Powerful Magic

by Karen Whiddon

  When they reached her room, she preceded him inside. As soon as the door closed, she launched herself into his arms and pulled his head down to give him a deep, satisfying kiss.

  As she'd known it would, passion instantly flared between them. She felt the fine shudder go through him, felt too the hard evidence of his desire pressing into her belly, which thrilled her. Now he would take her, now he would carry her to the bed, lie beside her and bury himself deep inside her.

  She shivered, anticipation and desire making her feel feverish. His hands roamed over her, stroking her skin, inflaming her already heightened sensitivity. Though it was she who had begun the kiss, he took over, deepening it, possessing her mouth with a fierceness that told thrilled her to the bone.

  Melting against him, she molded her breasts against his chest, undulating her sensitive nipples and moaning into his mouth.

  "Nay!" He pushed her away gently, his voice cracking with regret. "We must not."

  Stunned, Megan could only gape at him. "You really mean this?"

  He frowned, looking every bit the fierce warrior she'd first met. Except in his eyes, where she could see the pain warring with a fierce desire equal to the one she felt.

  Still he said nothing, merely continuing to gaze at her, his jaw set and body rigid.

  She remembered what they had said in the council chambers. "They spoke the truth?" She whispered, still only half believing. "The magic really won't work?"

  He nodded, keeping his hands clenched in fists at his side. "Today I could do nothing. I had no power, none at all."

  Blankly she stared. "You--"

  "We made love last night."

  "But how do you know for certain?"

  "God's blood, woman." he roared, "think you that I want this? I have thought of nothing but my need for you all day. Yet would you have me cede victory to Myrddin so easily?"

  Her own body throbbing, Megan forced a smile. With every ounce of dignity she possessed, she took several deep breaths, willing herself to calmness. If she felt shaky and weak, she was determined not to show it.

  Keeping her chin up, she marched over to stand in front of the man she loved. Careful not to touch him, she gazed up at him hoping he could see her love shining in her eyes. The idea that she could tempt a man such as he gave her an odd feeling of power, one that she would tuck away inside her for now and take out and examine later.

  "Maybe they were right then. You should not sleep here." He gave her a look of such anguish that she took a step back.

  "I cannot bear to be away from you." He admitted, his voice a low rumble.

  Heart swelling, she shook her head. Never had she loved him more, this giant warrior who cherished her so well, even if he could not yet bring himself to speak the words.

  "I don't want..." She hung her head, ashamed to finish the sentence and tell him.

  One large finger gently lifted her chin. "You don't

  want?"

  "To be responsible for..." She waved her hand in the air. "I'm not sure I can lay in your arms and not want you."

  To her stunned amazement he threw back his head and laughed. A wicked glint in his eye, he leaned closer, brushing the tip of her nose with his mouth. "Aye, but nothing was said about you finding your own pleasure. Tis only me who must not indulge."

  "I cannot..." Her words faded as he captured her mouth in another deep, drugging kiss, making her burn. Still exploring her mouth with his tongue, he effortlessly lifted her in his massive arms and carried her to the bed.

  She moaned, both aroused and shocked, yet unable to keep from moving her body against him. Part of her wanted to be strong, like him - if he must deny himself such pleasure, then in all fairness, so should she. The other part of her - that wild, wanton, secret part that she hadn't even known existed, urged her to take what bliss he offered, in the same unselfish spirit in which he gave it.

  Then he loosened her gown in an effortless motion and removed her clothing, exposing her overheated skin to his burning gaze and his clever, clever touch.

  Ah Kenric, her mind cried out in protest, while the hot fire he caused in her blood overrode it.

  When his mouth left hers she made a weak sound of protest, until he captured her nipple and suckled gently. Heat suffused her and mindless, heedless, she arched against him, no longer conscious of her nakedness and the fact that he was still fully clothed.

  As she did, a tormented groan escaped him and this finally gave her pause. Opening her eyes, she rose up on her elbows and tried to push him away.

  He raised his head, his gaze hooded and burning. "Do not," he growled, sounding like a man in pain, "deny us this."

  "But." Unable to help herself, she looked pointedly at his braes, and the awesome bulge of his arousal that swelled there. "You cannot--"

  "Hush, my Megan." Bending his head, he touched her lips lightly with his own, effectively silencing her. "I want to pleasure you. I will survive, in fact this will make me stronger."

  Warrior/Lover/Soulhalf.

  His mouth teased her, searing a path down the curve cheek, her throat and shoulder. Again he pleasured her breasts, again she found herself arching herself to meet him. The stroking of his fingers sent jolts of lightening through her, and she parted her thighs eagerly at his touch. Aching, on fire, she gave herself up to the sheer delight of his amazing hands, then gasped when she felt the moist heat of his mouth as he kissed her where moments before only his fingers had caressed.

  "Kenric!" She gasped, entwining her hands in his thick, dark hair, meaning only to push his head away, but instead holding it in place as he stroked inside of her with his tongue. Oh - that such bliss existed, she had never known, never imagined.

  It built like a storm, like lightening and rain and thunder all at once, and she cried out loud from the sheer power of it. Release overcame her, flowing through her, a honeyed river of her essence, to him, where he feasted like a man starving, stopping only when she thought she could take no more.

  Limp, exhausted, she wanted him in her then, wanted to feel the swollen hardness of him fill her, though she knew it was forbidden.

  With a crooked grin, he backed away from her, holding up his hand to stave her off when she would have gone to him.

  "Not... now." His breathing sounded loud and labored, his expression contorted like a man in torment. "Give me a moment."

  Backing away, he left her then, leaving her feeling curiously both satisfied and guilty, complete and frustrated. He did not return until several hours later, climbing stiffly

  into bed beside her and rolling on to his side while she pretended to sleep.

  #

  It was in the dark of the night that it happened. The unwanted knowledge came to Megan in a blinding flash while she watched Kenric sleep, the way such things as intuition and brilliant insights often do. She and Kenric would make love, at least once before the battle to come. They had to, to generate the necessary power to ensure that he won the battle. Hadn't the prophecy said that the two soul halves must join?

  Despite his belief that his power would disappear, she knew they had to mate. Whatever he would lose would be temporary at best, but what he would gain would last him forever.

  And then, once they had joined bodies and spirits, once they had produced the necessary magic, she would no longer be needed here. Somehow she knew her fear was on target, that despite what she or Kenric wanted, she would be returned to her own time, after the battle was won.

  Her purpose would have been served.

  Either way, she was damned. If she didn't make love with Kenric, the power would not be summoned, the prophecy unfulfilled. And, she admitted to a purely selfish motive as well. If she didn't make love with Kenric before she left, she might never do so again.

  #

  What a night. His willpower tested to the limits of his endurance, Kenric had not slept much. Though, he grinned savagely in the rose-tinted dawn, Megan now slept the deep sleep of the thoroughly exhausted.

  He had p
leasured her in every way known to man. Just thinking of the musky taste of her, the gentle rain of her desire upon his lips, made him hard and ready. Again. As if he hadn't spent the entire night aroused and throbbing.

  But he had spent it with the woman he loved.

  Every inch of Megan's delectable body now knew the touch of his mouth, the gentle raking of his teeth. He had explored her and aroused her, until she had arched her back and begged him to enter her. He had wanted to bury himself in her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life.

  From somewhere, somehow, he had found the strength of will to refuse, bringing her to ecstacy instead with his mouth and his hands.

  For himself, he took nothing, other than the pleasure of knowing he had satisfied his woman.

  And now, with the dawn creeping silently up on the horizon, the sexual frustration inside him made him want to take his sword and battle someone. Anyone. Anything to rid himself of the raging fire that burned inside him.

  Arwydd would be pleased. The magic would explode from him like lightening this morn. He could only imagine what he would be like after a week or two of this.

  Myrddin had better watch his back. He would be no match for Kenric once this time of training was finished.

  Arwydd was already waiting for him. Hands folded serenely in front of him, the wizened faerie smiled gently. "So you survived?"

  "I did." Kenric said grimly. "And now we'd best begin."

  #

  A week flew by, slowly for Megan. Kenric was so exhausted by the intensive training that, more often than not, he dropped into sleep as soon as he climbed into bed.

  There was no repeat of the night when he'd pleasured her in so many ways, taking nothing for himself. She told herself she did not really want one, it wasn't fair to Kenric after all.

  It didn't help that every night, before he fell asleep, he gathered her close in his muscular arms and held her. Never had she felt so cherished. And never had she felt so sexually frustrated. She wanted him so badly it hurt. She lay awake for hours, listening to his deep, even breathing, inhaling the spicy, masculine scent of him, and aching.

  Yet once they gave in to the nearly uncontrollable passion that simmered inside of them, their time together would be over. This was both her worst fear and her greatest desire.

  This morn, she'd seen Kenric off with a forced smile. He'd been gruff himself, taut and full of a restless energy that she certainly could relate to.

  All around them, things returned to normal. Lord Brighton, finally accepting that Megan would never be his, left Rune to return to the mortal world and search for his own soul mate. Megan was glad. After all, she had enough to worry about without adding one more thing.

  Like her thoughts of him had called him, Kenric burst through the door. Barely inside, he stopped, his legs spread apart in a warrior's stance, his eyes hard and full of sorrow.

  Immediately, she rushed to his side. "What has happened?"

  He stepped back. "Do not touch me, my love." The warning was low voiced, vibrating with emotion. "It has been decided I am ready."

  Blankly, she stared up at him. "Ready?" Her heart began to pound. "But it has only been one week. They said you needed--"

  "I am ready." His tone was so bleak, she trembled.

  "When?" She asked simply, because there was nothing left to say.

  Kenric lifted one shoulder in an attempt at a casual shrug. The very air seemed to resonate with stirrings of some primal power.

  "Soon. Even now they release the spell that kept us hidden from Myrddin's scrying. Because of this, I will stay apart from you this one night. Then together we will seek out Myrddin and finish it. We leave Rune in the morning." With those words and one last look of desperate longing, he turned to go.

  "Wait." Heart heavy, Megan knew it was time for her to play her part. "You must stay with me this night."

  One dark brow rose as he waited to hear her explanation.

  She licked her lips, trying to summon up the right words. "The prophecy says we must join for the magic to be made. Tonight you and I must make love, to ensure you will be victorious in the battle."

  After a moment of stunned silence, he shook his shaggy head, chuckling. "Ah, my Megan. If only you knew how many times I have told myself such things. To be able to mate with you. But we have already loved, already made the power. It hums in me, resonates in me, all because we have found each other."

  "But--"

  "Nay." He fixed her with a look so intense, her heart skipped a beat. "When it is over, and I have bested Myrddin, I will love you all through the night. Until then, I must jealously guard my new power, and not let the sweet temptation of you sway me. This is why we will spend this night apart, lest the weeks of abstinence become too much for me. Be ready to ride in the morning."

  Stunned, she stared. “What?”

  The look he gave her seared her. “You go with me, of course. You are such an integral part of me and of my power, that I fear to do battle without you close.”

  With these words, he left her, exiting the small room as violently as he had entered.

  Megan moved to the chair on legs that would no longer support her. If what she believed was true, then she'd been allowed a respite. She’d get more time with Kenric, more time with her love.

  But what he said made sense. Could she be wrong? If she was, and they did not have to make love again for the power to blossom, then maybe her feeling that she would be sent back to Dallas in 2001 was wrong also. Maybe he was right. Maybe she had nothing to fear but the battle itself.

  The battle... Kenric could be killed. The thought stunned her. She'd never really allowed herself to think about the coming battle, though it was akin to an apocalypse, to hear Rhiannon and the rest tell it. A battle like none she'd ever heard of before.

  When she thought of war, she thought of tanks and armies, and bombs dropping for stealthy jets. If she were to think of a battle in medieval times, she knew it would be men on horses, swords and arrows, personal, hand to hand combat.

  Yet this battle between Kenric and Myrddin would be none of those things.

  Instead, it would be a clash of magic. She shivered,

  haunted by the thought of Kenric in danger. She would make sure she stayed by his side at all times. Though she wasn't sure how, somehow she knew that her love would help him.

  Love was after all, the most powerful magic.

  #

  The battle would be soon. Kenric didn't know where it would take place or how it would begin, but the instant they rode through the veil that shielded Rune from the mortal world, he could sense it on the air, hear it in the wind.

  The day was dark, the roiling clouds that scudded across the sky an ominous portent. Thunder boomed in the distance, and the jagged strikes of lightening followed no pattern. Evil poisoned the air. His every nerve felt raw, exposed.

  He rode Lancelot at a steady pace, knowing when it would begin, it would be when Myrddin found him. Place would not matter, not in the realm where they would do battle, though Kenric would feel stronger if he could ride to the land that had once belonged to his human family, the land near his cave. He didn't know if he would make it - as he rode he sensed Myrddin's essence, seeking him.

  On the saddle behind him, Megan held her silence. Occasionally he heard her utter a faint sound of distress, telling him that she too felt the evil that tainted the air. If he felt fear at all, it was fear for her. Myrddin could not be allowed to win.

  To his right rode Edmyg and Rhiannon. His sister had taken human form for this journey. When Edmyg had insisted on coming with him, claiming he had an old score to settle with Myrddin, Rhiannon had refused to leave his side. Kenric did not know if the human mage would be help or hindrance, but with Rhiannon's quiet insistence, he had no choice but to allow Edmyg to accompany him.

  Now. He had one last thing to do before the battle.

  Kenric reined his war horse in, motioning Edmyg and Rhiannon on. Turning in the saddle to face
Megan, he waited until the others had ridden off before speaking.

  "My soul mate, I don't have much to offer," he began. "Though someday I promise I will give you the world. I intend to buy land with the coin I have, to build a keep, and to raise a family there. Our family." He cleared his throat, his heart pounding in his ears. "If you will have me as your mate."

  Never had silence seemed so long. He chanced a look at Megan, in this moment not a fearless warrior, but merely a man - her soul mate, who needed her more than he had ever needed anything, past or present.

  She gazed at him in wonderment, her magnificent eyes full of joy - and sorrow. "You are everything I want." She told him softly, her voice shaking, her expression fierce, as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "Everything."

  From somewhere in his tunic, he found the ring. Not the token she had given him as payment, nay. This was an ancient ring, a ring of binding. Rhiannon had given it to him the night before.

  Shimmering in his palm, it was a simple thing, a circle of moon-silver and thousands of tiny crystal beads, star tears. Heart in his throat, he took her hand and slipped it on her slender finger.

  "Metals such as gold are not used in Rune." He

  apologized, praying she would accept this ring. Though he found it beautiful, surely it a poor substitute to a woman used to gold and gems.

  "Though not as ornate as the ring you once wore, this is the traditional betrothal ring of Rune. A token of my need for you. Will you--" His voice broke and all he could do was stare in hopeless bemusement as she took his hand in hers, gripping tightly.

  "It is beautiful - magical." Megan shook her head, holding her hand aloft and watching with bemused fascination the arc of sparkling colors. "Too beautiful, my love. A ring made of twigs would be fine," she murmured. "Anything would do, as long as it binds me to you."

  Tears continued to run, unchecked, down her smooth cheeks. Though Kenric knew they were tears of happiness, they touched him, making his own eyes feel suspiciously full. He cleared his throat.

  "You are mine." He told her, sealing the vow with a kiss. "From now until the end of time."

  Power sizzled between them as their lips touched. She nodded, echoing his words. "From now until the end of time. "