Seduced by Magic Read online

He kissed her salty skin, flicking his tongue out, starting at her jawline, down her neck to her breasts where he bit each one in turn.

  Copper cried out. “Goddess yes, Tiernan. You do that so damn good.” He lifted his head to see his fiery angel. Her hair was tangled and mussed from their wild bout of sex. She was breathing hard and her eyes were dark and heavy-lidded.

  He rose up and hooked his arms under her knees, pushing forward so that her thighs were against her chest. She wrapped her ankles around the back of his head and he grunted as he took her deep.

  If Copper had thought he filled her when she was on her knees, facedown on the bed, it was nothing like what he was doing to her now. The position he had her in allowed him to go deeper than ever and she felt him straight to that sweet spot that no one but him had ever been able to reach before.

  “Jeez, Tiernan.” She slid her hands down so that she grasped his thighs as he moved in and out of her. “Don’t go so damn slow!”

  He gave her a wicked smile and didn’t pick up his pace. His slow thrusts made her crazy. She looked between their bodies and saw his cock moving in and out of her and she gripped his thighs tighter so that her nails were digging into his muscled flesh. If he was going to tease her, then she was certainly going to leave her mark.

  Gradually, he picked up speed, his thrust coming harder and faster. His body was so slick between her thighs from sweat and the moisture created between them. The magical gold bubbles grew in number, and she was vaguely aware of them penetrating his skin as well as her own.

  Harder, harder, harder, he fucked her. Closer, closer, closer, she came to climaxing again. Just a little more, and she’d be there. But she wanted to wait for him, wanted to feel his release at the same time as her own.

  She dug her nails deeper into his thighs. “Tell me when you’re going to come, big man.”

  Tiernan grunted and he pumped his hips so hard she knew he was close. His jaw was clenched, his eyes wild, and his body rigid.

  “Now,” he growled. “Right now!”

  “Do it!” she cried as her own orgasm burst through her.

  Tiernan shouted, his voice echoing through the room. His cock pulsed inside her pussy and the walls of her channel contracted around him. He continued thrusting his hips, drawing out every bit of his fluid, and her body took from him all that he offered.

  When they both stopped shuddering, but continued to gasp for breath, Tiernan released his hold on her and withdrew his cock. He rolled to his side, taking her with him. Her thigh was nestled between his. He felt hot and sweaty and the room smelled of sex.

  Gradually, the gold magical bubbles drifted away as if carried on a gentle breeze. The intensity of feelings in her body began to subside and she relaxed in Tiernan’s arms.

  Copper sighed, completely sated. She snuggled into his embrace, her head resting on his arm, and easily fell into a deep sleep.

  Sixteen

  Copper woke with Tiernan’s arms and leg wrapped around her from behind, just as she had every night in the cave. Only this time they were naked. She snuggled deeper against his warmth and felt his morning arousal pressed against her backside. His musky scent and the smell of sex lingered in the air.

  Tiernan’s large hand moved to the nape of her neck and she felt him twirl a lock of her hair around his finger; he tugged, drawing her head back a bit. “Mmmm . . .”He nuzzled the curve of her neck. “You smell like apples and cinnamon. You feel so good in my arms. I could make love to you forever, little fire. I don’t think I can get enough of you.”

  She grinned and wiggled her ass against his cock. “What in the world are you waiting for?”

  “I wait for nothing that I want.” He slid his leg off hers and moved it between her thighs, opening her so that he could take her from behind. He positioned himself so that his cock slipped into the wetness of her folds. “And I want you. Now.”

  Copper barely held back a moan, not wanting him to know just how badly she needed him right at this moment. “You can’t always have what you want, you know,” she managed to get out, but just barely.

  He pumped his hips just enough to slide his erection between the lips of her wet slit. “I can, and I will.”

  The way he was rubbing his cock against her clit—back and forth, back and forth—Copper had a hard time thinking at all. “Um, ah, jeez . . . What, oh . . . um, what if I say no?”

  “You won’t.” His cock was now at the entrance to her core. “You’re mine, little fire,” he growled just before he slammed his cock inside her.

  Copper gave a loud cry of excitement as he thrust in and out of her pussy with an even greater frenzy than he’d showed the night before. He was so damn big and his thickness and length filled her up.

  He reached over her shoulder and grasped one of her nipples and squeezed it hard. Goddess, her nipples were so sensitive from last night that the sensation drove her wild. He reached farther and pinched her other nipple even harder, and she couldn’t hold back another cry.

  “Damn, you are so freaking good.” She moved so that her ass met his hips with every thrust. Her words seemed to drive him even wilder as he pumped his hips impossibly harder.

  Those bubbles began floating around them like soap bubbles blown from a plastic wand. Some floated, others seeped into their skin. Like before, they made her wilder, more needy for him.

  He fucked her hard, his hips slamming against her ass, his big cock plunging in and out, filling her, leaving her, filling her, leaving her, filling her. His fingers continued to squeeze first one nipple, then the other, and he did it so hard that she cried out with every pinch.

  His hand left her breasts and he eased it slowly down her belly. The sensation of his callused hand against her flat stomach added to her excitement. He moved his big, long fingers to her folds and began teasing her clit at the same time he drove in and out of her.

  It was too much. The feel of his cock inside her, his hand on her clit—Copper came in a hard rush that sent heat throughout her body. The bubbles floating around them grew in number, tickling her nipples and joining his fingers in her pussy. Her body wouldn’t stop shaking. The tremors kept on coming and coming. She reached for his hand, trying to still him, but he kept drawing out her orgasm as he thrust deep inside her.

  “Tiernan, stop. Tiernan!” she shouted, going beyond wild in his arms. “Goddess. Oh, goddess!”

  “Little fire,” he said in her ear. “You belong to me.” He gave one last pounding thrust of his hips and a loud groan of release. She felt him pulse inside her and her own contractions squeezed down on his length.

  When he finally let up on her clit and they were breathing hard, their skin hot and sticky with sweat and sex, Tiernan kissed her nape. “Good morning, little fire.”

  Copper laughed and snuggled back more deeply into his arms. “What a way to start the day.”

  After Copper fell back asleep, Tiernan dressed in his robe. He paused to look down upon Copper’s beautiful face and brushed a stray lock of hair from her cheek. The Faerie kisses across her nose made her even more beautiful. While sleeping she still had a mischievous expression that made him shake his head and grin.

  A great weight seemed to tug at his heart and his smile turned into a frown. If he did not come up with a satisfactory solution, he would have to leave for Otherworld to wed Airell. That thought sat heavier with him now than it ever had.

  As he drew his hand away from Copper, Tiernan wondered why she did not appear so young to him, the way Airell did. Copper was headstrong, impulsive, maddening . . . and yet he found himself captivated by her like no other woman whom he had shared pleasures with. It had seemed as if their physical joining were more than simply fucking.

  He straightened his spine and hardened his expression.

  Impossible. Illogical.

  Then he remembered his own words mere moments before he had climaxed: “Little fire,” he had said. “You belong to me.”

  What had he been thinking?

  He had
been thinking with his cock.

  After one final look at Copper, Tiernan turned and quietly strode to the front door and let himself out of the apartment.

  Copper woke to an empty bed. She slipped into her robe and headed to Silver’s apartment. Of course Copper didn’t have her own soaps and supplies in her apartment bathroom yet. She’d also have to hit the store and buy herself an honest-to-goodness real toothbrush, along with other supplies.

  When she went to Silver’s apartment, Zeph joined Copper, riding on his favorite place, the upper curve of her ear. Copper knocked on Silver’s apartment door and Copper heard a cheery “Come in!”

  The minute she walked in, the smell of breakfast washed over her at the same time Silver met her at the door and hugged her.

  “I just have to touch you again to make sure you’re real!” Silver gave her another big squeeze before releasing her.

  Copper grinned, then closed her eyes at the heavenly smells coming from the small kitchen. “If I’m not mistaken that’s Mother’s recipe for breakfast casserole that I smell. Eggs, potatoes, broccoli . . .” She opened her eyes as her stomach rumbled. “I’ve missed real food so much. I know I said that last night about ten times, but I don’t think I’ll be able to eat enough. I doubt I could look at another Faerie seedcake or grass-and-berry tart again.”

  Silver laughed and headed back to the kitchen. She was all in royal purple, wearing heels, a short skirt, and silk blouse. “There’s plenty of casserole.” She grabbed a pair of pot holders, then headed to the oven. “As long as you eat before Hawk comes back. That man is never satisfied. He’ll probably have Tiernan with him. I’d bet he’s had his fill of Faerie food, too.”

  The thought of Tiernan caused a delicious warmth to sweep over Copper. The memory of her incredible night and morning with him made her smile. It had been sheer heaven. She felt sore all over, especially her nipples. And damn, but it felt good.

  Silver caught Copper’s attention again when she said, “You have a kind of dreamy look to your eyes, little sister. I don’t suppose you have a thing for a certain Tuatha D’Danann warrior?”

  “I’ll never tell.” Copper teased her sister with a wink. “Mind if I use the shower and grab more of my clothes?”

  “Of course not.” Silver brought the casserole out of the oven and set it on the stovetop. With her oven mitts still on, she made shooing motions with her hands toward the bedroom. “This can cool a bit while you shower. Make yourself totally at home.”

  Copper paused in mid-step. “By the way . . . All my stuff and my bank account . . . ?”

  “Your furniture and everything but your clothes are in storage.” Silver picked up an orange from the counter, sliced it in half, then grabbed a juicer. “I do believe your mutual funds and bank account have been growing quite nicely over the last fifteen months or so.”

  “I figured you’d take care of all of it.” Copper smiled at her sister. “Thank you for everything. It’ll be great to have money again. And to go shopping!”

  “I knew you’d be back.” Silver’s expression became solemn. “I never doubted it for a moment. It was just a matter of when you’d return.”

  Copper gave her sister another smile before heading to the bedroom, and Zephyr zipped off to go hang around Silver and Polaris.

  She was too hungry to take long at her shower and getting dressed. Her foot felt lots better, but she still flinched when she unwrapped it before her shower. The wounds looked much improved, and had mostly healed, so she decided not to wrap it again. It was good being a witch.

  When she dried off, she slipped on one of several pairs of her jogging shoes from one of the trunks of clothing Silver had kept in the room for her. These shoes were a pretty shade of sea blue. She put on a royal-blue crop-top T-shirt, faded blue jeans, and stuck her wand in her back pocket—she’d been so tired last night that she’d left it on Silver’s vanity table. All the time she’d spent in Otherworld, she’d worn her jewelry constantly, never taking it off, and last night she’d slept in it all as usual. It had become a part of her, even more than it was before.

  She dried her hair magically with her fingers again and studied herself in the mirror. She preferred shoulder-length hair, but long hair didn’t look too bad on her. Wanting to keep it out of her face, she braided it into a long single plait. She brought the end over her shoulder and tied it with one of Silver’s blue hair ties. Copper’s pentagram earrings swung at her neck and the pentagram on her thick bracelet sparkled against her wrist with her movements.

  In no time she was out of Silver’s bedroom and in the kitchen, thankfully before the D’Danann men showed up. She and Silver scooted up to the table and started spooning out the casserole, Copper taking an entire plateful from the giant serving pan. Goddess, was she ever hungry.

  She took a big bite and closed her eyes in heavenly bliss. “As good as Mother used to make,” Copper said when she finished chewing. She saddened and opened her eyes to look at Silver. “I just can’t believe she’ll never make it again.”

  The sparkle left Silver’s eyes and she squeezed Copper’s hand. “We just have to believe that she’s happy and well in Summerland. One day we will be with her again.”

  After what Tiernan had told her, his confidence that there was truly a Summerland made Copper feel a little better. Since he was of Otherworld, and a former god, he no doubt knew what he was talking about.

  Silver released Copper’s hand to pour them each a big glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Copper loved the citrus scent, and the taste was just as heavenly as everything else had been.

  When he came in with Hawk, Tiernan was wearing black leather as always, and a different long black coat. He’d left his other one in Otherworld. Hawk had a long coat on, too, and she figured they wore them to hide their daggers and swords.

  Tiernan’s hair was damp, obviously from taking a shower. His blond hair hung to his shoulders, still a little wavy, and his deep-blue eyes made her squirm as he looked at her, and her nipples grew taut.

  Hawk looked from Tiernan to Copper and frowned as if he disapproved, which surprised Copper. But the big warrior said nothing as he scooted up to the table and began spooning giant scoops of casserole onto his plate.

  By then Silver and Copper had finished eating, so after she took her plate, cup, and fork to the sink, washed them, and put them away, Copper wandered around Silver’s living room. She ran her fingers along the back of the delicate couch and touched the blue lampshade and crystal lamp. She noticed a huge overstuffed recliner that Silver must have gotten for the big D’Danann warrior who no doubt felt uncomfortable on Silver’s furniture.

  Copper loved Silver’s oil paintings of various sites around San Francisco, like the Golden Gate Bridge and the most crooked street in the world, Lombard Street. She paused at a crystal vase of fresh white lilies and yellow daisies and touched the blooms, which were soft under her fingertips. From one of the chairs, Polaris, Silver’s python familiar, watched Copper’s every movement. And if snakes could smile, she thought he did.

  Copper went to one of the curtained windows, Zeph riding on her ear, and drew aside the lacy white curtain. Down below, the street was fairly quiet but would soon be swarmed with tourists and locals. The Haight-Ashbury district was always filled with colorful people.

  She turned away from the window and spotted Silver’s huge mahogany desk with its mess of papers, a flat-screen computer monitor, what looked like a state-of-the-art printer, and a cordless phone. She felt like a kid at Christmas as she went to investigate. She couldn’t wait to get her own stuff. Sure, it was materialistic, but she found joy in the modern world, especially after being exiled for so long.

  In the background she heard the rumble of male voices, both men speaking in their strong Irish brogues. Silver was talking with them, and since she wasn’t really paying attention, Copper vaguely heard the words plan, location, and search.

  She walked to the desk and the first thing she picked up was a picture of th
eir family. Her heart felt crushed by a heavy weight as she studied Moondust’s ethereal beauty, her precious smile. Copper could see the Elvin in her now. Her gaze traveled to their stern father, who had a proud expression on his face, and on to her sister and herself. The picture had been taken in Ireland on one of their excursions a couple of years ago.

  Copper set it down and picked up a crystal-framed picture of her and Silver. The picture made her feel both happy and sad. Happy to see both their familiar expressions, and sadness that she had missed so much over the last months.

  She sighed, set the framed photo down, and noticed a picture of herself alone. She scrunched her nose. Did she really look like that? All those bright freckles, a pert nose, and a grin that made her look like she was up to no good.

  Copper had to smile. She usually was up to something.

  A paper lying next to the picture caught her eye and she frowned. It was a piece of parchment with strange symbols on it. When she picked it up, the parchment felt heavier than paper and rough between her fingertips, and smelled of ancient books and dust.

  As she studied it, her stomach clenched and she felt blood drain from her face. Her hand shook, and so did the parchment.

  The drawing was of the door from her nightmare last night. And below the door was the double ring containing the evil runes.

  Seventeen

  The parchment slipped from her fingers and floated to the floor like a fallen leaf drifting from a tree. She couldn’t move. Her mind raced and her heart thudded.

  “Copper?” Silver grasped Copper’s shoulder. She looked up into her sister’s worried expression. “You’re so pale. What’s wrong? Does it have something to do with this?” Silver had picked the parchment up from the floor and her fingers trembled enough to make the paper shake. “You’re scaring me.”

  Before Copper realized it, Tiernan and Hawk were surrounding her.

  “You know of this?” Tiernan asked, his tone both concerned and harsh—not at her, but for how it had upset her, she was sure.