“We are the priestesses conducting the ritual,” Morrighan explained. “I’ve never done this with so much help. Nine succubi, what a luxury.”
She went on to explain that at midnight, everyone would strip naked. Those who didn’t want to participate would go home. Those who stayed would make an offering to the Goddess. The succubi would each have a bed of clean, fresh hay, the first cutting of the season, and she would lie on it and open her robe. “Don’t use that reverse drain trick, not on this night,” Morrighan cautioned. “The Lady would be deprived of her offering and it would be very bad luck indeed.”
On this night, no woman could refuse any man who asked her. Tradition said if a woman were lucky enough, the man she wished for her husband would come to her. As a result, almost every unmarried woman was fertile.
When midnight struck, Brenna followed the others. Morrighan called out the Goddess’ blessing on all who were there, asking Her to accept their offerings and grant the Clan a good growing season, large harvest, and fertility for the animals and people.
Lying on her soft, sweet smelling bed, Brenna spread her robe and waited, watching as lovers came together, seeing some women’s faces light with joy and others turn sad with disappointment. But considering the options open to Clan women in preventing conception, she figured those who were disappointed would rid themselves of their waiting egg before morning.
She had feared a general orgy and expected to see a line of men standing before her, but it wasn’t like that. Only three men came to her that night, and though they’d been drinking, they were polite and worshipful, making their offering to the Goddess, and she took their contribution. Looking at what she was doing in that light was rather interesting, a religious rite rather than a debaucherous revel, and when she rose to go into the house to bed, she felt an unusual peace in her soul.
~~~
Siobhan told them of an old tale. Even the plainest girl will be beautiful if she rises early on May Day and bathes her face in the morning dew at sunrise. If she’s daring enough to undress and roll naked, her whole person will attain great beauty. The dew is also believed to bring immunity to freckles, sunburn, chapping, and wrinkles during the coming year. It cures or prevents headaches, skin ailments and sore eyes and, if applied to the eyes, ensures its user will rise every morning clear-eyed, alert and refreshed even after a very short sleep.
“Obviously this is something you did regularly as a young girl,” Rebecca dryly remarked, referring to Brenna’s notorious sleeping habits, rarely sleeping even four hours a night and waking bright and cheerful.
This tale, of course, led to a plan to roll naked in the morning dew at sunrise. An invitation to Morrighan to join them elicited a laughing response and a suggestion as to the best place. On the east side of the manor house was a swale hidden from view. As the sun rose, seventeen women stood shivering and waiting. Soon they were rolling in the dew, wet, cold and laughing. Then the play took on a different note as a number of young men showed up, tipped off by a member of the group the night before.
Lying on her back watching the sunrise, her skin tight and covered with goose bumps, her nipples hard and pointed, Brenna watched a handsome lad approach her clothed only in his confidence and armed with a hard erection. He walked up and stood between her spread legs, looking down on her. “My name is Brendan,” he introduced himself.
“I’m Brenna, and that swelling you have looks painful. I’m a healer. Would you like me to do something about it?” she replied with a smile.
He knelt down, and placing his hands under her bottom, lifted her up and slid into her. Laughing, she arched her back and let him have his way. She waited a good five seconds after his energy started to flow into her before she triggered the loop, and when their mutual orgasm ended, he fell over and lay on his side, a happy smile on his face. “Pleased to meet you, Lady Brenna,” he told her.
She had only drained him about ten percent, but the Glow made her feel marvelous. Wandering through the small glen, watching lovers on the grass, Brenna almost felt transported to a simpler, idyllic time. The beautiful Irish morning, the rising sun lighting the dew into a million diamonds, was like a fantasy, and she almost expected to see a unicorn. She smiled to herself, But unicorns only come to virgins and I doubt I’ll find any here past the age of puberty.
Rebecca joined her. “Been dancing around a May Pole? You’ve got a Glow on.”
“Oh, a willing lad presented himself to me, or maybe I should say exposed himself to me, and the pole looked so swollen and painful I felt obliged to apply my healing arts to its relief,” Brenna answered gaily. “But I had a great Glow on from last night before he arrived. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Beautiful and cold. Aren’t you cold?”
Brenna laughed, “My dear, how could such a lovely morning be cold to a cryokinetic?”
“Shit. God, am I stupid.” Brenna felt the heat of Rebecca’s body increase.
“That’s what you get for daydreaming during class,” Brenna told her smugly.
~~~
Chapter 2-15
When women go wrong, men go right after them - Mae West
Brenna expressed a desire to see the sea, and her grandmother immediately proposed a picnic at the beach. Everyone went to their rooms to dress appropriately. Brenna braided her hair in two braids, then wrapped them around her head and pinned them securely. After putting on their swimsuits under their clothes, she and Rebecca went downstairs. The party gathered in front of the house and the servants brought out food and blankets. Everyone piled into several lorries, and off they went.
When they arrived at the beach, Siobhan said with a smirk, “Now we’re going to conduct an IQ test. Who put on a swimsuit?” The three young Americans raised their hands, but no one else did. Antonia shuddered.
“You’d freeze your titties off if you got in that water,” Siobhan informed them. “No one in their right mind swims in the Irish Sea, especially this time of the year.”
Brenna, with a soft smile, began to take off her clothes, revealing a skintight spandex bathing suit. “There should be a law against looking that good,” Siobhan muttered to Rebecca.
“It wouldn’t matter,” came the reply. “Brenna’s a law of nature unto herself. She’d just ignore it.”
Walking to the edge of the water, Brenna announced, “Yes, it’s cold all right,” and without hesitation dived in and began strongly stroking toward England. She missed the look of total shock on Siobhan’s face.
“Is she a good swimmer?” her grandmother anxiously asked.
“Like a dolphin,” Rebecca replied, squatting down and putting her hand in the water, shivering at its icy cold. Touching her Gift, she felt the water around her hand warm to the temperature of a cooling bath, then stood and stripped down to her bikini and waded into the water. She knew she could never keep up with Brenna here, so she swam out a short ways and then turned, treading water and watching her friend. Everyone’s watching you, give them a show.
Brenna stopped and looked back to the shore. She was about one hundred yards out, but those on the beach could see her smile. Taking a deep breath, she dove, and then turning upward used her telekinesis to hurl herself out of the water. At the height of her arc, she turned back down, knifing cleanly into the waves. She turned the maneuver into a series of jumps like a dolphin. When she leapt up and did a full backward loop in layout position, Rebecca sent, Showoff!
After a few minutes, Brenna sent a general broadcast to the party, Does anyone know if there are sharks in this water?
Sharks?
There’s something out here bigger than I am.
Entering Brenna’s mind, Rebecca saw a ghostly form drawing gradually closer and then becoming clear.
Well, hello, aren’t you a pretty girl! Brenna sent to the seal, not in words, but in images and feelings. Awed, hitchhiking in Brenna’s mind, Rebecca was able to follow the strangest conversation she
had ever imagined. Yes, I think it’s a fine day for swimming, are you enjoying this sunny morning?
~warm human~swim like dolphin~curious~
The seal swam up to Brenna, almost touching nose to nose, and studied her. Turning and brushing against her, turning again, ~play~swim~chase~
Her mind bubbling with delight, Brenna played, chasing and being chased, I can’t go as deep as you can, my beauty, nor hold my breath as long, we’ll have to play here near the surface.
Suddenly, the seal darted off, faster than Brenna could keep up even with telekinetic help. With a mental shrug, she went back to swimming and jumping, luxuriating in the feeling of freedom and power she felt in the buoyant medium.
And then the seal was back, nudging her to the surface. Breaking water, she stared at the seal, holding a fish in its mouth and shoving its face toward hers.
~friend~like~fish~give~
A feeling of pure joy ran through her. Laughing, she sent, I’ve been invited to lunch! Sushi!
Thank you, darling, but I just had a meal and I’m not hungry.
The seal flipped the fish into the air and swallowed it cleanly when it came down. Two more seals appeared.
You brought your friends to meet me? Oh how wonderful!
Brenna played with the seals another hour, Rebecca joining them for a short time, then swam to the beach. Walking up onto the sand, she asked Rebecca, “Will an air shield float? Will water penetrate it?”
“I don’t know,” Rebecca created one and nudged it out into the water. “It floats,” she announced. “The water molecules are too large to get through.”
“Wonderful,” Brenna cried. Casting an air shield around Irina, then wrapping it in a telekinetic blanket, she started pulling it and the tiny blonde succubus toward the water. “I’ve got some friends I’d like you to meet.”
“What are you doing? Brenna? Noooooo!” Irina shrieked.
Paying no attention, Brenna swam back out to where the seals were watching curiously. To those on the beach and to the seals, the air shield was invisible and it appeared as though Irina was floating along the surface of the water, standing and fully clothed. Reaching the seals, Brenna invited them to check out the air shield, and soon they were pushing it around the waves, playing with the human in the invisible ball. Irina’s shrieks of laughter echoed across the water. Linked to Brenna’s mind, she could hear the communication between the seals and Brenna.
Brenna brought her back after about fifteen minutes, disheveled and a bit bruised from bouncing around the inside of the air shield, giggling like a drug addict in a pharmacy.
“My God, that was the most fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on!” Irina bubbled. “Absolutely incredible!”
Caylin stepped close, an intense look of longing on her face. “Brenna, can you take me out there? Please?”
Searching her grandmother’s face, seeing such a strong need there, Brenna nodded. She cast an air shield around Caylin, closer than the one she had set around Irina so the older woman could brace herself against it with her arms, carefully crafted a seat for her, then towed her out into the sea. I have brought my old one, my mother’s mother, please be gentle with her, she sent to the seals.
They gathered round her, gently pressing against the shield at three corners of a triangle, holding it steady. Brenna felt her grandmother send, It has been very long since I have played with the selkies, I used to play with your mother’s mother’s mothers. Well come, and may your hunting always be good.
Listening to Caylin’s conversation with the seals, Brenna learned as much about communicating with animals in fifteen minutes as Seamus had taught her in all his lessons. Caylin had an incredible affinity for the sleek hunters, but her frail, aging body had kept her from her friends for many years.
A seal’s head, larger than the others and almost white with age, burst from the water and swam to the bubble, nosing it. Caylin bent down so that she was looking the ancient seal in the face and gave a cry of joy. The communication between two old friends made Brenna want to cry.
When Brenna towed her back to shore and dissolved the shield, Caylin leaned against her, hugging her and crying. “I thought I would never see them again, they never come into shore here. Thank you so much.”
Walking back up the shore supporting her grandmother’s frail weight, Brenna looked up at the people watching them. The looks on their faces made her falter and stop. Some, such as Rebecca and Irina and her Protectors looked amused. Some, and she noted these, looked angry enough to spit nails. But the majority looked at her with awe on their faces, some almost to the point of worship.
Morrighan stepped forward and took Caylin’s arm on the other side. Softly, she said to Brenna, “You are the chosen of the Goddess. Fergus told me, now I believe him.”
“I just have a few Gifts, that’s all,” Brenna answered, feeling uncomfortable.
“It’s not what you have, but how you use them. You live your life with such joy, and you share that joy with everything and everyone around you. You make the trees glad to be alive. That Gift has nothing to do with telepathy, or if it does then it’s the twenty-sixth Gift. I shall follow you, Brenna. I’ll give you my fealty when your time comes, and stand beside or behind you as you deem my place.”
Caylin stopped, turned to Morrighan and kissed her on the lips. “Daughter of my soul, that is the second gift of joy I’ve received today. Bless you, Morrighan.”
Embarrassed to her toenails, Brenna helped her grandmother back up the beach. She dressed, then sat and ate her lunch with the others. She wondered how just wanting to have a good time could become a quasi-religious experience for those who watched her.
~~~
County Wicklow encompassed one of Ireland’s best fishing harbors and its highest mountains. From anywhere on the estate a person could see the green mountains rising amidst the clouds.
Fergus’ daughters took them to the estate of Powerscourt, where a Japanese garden had been created, complete with flowering cherry trees that were currently in bloom. Brenna had taken Irina and Rebecca to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington that spring, and Powerscourt didn’t have anywhere near as many trees, but the surrounding garden was beautiful and peaceful, and she didn’t miss the million-person mob they had dealt with in DC. Powerscourt also boasted the highest waterfall in Ireland, cascading from the highlands beyond.
That night the nice weather broke and it rained. Brenna was sitting in bed reading when she received a spear from Rebecca. Are you in our room?
Yes.
Are you alone?
Yes, what’s the problem?
I’ve got a guy and nowhere to take him. It’s raining lions and wolves outside.
O’Byrne was nowhere near the size of O’Donnell and Brenna’s party, plus all the locals wanting to meet her, had stretched them to overflowing. Brenna only had to share with Rebecca, her Protector, which was a testament to her status. Siobhan, Antonia and Irina shared a room with only two small beds and a cot.
You can bring him here if you’re not bashful, won’t bother me.
Do you want one?
Three, and trying to figure out which ones I want to throw back.
Brenna thought about it a minute, then, What the hell, bring all of them.
A few minutes later, Rebecca ushered three men into the room. There was a bit of uncomfortable shuffling, but finally Brenna broke the ice by pulling her t-shirt over her head and giving the room a burst of pheromones.
The women each enjoyed all three men, and sometime around midnight she found herself sitting on the bed watching Rebecca take all three men at once. Watching them together and being in her mind as all four reached orgasm ruined Brenna for porn movies forever.
Lying with Rebecca after the men had gone, Brenna marveled, “It didn’t hurt. It’s always hurt for me.”
Rebecca took a moment to understand what she was referring to, then, “Oh, well, if you tried it
with Collin, no wonder. He’s too big. You notice I had the smallest one go there.”
They fell asleep in each other’s arms, enjoying the closeness and the warmth on a cold, rainy Irish night.
~~~
Morrighan asked Brenna if she’d like to go riding. Brenna knew her mother, Maureen, had bred horses at the estate Brenna inherited at Dunany, so she wasn’t surprised Morrighan shared her interest. Rebecca and Jeremy went with them.
The day was sunny but cool. When they stopped to eat their picnic lunch, Rebecca surrounded them with an air shield. She and Brenna then heated the air inside the shield. Morrighan broke out laughing.
“My God, you two are wonderful,” she said. “Do you just sit around dreaming up uses for your Gifts?”
The Americans looked at each other.
“It just makes sense,” Rebecca said. “If you have a Gift, why wouldn’t you use it to make your life easier? I mean, so many of the talents we have are only good to hurt people.”
“I’m not arguing with you,” Morrighan said, lying back on their blanket and popping a grape in her mouth. “I’ve just never seen anyone do this before.”
Jeremy spotted the riders first. Soon, Andrew and five companions rode up and stopped, looking down at them. One of the men with him, named Liam, had been in Brenna and Rebecca’s room the night before.
“It’s the whore squad,” Andrew said. “You must be one hell of a man to take on all three of them,” he said, looking at Jeremy.
“Andrew, I’m on holiday and not in the mood to put up with you. Go away,” Brenna said. Her O’Neill shields covered her party from mental attacks and Rebecca’s air shield covered them from physical attacks. Brenna threw an air shield around their horses, tied to a tree twenty feet away.
“I live here,” Andrew said. “Why don’t you go away and not come back?”
Brenna, don’t let him bait you, Rebecca warned.
Don’t you think he’d look good merged with one of these trees? Brenna responded.
The Telepathic Clans Omnibus Page 45
