me to the bed and laid me down.
I held out a hand to stop him from descending on me.
“Should I stop?” he asked, his chest rising and falling as he panted.
“No... not at all,” I whispered, staring at the beauty of the man before me.
“Then what’s wrong?”
I couldn’t help but grin up at him. Although there was a part of me that felt incredibly vulnerable, being so naked, the fact that he was finally exposed totally to me made me feel giddy.
“I want to look at you. You’re so.... beautiful!”
His mouth dropped open.
But he didn’t move so I took my time as I explored his body with my gaze. The hard, heavy ridges of his muscles. The scarred flesh of a warrior.
Heat pooled in my belly and a throb of lust pulsed in every cell of my body.
Finally, after I’d explored him from head to toe, and back again, I met his gaze.
He raised one eyebrow as though asking, you done yet?
I nodded and held out my arms to him.
He didn’t give me another chance to focus on him.
He devoured me.
With his lips, his mouth. His hands and his fingers.
Until I was gasping. Aching. Reaching for the stars.
Until he was blocking out the light and joining our souls.
As he slid his body into mine, over and over, I learnt what true magic was.
What it was like to feel closer to a person than I ever had before.
He moved within me, over me, riding through the initial pain and through the discomfort. Until the pleasure started. First where we connected, then the sensations rippled out along my legs. Into my belly and through my veins.
When the pleasure exploded inside my head and I screamed, his groans grew louder and louder until his heat flooded me, making me cling to him and wrap my legs around him to hold him close.
When he went to move away, I locked my ankles around his back and wouldn’t let him leave me.
I wasn’t ready to disconnect yet, into the world where so much was cold and uncertain, when in this room I was warm, and safe and.... loved.
“Please, don’t leave me,” I said as he pushed up on his arms to stare down at me.
He looked hurt, and vulnerable in a weird way.
“Please,” I repeated, wrapping my arms around his neck and tugging at him.
He slowly, very slowly, settled down onto me. My breasts pressed against his chest as he lined up our lips and kissed me once again.
I moaned and slipped my tongue into his mouth, tasting him and wishing I’d had more of a chance to explore his body.
Next time.
Eventually, he disengaged and rolled onto his back. I moved with him, tucking my head into his shoulder and laying my hand over his heart.
His breathing was still ragged, and he wasn’t talking, but his hand came up to stroke my hair and I sighed as he touched me.
“Was it a good lesson?” he asked quietly.
I laughed against him and turned my lips to press them against his sweaty skin.
“Best teacher ever.”
I looked up. “I hope this isn’t the only lesson you’re going to teach me. I can think of so many ways in which I could improve.”
He stared at me, as though assessing my honesty.
I didn’t understand the depths of Fae magic or intuition, so I opened up my mind and my heart to his exploration. I had nothing to hide.
No hidden agenda.
Nothing but love and trust for him.
When he looked his fill, he pressed his lips to mine in a lingering, sweet kiss. Then he pulled me into his body even tighter and let out a sigh that echoed in my head for long moments afterwards.
“Are you okay?” I asked after a while. He didn’t sound like he was.
I sat up and reached for the covers, pulling the blankets over us for warmth as the nighttime stillness crept over me.
“I’m... concerned about what is to come.”
The way he said it made me feel like he knew what was going to come.
My heart began to pound. “Do you have some sort of intuition I should know about? Or did some mage tell you something?”
He shook his head. “No, I simply... don’t want anything to happen to you and this is going to get dangerous.”
I relaxed against his shoulder and put my arm over his belly, hugging him tight.
“I appreciate you saying that... So, tell me, who do you think will be my biggest threat? The Council as a whole, or who? My dear stepmother?”
I giggled at the joke, though I practically snarled as her name went through my head. Charity... What a misnomer.
He sighed again, heavily. “It was only them. However, now with the bounty on your head, it’s everyone.”
I loved the fact that he cared so much about me that he was scared of the future, but we needed to be in this together.
I propped myself up on my elbow and stared down at him. “Listen, I understand that you’re worried about me, but this is important. This is my life. Our life... if that’s something you want to talk about now. Or later.”
He rolled onto his side and propped his head up with his hand, giving me his full attention.
“We have time now.”
I sucked in a breath, happy butterflies fluttering in my belly. “Well, firstly, I suppose I need to ask, if we get through this, would you want to be with me?”
He nodded. “Of course, I would, but would you want to be with me? A half breed mongrel?”
I frowned at him. “Stop speaking about yourself like that. I’ve spent time with the Fae people, and they are beautiful and powerful and wise. Why wouldn’t I be happy that you have those traits in you?”
“But the Witches...”
I interrupted him. “I’m not like those bitches, I promise. They can keep all their pure blood crap. It’s a load of absolute shit. My only issue is... the length of our lives. How old are you now? Will you live a lot longer than me?”
He smiled. “I’m thirty-seven years old.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s not much of a difference!”
Well, certainly less than I’d anticipated.
“But what is your lifespan? I know the Fae live forever.”
He nodded. “Yes, but my Warlock blood dilutes that a lot.”
“By how much?” I asked.
There was a beat of silence, as though he was wondering how honest to be with me.
“Come on, tell me.”
“There aren’t a lot of half breeds like myself, but it has been approximated that I will live a few hundred years. If I’m not killed in battle beforehand.”
I inhaled sharply, pain splintering through my chest. “Ah. That’s a lot longer than me.”
He nodded, but waited.
I lowered my gaze, wondering how to handle this new situation.
Then my head cleared, and I laughed to clear the tension. “Well, considering I could die tomorrow, I don’t think I should be worried about that.”
He frowned.
“Oh, sweetheart, stop,” I said, cupping his face with my hand. “I am so blessed to have found you. And to have you feel the same way... I don’t want to think about where we’ll be in a decade, or a century. Let’s get through the next week, the next month, then worry about forever. The only important thing for me right now is that you want to be with me. Now.”
He nodded, as though he couldn’t speak.
I trudged forward. “I need you to be on my side though. Support me in fighting the Council. I don’t think I can do it without you.”
I could try, of course. But the likelihood of succeeding was slim to none. Tavlor knew the Council, the politics, the realms... and a hell of a lot more magic than I did.
His jaw hardened. “I will stand beside you, Ava. No matter what. You are the High Warlock’s daughter, and a powerful witch. There is no reason at all why they should reject you. W
ithout you... they have no-one.”
“I suppose they could elect their own High Warlock again... Hey, do you think that’s the plan? To have another warlock step up, maybe from one of the Council member’s family?”
I hadn’t thought about a plan B that I was interrupting.
“It’s possible... although that would require a re-writing of the Council laws as well.”
I nodded, the possibilities whirling through my head.
“So, at the moment, the plan is to get me into the magical realm without anyone capturing me, or recognizing me, and asking the Council to give me a proper trial?”
Tavlor nodded. “With the information I got today from the book your mother had in her possession, I believe we can appeal to an ancient re-set of the laws. Especially as there is no current successor. You aren’t opposing anyone.”
“So, Bella found something useful?” I asked, though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.
“Oh, yes, that book is the key to everything.”
I grinned. “My sisters are pretty awesome.”
He nodded, but a seriousness stole over his face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“You know we may never be able to bring Bella and Courtney into society as the High Warlock’s daughters?”
I stared at him, digesting the words. “Yes, I know.”
There were too many variables in this plot and my sisters’ lives were too valuable to even put into the equation.
Tavlor nodded once. “Then we take one day at a time. Each battle, as we need.”
I nodded and let him pull me into his arms for sleep.
My sisters, especially Courtney, were never going to be totally happy here, isolated from the world, but I was sure I could find an alternative for them.
As long as I was alive to do it.
Chapter 16.
Waking up in Tavlor’s arms was one of the most surreal moments of my life. And yet, it felt good. Right. Like this was where I belonged, where I was meant to be.
After sleeping alone my entire life—if I didn’t count the times my sisters had crawled into my bed when we were kids—it was strange to have someone next to me.
