Wicked Paradise (28 page)

Morgan refilled their bowls with rabbit vegetable stew. “No,” she said emphatically, beating off the encroaching wistfulness that had no room inside her any longer. “Many noble women married at an older age. Since Avalon was dying. There was no one for me.”

Ryan’s face softened. “No men at all?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course there were men. Like you, I wasn’t allowed to wed for love alone. As the highest born woman on Avalon, my people expected me to marry one of noble blood with equal or greater powers. They expected us to return the lost magic. A man worthy of that position did not exist.”

“Ever?”

“Not in my time.”

Greed zipped across the hope in Ryan’s eyes. “Until now?”

“Yes.” Fierce desire burst hot between her legs and fluttered up to her heart.

Ryan set his stew aside and closed the space between them in one stride. He caressed her face, his fingers slipping into her hair, framing the sides of her head. “Will you wed for love now?” Emotions roughened his voice.

She rubbed her cheek against his palm. “Considering that I was not expected to live past my twenty-second year, yes.”

“Excuse me?” Tension increased the pressure of his hands on her face.

Morgan realized she hadn’t divulged her prophecy to him. They had so much to share. Sighing quietly, she eased his hands away, held them in her own, and told him about the prophecy she shared with her mother.

“You see.” She squeezed his callused fingers. “This island is a resurrection for me. My mother foretold it, but it wasn’t until later that Gwilym knew what she meant.”

Ryan brushed his lips over hers. “My gain.”

Grinning, Morgan angled her head to the side. “Can you love a woman who wields more power than you?”

He flung his head back and roared in laughter. “That remains to be seen.”

She squinted at him. “Excuse me?”
His shields can’t hold me, and he thinks he’s more powerful!

“Until you’ve had ether magic living inside you, you don’t know what power is.” His arm muscles rippled in an exhibition of strength. And ego. Ego she dared to diffuse.

Without batting an eye, she wrapped Ryan in invisible bands of air, but not for holding him. Yet. Chuckling, she clinked her bowl down on the flattened boulder top.

Surprise bloomed across his face. He flexed his arms, jiggled his ankles. “What’d you do?”

“You don’t know?” She tugged on their bond to show him she controlled it, then quickly severed it. Power luxuriated inside her, a thick sweet cream ready to dip into and taste.

A shadow masked Ryan’s face. “What’re you doing?” His fingers dug into his thighs.

“What do you feel?”

“You cut our bond.” His nostrils flared. “I can’t feel you. I don’t like it.”

“Is that a problem?” Exhilaration whistled in her head. “You want me back?” She stroked his taut arm, her magic lifting the pale down.

“Hell, yes.” He snagged her wrist in a strong clench. “I don’t like not feeling you, now that I’ve had a taste.” A sea tossed storm of blue smoldered in his eyes.

Morgan dropped her shield, leaving the air ropes in place. He jolted from the impact, releasing her wrist. Air cushioned his elbows from banging against the rocks.

“Okay.” He held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I get it,” he grumbled. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“It’s not okay. I want you to accept me as your equal, not some inferior woman with whimsical magic.”

“Morgan, I do accept your powers. I’m not insane.”

His sincerity fell to the wayside in her goal to make a point. She flicked a finger and his loincloth fell away. Another flick and air caressed him into full arousal.

Sweat beaded his brow. “Little raven?” He licked his lips, gulped.

She giggled. “Let me show you what I can do. I promise I won’t hurt you.” Delight splashed within her as she used air magic to do her bidding. She longed to love Ryan with her hands and mouth, but this time was for show.

* * *

Air pressure forced Ryan on his back and stretched out his legs. He was powerless to resist the slow seduction. Hell, he didn’t want to. He’d never met anyone with air magic, never knew such bewitching tricks existed. His bond to Morgan sang to his magic, and her elation waltzed through him, meeting his in an explosive tango.

A mild wind caressed him from his scalp to his soles, leaving him a bristling mass of bones and muscles. Hardened air gently pressed in his ears, around his nipples, circling the tattoo on his chest. Lower. He thrashed on the hard ground, a bed of air cushioning the rocks threatening to cut into his backside and legs. Air fastened around his hard-on, stimulating his length from base to tip with multiple tongues. Erotic. Mind blowing. He nearly lost it in the first thirty seconds. A ragged groan escaped him. “You. Next,” he gasped out.

Morgan laughed, sultry, seductive. “I’m counting on it.”

Power bloated their bond, fueled his fire and ether magic, creating a cyclone of need. His hands scrabbled on the ground, grabbing onto rocks, anything to redirect the lust preparing to spin his senses into orbit. Ryan’s back bowed off the ground as his release rocked through him, his roar echoing in the chamber.

The erotic air dissipated, and Morgan lowered herself into his embrace. He held her tight, but it would never be close enough. He lifted her head from his shoulder and kissed her long and tenderly, loving the feel of her soft, satiny body sliding against his slick skin.

He broke off the kiss, reveled in her warm soft curves comforting his hard angles. “Have you,” Ryan cleared his thick throat, “ever done that before?”

She snorted against his neck. “I never knew I could do that until I came to this island. Until you.” Her accent thickened.

He laughed his relief, smoothing his hands over her buttocks, settling them into the small of her back.

“Will you do it again?”

Lifting her head, Morgan slivered her eyes at him. “Now?”

Ryan chuckled. “Give me a week to recover.”

“That’s what I thought.” She kissed the hollow where his neck and shoulder met.

“You got me, love.” Ryan’s scratchy voice cracked. “I’ll never doubt your abilities.”

Chapter 27

The splattering waterfall beyond their sleeping alcove did little to calm Morgan’s frayed nerves. Ryan slept fitfully, tossing and turning in the crinkly bed. She wondered how anyone slept on palm fronds and vowed to replace it with something less annoying. Left with no choice, she whispered a sleeping spell over Ryan, ensuring another hour or so of deep slumber.

Nibbling on her bottom lip, she prepared for her colossal task. Her needs and wants were petty in comparison. She would kill WindWraith and keep Ryan safe. If he loathed her afterward, she’d hate it, but after fighting for him with everything inside her, she’d live with it. Never at the expense of Avalon’s people or the people who needed him, though.

Misery jabbed at her heart as she fastened her knife belt around her waist. She knelt beside Ryan, smoothed tousled hair off his face, sifting her fingertips in the silky locks. His full lips parted to reveal a line of straight white teeth. Even in sleep with boyish looks, his arrogance was immutable in the set of his jaw.

A smile tugged at her lips, and she feathered her mouth over his. “I love you, my Druid sorcerer,” she whispered, branding his face into her memory. “Do not fear, I will return to you.” With a faint sound of distress, she turned away and made herself rush past the hot spring, through the crystal-lit cavern. RavenStar followed quietly, aware of the secrecy. His tiny hooves clicked on the ground, his nose nuzzled her hand, rendering her a tidbit of reassurance.

Morgan hurried out the tunnel, incredible memories from last night clouding her resolve. They had rested from her blatant display of air magic, then slowly loved one another with their hands and their mouths. After reaching one half-sated climax after another, they fell into restless sleep. It was for the best once again, that they’d stopped shy of completing the soul mate binding. She hadn’t encouraged him, even though her burn for him nigh drove her insane.

With a lit torch in hand, Morgan and RavenStar clambered up the cliff path. The foal playfully practiced using his wings for balance. Waving away the dust cloud RavenStar kicked up in her face, she mind-called to him to settle down. Once she paused at the top of the incline, she pressed her hands on her scars, fighting the thread of fear circling her stomach. Anxiously, she scanned the still, dark meadow and jungle beyond, not detecting a hint of WindWraith. Dawn wasn’t far off and she wanted to cover as much ground as possible before alerting the Fomorian.

Bits of plants stuck to her clothing, and she brushed them off. Unable to set one foot in front of the other, she faltered.
Damn the fear trickling through me! I’m stronger than it!
She squared her shoulders, letting her confidence rise and join the buoyant reverberations of the island. It hummed strong in her, wound around her chest, gave her courage a boost.

RavenStar darted off, whipping his head in delight. He stretched his wings to their full width, flapping madly to test them out. Morgan laughed and watched his playful antics while she rechecked her pack.

They headed northward in the opposite direction of the emerald grotto, following the eastern coastline. Earthen magic brushed butterfly wings in her mind, grazed her core. She slipped past a drifting vine, and it curved over her shin, energizing her. Away from the crystals, she needed all the aid available to maintain her stamina and to battle WindWraith. The damned demon had drained too much of her magic, and she feared her defenses were compromised despite the energy gained in the crystal cavern.

Tree branches quivered as though she were their exalted queen. Like adoring subjects, flora and fauna reached for the barest touch of her. They fed her magical energy, and she fed them something else entirely, similar to bound lovers.

Unnerved, RavenStar beat his wings against his sides. He edged away from the plants reaching for him, scrunched himself against Morgan’s side, both protecting and seeking comfort.

Enraptured, Morgan walked on, her soft soles crunching on mulch blanketing the ground. She stopped next to a rocky outcropping where a white orchid grew in a crevice. As she sniffed the rich perfume, the flower grew larger. It stroked her hand and she caressed the stem, leaving her skin tingling with subtle island magic.

Brightly colored parrots peered down upon them from a sandalwood tree, trilling their approval. A similar reaction arose from the monkeys and other small animals she encountered. Nothing deterred her from her purpose.

Foliage guided her deeper into the jungle, shielding her from harm. She felt more energized than she had since she’d landed on the island. A garden thrived inside her, a boon to her senses, earthy, airy, watery. She could survive on the island alone if she failed to change Ryan’s mind and he managed to leave. Once she rid the island of its blight, she could easily call the gorgeous paradise home for eternity.

Twisting her torso, she felt for the Druid charms in the bottom of her satchel. Clinks of crystal and silver reassured her. Eventually, she’d toss the amulets by matched pairs into the ocean. When and where to accomplish her task was an ambiguous notion in her mind. In theory, she wouldn’t always be alone. The mysterious Druids prophesied to populate the island may stem from Ryan’s coven, giving her a semblance of his presence if he deserted her.

Morgan hiked close to the coast where the jungle grew sparser. The tree line provided shade from the rising sun. An animal roared in the distance, instantly reminding her of the bluish beast that had stalked her. Heedless of danger, she trudged along the imperceptible path the island cleared for her. A snapping, crackling skirmish in the shrubs rose to her left. Frozen, she rested her hand over her scars and slowly counted to five the way Ryan taught her. Hibiscus sweetened the air on her tongue, and she focused on it to drive off her apprehension. She plodded through a snarl of vines and ferns concealing a cluster of the magenta flowers. The flowers bloomed before her and her fear fled in the wake of her determination.

From her last vision of WindWraith, she knew it holed up in a dark, sweltering cavern. Intuition hinted that it lived in the volcano on the northern end of the island. Concurring with her instincts, the sentient island led her northward. Every so often, she spied steam drifting in indolent wisps from the top of the towering volcano.

Fortunately, she didn’t sense any traces of black magic nearby. Nor did she feel her powers leaking out in significant amounts. The island’s magic appeared to help shield her from detection. Would Ryan be able to use his tracking abilities if her plan failed? Shaking her head, she refused to think such dire possibilities.
Too much is at risk if victory doesn’t greet me
.

Water gurgling over rocks carried through the close-knit growth. Morgan followed the liquid melody and stumbled upon a narrow creek swerving into the jungle. It provided a good spot for a short rest, and she shrugged off her packs.

The sky had lightened enough to see and she snuffed out her torch. The picture perfect glade held a garden of hibiscus, orchids, and jasmine growing within grassy mounds. Across the creek, she spied a mysterious tree grove. Round balls of faintly glowing fruit hung in profusion from profuse branches. Curiosity crawled through her grumbling stomach. She stripped off her boots and stepped into the brook. Water churned placidly around her ankles, soothing her feet. RavenStar whickered to her left. Several rambunctious squirrels cavorted with him, and she laughed at their carefree fun.

“Would that I might enjoy such amusement soon,” she grumbled.

Morgan waded into ankle high water to the other side of the creek. Tree branches grazed the ground with hundreds of ripe fruit. She walked beneath the leafy awning of the first citrusy tree. The globes were the size of large oranges, in chaotically swirling colors ranging from eggplant to red to mint green, perfuming the air in an unrecognizable heavenly wine. Her mouth watered and her stomach gave an appreciative growl. Her languid body perked up as if a magic elixir seeped into her pores. Exhilarated, she loaded her arms with a half dozen of the rainbow balls to take on her journey.