by Bonnie Vanak
He stood and went to the thermostat, frowning at the temperature. It had to be around twenty-eight degrees outside, and inside, it was fifty degrees.
Xavier went into the kitchen to join Mrs. O’Neil, noting for the first time that she was layered in flannel and had a thick, wool scarf around her neck. “Why is it so cold in here?”
“I’m afraid I can’t afford heat,” Mrs. O’Neil told him.
Xavier scowled. “Why did you not tell me? I would have taken care of that.”
“Oh my, you’ve done enough already. I can’t take your money!”
He went to the thermostat and spoke at it. “Seventy degrees. Whatever Mrs. O’Neil desires the temperature to be, it will stay there.”
Then he placed his hand over the mechanism, and it glowed. Xavier dusted off his hands.
“Now you do not have to worry about paying the bill. My magick will take care of the temperature.” He winked at her, and for a moment, a look of intense satisfaction came over her.
Odd. It was if she had been waiting on him to solve her heating problem.
Xavier followed Mrs. O’Neil into the kitchen as she bustled around, making hot soup.
“Be careful, Mrs. O’Neil. I was in the park, and someone told me there is a great evil prowling about. I countered it with good magick to the best of my ability, but I fear it is growing.” His chest ached as he looked at the girls settled on the sofa with Ciara, who was telling them stories as they sipped their hot chocolate. “The girls’ parents were murdered last week.”
The woman pressed a hand to her chest. “How terrible! I’ll be sure to lock my doors. And don’t worry. The girls will be safe with me, Jon.”
“Xavier,” he murmured. “My real name is Xavier.”
Mrs. O’Neil stirred the vegetable beef soup. “A good name for a good person. You have much power, Xavier. And a kind heart to help those poor girls.”
Deeply troubled, he shook his head. “It’s my duty to aid the helpless. What good is power if one doesn’t use it for the greater good?”
Why had he thought that?
She glanced up from the big, stainless-steel pot of soup. “You act as if you were a deliverer of justice. Does power mean everything to you? What if you had to surrender it all?”
How odd. Ciara had asked him the very same question. He leaned against the counter, considering. “I don’t know how I could handle that. There is a great ugliness in this world I wish to erase.”
The woman looked thoughtful. “Ugliness? Do you mean physical ugliness? Is beauty that important to you?”
Xavier gave an appreciative sniff of the delicious smell of roasted vegetables and beef. He blinked, a distant memory flickering. “Once I thought that. Now I’m not certain.”
She poured him a mug, and as he protested, her brown eyes twinkled. “It’s the least I can do, after all you’ve done for a poor, old widow.”
Thanking her, he sipped the soup as she and Ciara served the girls. The soup was hot and warmed him from the inside.
When the girls were settled, he and Ciara left.
Ciara turned to him outside his own door.
“You can’t leave them here forever. They need their family, their own people.”
I should know this, know how to get them to those who would care for them. Was I a guardian to Trolls?
Imagining himself as a guardian of Trolls did not bother him. However the idea of safeguarding Ogres filled him with remorse. He didn’t understand why.
Did Ogres mean something to me in my life before I lost my memory?
They went inside. Xavier headed for the built-in bookshelves flanking the fireplace. He selected a thick, leather-bound volume, put it on the table, and began leafing through it.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“The Troll girls had the scent of dark magick about them, as if they came into brief contact with it. I may not remember all about my life or magick, but these books should refresh my knowledge.”
Ciara shuddered. “Dark magick. Evil.”
“Dark magick is not always evil. It is more powerful than regular magick, as it originates in the Dark Kingdom. Truly evil magick is neocromancing.”
“Magick that invokes the Dark Lord,” she whispered.
Xavier stared into the distance, searching his mind to recall a buried memory. “The Dark Lord seeks souls of Others to do his bidding. In exchange for their souls, he gives them whatever they wish. Youth, power…beauty.”
Yes, that was it—he was regaining a flicker of memory. Just as suddenly, it vanished.
He shook his head. “There is a reason why the Trolls were murdered, and it has to do with the same reason the blackness has begun to spread over the land, the darkness your Nymph colony cannot fight. It is a powerful magick.”
“How do you know this?”
“Before I became a wizard, I was a Mage. Mages are like witches, only with less power, so we seek to acquire as much knowledge as possible.” Xavier paused in thumbing through the ancient tome. “I do not remember how I know that, but I do.”
Ciara picked out another thick, leather-bound volume and plunked it on the kitchen table. “Mages use potions, spells, and magick dust, like witches do, only to less effect.”
But his gaze riveted to the back of the bookcase. “There’s something here…a hidden panel. Help me get clear this shelf.”
When all the books were neatly stacked on the floor, he pressed at the wood lining the back of the shelf. It slid to one side. Xavier reached inside and pulled free a small, glass vial containing a purple powder. This seemed most familiar.
“I know this… I do not know why or how, but it’s familiar.”
“May I?” Ciara took the vial from him, uncorked it, and sniffed. Her nose wrinkled. “This is hallocan, a revealing powder. You sprinkle it over an area infected with dark magick, and it reveals the origin.”
Xavier cocked his head. “And how do you know that?”
Returning the vial, she did not say anything. But he sensed she hid the truth.
“Ciara, tell me,” he commanded.
“I’ve studied magick to enhance my skillset.”
Xavier shook a little of the glittering dust into his palm. He blew on it, and particles scattered throughout the room. She looked at the painted walls, now showing ancient runes scratched into them.
“You must have done this. It’s your handwriting. You warded this home against evil,” she told him.
Xavier hoped so. He wasn’t certain why, but suspected it was necessary to protecting the Others who lived there.
He went to the door and flattened his palm against it. His skin tingled with good magick.
Two arms slid around his waist. Ciara snuggled against him. “You’re a good wizard, Xavier.”
Turning, he caught her in his arms and kissed her deeply. He was not certain of many things, and cursed his lack of memory. But he knew tonight he would forge new memories… in the flesh, with this woman whom he could not forget.
Xavier’s kiss set her senses reeling as they had before when they first made love. When he tore his mouth away from hers, he stared down at her with such intensity she felt as if he could see through to her heart.
She loved him, with every fiber of her being. And she craved his touch, his kiss. She pushed a hand through his thick curls. If only their destinies could be different…
Xavier touched her cheek. “I need you.
“Yes. I need you as well, my Xavier. For you are the only one who knows my heart.”
His brow wrinkled. “How can I know your heart? For it feels as if I have known you forever, but we were never together. Something always tore us apart.”
“I’ve had these dreams about you. I remember saying one thing: I give you my heart so we will always be together, even unto death.”
He stared into her eyes, his gaze growing soft. “Those words are so familiar and dear to me, but I cannot remember why.”
She kissed him gently, her mo
uth pressing against his. Then he groaned. His arm encircled her waist as he pulled Ciara against him, kissing her back.
When he broke the kiss, gently brushing his mouth against her chin, he waved a hand. Cool air rushed against her skin. Ciara glanced down in amusement and sudden wonder.
They were both naked and sitting on the bed.
He grinned. “Saves time getting undressed.”
His brow wrinkled. “Why do I think I have said that before?”
Ciara cupped his face with her hands, feeling the rough hairs in his short beard against her soft palms. Trembling, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard, his tongue stroking the inside of her mouth. When he pulled away, his gaze turned hungry.
“Have to feel you under me,” he muttered, tumbling with her to the mattress.
Beneath each stroke of his hands she trembled. Her body sang with life, her breasts felt heavy and full. Ciara strained against him as she wriggled to draw him closer. He caught her breasts in his palms and gently squeezed.
Sensations sizzled through her as his thumbs rubbed against her pearling nipples.
“I need your mouth,” he growled. Gone was the haunting, husky note in his deep voice. He had become demanding and insistent, and she could no more resist his sexuality than she could sprout wings and fly.
Savage possession was in each deliberate thrust of his tongue as he kissed her with fervent hunger, as if his next breath depended upon her. Gone was the kind wizard with the sense of humor, replaced by a man with a man’s hard need. Wet heat gathered between her thighs. She ached, her body hot and yearning for his touch. It was as if he fully lost control, thinking of her naked body beneath his, and he would not stop until he had her.
He broke the kiss and drew back. His eyes flickered white, like headlamps, signaling the rise of his power. All mine.
Then he took a deep breath. His eyes their normal color once more, Xavier sat up, breathing hard. He fisted his hands as if to keep from touching her.
“I do not know what is happening, Ciara. I feel as if I cannot have you, I will lose my mind.” He gave a sad smile. “What is left of it, anyway.”
Compassion filled her for this incredible wizard, who did not know who he was. She couldn’t imagine being trapped in your mind, all memories gone. Such a prison must be deeply painful. Suddenly making love with him wasn’t key to obtaining what she wanted – a lock of his hair and his power. It was key to helping him recover lost memories. It meant risking his fury when he discovered her deception, and remembered how she’d stolen his ring.
Ciara cupped his bearded cheek, gazing into his eyes. Worth the risk. Though she had to save her mother from the witch’s torment, deep inside, she sensed she was essential to helping the Crystal Wizard recover. Maybe they had shared something long ago, and by sharing their bodies, it would trigger a lost memory.
All she knew was she felt like she would die if he didn’t make love to her once more. Every nerve ending was stretched tight with arousal. She should fear his power, his wrath, but right now, her feverish need was far more powerful. Only Xavier could satisfy this yearning, quell the ache between her legs.
His gaze turned haunted as he looked at her. “I don’t know if I can control myself if I take you, and yet all I feel is this raging need to make you mine. Is it selfish of me to long for you this much, Ciara? To want you this badly that I would forsake all else? I feel as if we knew each other in another time, another place, and you are critical to me, more dear than my own life.”
Trembling, Ciara reached out for the man she knew, the lover who had taken such exquisite, gentle care with her, inflaming her passion.
“No, Xavier. I feel it, too.” Her voice dropped as she dared to confess what her heart long had felt. “I love you, and maybe I have for a very, very long time.”
His hand shook a little as he touched her mouth. Then he traced the outline of a heart over her lips. “Why are you so familiar to me? Who are you?”
Taking his hand, she kissed his palm. “One who loves you, and wants to make love with you. Come back to me.” In utter trust, she held open her arms.
Xavier stared at her. A heartbeat of silence quivered in the air.
“Touch me, Ciara.” He took her hand, guided it to his face. “Let me feel your warmth, your gentleness. I think, I know… it has been a long time since anyone has dared to draw as close to me as you have.”
The ache in his deep voice turned her heart over. Ciara cupped his face, soothing him with each slow stroke of her thumbs. Long lashes swept down to his cheeks as he closed his eyes on a shuddering sigh. She ran her hands down his muscled chest, the flatness of his taut abdomen, to the thick erection showing her how very much he wanted her. Gently, she held him, and stroked, then cupped the heavy sac beneath his shaft. He groaned, bent his head and nuzzled her neck. His mouth was warm and firm as he slid a trail of kisses along her throat. He pressed a soft kiss to her mouth, his eyes filled with warm tenderness.
Xavier dropped tiny, quick kisses over her chin, neck, her collarbones, down to her tender breasts. He cupped their heavy weight in his palms, encircling her aching nipples with his thumbs. Desire darkened his gaze as it swept over her.
Ciara dragged in a deep breath. The sweet tension between her thighs intensified with each flick of his thumbs. Moisture flooded her vagina as his lips replaced his hand. Xavier licked her cresting nipple very slowly. Then he took it fully into his mouth and suckled deeply. She felt open, yearning for his cock to fill her.
He caressed her belly, tunneled into the thick, gold curls covering her mound. Ciara moaned as he slid a finger across her slick, wet cleft. She stiffened as he thrust a finger inside her narrow sheath. Then he gently began small, intimate thrusts as his thumb circled her clit. She twisted and moaned as at each stroke, sweet tension building to painfully sharp pleasure. Ciara felt consumed, aching as the fires built to an incredible tension. She couldn’t stand it. Crying out she clutched his head, sobbing in aching need, as he continued his tender strokes until she climaxed.
Panting, she collapsed against the mattress.
He raised his head to regard her, his gaze glittering. “One orgasm. I plan to deliver several more to you tonight.”
Her other lovers had been too eager to seek their own pleasure with her body. Not this wizard. He ensured her pleasure came first.
Xavier pushed her back against the mattress and moved lower, parting her thighs. And then he lowered his head and put his mouth between her legs.
Licking her, he lapped at her feminine flesh in long, expert strokes between her cleft. Xavier’s tongue on the aching flesh drew the tension higher and higher. Every stroke and whorl drew air from her body until she felt herself strained with the need to breathe, to burst out of her skin. He licked and swallowed, the rough bristle from his bearded cheeks abrading her thighs. Tension heightened, spiraling her upward and upward until she stiffened and gave a keen wail, her body thrashing as she climaxed. The orgasm exploded out of her so fiercely that she almost blanked out.
When she lifted her head, the hint of danger lurked deep in the depths of his eyes, now glowing white. Power barely held at bay. But held at bay, all because of her. Xavier leaned back on his haunches, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He took in a shuddering breath, and then his eyes returned to normal.
“Two,” she said softly. “Shall we try for a third?”
His wicked smile assured her he would indeed coax another from her.
She instinctively knew he would never hurt her. Her body tingled with arousal, hungering for the contact between them.
“Give in to your deepest desires, Ciara,” he said, his voice a husky command. “Let me inside. You belong to me.”
Xavier took her mouth, a deep kiss. Over and over, his tongue stroking her inside, imitating what was to come. Then he mounted her.
Nudging his hips between her legs, he braced himself on his hands.
“Look at me,” he commanded. “Ciara, look a
t me.”
Slowly he pushed inside her, so slowly, gritting his teeth. He nuzzled her neck, blew into her ear. She shivered delicately, her nipples hardening into tight, little cherry buds.
With a slow grace, an exquisite smoothness, he pushed into her. Xavier laced his fingers through hers, pinning them to the bed and thrust forward.
Ciara writhed a little, trying to find some ease as his thickness penetrated her fully. She had forgotten how large he was, and compared to the other lovers she had taken since their time together, he was magnificent.
She sucked in a breath and relaxed, opening to him, feeling blunt pressure filling her. Making them one. He pulled back and began to stroke inside her, his penis rubbing against her sensitive tissues, the friction creating a delicious heat that began from her center. His muscles contracted as he thrust, powerful shoulders flexing and back arching.
Xavier consumed her, the purity of his power filling her. Silky chest hair rubbed against her aching breasts, his hard six-pack sliding against her soft abdomen. She arched to meet his rhythm.
“Ciara, my Ciara,” he breathed. “We were meant to be one, joined as one flesh, one spirit, you bonded to me through the ages.”
Wonder came over her face as she watched him. His mouth parted on a gasp, lips trembling. The bed beneath her soft as down, the male pressing her backward onto it solid muscle. It felt as if their souls merged as much as their flesh did, a closeness she’d never experienced.
His thrusts became more urgent, harder, until his flesh slapped against hers. Ciara’s legs lifted as her hips pummeled upward in need. Close, so close… she writhed and reached for it, the tension growing until she felt ready to explode once more.
Screaming his name on her lips, she climaxed, her sheath squeezing him as she shattered, her back arching. He growled in satisfaction, gave one last thrust, and threw his head back with a hoarse shout of her name. Hot seed jettisoned inside her. Xavier collapsed atop her, his face pillowed besides her, his breathing ragged. She bore his weight, welcoming it, but then he eased out of her and rolled over, pulling her into his arms.
Ciara gasped and clutched him, feeling something else.
