by Audra Hart
She opens an eye and raises her head slightly, looks at him disbelievingly, saying, “That was a gift from me to you? Oh sure Lucian Michaels. That was biggest orgasm any woman, anywhere has ever experienced, but I was giving the gift to you? Sure darling,” she giggles like a girl. “You are welcome!” She enthusiastically wraps her arms around his neck and covers his face with kisses, and timid licks with her tongue. “You are truly amazing Luca, truly. But this bath water is too cool for me. I am all for crawling under the covers of the giant king sized bed in there. What do you say?” Then she kisses him again, and rises out of the tub.
He rinses his face off and runs his fingers through his hair and then follows her example. She’s already out of the tub and reaching for a towel, when he asks, “You didn’t experience any pain did you?” He asks as he starts draining the water from the tub and turns off the jets.
She raises an eyebrow at him archly and says, patiently as though talking to a stubborn child, “No pain Luca. One hundred percent, unadulterated, pure, heavenly pleasure. That’s all!” She smiles brightly at him as she wraps the towel around her body and walks towards the bed. “One of these days, you will let me return the favor.” She watches him closely but his expression remains neutral, just as she expected. He has steadfastly refused to ever allow her to bring him to orgasm with her mouth and she has never understood why.
Morna finally shrugs knowing Luca won’t answer her if she tries to talk about it so she moves to their bed. She eyeballs the bedspread suspiciously, then decides to remove it before she hops into bed. She folds it up and sets it in the corner, out of their way. Then she pulls the sheet and blanket back. She lets the towel drop to floor, then fluidly stretches out on the cold sheet. She savors the smoothness of the high thread count sheets, and their crisp coolness. A tiny shiver of pleasure ripples through her body. She slowly pulls the top sheet only up over her body, enjoying its crisp, cool softness as well.
Luca is watching from the bathroom door. “Damn Morna, I must say, that is the most enticing vision you just created, savoring the feel of those sheets,” he chuckles to himself and shakes his head. “I almost feel jealous those Egyptian cotton bed sheets.”
She shrugs and says, “What can I tell you. I think you have brought my body to a new heightened level of sensual awareness. It just felt incredibly good easing into the sheets.” She runs her hand over the crisp, cool sheets and smiles. “They must be at least a thousand thread count.”
He walks over to the other side of the bed and lets his towel drop to the floor and slips into the bed beside her. He has to admit, they are quality sheets, but he’s more interested in the woman lying in them. He takes her into his cold, perfectly shaped arms and draws her close. She shivers with even greater pleasure than she got from the sheets, and then wraps her body around his as closely as she can manage. She sighs the sound of one deeply contented with their lot in life. Then kisses his chest where she has buried her face.
Then her stomach grumbles. He laughs out loud. “Morna, why didn’t you say you were hungry?”
She pulls her face back from his chest to look up into his face and says, “Because I have been so high up on cloud nine tonight, I didn’t realize that I was hungry until right now.” And then she giggles happily. “Luca, food has been the farthest thing from my mind tonight.”
He pulls away slightly and then says, “Well, you need to eat. You have to stay strong to continue healing and to get your memories back. Let me see if room service is still available, if not I can go out and get something for you.” He sits up and reaches for the phone. When the front desk answers he asks if room service is still available. The clerk assures him that is and connects him immediately.
Luca covers the mouthpiece of the phone and says, “They are still serving, what would you like Morna?”
She stretches contentedly again, and says, “A steak, cooked medium, with fifty-seven sauce and fries with ketchup. Oh and a cold coke in a can. No ice.”
Luca chuckles and repeats her order to the room service clerk, gives the girl his room number, and says “Thank you“ He hangs up the phone and snuggles back into the bed with Morna.
Morna wraps herself around him again and says, “Wow, what time is it? We should have called to check on the kids.”
“It is the wee hours of the morning, Morna, too late to call anyone. I am sure they are fine. Everyone has our cell numbers. They would call if they needed anything. Just relax and enjoy this time we have alone. We may not get much time like this again for a while.”
“I am sorry Luca, I don’t know why I am like that,” Morna admits sheepishly.
“Morna because you are a mother at heart. You always have been. You always put those that you feel responsible for first. But for the rest of this night, I want you to put us first. Just relax and enjoy this interlude we have tonight, because tomorrow and the days and weeks ahead will be filled challenges aplenty, I am afraid.” He kisses her tenderly and says, “Besides, starting tomorrow, I will have to share you with our friends and…”
Morna wanders why he cut himself off like that. Share me with who? She wonders. “I know Luca, I know you are right,” she snuggles in even closer to him and says, “I would have to be a fool to waste one second of this,” she says languidly. She snuggles with him and they talk of her joy in knowing her children are safe, and wonders when they will be able to see them.
When room service knocks, she sits up eagerly. “Yea, yummy for the human tummy!” He laughs and gets up and wraps the discarded towel around his waist, goes to the door and signs for her dinner. He carries the tray to her in bed, she crosses her legs, and he sets the tray on top of them. She hungrily attacks the meal. All the while she busily chats about how good it will be to see Brigid and how eager she is to meet this Aideen, and figure out why she is so important.
She talks about how much fun the run in the woods was tonight, and tells him he was very sweet to hold himself back to allow her to keep up with him. He chuckles and says, “Morna, I wasn’t really holding back. Not until right there at the very last. You are faster than you used to be. Baby, don‘t you realize how much stronger you are?” This makes Morna very thoughtful. She has to admit she has never been stronger, even with the help of spells.
When she has eaten all of the KC strip steak and half of her fries, she finishes her coke and decides she is finally full. He has been sitting on the bed before her watching her eat. Enjoying the way her large, full breasts bob up and down as cuts the steak, and waves her arms around animatedly as she talks. He gets up and takes her tray and sets it outside the door to their room. When he comes back into the room, she isn’t in bed. A couple of minutes later she comes out the bathroom. He looks at her thoughtfully, “Morna I am not kidding. I think you are becoming most vampire like. I don’t remember you ever being this fast, this strong, or this stealthy. I really wonder what’s up,” he says quietly.
“Luca, I think I am just coming into my own. I think it’s just time for me to assume the mantle of responsibility, right the wrongs done against us, and just get on with our lives, all of us, all the Spell Weavers. To me anyway, it feels like my entire race has been held back in some way, while I have stumbled around through all of my mortal existences. I may be nuts, but that’s what I think,” she says impassionedly. Then she shrugs, “But hey, what do I know. I thought I was plain old Deidra Montfort until a few short days ago.”
Luca nods, and says, “Morna, I think you just may have gone right to the heart of what is taking place right now. I certainly do!” By now he is back in the sheets with her. He chuckles because he can smell the toothpaste on her breath and the fresh soap she used to wash her hands. She is always so sensitive to how she smells to him. He chuckles and draws her closer to him. He is prepared for her to fall asleep pretty quickly in his arms, but she surprises him by kissing him and caressing his body. Clearly indicating that she would enjoy making love again. He is more than happy to accommodate her.
She
has taken the lead this time and rides wildly on top. Once they reach their climax together, she collapses on top of him. He holds her close until she is sound asleep. He shifts her left leg up and out of the way so that he can roll her onto the bed beside him. She will be uncomfortable later if he were to allow to sleep straddled across him like that on his hard body. He watches her sleep and wonders where she gets all of her passion for life. He knows it’s only her deep abiding love for him that causes her to be so drawn to his unnaturally cold and hard body. He is grateful for the intense passion she has for him because it reflects his own for her perfectly.
CHAPTER 18 - AIDEEN
Morna is filled with doubts and questions about the future. She wonders if she is dreaming. She had thought that she was awake. They are very strange dreams, she doesn’t exactly feel like she is asleep, more like a trance of some sort. She is facing challenges that she can’t see or understand. She founders and falls often as she struggles to protect those depending on her. In her heart she is afraid she will fail them.
What if she doesn’t remember any of her friends? What if she disappoints the elves? What if she can’t resolve this problem and get her children back? The pain she experiences at the thought of never seeing her children again rips viciously through her heart as other questions ravage her mind. What if her magic doesn’t come back? What if she truly isn’t fit to take over leadership of her clan? What if…?
Who is Aideen? Why is she so important? Why does she feel like she knows exactly who this unknown woman is? What if…? With each question she feels more frantic, more uncertain. Her head is throbbing painfully and she feels like she is going to be sick. Her mouth has a putrid taste that seems to come from her very soul.
By the time she can finally force her eyes open she is breathing as hard as if all the demons of hell are chasing her. Indeed her doubts are bearing down on her with as much intensity as demons would. She bolts upright with a gasp of fear, to discover she is drowning in an overwhelming sea of dread, doubt, fear and a feeling of being out of her element.
Luca recognizes her distress when he re-enters their suite, and rushes to her. He fears she is facing some sort of attack from an unseen force. She seems to be struggling mightily with something. He takes her face into his hands, “Morna? What’s troubling you?” he asks.
As soon as she sees his beautiful, perfect face she relaxes, marginally. She knows that she can’t be totally unprepared and unable to face what’s ahead of her if he has so much confidence in her. She smiles uncertainly at him and says, “I am fine. Just nervous, I guess. Strange dreams.” But the nagging questions and doubts remain. “What time is it?” she asks.
“It is only 6:00, why don’t you try to go back to sleep?” he asks.
“NO! I mean, no, I think I am up for the day.” She throws the covers back and gets up fluidly. She turns to look at him and realizes he’s fully dressed and had entered the bedroom from the front of the suite. “Where have you been?”
“I went to rent us a car,” Luca says softly. “Are you alright, baby? You seem very troubled.”
“Nerves. It will pass,” she says feigning nonchalance. She starts to walk to the bathroom, then stops suddenly and looks around the room uncertainly. She looks at Luca as though she wants to say something and then charges into the bathroom and practically slams the door. Luca is very troubled by her actions. He quickly makes the bed and then sits at the foot of it to wait for her to come out.
Morna enters the bathroom and wonders belatedly why she slammed the door. She hopes Luca doesn’t think she is angry with him or something. She is just so out of sorts and just can’t deal with whatever he may or not think about her actions at the moment. After she uses the necessary she goes to the vanity and washes her hands. She brushes her teeth, then leans against the vanity with her hands clutching the edge. She presses her face against the cold glass of the mirror and wonders; “What the hell is wrong with me?” Suddenly, seeing her nakedness in the mirror makes her uncomfortable, and she grabs a towel off the rack and wraps up in it.
The scars on her face and arm catch her attention. “Damn, I really don’t want to meet all these people looking so different, 30 years older than they expect, and scarred up like some reject from a horror movie,” she thinks to herself. Then she remembers Luca’s plan to treat the scars again last night with venom to help them fade a little more. That thought leads to her thoughts to how they actually spent the night. A delicious smile lights her face, until her uncertainty and the pain in her head drives the beautiful memory and feelings into a dark corner of her mind.
“Oh hell!” she mutters and fishes her hairbrush out of her case on the vanity. It is no use, the dust mop on steroids is back. She will have to wash and style it this morning.
“Oh to hell with the hair!” she thinks. That putrid taste is still in her mouth. She grabs her toothpaste and toothbrush and cleans her teeth again. This time scrubbing her tongue thoroughly, which makes her gag. After she vomits, she brushes her teeth again. “What is this foul taste?” She washes her face and considers taking a shower.
She hears a very soft knock on the main door from the hallway. Then she hears Luca step out into the hallway. After a few moments of listening, and not being able to hear anything else her anxiety takes on a life of its own. She feels like it is suffocating her… She puts her hand on the door knob, preparing to go into the room and see what is going on…
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After she has been in the bathroom for about thirty minutes, Luca decides to knock on the door to check on her. He is hesitantly raising his hand to knock on the bathroom door when a knock sounds on the door from the hallway. “What now?” he wonders in frustration. When he opens the door Aideen is standing there. He looks behind him into the suite. Morna is still in the bathroom so he quickly steps out into the hallway and pulls the door closed behind him. He pulls her into his arms and holds her tightly, kissing her lips tenderly. “Why are you here sweetheart?” he whispers. “Is something wrong?”
She returns his embrace and then leans back to look him in the face, “She re-established the connection with me in her sleep. Now she is drowning in anxiety and self-doubt right now, it’s overwhelming me. You have to go help her, snap her out of it. She is obsessed with me, whether or not she is up to challenges ahead, and all manner of uncertainties. It’s just awful! Then she started thinking of what you two did last night. I DO NOT want those images and feelings in my head! Do you understand me? Go distract her!”
Just then the door from the room opens and Morna is standing there wrapped in her towel, looking at the man she loves more than all her lifetimes put together, more than anything or anyone else in them, standing there with his arms around a very beautiful, very young woman. Morna is shocked into absolute, dumbfounded silence. She just stands there and stares, unable to process what she is seeing. “I don’t understand…” she finally mumbles, and backs away. How can a man who obviously loves her as much as this one does be in some clandestine embrace with another woman? How? Why? What is going on?
The pain in her head intensifies to an unbearable level, as blackness over takes her and she collapses in a dead faint. Luca catches her before she can hit the floor and carries her over to the bed. He motions Aideen to follow. “You had better stay here now, we are going to have get this over with. I really didn’t want to do this the hard way, but I see no other choice now. We must tell her,” he whispers to the clearly upset young woman as he strokes her cheek lovingly.
Luca sits next to Morna on the bed, he takes her limp hand into his own. He brushes her brow with his cold fingers. Aideen stands beside him looking on. Her face showing obvious signs of distress. This is the sight that greets Morna when she recovers and reluctantly opens her eyes. “Morna, darling are you alright?” Luca asks.
She pushes him away with one hand, and he flies across the room and slams into the wall. Aideen gasps in shock and amazement. Luca recovers immediately and returns to the bedside in le
ss than a second. He firmly takes her face in between his hands, forcing her to look at him and says, “Morna, look at Aideen! Just look at her! You know the truth!”
Morna tears her bewildered and wounded eyes from her mate’s face and looks at the beautiful young woman standing beside her. She looks so familiar. She looks like Luca! Except for her eyes and her hair. Her eyes are the exact same emerald green as her own. Her hair is exactly the shade of shimmering copper that her hair had been in her original lifetime.
Suddenly the memories flood back in a torrent. Morna remembers that she had just learned the wonderful news that she was to have a baby the very day that she came upon the ancient vampire in the glen, draining the very life blood out of her beloved Luca.
“My baby?” Morna whispers. “You are my child?” Aideen is smiling and crying now, and she nods. Morna stands shakily and touches the beautiful face, not daring to believe.
A second flood of memories assault Morna’s consciousness. The labor had been difficult. Someone was holding her in some sort of spell and her heart was failing. She could almost taste the bitter evil of the person wielding the spell, it has a putrid flavor and smell. The same taste that fills her mouth right now!
Brigid is barely able to cut the child out of her swollen belly alive. Morna watches as Brigid cleans the infant’s nose and mouth, the child cries lustily. Morna smiles because she knows babe is strong. Brigid is weaving some sort of spell over the child, and Luca is weaving a healing spell over the failing Morna. Then Brigid places the baby on Morna’s chest, Morna kisses the sweet face and whispers, “Aideen,” meaning flame, for the shock of fiery copper hair on the child’s head.
Suddenly Magdrid, the council of Elders, and several of Magdrid cronies barge into their cottage. The leader of the Elders apologizes for the intrusion and asks how they can help Morna, while Magdrid and her cronies demand the baby. Two of the Elders come to Morna’s side to assist Rinda who is trying to staunch the blood flow where the child was cut from her belly. When Brigid and Luca refuse to hand the child over, Magdrid threatens them both with exile.
