Alainn grasped tightly to the tuft of Ciara’s dark coarse hair, envisioned the woman and regrettably allowed herself to return to the undesirable vision. She looked beyond the thirteen women. She suspected she might see another victim in the process of being maimed or killed for their blood or what bits of their body the coven deemed necessary for undoing Alainn’s spell and beckoning the demon to return to assist them.
To Alainn’s utter dismay, she was disheartened to see the golden blond hair of the victim and immediately recognized him to be the searcher who had saved her life twice before. He lay bound and gagged in the center of the stone circle. Perhaps his powerful magic and connection to Alainn through saving her life would truly allow the coven to gain strength and undo the spell.
Would she and Danhoul be capable of assisting him before he was killed? Would they all fall prey to the coven? If through some dark magical spell, somehow two young and beautiful Ciaras had been created, what else would they be capable of doing? And if this was reality, then only one would be affected by Alainn’s spell, the other could summon the demon and get back to the king, easily swaying him to the side of the untoward.
One thing was for certain, Alainn couldn’t be in two places at once. She wouldn’t be capable of saving the searcher as well as deterring the king from falling under Ciara’s spell and siding with the demon.
Didn’t she owe the searcher a debt? He had saved her life twice. But how many lives would she save if she kept the king from the demon? Surely thousands, perhaps more. She knew in her heart Danhoul would meet with certain death if she sent him to confront the coven and their combined powers, and he may well be necessary to see Killian freed from the tower.
She must come up with a scheme or a spell that would assist her and she was well aware time was not on her side. Although it wasn’t perhaps the wisest of considerations, she knew she must go to Killian for only he could ease the steadily rising uneasiness within her mind and her heart.
Chapter Ten
“Alainn, you must not come to me like this. You recall the last time you were nearly seen by the guard. How would we begin to explain such if you should simply be found within my cell?”
“Killian, before you scold me, please take me in your arms and hold me,” she whispered.
He did so, but all the while kept his eyes on the door.
“Have you been harmed? Is that what causes such woefulness this day? Has that damnable king attempted indecencies toward you?”
“No, he has not touched me, Killian,” she assured him. “But I have seen the demon and Ciara for they were with Cromwell and both brought before the king.”
“Ciara, here in England with the demon and taking audience with the king? By God’s bones, that cannot be a favorable consideration.”
“I have created a spell which has ensured Ciara will not be seducing the king any time soon, for the demon admitted he wished to control the king’s mind, and if he had been under Ciara’s bewitchment, it would surely have happened.”
As his arms tightened around her, she sensed his fears swell along with her own.
“I understand the use of your powers was necessary in contending with the demon and Ciara, but it is a perilous consideration, Alainn. I fear for you should it be discovered you possess the ability to do magic.”
“We live in peril each day, Killian, magic or no. Until we are free to leave this country, we shall remain forever in uncertainty.”
“The demon is not likely to give up so easily on finding another way to control the king. Sure, he will endeavor to find another woman to fill the king’s thoughts and leave him open to their meddling.”
“Perhaps it would be best if I am the woman to control his thoughts, Killian?”
“That is not to be a consideration, Alainn. For we both well know what lengths would need to be undertaken for the king to be ruled so completely. You would need to share his bed!”
“Aye, perhaps, but I might also employ my magic.”
“And how will magic serve us in this regard, Alainn?”
“I must control his mind and persuade him to allow you and Danhoul, all the Irish here in London to be released. I must convince him we are not worth the trouble of being made to contend with any of us.”
“Did you not say controlling or manipulating another’s mind is precarious and time-consuming?”
“Aye, but I must continue to attempt it for sure the demon will be contriving another scheme even now and perhaps finding another woman to entrap the king.”
“Edward and I have perfected a scheme of our own that may well see me freed, but it also is taking much more time than I had hoped. But it must be done in a clever calculated manner if it is to be successful.”
“I sense the demon has perhaps a deeper more deceptive intent for needing a woman, but I cannot seem to fall upon it using my natural intuitiveness or my magic.”
“More deceptive than ruling England and surely the entire world, soon after?” Killian seemed doubtful.
“It is as I have said, I do not know what his full intentions are, but I do recognize the direness of this and it is a disagreeable worriment.”
“I will speak to Edward on the morrow and tell him we must hasten with our intended plans. Perhaps he might need to enlist others to support our efforts.”
“Sure, ’tis a dangerous consideration, Killian, for the more who know of your intentions the more likely the king will learn of them as well, for he has spies and watchers everywhere.”
“Surely every moment spent in this damnable location is a dangerous consideration.”
Killian sighed and held her closer.
With that Alainn glanced toward the barred window on the door in the cell. She sent the bedclothes to the window and covered the bars entirely.
“What is it you’re doin’, Alainn?”
“Simply giving us a few private moments.”
“The guard is not but a few feet down the corridor.”
“But we both know the guard is filled with drink and even now snoring loudly. He’ll not soon waken. The night will pass whether we are alone or together. Wouldn’t you rather spend this night with me, Killian O’Brien?” she said in a sensual tone.
“Aye, but I’ve not bathed or even washed in many days now, Alainn. This is not how I desire it to be for us.”
“Nor do I, my love, but when I am together with you, it takes away all the uncertainty and allows me to know only you, our love and our passion.”
“Aye,” he said and his voice had become deeper with his own heightening passion.
“Do we not need a sensual time to renew our hopefulness and chase away our melancholia?”
“Aye,” he simply said again as he hastily did away with his belt and tugged at his tunic.
As she pulled it over his head, he shook his head in disgust at the scent beneath his arms.
“Christ woman, you’ve insisted since we were children that I develop the practice of washing and bathing when it was not observed by so many. Now I cannot bear my own scent unwashed as I am.”
Alainn smiled at his words of mild accusation. She closed her eyes, held out her hands and soon an ample bathtub filled with hot, soapy water appeared within the chamber.
“Alainn! Will the demon not sense you employing your magic?”
She glanced up at the walls of the cell and as she did so, he saw the many symbols upon the wall begin to glow. Thirteen symbols he had never seen before and did not recognize appeared on the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the door and around the window.
“Druid symbols,” she stated. “I have warded this location. Magic cannot be detected within these walls.”
“Could that be done within the entire castle?” Killian asked with newfound hope. “If we were able to have you place a spell upon the castle and its inhabitants, and still time so that I could move about the castle that would be advantageous. I understand it may put all of us and perhaps you most of all at risk, but I am also aware every day
we spend here opens up more possible dangers and undesired happenings.”
“I have attempted it and have accomplished it to some degree, but only in the chambers where I have entered for it takes much time and effort and I would need to be present in each chamber within the entire castle to see it done. It would be nearly an impossible consideration. But this chamber is well protected. The demon will not sense magic within this location.”
Killian looked from her to the bathtub and even with the precariousness of all they were facing, he smiled. His hands went to her lacings and he began to untie them with eagerness. When they were both unclothed he stepped into the warm water and sat down, sighing deeply as he reveled in the glorious sensation. He lay back so that his entire large frame was immersed in the water. She held out her hand, palm flat, and a pat of pleasingly scented soap appeared. She went to him and lathered his back and shoulders, his underarms and his chest. Although his eyes were closed, she noticed the tension on his face was waning. She continued to wash his feet, his calves, his thighs, and then she stopped and he opened his eyes now filled with intense arousal. He moved so he was sitting in the tub and motioned for her to join him.
As she stepped within the water, she swirled her hand and the water grew warmer and warmer with her touch. She produced yet another pat of soap and sensually began washing herself, cleansing her own body beneath the bubbling soapy water, and then she slowly lathered her breasts and felt herself growing filled with arousal at having his eyes upon her.
“Feeling revived?” she whispered as she saw his face glistened from the heat of the water, but with passion as well.
“Aye, Lainna, I’m feeling more than revived,” he said as he moved closer to her and the water poured over the edge of the bath with the movement.
As their wet skin grazed, she gasped with the intensity of that mere touch. Their amulets both glowed as their bodies met. Killian started at that.
“You informed me the amulets were to warn me when dark magic was near.”
“They glow when magic is present, and burn when the magic is darker. And sure the demon is nearby, but not able to enter these walls or even sense our location.”
“That’s reassuring,” he said with some reluctance as he glanced around the chamber to look upon the four stone walls.
Her eyes followed his and as she nodded her head and whispered words he could not aptly hear, soon it appeared they were in the fairy glade. The beauty and enchantment were apparent and he grinned at her magical abilities. She smiled back at him and then nodded her head again. Soon they bathtub and all, seemed transported to their own bedchamber at Castle O’Donnel.
“That’s comforting to be here with you, Lainna.”
“I am comforted to be with you like this, no matter where we might be. I have been from the first time we lay together, it has always been magical to me, my love.”
With that said they were there back at the cherished dolmen, where they’d often gone as children and many times through the years, where they’d first made love.
His eyes filled with love and remembrance of that first time together.
“I loved you on the grass, with only my overcoat beneath us. You a virtuous maiden ravaged on the cold ground,” he said with mingled fondness and abashment.
“Not a word of it, Killian O’Brien, I practically accosted you and begged you to love me.” He smiled at that. “I told you I wanted you to show me what it was that passed between a man and a woman. I was emboldened by my desire to have you.”
“And now,” he said with a husky voice.
“And now, I am aching to have you inside me, my husband.”
“Christ you have a way about you, Alainn,” he said as she finally stroked his manhood for the first time this night. He moaned and closed his eyes again.
“Will you show me what passes between a man and woman, Killian O’Brien; will you love me on the grass beneath the stars yet again?”
He opened his eyes and saw the bathtub had vanished and now they were lying upon the grass by the dolmen, once more with his overcoat beneath them as it had been the first time they’d made love.
“Aye, Lainna, I will.”
Soon their lips met and the kiss was as passionate as any of the desirous kisses they’d shared before. Perhaps because of all they’d endured, perhaps because they knew every moment they spent together was precious and even the morrow was not promised to them.
As they kissed and caressed, and stared into each other’s eyes, the past was forgotten, the future temporarily distanced. They were only aware of the two of them, their love and their desires.
As he was about to enter her, she whispered the words she’d said the first time.
“Will you make this worth my while, Killian O’Brien?”
His eyes were filled with mirth and passion and undying love as he thrust himself within her. She gasped and moaned, reaching her crest almost immediately so heated was she. As he moved within her and her hips arched to meet his every motion, she was overcome again and again with waves of pleasure to a measure she’d not experienced in some time.
“You are a grand and masterful lover,” she managed through ragged gasps.
She recognized the look within his eyes as he stared into hers, and she knew he admirably willed himself to contain his need and delay his release to ensure her greater pleasure.
“Do not tarry, my only love, allow yourself to know fulfillment with me,” she whispered as her body quivered yet again and every part of her tingled and glowed.
She felt him shudder and his body was soon covered with gooseflesh that always accompanied his climax. She knew this time it was especially intense for his eyes remained open and his moans continued for some time.
“Christ, Alainn, what magic have you unleashed?” he moaned as it was apparent his crest was extended much longer than was typical.
“Is it not pleasurable,” she said with some mischief in her voice.
“Aye,” he said through ragged moans. “But perhaps unbearably so,” he admitted as he moved above her still. When his body was overtaken by trembling surges several more times, he finally collapsed beside her and his eyes were as large as shields as he stared at her.
“What the hell did you do to me, woman?”
“Tell me you’re not bemoaning having just experienced several pinnacles, one immediately following the previous?”
“No, not bemoaning in any manner, simply in disbelief.”
“I thought perhaps I might allow you to feel what I do when I am with you.”
“By God, is that what women experience?”
“No, not all women to be certain. Surely, not all the time, for in truth there are many women who have not ever been brought to such heights or felt such climatic release not once in their lives. But, aye, it’s what I feel when I am with you.”
He grinned at that and his eyes smiled as well.
“Christ, ’tis little wonder you’re a wanton woman, then, Lainna.”
She smiled back and then he pulled her to him again, as they held each other tight, neither one wanting to end this much needed intimacy, Alainn glanced toward the sky for still they appeared to be outdoors beside the dolmen, but occasionally there would be an unusual flickering and for the briefest time the stone walls could be seen.
“Your magic is fading,” Killian dared to question.
“It is affected by my weariness. As you may have noticed, when you love me as you do, you create a fire within me, but then I am filled with a contented peacefulness that makes me wish to simply fall asleep in your arms.”
“But will your magic hold should we dare to fall asleep?”
“The protective spell will hold, but not the vision of being in this location. We would simply be back within the tower. Regrettably my powers to maintain this image are diminishing.”
“Then best you permit us to see this location for what it really is,” he said, clearly undesirous of ending this time together.
“Not just yet.”
She caressed his arms, his chest and his firm muscular stomach and then downward. When her hand fell upon his manhood, he shook his head.
“Even you Lainna, with your many various talents as a sensual woman and even your magic will not be capable of reviving my diddler after our extended lovemaking and that unprecedentedly powerful release,” he chuckled.
Her eyes glinted with devilish delight.
“Is that a challenge milord?” she whispered as she nibbled his ear and kissed his neck.
“It is a certainty, Alainn, much as I would greatly desire to be capable of loving you again, it is not a possibility.”
“Are you not the man who loved me thirteen times in one night?” she persisted as her tongue teased his nipples and her hand continued to fondle him.
“Aye, but never like tonight. Sure, it will be some time before I’ll be capable of...”
As her warm kisses trailed further and her mouth encircled his maleness, he gasped and groaned.
“Christ, you do have a way about you, Lainna. Magic or no, there’s sure to have never been another woman like you.”
After another heated encounter, Killian had fallen asleep, and Alainn had simply watched him as he slept, peaceful in that moment, knowing no one could take this from them. But as her eyelids grew heavy and her magic waned, she saw the four walls surrounding them were stone and the overcoat beneath them was the bedcovering from the cell. The bathtub was gone, but the water remained on the floor. She sighed and Killian’s eyes opened. He, too, glanced around the chamber and was disheartened their magical time had ended, but his words comforted her.
“We will always have the memory of this night, this glorious magical night together, and it will see us through till we are back in Ireland together, my Lainna. We will find a way.”
She nodded and fought the tears that threatened to fall as she stood and located her garments.
Killian stood as well and he groaned.
“Shite, my legs feel as though they’ll not hold me, sure melted butter would carry more strength and rigidity.”
A Witch's Quest Page 12
