Magick (Immortals and Magick Book 2) (12 page)

“Hi.” I called out, composing myself. I walked slowly to the stairs, my eyes never leaving his hooded blue ones.

“Hello.” He watched me come slowly up the steps, but his expression didn’t change and neither did his stance.

I gained the porch and stood there awkwardly, tucking my hands in the back pockets of my jeans.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, his voice soft, but I could hear barely controlled anger there.

It took me aback, that anger. He’d been rude, derisive, insensitive, and mocking in the time that I knew him, but he had never been angry. It knocked me speechless, my lips sealed. I stared at him mutely, shaking my head.

“Teagan, I really don’t have time for this. I have too much to do, and if you’re going to waste my time with your drama, I would rather you just turn around and leave.”

“My…wait, what?” I stammered, the old fury trying to take control. I promised myself that I wouldn’t get angry, that I deserved whatever he threw at me, but this kind of attack was not what I expected.

“Your drama, Teagan. The back and forth, mercurial feelings that run through you like a storm out of control. I don’t want it.”

His voice cut me deep, the words like a honey-edged sword that left my heart cut in ribbons. A tear slipped out and I wiped it away savagely.

“I wasn’t aware that I was so much trouble. I’ll go.” It was not what I was expecting from him, but if it was what he wanted, I would give it to him, and nurse my heartbreak alone. I turned around and stepped down on the first step, only to find myself flying backward to land against his chest. His arms came around me, locking me to him.

“Dammit Teagan, you called my bluff.” He said, just before his mouth came crashing down on mine.

He kissed me fiercely, grabbing my hair and yanking my head back, his mouth everywhere at once. Heat burst into flame everywhere his lips moved, from my mouth, to my cheeks, to my neck. He bit lightly at the fading marks that Padraigan left behind, a growl escaping from him as he did it.

I clasped my hands around his neck as he lifted me, wrapped my legs around his waist, our bodies fighting against each other, pressing closer.

It was savage, it was tempestuous, it was not enough. I fought to get his shirt off, needing to feel smooth skin under my fingers. I managed to rip it over his head and then I was feasting on him, running my mouth over every square inch of him I could.

With a curse he spun around, using one hand to yank open the screen door. It clattered shut behind us as he carried me to his bedroom.

“We’re going to do this right. No one to interrupt us, and not on my front porch.”

I could only writhe against him, my body overruling my mind. He had brought me to some primal level, one that I had never been to before. I had never wanted someone so much, never had so many emotions for someone. If I didn’t make him a part of me, I would just disappear, cease to exist, or so it seemed.

“I don’t know what change brought you here, but thank the Goddess you did. I couldn’t stay away from you much longer.” He whispered, the soft words belying the rough way he tossed me on the bed. He paused only long enough to rip my jeans off and yank his down and kick them out of the way. I leaned up on my elbows and hungrily devoured him with my eyes. He was a thing of beauty, all sculpted lines and tan skin. I didn’t have much time to enjoy the view before he was on me, taking possession of my mouth again. His kiss spoke volumes; he claimed me, branded me as his own yet at the same time it was worship and surrender.

Neither one of us could speak words, but our bodies told the tale. We rolled across the bed, and I straddled him, biting and licking across his smooth chest, my fingers running ahead of my mouth across his flat stomach to find him. A groan rumbled out of him as my hand curled around him, but before I could take him in my mouth he jerked me up and flipped me over, so that he was laying between my legs, my face pressed into the mattress. He ran his mouth lightly down my spine, sending shockwaves throughout my body. His hands reached under me and cupped my breasts, bringing a soft cry from me at the feel of his calloused palms on my heated skin. He rolled my nipples roughly between his fingers, and I gasped and bit the bed sheet. His lips shattered whatever reservations I had left in me and made me a slave to his need, my need of him.

Coming up for breath he flipped me back over and looked down at me, his eyes lit with passion. Without a word, I watched him slide down my body, his mouth traveling the length of one leg, stopping to caress my knee, the back of it, where the skin is thin and sensitized. I kept my eyes on him, my gaze bold, as he circled my ankles with his hands, his lips caressing skin that I had no idea had nerve endings, let alone ones that were so easily inflamed.  He slowly pushed my legs apart and settled between them; releasing my ankles and running his big hands lightly back up my legs, his talented mouth now caressing my inner thighs.

I tried to control the quivering but my contracting muscles won, and I closed my eyes on a sigh.

“Noah, I need you in me.” I whispered fiercely, my hands fisting in the bed sheets, my head rolling about on the pillow. My body thrummed with desire, with need; I would shatter into a thousand pieces if he continued, die if he didn’t.

I opened my eyes to find him studying my face, a wicked smile on his mouth.

“What part of me do you want in you? This part?” He asked, slipping a finger inside me, gently, smoothly. I could feel the slight pressure inside me, the gentle stretch as he moved slowly, so slowly, the easy friction building a fire. I lifted my hips slightly, my breathing starting to come in gasps.

“Or how about this part?” His mouth replaced his hand, his tongue replacing his finger. Still so easy, his tongue glided smoothly, the gentle rasp driving me insane with the slow way he tasted me, the way his teeth took soft nips at my heated center.

My hands found his hair, fisted in it. The slow torture was killing me, my stomach, thighs, and arms all shaking with tremors. I could feel my orgasm building and I yearned toward it, fought for it against his leisurely assault.

“I think you might mean this part, though.”

With that he reared up and plunged into me, the suddenness of his entry causing me to fall over the edge, plunging into a deep, dreamy abyss I didn’t want to leave.

“Oh, no, stay with me.” He panted, sliding his hands under my back and pulling me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he kneeled on the bed, moving his hands to my hips. I held onto his broad shoulders, my hips grinding into him, matching him thrust for thrust. His hands slipped under me, his fingers magic as they found me, stroking, caressing until I was crying for release.

“Open to me, Teagan. Let me in.” His breath was harsh in my ear, his voice strained. I could tell he was holding himself back, trying to prolong the torment.

“Noah, I…” I couldn’t finish, I couldn’t speak. He slowed his strokes, his fingers stilling. He pulled back slightly to look me in the eye.

“Please, Teagan.”  His blue eyes pleaded with me, the raw emotion in his eyes causing me to cave and give in completely.

I unlocked all my mental barriers, the walls holding him back crumbling down, and he entered my mind, the shock of our minds meeting more intimate than his body inside mine.

As wave after wave of pleasure engulfed me, I cried at the beauty of it. He held me tight as he found his own release, his whispered words echoing in my mind that was already filled with him.

I laid pressed into him, my arm and a leg thrown over his body, while his arms held me tight, his legs twined with mine. His fingers trailed absently down my arm, but I was too exhausted to even work up a shiver. All of my nerves endings seemed to have been fried.

“Are you awake?” He whispered against my temple, and I nodded slowly, languorously. I pressed myself deeper into his side, as much as my tired muscles would allow.

“I thought I was going to lose you for good that time.”

His voice was still low, but a thread of pain weaved its way into it, and I could feel my heart break a little.

“I thought you didn’t want me.” I could hear my voice crack a little at the thought.

He shifted suddenly, twisting until we were nose to nose, his eyes filling my field of vision. I drowned in the deep blue ocean of his eyes, tossed for a loop over the sadness still lurking in the depths.

“God, Teagan, I will always want you. Why can’t you believe that?”

His fervent words soothed me, brought a smile to my lips.

“I find it hard to believe because we started off this relationship at odds with each other. You assaulted me the first night I met you, remember?” I laughed, passion making the sound throaty.

“I
kissed
you the first night we met, big difference.” He said smugly as he lowered his mouth to mine in a slow, easy assault. I fell into it, slid easily into the sweet rhythm of his mouth, his tongue.

I love this part of you, right here.
He whispered in my mind as his lips touched the delicate skin where neck joined shoulder.

His thoughts in my head were more erotic than the actual feel of his mouth on my sensitive skin. I had never opened my mind to someone in an intimate situation; it was a letting down of barriers that I had built over the years to avoid closeness. Not even Harley could get into the inner workings of my mind. To open my mind like this, to where he knew my deepest of secrets, was a new experience for me. If he wanted to, he could tell me what I was thinking of when I was five years old.

Despite the fact that he was driving me wild, I realized it then; I was always on guard, always protecting myself. With Noah, I had let him in, all the way in, even before today, and it had made me overly sensitive. In letting him in, I had ceased to protect myself from someone, but somehow had gone into over-protect mode.

As he worked his way down my body, eliciting gasps of delicious pleasure from me, I mentally embraced the change and let him love me, with no reservations.

He made love to me again, in his mind as much as his body. I could see everything he saw, feel everything he felt; knew the complete depth of his feelings for me. It was like being born again.

I was pleasantly sore in all the right places, and miraculously serene in my own head. A pleasant glow suffused my entire body, and as I heard Noah clattering around in the kitchen, the fact that it was as natural as breathing to be in his bed was a great comfort to me.

Opening my mind, I could feel him out there, sense his quiet contentedness. He was whistling a low tune, happy.

The storm was over.

Rolling onto my side to face the door, I watched him walk in with two mugs of steaming coffee, and held out my hand for the proffered mug.

“Let me know if I need to fix it. I’m pretty sure you like it with cream and two sugars, but I’ll get you another if it’s not good.” He said as he sat down on the bed next to me, clad only in a pair of jeans.

I brought the mug to my lips and tasted gingerly, not wanting to burn my already sensitive mouth. My lips were pleasantly bee-stung, and the skin around my mouth was slightly abraded from his stubble. All in all, a most pleasant way to wake up. Not to mention, the coffee was excellent, and the delivery system scrumptious.

“It’s good, thanks.” I gave him a smile, and we stared at each other for a moment, sharing a vision of the night before.

He reached out with his free hand, and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear, and I leaned my face into his cupped palm.

“How do you feel?”

Not wanting to misinterpret what he meant, I studied him briefly. I didn’t think he was asking about sore muscles.

“I’m good, Noah, really. I have a theory-”

“Of course you do, don’t you always?” His tone was gently mocking, but I took no exception to it, like I would normally. I pinched him playfully, almost upsetting my coffee.

“Shit!’

“Ha, instant Karma.” He laughed, and it was a blessing to my ears. He took my mug from me and placed it on the bedside table, and shifted to stretch out next to me. I draped myself over his chest, crossing my hands and propping my chin on them.

“Okay then, let’s hear your theory.” He leaned back on the pillows, crossing his own hands behind his head. He eyed me with interest.

“Okay, my theory is, I was just being a big fat stupid head, and I’ve recovered now.” I grinned, and he started to laugh, the movement of his chest making my head bob up and down.

“‘Big fat stupid head’? That’s your theory?” He said between fits of laughter, so I sat up, laughing myself.

“It’s scientific, really.” I replied, affecting a snobbish tone, one that I had heard often enough from Harley’s dad as we were growing up.

“How?” he fairly howled with laughter.

Feigning anger, I slapped his leg and pushed away from him, only to let out a gust of air as he grabbed me and pinned me down under him, grinning down into my eyes.

“Tell me how that’s scientific, my Big Fat Stupid Head.”

I ran a foot up his leg, hooking it around his back, and rubbed suggestively against him.

“Oh, no you don’t. I want to hear this.” He rolled, bringing me to straddle him. He grabbed my hands, effectively stopping me from unbuttoning his jeans. Twining his fingers in mine, he waited patiently for me to explain my theory.  I could barely believe the change that had overcome me, so how could I explain it to him?

“Well, it really is along the lines of being a big fat stupid head. I just realized that losing you wasn’t an option. My pride and fear were prices I was willing to pay to keep you in my life. I can live without you Noah, but I just don’t want to.”

He gazed up at me, then disentangled our fingers, only to bring his hands up to my face. “Thank you.” He whispered reverently, and then drew me down into a mind-numbing kiss.

A little later on, I was standing behind him, looking over his shoulder at scribbling on a blue sheet of paper. I had the vague notion that I was looking at a set of blue prints, but beyond that I was clueless.

His office had more of my attention than the blue prints. All glass, it took up a large portion of the back of the house, and it was oriented east to west to get the maximum amount of light. An architect’s desk, which was where we were standing, was placed so that it overlooked the forest that surrounded the room. I didn’t know how he got any work done.

“What is that?” I asked, motioning with my coffee mug. He canted a glance at the mug, but didn’t say anything. I was impressed with his restraint, considering I had almost spilled coffee on his bed sheets. The blue prints seemed a bit more expensive.

“It’s Written.” He seemed a little puzzled as he said it, so I muttered something that I hoped seemed intelligent. I may have used the word “metallurgy”.

“You have no clue what you’re looking at, do you?” He laughed as he said it, casting a glance at me over his shoulder. I made a face and stuck out my tongue.

“Not all of us are architects, you know. No, I don’t have any clue what that is.” This time I used my hand to gesture to the blue prints, not wanting to press my luck with the coffee cup.

He took the coffee cup from me and set it down. Grabbing my arm, he shifted me in front of him. Sitting in the high chair, he was able to rest his chin on my shoulder, and slowly drew the shape of my bookstore out on the blue print for me, the form taking shape with his patient tutelage.

“See, this is where the staircase is now. I was thinking about repositioning it to give you a bigger, more flow-friendly space. You guys were almost tripping on each other with the other sales counter. Since that wall is pretty much compromised, it would be easy to change it around.”

He continued in that vein, explaining all the changes and structure fixes he wanted to make to the store. Instead of getting defensive, as I would have a day ago, I welcomed his help, and was grateful for his knowledge. Knowing that Harley would be just as appreciative, I nodded approval, liking what I saw.

“Do you think Harley will like it?” He asked, spinning me around.

“I do, yes. I appreciate it Noah.” I gazed up at him, not even feeling slightly disgusted with myself.

“It’s no problem.” He shrugged, brushing it off.

“No really, it’s your time and talent. How much does an architect charge, anyway? We may not be able to afford you.” I laughed as I said it, but there was a sliver of truth in it. Insurance would cover it, I was sure, but it was still an expense that might hurt.

He looked at me queerly, as if he didn’t understand what I was saying.

“How much...what? Afford me?”

His tone confused me; there was puzzlement in it, plus...offense?

“Yeah, like how much do you make on a job like this? I mean, you’re the architect, and the general contractor. That’s gotta cost some green.”

              The queer look gave way to a frown.

“Yeah, there’s no charge for this Teagan. Seriously?”

It was my turn to give him a look of my own. One of incredulousness.

“Yes, seriously. What do you mean, there’s no charge? Are you kidding me?” I stepped back, but was blocked by the desk. He used that to block me in.

“No, I’m not kidding you. I’m not going to take a fee to redesign Written, nor rebuild it-”

“Whoa, whoa wait! We are NOT going to take money out of your pocket, I mean, not even just for your time, but materials? Are you insane?” I fought against his legs, which had me effectively trapped.

“Would you listen to me?” His legs were like two posts that I couldn’t budge, and he braced them harder against the desk the harder I fought.

“No, I will not listen, Noah. You’re being unreasonable.” I dropped suddenly, coming up on the other side of a leg, and backed away from him.

Why must we always fight? I thought to myself, and mentally braced myself for the inevitable attitude change. He had pissed me off, just assuming that he would do the job for free, without any recompense for his time and that we would allow that.

“YOU’RE being unreasonable Teagan! You and Harley are family now, and I wouldn’t charge family for a job, and I won’t-”

“Family? We’re family?” That strangely took me aback, and I didn’t know why. “Would you spend the night making love to someone in your FAMILY?” My voice reached an unheard of octave, and Noah shook his head from side to side, slowly.

“You’re a piece of work, Teagan, I mean, really.” He laughed then, and I stopped in the middle of the righteous snit I was about to work myself into. Taking advantage of my momentary silence, he grabbed my shoulders, shaking me a little.

“I’ll submit the material charges to the insurance company. I’m not stupid. If you had let me finish explaining that, you wouldn’t have gotten yourself worked up into a fit. Or whatever that was.”

Glaring up at him, I realized that not only did I still want to be around him, but that I had actually just enjoyed myself. With that realization came the knowledge that fighting was okay. I didn’t have to run away if it wasn’t one hundred percent perfect. A slow smile spread across my mouth, and whatever anger I had left drained out of me.

He gave me a wary look, like he didn’t believe the smile was genuine.

“What?” He asked, tensed for an explosion.

“Wow, have I been that much of a bitch?” I cocked my head to the side as I spoke, keeping the smile, and keeping my tone neutral.

“Well, yes, actually, you have. We love you anyway.” He smiled back at me, realizing at last that I wasn’t going to storm out in an irrational fury.

“Good, I promise I won’t be one all the time, like I was. So, do you want to bring these over to Harley?” I pointed to the blue-prints. I was trying to avoid the warm feeling that had come over me when he had said the L word. Didn’t matter that he spoke it in the plural, encompassing everyone we knew; it made me want to hear him say it to me, which was just weird. I was making strides, to be sure, but I didn’t want to push it.

Of course, he seemed to know something besides blue prints was on my mind, and he caught my gaze. I didn’t want him to read me, so I blocked him, giving him another grin.

“Every woman has to have some secrets.”

By mutual, but silent, consent we took his truck back to Gareth and Anna’s. I swallowed whatever pride was still left, knowing I was worrying needlessly over what they would all think at what could be construed as another one of Teagan’s mental 180’s. I couldn’t explain my own behavior over the past weeks to myself, let alone try to explain it to someone else.

Parking the truck under the shade of a big birch in the side yard, we got out and made our way to the back door, coming in through the kitchen without knocking.

Harley was standing at the counter, lunchmeat spread on a plate in front of her, and rolls stacked neatly in a basket.

She glanced at us, then back to her arranging of the sandwich fixings. 

“You just have to love vampires that stock the kitchen for their mortal friends.” Her voice was light and breezy, and the tension seemed to have drained out of her. Noah and I looked once at each other, and then we walked towards her, Noah affecting a stalk pose.

“Group hug!” Noah yelled loudly, then swept Harley up in a bear hug that took her off her feet. When he stopped spinning her, I joined in, wrapping them both in my arms, contentment settling over me like a warm blanket. Despite everything, the attack, the fire, I was happy again.

“Noah! I have turkey in my hand!” Harley choked out between laughs, and Noah darted his head and took a bite off the said piece of turkey, making grumbling noises as he swallowed.