“Because I can give you what you need.”
He wasn’t just talking about protection and I knew it. There was only one thing I wanted to know before we went further. “You’re my statue, my guardian. Aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“When this is over, will you explain that to me?”
The wizard nodded his agreement.
“You couldn’t just tell me really quick what you are, could you?”
He smiled as he repeated his answer from before, “I’m exactly what you asked for.”
Aleric made an opening gesture with his hands before saying, “You can enter the circle now.” The instant I did he closed the distance between us. His touch sent a shock through my body that felt almost electric. I had longed for him to touch me. I’d spent my life admiring him, wishing he were real. Now, here he was warm and willing beneath my hands. It seemed like another lifetime went by as I watched him, anticipating his next move.
“Please accept the offer of my protection, of my blood that I willingly shed for you.”
With these words he lifted his right hand and I noticed for the first time the ornate dagger he held. It looked like silver. He brought the tip to the palm of his left hand and made a small cut, turning to the table behind him so his blood could pour into the bowl where other ingredients were already mixed.
“Now,” he said, putting the dagger aside, “give me your flesh.”
“What?”
He smiled. “That’s how this spell is done. With blood, and with flesh.”
He put his hand behind my head and guided me toward his lips. He paused only a breath away and sighed against my skin. It was as if that breath were magic, his sigh an unspoken command. Aleric wrapped his arms around me, cradling me against him as a wave of magic broke over us.
I accepted this power and wrapped my arms around his waist. I didn’t know how long this might last, but at least we had tonight. I lowered myself slowly to the floor, trailing my hands down his body as I opened his robe wide. I remembered the first time I had seen him, long before I understood what naked truly meant. He was just as magnificent as if he were still set in stone. Even if he had not confirmed my suspicions, the body before me was undeniably the same. The curve of his hip was even more tempting up close and I pressed my lips against it.
I moved lower and Aleric reached down to touch my face.
“I want to watch you,” he said, his voice still alive with magic.
I licked the tip of his cock and he moaned. That was all the encouragement I needed. My lips stretched around him, forming a wide O as I took him deeply into my mouth. I thought about him watching my lips while I watched him and I began to ache with desire.
I reached around to grab his ass, pushing him further into my mouth. I could feel his desire just as strongly as his magic and I wondered if they were one and the same. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Maybe that was because Aleric was unlike anyone I had ever known. I looked up once more into his glowing eyes, no longer concerned with what might happen.
He reached for me and I took his hand, letting him help me to my feet. I had gotten used to my height long ago. Five-foot-four isn’t short; however, most everyone I knew was taller than me. I had never felt so small as when I stood next to him. And never once had I felt helpless. Until now.
“I mean you no harm,” Aleric said softly. I knew this and wondered why he felt the need to tell me. Then I realized something about his nearness made me tremble. His power made me weak.
“I’m not afraid.” My answer was meant to be bold, though my voice trembled like my body.
When he spoke next, his voice carried such loneliness and somehow, I could feel it in his words. “I have watched over you for so long, waiting for a time when you would need me.”
My voice broke as I answered, “I have always needed you. I just didn’t know how to get you here.”
I still didn’t. I hoped that he would explain it to me later.
He held me to him and I could hear his heart beating beneath my ear, steady and strong. I ran my hands over his shoulders. If I closed my eyes I could still picture the statue before me. Only the body I touched now was warm, with skin like velvet. Beneath that skin were muscles just as hard as the stone I had grown accustomed to.
The instant he put his hands on me, I knew this was the moment my life changed. It was the moment I had sensed before entering his room. He pulled the sash on my robe and with a flick of his wrist sent the silken fabric to the floor. Seeing him like this made me realize I had been in love with him all along. Only, it was safe when I thought he wasn’t real. But now he was here with me and there was no time for second thoughts.
I was starting to get nervous, my heart pounding so hard I was dizzy. The energy he was drawing for the spell pulsed in the air. I could feel it against my skin like a second pair of hands. I had worked with a full coven before and never felt this kind of power. It was unnerving to say the least. But when his big, warm hands wrapped around my waist, I started to relax again.
I stood naked before him and not the least bit embarrassed. When he knelt at my feet, I joined him on the floor. I pressed my palms flat against his chest, feeling that incredible energy once more that seemed to be tied somehow to his heartbeat. The hood of his robe cast a shadow over most of his face and when he looked down at me, only his lips and glowing blue eyes were visible.
He pressed a soft kiss against my lips and when his hood fell back, I gasped.
“You’re beautiful,” I whispered. I knew it wasn’t the kind of thing you’d normally say to a man, but he was. He looked so alive, so fierce and powerful. I was overwhelmed.
“I have one more thing to show you,” he said. “Are you ready?”
I nodded. I thought I was ready.
Aleric spread his arms wide and with a shrug his robe fell to the floor. The instant he was free of the shimmering cloth, giant wings spread from his back, open wide like his arms. Their dark feathers glistened in the candlelight as if they also carried a sort of magic. I know the statue had wings and Aleric had too in my dream. I also now knew he was in fact my statue. Despite all this, it never occurred to me that he would really have wings.
I stared at him in awe. “Wow.”
“It’s all right,” he said softly. He reached for me with his arms and his wings. “You can touch them.”
They felt like ordinary feathers, as far as texture goes. However, the power coursing through his wings was amazing. They shimmered in the light just like his dark hair. I wondered how he hid them, but decided now was not the time to ask.
Aleric pulled me close and I tilted my head back. He took the opportunity to kiss down the length of my throat, flicking his tongue across my racing pulse. The wizard held my body against him as he lowered his head to pull one nipple into his mouth.
“Yes,” I gasped.
I looked down at his dark head, lowered so intimately to my breast, and felt the tension beginning to build. I tangled my fingers through his hair and pressed him more tightly to my breast.
“Suck it harder.”
Aleric did as I asked, as he lowered one hand to my pussy. I was already dripping wet and welcomed his touch. I was so worked up that the slightest touch against my clit would be enough to send me over the edge. Aleric slipped one finger inside and my muscles spasmed around him. It was awfully close, but not quite an orgasm.
“I want to feel you come,” he said.
“Then take me now,” I panted, pulling his head back from my breast.
His sapphire eyes flashed brighter at my lusty command. I watched as his tongue darted out to wet his perfect lips.
“Take me now,” I repeated.
He laid me back against the floor and spread my legs wide, entering me slowly, one inch at a time. I moaned and arched against him, trying to force him deeper. But he wouldn’t let me take control. Aleric seemed determined to take his time.
Hours passed as he worked his magic on my bod
y. He licked and sucked every inch of my skin and still didn’t enter me fully. The only way I guessed the time was by how much the candles had burned. I watched as the flush of arousal crept up his chest, making his skin seem more alive. His throat was red and his lips were swollen from my kisses. Holding back was taking its toll on Aleric. It was good to know I wasn’t the only one aching for release. I was enjoying myself, but I needed all of him inside me. The pulsing energy had grown to a fevered pitch as well and it was almost more than I could take.
Aleric rolled to his back beside me and I needed no further invitation. I swung one leg over him and reached between my thighs to grab his cock. He was too much to take fully, but I did my best. I ran my hands over his chest. He was slick with sweat, his skin glistening in the dim light. His wings were spread out underneath him and as I began to move they reached up to wrap around me as his hands cupped my breasts. He thrust upward, driving into me so hard that I screamed.
With that, release like I had never felt flooded my body. I cried out again, holding onto him as I moved, grinding my hips against him. He came with a growl as he sat up, wrapping his arms and wings around me.
We remained this way for several moments in silence. Only the sound of our rough breathing disturbed the perfect quiet of the night. The pulsing energy had stopped and the candles were nearly spent.
“Your eyes have stopped glowing,” I said, pulling back enough to look at him.
Aleric smiled and I realized how weak I was when I could barely smile back.
“Watch this,” he said.
His wings flickered like a hologram and then just disappeared.
“What the hell?”
He helped me to stand and turned to face away from me. Beautiful wings were tattooed down the length of his back. Even though black was the only color used, the wings were incredibly detailed.
“They’re magnificent. Wait a minute, you are the Aleric in the database. The entry Percy found said something about magical tattoos.”
“That sounds like me.”
“Do I get an explanation now?”
He smiled. “How about a shower?”
My legs were too weak to stand in a shower, so we ended up deciding on the oversized tub. When I say oversized, I mean big enough for five people. What can I say? My uncle Bill built the house and apparently he “entertained” here. I wasn’t complaining.
Aleric went to get us both a glass of ice water. At first he had suggested wine, but I told him I thought I was dehydrated.
He returned with the water, laughing as he set the glass on the rim of the tub. I was chest-deep in warm water and bubbles and felt close to passing out. I was also disappointed that I had missed him walking into the room.
“What’s so funny?”
“Percy was in the kitchen,” he said. “I spent so many years naked I really didn’t think about it until he gave me this look.” Aleric paused to laugh harder. “I can’t explain it. I didn’t know a snake’s eyes could stretch that wide.”
I laughed too, propping on the edge of the tub so I could reach the water. “What did you do?”
He shrugged as he removed his still-glowing amulet and hung it on the edge of the mirror. “What could I do? I poured the water and wished him good night.”
Chapter Seven
All of the sweat and the steam rising up from the tub made his eyeliner start to run. It was sexy in a disheveled harlequin sort of way. I thought about what he’d said about Percy and asked, “How many years?”
“What do you mean?”
He reached for me and I scooted closer. “How many years did you spend naked, frozen in stone?”
“Three hundred years, almost to the day.”
Okay, now I was definitely going to faint. I gasped for breath as I leaned forward and rested my head against my knees, curling my legs up tight to my chest. Aleric must have sensed my panic, because he started rubbing my back and whispering magical words I didn’t understand.
“It’s all right,” he said softly.
“No it’s not. You were trapped in there for three hundred years! I can’t imagine what that feels like.”
When I paused to gasp for breath again he said, “You’re claustrophobic.”
“You think?” Even though he laughed I immediately said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. Yes, I am very claustrophobic. Just the thought of—”
“Shhh,” he said, rubbing my back gently again. “It really wasn’t that bad.”
“Then please, explain to me how it was.”
“What I told you before about your ancestor having paid for my services was true. It all started when he had a vision of you. He didn’t know how far down his line you would be born, only what would happen to you.”
Well, that was terrifying. I took another deep breath and asked, “So, what happens to me?”
“He saw that you would face a dark sorcerer and that without help…”
I turned to him, placing my hand on his shoulder. “Without help, what?”
“He would steal your soul.”
So much for having my breathing under control. “What the fuck?! Are you telling me that Michael is trying to steal my soul?”
He gave me a sarcastic look. “Does Michael look like he could steal your soul?”
My heart maybe, but not my soul. “No, he doesn’t.”
“You say you both grew up around here. To your knowledge, does he have any magic in his bloodline?”
“No.”
Aleric looked as if that decided something. “All right then.”
I shook my head. “How did you end up as a statue?”
His voice was softer and full of magic again when he replied, “I had a vision of you as well. I knew there would come a time when you needed my help.” He paused. “And I knew that I would love you.”
My heart beat so fast it hurt. I couldn’t believe what he’d just said. “You love me?”
“From the moment I saw you, in a dream three hundred years ago.”
I couldn’t say anything. I had loved Aleric since the moment I saw his statue as a child. But all I could do now was cry.
“If your soul was stolen, you would become a part of this evil we foresaw. You would be trapped inside the dark one forever, your power a slave to his. Your ancestor and I felt this was too cruel a fate for anyone to suffer. We went to the coven for help. Each member of our coven gave up a portion of their power to perform the spell that turned me to stone. Those powers live on now in me.”
“It was the only way I could live long enough to save you. It wasn’t like being trapped. It was more like lying dormant. Over the years I have absorbed everything around me. Places, histories, accents, knowledge of all kinds. I was aware, but there was no fear.”
This finally helped my shock to wear off a bit. “Accents?”
“Your family has passed me down for hundreds of years. I am Romanian. I couldn’t show up here and not speak the language, having no idea what a phone or a television was. It’d give too much away.”
“Was that part of the spell?”
“To absorb knowledge, yes. Otherwise, I would be useless to you once I was awakened.”
I laughed softly. “You’re Romanian? Do you have an accent like Dracula?”
“I take pride in the great country of my beloved ancestors,” he said in an accent that would put the best Dracula impersonator to shame.
“Wow.”
“But,” he said, with no trace of accent, “I couldn’t show up sounding like that. It’d make you too suspicious. Not to mention anyone else I might have to deal with. So, part of the spell was that I would be able to understand the languages spoken around me. To absorb them and their slang completely.”
“How many languages do you speak?”
“Seven.”
“Originally Romanian,” I said, more to myself than to him. “But you have blue eyes.”
He gave me a playful smirk. “My mother liked Vikings.”
I burst ou
t laughing.
“The one caveat of all this preparation was, you had to ask for my help. Like the vampire you just mentioned, I had to be invited in. And once I was here, you had to accept my protection. Your protection spell awakened me.”
That explained a lot. “So, it did work.”
He smiled. “Yes, it did.”
While we washed our hair and relaxed, Aleric explained that after my initial reaction to him, he thought it best to come back in disguise. Or to at least not reveal the whole truth at once.
“What do you mean my reaction to you? I was so stunned I thought it was a dream.”
“Exactly. You fainted.”
I reached for the glass and finished my ice water. “Where did you go?”
“To collect my things. Just like your family was assigned to protect me, another family was assigned to protect my belongings. Most of my things were kept in storage. The guardians assigned to this task have moved over the years, never far from me. They can sense where I am.”
“You went to this person to get your supplies? What about clothes?”
“His name is Adrian and he has wonderful fashion sense.”
I laughed again. “Your appearance has been entrusted to a gay wizard.”
“Thank the Goddess. Otherwise my socks wouldn’t have matched.” We both laughed. “On a more serious note, Adrian is a remarkable businessman. His family has invested my money, transferred currency and such ‘til now… I honestly don’t know how to comprehend how much money I have.”
“You’re rich?”
“I’m loaded.”
It wasn’t until we had dried off that I worked up the nerve to ask, “What did you give up?”
A look of sadness passed over his face. “You mean to perform the spell?”
“Yes. You said that each member of the coven gave up a part of their power.”
“Since I needed all of my magical abilities to protect you, I had to give up something physical.” My heart was pounding fiercely again. Suddenly I was afraid of what he might say. Maybe it was because I could see how painful it was in his eyes. “I went into this knowing that even if I manage to save your soul, I can never have children with the woman I love.”
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