Sweat began to drip down Jonathan’s face. He ran a finger underneath his neck cloth, pulling it away from his burning skin even as his face went from pink to red. “I... I did not mean...”
“What did you not mean?” Tatiana said quietly. “Did you not mean to tell me that you are the one who makes the rules in this house, in this family? Did you not mean to put me in my place?”
“No! No, I...” Jonathan had begun to breath more heavily as if he couldn’t get enough oxygen through the dense heat that now coated the room. The overstuffed furniture—the bed, the chair, even the tables that crowded the room, they all seemed to bleed warmth into the air.
“You what, Jonathan?” Tatiana lowered her voice to a mere whisper.
“I will marry her, but...”
“But?” Tatiana focused her eyes on her son’s bright red face. Still, he refused to meet her eyes.
“But I don’t want to join parliament. I have no interest in politics.” The words seemed forced out of him, as if he wished he could hold them back, but he could do nothing to stop them.
Jonathan stepped to the door and leaned his head against it, panting as if he had just run a mile. “I am sorry, Mother,” he whimpered.
At the sight of her weak, worthless child, everything within her went ice cold. Tatiana’s rage could no longer be contained. Jonathan would learn for once and for all not to cross his mother.
<><><>
The sound of the rain pounded in Adriana’s ears, the noise from the roof reverberating throughout Morgan’s little cottage.
She was chilled to the bone—first from the splashing about in the river, and now by the rainstorm that had taken them by surprise. She knew Morgan was right. The only way she’d get warm was if she took off her dress. It certainly wasn’t drying on her.
She gave a little nod, and then moved closer to the fire and turned her back. He did the gentlemanly thing and moved away to his bed while she struggled with a dress that was not designed to be put on or taken off without the help of a maid. She had gotten it half way over her head when strong hands appeared to help her pull the clinging material off. Her face burned as she prayed that she was still covered decently enough, but still could not resist covering herself with her hands as well.
Morgan was not paying attention. He was carefully laying out her dress over the chair in front of the fire so that it could dry. Adriana could not help but notice how his bare chest glowed golden in the firelight. Her breath caught in her throat, but she just could not tear her eyes away from his well–toned body.
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 up
ward, 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?”
“I have the power now, Kat. I know I do.”
“But...”
“I’m sorry, but I no longer have the time to be careful. I must do this. My birthday is coming in a little more than a month. I must have my full powers before then. Kat. I am running out of time.”
He moved away from her, grabbing the bag he used for collecting herbs. Going to his little chest of drawers, he pulled out a change of clothes and stuffed them into the bag.
“Is there nothing I can do to convince you to at least wait a little...”
“No.” He placed some dried meat and a loaf of bread in the top of the bag. “Not only do I have to find out where my magical powers are coming from and how I can attain my proper destiny, but I have to find Adriana as well.”
“Adriana?”
“She left here without a word to me. I’m going to find out why.” He stopped what he was doing and turned back to his cousin. “She’s important to me. I cannot just let her go.”
Kat nodded slowly, not breaking her eye contact with him. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to. Morgan could see the sadness in her eyes.
“I love you, Kat, but it is time for me to leave,” he said softly, putting his bag over his shoulders so that it lay across his body.
“And the animals? And the forest?” she asked.
He shook his head. “They will have to live without me. Look after Oberon for me, will you?”
“You’ll be back. You won’t break through the ring of the forest,” she said quietly, but without certainty.
“Perhaps I’ll see you next in London.” He bent and gave her a light kiss on her cheek and then left his cottage.
“Wait! Morgan!” Kat called as she ran out after him. He stopped and turned back. She was tugging at her ears. As she reached him, she put out her hand. He took it, only to find that she was handing him something.
Magic In The Storm Page 12
