Fiery Magic

by Caryn Moya Block

  “Maybe next time.” Candace deftly wrapped the towel around her fiery red hair and stepped from the tub. “I’ll have to get some food for Engyl. He liked suchi fruit. I wonder what we can find to feed him. Come on, now that you mentioned food, I realized I’m starving.” Her stomach growled to confirm her words. They both laughed.

  Candace walked into her bedroom and Haytham followed. The deep burgundy curtains matched the burgundy and gold comforter on her bed. Engyl perched on top of the headboard preening. His colors complimented the room decor. Haytham smiled. His dragon witch liked her fire colors. She immediately went to a wardrobe and started pulling out clothes.

  Glancing down at his towel, Haytham called his magic and ported his favorite outfit from his dresser, a pair of worn jeans and a cotton shirt of palest blue. Next black boots and socks appeared. He pulled on the jeans, buttoning them closed and slipped on the shirt before sitting on the bed to put on the sock and shoes.

  “You’re going commando?” Candace asked. She held a pair of lavender lace underwear in her hands.

  “You object?” Haytham asked, buttoning up his shirt and rolling up the sleeves.

  “Well, no. I thought you would be more proper. I guess not. You still manage to surprise me, Hay.” Candace stepped into the panties and then reached for the matching bra.

  “My uncle is all about being proper and in control. When I’m away from Luften House, I try to relax a little. You could join me. When we’re sitting at dinner, I can slip my hand up your thigh and play with those fiery curls. Then I’d slowly push my finger between your nether lips to see how wet and ready for me your body is.”

  “Stop!” Candace shuddered. “If you keep talking like that, we’ll never get anything to eat.”

  “I think you like it when I talk like that, and I can think of something I’d like to eat.”

  Candace laughed. “You’re so bad. Get the Marwolaeth book out of the bathroom. Wow, look at the clock. It’s three in the afternoon. Didn’t we leave Hreghen at dawn?”

  “Time moves differently there. Remember your brother said it had only been a few days since I left, but it was at least two weeks I was in Hreghen. I wonder what day it is.”

  “If I had my cell phone, I could tell you. I wonder what Aiden did with my purse?”

  “We can stop back by his shop and ask him, if you want.”

  “First, I want food. Engyl are you coming?”

  “It was a long flight to reach you before you went through the portal. I will wait here until you return.”

  “Hey, I can hear him.” Haytham stared at the familiar.

  “Of course. You have bonded with your Destined One, my witch.” The phoenix tucked his head down and soon he slept.

  “Of course,” Candace echoed. “I know a great pizza place. Take my hand and I’ll port us there.”

  §

  Candace sighed in contentment. Between the two of them, she and Haytham had eaten two large pizzas and two hard ciders each. “It feels so good to be home and everything smells delicious.”

  Haytham looked up from the book and smiled. “It does. Tomorrow, let’s get married.”

  “What?” Candace stared in amazement at Haytham. “Just like that?”

  “There is a witch that works for the register office. He can fix the paperwork so we don’t have to wait twenty-eight days and we can get married right away.”

  “Haytham….”

  “I know it’s fast, but we’re engaged. You wear my ring.”

  Candace looked down at the gryphon ring with the jewel he gave her. “I do, it must be enchanted somehow. I didn’t see it when I turned into a dragon.” She rubbed her finger over the top, feeling the warm gold. She glanced up. “You seem in kind of a rush to get married. Is something wrong?”

  Haytham sighed and put down the volume. “My uncle forbids me marrying you.”

  “What? Why would he do that? I’m your Destined One.”

  “I know and we’ve already bonded, but I want it legal here in England. I don’t want him trying to sabotage us.”

  “Oh, Haytham…”

  “You might as well hear this, too. When my uncle is informed about our marriage, he will likely disown me and throw me out of the Air House. But I will always be a Guardian. He can’t take that from me. I’ve saved all my wages in a separate account, so I can support us. I’m not destitute.”

  Candace reached over and squeezed Haytham’s hand. “Whatever happens, we are in this together. Of course, I’ll marry you. I love you.”

  Haytham smiled and squeezed back. “I hoped you’d say that.”

  “Did you find anything in the book?” Candace asked, needing to change the subject. Her brother would have a coronary when he found out she’d married Haytham without telling him.

  “It reads almost like a fairy tale,” Haytham said, warming to his subject. “It says that the Fae wizard Trahaearn created the spell to turn the children of the wind into horrible monsters. ‘Children of the Wind,’ I wonder who the author means. Listen to this part, it describes how the spell to break the curse must be performed: To their dimension you must travel, to the place it all began. Four couples being the pieces bound by love of Destined Ones. Gather those afflicted and light the candles in reverse order. Undo the terrible magic that tore innocent children asunder.”

  “Innocent children asunder. Does that mean the Marwolaeth were originally these children of the wind?”

  “It sounds like it.” Haytham’s gaze looked grim.

  “That’s terrible. Why would anyone do something like that?”

  Haytham shrugged. “I don’t know. Power? Revenge? Are there any works on this Fae Wizard, Trahaearn?”

  “I don’t know, but if anyone does, it would be my boss, Curtis Brandt. He’s out of town, or he was on his way out of town the day I went through the portal. I wonder if I still have a job. I guess I better go to work tomorrow and find out.”

  “After we get married. You promised, remember?”

  “Don’t worry, Hay. I remember. Uhh, this is embarrassing. You don’t happen to have any money in those pockets, do you? I still don’t have my purse.”

  Haytham smiled and pulled a credit card from his pants pocket. “I figured I’d pick up dinner.”

  Candace grinned. “You are so awesome.” She rose from the table.

  Haytham got up and pulled her into his side. “As long as you remember that, sweetheart,” he said, imitating the voice of an old time actor.

  Candace laughed. “That was pretty good.”

  Haytham shrugged and walked them up to the cash register. “Air Witch talent, air, vibration…”

  “Right.”

  §

  Haytham happily paid for their early dinner. He glanced out the window as he finished signing the receipt. A man stood halfway in the shadows in the alley across the street, Haytham thought he recognized his uncle’s stocky build. As Hay watched, the man wearing a gray suit pointed at the pizza restaurant. Men began pouring out of the alley and marching across the road. Haytham grabbed Candace’s hand.

  “Excuse me, do you have a back door?” he asked the lady behind the counter.

  “Sure, but the alley leads around to the street. You might as well go out the front.”

  Haytham pulled Candace behind him as he raced through the restaurant toward the restrooms and exit sign.

  “Haytham what’s going on?” Candace asked.

  “We’ve got people after us. If we get to the alley, we can port without the humans seeing.”

  “Who’s after us?” Candace turned to look. “Oh, my… They’re almost to the front door.” She put on a burst of speed. “Haytham, I think I smell the Marwolaeth in the leader.”

  Haytham pushed the back door open and stepped into the alley. He immediately visualized the common room in Guardian Headquarters and ported them to safety.

  They popped in near the vending machines. Eight pairs of eyes stared at them in surprise from chairs around the conference table.<
br />
  “Haytham, you’re late,” Mabel Avery said, standing. “Where have you been?”

  “We’ve got more information and a piece to the spell to undo the Marwolaeth curse.” Everyone started talking at once.

  §

  An hour later, Candace’s head spun with all the questions the Guardian’s kept asking her.

  “Look! I don’t know why I can smell the Marwolaeth. Yes, it probably has to do with the Dragon Heart Stone imbedded in my chest. No, I don’t know why I’m the person chosen to possess the stone. Yes, Haytham and I are Destined Ones and have bonded. Okay? I’m tired of repeating myself.” Candace wanted to knock some sense into these people. No wonder her brother had no patience when dealing with the Guardians and Council members.

  “There’s one more thing, I hesitate to mention,” Haytham said, looking first at Candace and then at Mabel Avery the Guardian leader and witch council member.

  “Don’t hold back, Haytham. We need to know everything,” Tolya, one of the lycan guardians said kindly.

  “I think my Uncle Finley is somehow connected to all this. I thought I saw him point us out to the mob of men at the pizza restaurant. Also, now that I think about it, a man with crimson robes visited him at Luften House. I didn’t see the man clearly, only a flash of red robes. I didn’t see the man in the alley clearly today either, but I thought I recognized my uncle.”

  “That’s a dangerous accusation, Haytham,” Mabel said. “I think, for now, since you have no definite proof, we’ll keep this information in house.”

  Haytham nodded, his face glum. Candace felt sorry for her fiancé and squeezed his knee under the table.

  “I agree with Haytham about the spell to undo the Marwolaeth,” Mabel said. “We have Air with Elise and Owen being Destined Ones and now Fire with Haytham and Candace. That leaves Water and Earth. Any idea who might be next?”

  “Garrett is an Earth Witch and Gabriella is a Water Witch. They’re Destined Ones…” Hay said.

  Everyone started talking at once, again. Candace leaned her head on Hay’s shoulder and sighed.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Candace awoke to butterfly kisses on her mouth, then her chin. She sighed, not wanting to open her eyes yet. The Guardian leader demanded they stay at the Amhurst Earth House Compound since it was warded and they had almost been attacked at the pizza restaurant. At least the guest cabin had wonderfully soft sheets on the bed.

  Haytham suckled gently at her breast and then the other before pressing kisses down her stomach to the juncture between her legs. He moved between her thighs, making room for his broad shoulders, before blowing lightly over her pubic hair.

  “Haytham,” Candace whispered, feeling an answering tingle as her body responded to the attention.

  “Shh, baby. This is for you. Relax and enjoy.”

  He licked up her slit. Candace moaned. It felt amazing. What a wonderful way to wake. He pressed kisses to each thigh and then went back to licking lightly, teasing her with the softest brush of his tongue. Candace let her legs fall open wider. Haytham lifted her hips higher before spearing his tongue inside her.

  Candace gasped and shuddered. This man knew right where and how to touch her. He was a master musician playing her nerves like strings. She reached for him. Suddenly, her hands lay held over her head. She opened her eyes and tugged. Nothing was visible, but she couldn’t move.

  “Haytham, what are you doing?”

  “Honey, I told you to relax. Let me pleasure you.”

  “You know that my magic can burn right through whatever spell you’re using to restrain me. I could burn you, even.”

  “But you won’t, my fiery one, because after everything we’ve been through, you know I would never hurt you. Now relax, your body is like a fine musical instrument and I’m going to find the notes that bring your body the greatest pleasure.”

  He could do it, too. Candace trembled as the tension in her core built. Haytham added his fingers to the mix, pumping inside her while his tongue teased her clit. Suddenly, a puff of cold air hit first one nipple and then the other.

  Candace squealed. “Haytham.”

  Her nipples pebbled into hard little nubbins. They ached and a shaft of desire shot straight to her core. She tugged against the restraints. He drove her crazy, and using his magic to pleasure her was cheating, wasn’t it? His fingers and tongue continued to work her. Her body shuddered, her head thrashed on the pillow.

  “Please,” she begged.

  “Yes, love. Feel the crescendo. Tell me you want to come. Tell me you want me.”

  “Yes, Haytham. Only you.”

  He curved his fingers up inside, hitting the exact right spot. Candace exploded.

  A wave of pure pleasure overtook her. Her body jerked and she screamed. Her only anchor in the storm, Haytham’s hand playing her body. Lost in ecstasy, she heard him chuckle. “Mine,” he declared. “That’s it, sink into the melody. Let yourself go.”

  The magical restraints on her arms suddenly gone, Candace still couldn’t move. Her body felt like mush. Haytham lay next to her and gathered her into his arms. She could feel his arousal pressing against her thigh as the pounding of her heart slowed.

  “What about you?” she asked reaching for his hardness.

  “Later, after we make this marriage legally binding.”

  “But you’re so hard.”

  “Candy, you make me hard just by walking into the room.”

  She chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “It is, believe me.” Haytham kissed her forehead.

  §

  “Are you ready to make this affair legal?” Haytham asked as they stood waiting outside the register office.

  Candace smoothed her hands over the shoulders of his suit jacket. As much as Hay hated wearing them all the time, he did look good in a suit.

  “Of course. I wonder where Aiden is…” Candace peered down London Street. She wiped her sweaty palm down her simple white lace dress. Aiden wouldn’t stand her up on her wedding day, would he?

  With a swish, Aiden ported into the alley across the street. Candace heaved a sigh of relief. He hurried over to them. Her brother kissed her on the cheek before glowering at Haytham.

  “You better take care of her, Luften.”

  “I will, Aiden. You have my solemn promise. Now, let’s go inside, Mabel is waiting with the clerk to make sure the spell used on the paperwork is just right.”

  “More Witch Council politicians using magic for their own gains,” Aiden huffed.

  “In this case, your sister and I gain the rewards of their misdeeds.” Hay opened the door and ushered Candace inside. Aiden followed with another huff.

  Haytham hurried the group to the third floor and down the hall to a room marked Private. Mabel stood waiting with the register office clerk. She motioned them forward.

  Everyone took their places with Candace and Haytham facing the clerk and Aiden and Mabel standing behind and slightly to the sides. Candace bit her lip, wishing it was her mother standing up with her instead of Mabel.

  Haytham smiled and squeezed her hand. Candace nodded. This was a formality, their real wedding ceremony was the Destined One ceremony in Hreghen. She turned to listen to the clerk.

  “Do you Candace Mereida Kindle promise to love and cherish Haytham from this day forward?” the clerk asked.

  “I do.”

  “Do you Haytham Alistair Luften promise to love and cherish Candace from this day forward?”

  “I do.”

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

  “That’s it?” Haytham asked. Candace bit her lip. Was Haytham disappointed?

  “Ms. Avery said you wanted the short version. I need you to sign here and we will get the paperwork rushed through,” the clerk replied.

  “Just a moment…” Haytham took Candace into his arms and kissed her deeply. Not too disappointed then.

  When Haytham let her up for air, Aiden shook his head and stormed out of
the room. They both looked from the door to each other and laughed. Mabel smiled and clapped.

  “Whatever the future brings,” Haytham said, “we will face it together.”

  Candace smiled. “That’s what Destined Ones do.”

  § § §

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  Coming Soon

  Lycan’s Mate

  Book Twelve of the Siberian Volkov Pack Romance Series

  Cross-Over to Shadow Walker Romance Series.

  Gwen Quiet Thunder has fought against her lycan roots her whole life. She didn’t want anything to do with the wolf inside her and couldn’t fathom finding a mate in a lycan. She thought all lycan men were like the boy who terrorized her while growing up, mean, cruel, and aggressive. So when the mating bond snaps into place with her future brother-in-law, there’s only one thing to do. Run.

  Mischa Sokolov, Siberian Lycan is thrilled to find his future sister-in-law is also his mate. She may be having some problems accepting the inevitable, but he never expected her to run and put an ocean between them. The more he tries to connect to her, the more she pushes him away. But lycans only get one heartmate and mate for life. He’s going to have to prove to Gwen that she can trust him with her heart or lose the one woman meant to be his.

  Aqua Magic

  Book Four of the Witch Guardian Romance Series

  Brenna Ross is trapped in her own mind. Possessed by a Marwolaeth, that is slowly killing her, it uses her to murder those she loves. As hard as she struggles to regain control of her body, she can’t break free. Still she will fight, desperately trying to tell her sister she’s sorry.