He put a hand on my shoulder. I raised my brows and lowered my chin. I don’t like it when people touch me. He pulled away instantly. “Sorry. Too much, huh? John tells me all the time I need to learn distance to work in this business. I’ve got to work on not touching. But no, in answer to your question, it’s not far. Probably not more than a hundred yards from where we are. Just follow the path to the right and it’s all downhill on a paved path. You’ll get to see some of the new vines, too. Very picturesque with all the paper lanterns.”
Well, it was gorgeous weather and my friends were otherwise occupied. What the heck. “Okay, thanks.” I took the paper and walked across the room to tap Dawna on the shoulder. “Be right back.” She nodded and returned to talking to her new favorite leading man.
* * *
Andrew had been right. It wasn’t a long walk and the path only went one place. The Japanese lanterns that had been strung along the pathways offset the twisted vines on waist-high poles and made them seem elegant. But when the string of lanterns ended, so did the paved path—as though people were supposed to stop when they reached the end of the lights. But there was a flickering light ahead in what looked like the mouth of a cave.
Oh. Duh. A grotto—as in cave.
There was enough light to see and the ground was hard-packed soil, so it was easy walking. As I approached, I could hear murmuring voices inside, so I stayed quiet, not wanting to interrupt. I expected the cave itself to be cooler than the outside, but it was actually warmer. The press of light magic flowed over me as I walked down the steep path into the earth. The barrier explained the dampening of sound. Now that I was inside, the voice was louder, but I couldn’t make out what was being said.
Flowering vines covered the walls and ceilings, turning what would normally have been dark stone and soil into a burst of color and texture. The smell was amazing … soft and sweet but not cloying. Even though I didn’t recognize any of the individual flowers, together they smelled like a butterfly garden in the warmest part of spring. “Hello?” I called out softly. There was no answer.
Finally I saw a brighter light ahead and heard a roaring sound that reminded me of a bath being run in a distant room. The air felt moister, cooler, and heavier with magic. The combination of sensation and scent was amazing. I stepped into the main grotto. The ceiling was high enough I couldn’t actually see it, and the waterfall I’d heard was the height of a three-story building. I was so engrossed in looking around that I didn’t notice the circle drawn in white in the very center of the room, where a hooded figure was kneeling.
Crap. I’d walked into a casting.
The candles on the points of the compass were the giveaway and I should have recognized the muttering after hearing Bruno speaking in odd tongues all those years. I froze in place, remembering Bruno’s stern lectures: Never interrupt the caster, don’t speak, don’t break the circle, and don’t freak out at anything you see. He hadn’t been kidding about the last part. I’d seen full-blown tornadoes spring up in a casting circle. Demons had appeared in chains, pulled out from inside the person they were possessing, spewing all the vile excrement and lava of hell itself until they were banished by the mage.
I looked around and spotted a bench carved out of the rock wall next to a massive taproot from one of the ancient white oaks I’d seen from the road when we arrived. I could be quiet and I was really curious to find out if I was going to see a sample of Creede’s skill. I’d seen his power in battle and a hint of the finesse behind it. But to see a real casting was to see into the soul of a mage.
This seriously rocked.
I became a church mouse with a hungry cat nearby—utterly silent and watchful. Creede’s hands began to move; it looked like he was holding an invisible volleyball in front of his chest. I could see his face peering out from the shadow of the hood. The spell got stronger and his voice louder. A ball of energy appeared between his cupped hands. It had no form or color, visible only as wavy air currents, like heat rising from hot asphalt.
He lifted his arms and the tiny candles became flares to reach his shoulders. Wow. “Removie il parse … et parse … en natur!” The ball of energy took on a life of its own. Power flowed out from Creede’s skin to spin over his head until the ball of energy was bigger than a school globe and then bigger than a car.
Every muscle in my body jumped when he threw his hands forward. “Dispersei!” The energy exploded outward at his command, filling the whole circle until it seemed like it would burst. The candles tipped sideways, flames licking up the sides of the energy bubble until it was a full fledged ball of fire. I was a little afraid it was going to explode and stood up in case I needed to get out in a hurry.
That’s when the ball blew.
Creede’s hood was blown back by the force of the energy wave and his eyes were twin stars that were too large for his face. Concentric waves of energy began to flow out of the circle, ripples of magic that swept toward me with the speed and intensity of a tsunami.
I wasn’t going to be able to get out of the way in time.
15
To hell with not interrupting the caster.
“Shit! Creeeede—” I backed toward the exit and then ran full out as the blast of power came my way.
He looked up then and saw me and raised his hands again. “Dispersei!” There was both panic and power in the word and I turned to see the white light in his eyes explode into the room. But it had gone too far, too fast.
Power caught me full in the chest and dropped me to my knees. It was icy cold yet hot enough to burn. Every muscle in my body came alive at the same moment and my eyes locked on his. There was a tether between us, a magic binding that encased me as solidly as if I were trapped in amber. I could see the room and Creede, but it was through a filter of golden light. Every hair stood on end and tried to pull out of my skin.
Then the cold and hot turned to a warm wave of … something … that made things low in my body tug deliciously. My skin started to feel swollen and my breathing became fast and shallow. It was the most erotic sensation I’d ever experienced and apparently it was for Creede, too, because he let out a moan of sheer pleasure and closed his eyes. I felt the power pull away from me and I could breathe. Then it was back and pleasure tore through me once more. We were trapped in a loop that was like a bouncing Super Ball. The harder the power hit me, the faster it came back after leaving, until there was nothing but heat and light and a thousand fingers on my skin, on my breasts, and inside me. It was pure torture and pure joy.
Finally the strain was too much and my body could take no more. I collapsed onto my hip and a cry was torn from my mouth as a powerful orgasm claimed me. It had admittedly been a long time since I’d been with a man, but this wasn’t like anything I’d ever felt before. I tingled to the tips of my ears and the balls of my feet. I knew when it got the better of Creede. He didn’t cry out, but I’d heard that kind of low moan before, followed by whispered swearing that spoke of a similar intensity to my own.
The magic dissipated slowly, leaving my body feeling both satisfied and utterly exhausted. It took more than a few moments before I could think or breathe normally, and when I opened my eyes I saw a pair of bare feet next to my leg.
Crap.
“Celia?” I looked up and Creede’s eyes were normal again, even if his face was lightly flushed. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.” I felt heat in my cheeks and turned my eyes from his. I did accept the hand up, because it’s really hard to get up gracefully from the floor in a short skirt and heels. “What just happened?”