Chapter 12

Bran setme down on my bed. "Are you positive?"

I nodded, reaching to pull my sweater off, but he stopped me. He motioned for me to sit on the edge of the bed, and raise my arms, then slowly began to ease my sweater up, over my head. I caught my breath as he swung around behind me, spooning me as he pressed against my back. He circled me with his arms, cupping my breasts in his hands, his fingers pressing lightly over my bra. When I tried to reach for the bra hook, he gently redirected my hands and then, adeptly unhooked the band, sliding the straps down my arms before tossing it to one side. My breasts jiggled free, heavy and aching for his touch.

He cupped them again, this time, his fingers worrying my nipples as he kneaded my breasts, sending a stream of fire down through my body to blaze between my thighs. I moaned, dropping my head back as he brushed aside my hair and began to trail a path of kisses down my neck.

I moaned, my voice throaty, as I pressed back against his chest. I was on fire, so hungry that I squeezed my legs together, trying to ease some of my thirst.

"Let me take my time," he whispered, moving to kiss the nape of my neck and then down my spine. "I'm not in a hurry."

My body was so ravenous that I rocked with the ache emanating from between my thighs. "You're driving me crazy," I whispered.

"I know," he said, his voice low and magnetic. Bran's magic was rising, I could feel it in his touch, in his aura. He felt loaded, ready to aim—and I was right in the middle of scope. I had missed this magical fire. It was one thing I remembered from sex with Rian.

When witches came together, the magic rode piggyback on the sex. Both forces emanated from the kundalini, the source of their power based deep in the second chakra, the chakra of passion and carnality and drive. When magic infused itself with sex, it was like feeding gasoline to a bonfire. It turned it into a raging flame that flared to life, fed by the force of the lovers.

Bran's touch became more demanding. "Stand," he ordered.

I stood, and he reached around and unzipped my pants. "Take them off," he said.

I slid them down over my legs. Leather pants were sexy until you couldn't get them off, which is why I usually undressed myself. I kicked them to the side as he hooked the sides of my panties with his ring fingers and slid them down. Stepping out of them, I turned so that he was facing my navel. Slowly, I lowered my hand to my clit, and began stroking myself where he could see. I let out another moan and raised the other hand to caress my breast.

Bran was trembling. He silently stood and stripped off his shirt. I unbuckled his belt, sliding it through the loops and cracking it to one side, against the bed, before letting it drop.

"Oh, baby," he whispered, his eyes glinting. No more farmer, Bran was now fully the witch—fully the magician standing deep in his magic.

I slid one finger over the top of his jeans, pulling the waistband out as far as I could, as I reached for the zipper with my other hand. I unzipped his pants. He shoved them down, his cock springing free, hard and erect. I stared at him, feeling like a starving woman who was just handed a steak.

Bran held out one hand, palm up, and I placed my hand on top. He wrapped his fingers through mine. He held out his other hand and I took it, too. As we clasped hands, a spark of magic rose up between us, flowing through me, through my hand into his, then around to his other hand and back through mine. We were forging a circle of magic, a circle of power and desire between us, and a mist began to fill the room.

"I smell narcissus and ylang ylang," I said. "It's permeating the mist."

The dewy fog slicked across our bodies, and I felt any remaining inhibitions float away. I was floating, and Bran's hands felt warm and protective.

"I feel like I'm stoned," I whispered.

"It's our magic blending. Let it happen, let it take us into the woods, into the jungle."

His voice reverberated, sending chills down my back as he gazed into my eyes. His intensity held me fast, and I found myself lost in the magic. The sound of a waterfall echoed to the west, warm breezes from a summer's night drifted through from the east, the heat of a bonfire warmed my body, blazing in from the south. As we came together, no magnets could be stronger than the pull of our attraction.

Everything unfolded as though we were in a dream, and part of me thought we were. It was a dream so real and so vivid that it had to be rooted in the physical world.

He laid me back on the bed, stroking between my legs, and simultaneously, his spirit reached out, stroking my aura, fanning the flames. A surge of magic rocked through me with his touch, and I wrapped my arms around his back, our skin triggering explosions beneath my fingers. By his expression, explosions through his body.

Our sex was a powder keg, and the fuse had been ignited. There was no going back, no stopping now. He took my nipple in his mouth and tugged, running his tongue around it, and with every touch, I flared to life, remembering who I was before the fear—before the terror—before the Butcher.

I opened my legs to him, and he slid inside, gliding deep into my core, where he held me still for a moment before he began to thrust. At first his movements were gentle, but then he sped up, harder, deeper, driving himself up to the hilt as I welcomed him in, every movement pushing me further towards the edge, towards a sparkling precipice that beckoned me in.

I moaned, and he covered my mouth with his, his lips tight against mine, his muscled arms sliding around me as he rolled us over, pulling me astride him, where I rode him hard and deep. I reached up, cupping my breasts, kneading them as he watched, and he slid his hand between my legs and began to stroke me as I drove myself down on his cock.

The magic swirled around us as our passion grew, and I could see the glittering energy we were creating. It wove itself into the eternity symbol, the mobius strip that would never end.

My breath came in ragged pants as I dropped my head back, my hands reaching for his. He clasped them as I began to ride him as hard as I could, desperate for him to fill me up, to fill every inch of me, leaving no place untouched.

"Bran—Bran—" The words came out, half a scream, half a whisper, as I found myself on the edge, staring deep into the void, and before I could do anything, he gave one final thrust, knocking me over the side as I tumbled into climax, letting out a ragged cry as the waves of passion rippled through me.

Tears streamed down my face as the dam broke, tears for Rian, tears for Faron, tears for my cousin Owen, all the tears in the world jumbled together, bursting through my barricades. I came hard and fast, the orgasm vibrating through my body for what felt like a long, long time.

Bran came then, holding my hands tight, bracing me up as he bucked beneath me. And then, as the tide swept out, leaving the aftermath, I leaned forward, against his chest, and he held me, silently comforting me.

* * *

Bran had to go home,May needed him, so he headed out. I took a shower and wandered into the kitchen, where Grams was ladling out the stew. The rolls were in the oven, smelling all yeasty-warm, and so I set the butter on the table, along with silverware and bread-and-butter plates. She carried our bowls to the table and we settled in for dinner.

"So…" she said, smiling slyly.

"So…yes, Bran and I?—"

"You don't need to tell me, but I must say, I'm glad you're growing closer. Whatever it turns out to be, I think you and he are good for one another."

I paused, not sure if I should be talking to my great-grandmother about sex, but the fact was Bree was a puma shifter, and she didn't understand what it was like to be witchblood.

"Grams, can I ask you something personal?"

"You can always ask, I don't promise to answer."

"When I was with Rian, sex was good. It was better than good, and our magic played a part, but it only went so far. Today, with Bran, it was like I was stoned. The magic…I never felt anything quite like that. Did you ever…with Great-grandpa?" I blushed. It was one thing to discuss dicks and dongs with my friends. It was another to ask a much-older relative. Especially one who was so reserved.

But Grams took it in stride, and I had a feeling that, over in Scotland, they weren't as reticent as the older generations were here.

She put down her spoon and reached for a roll. "Your great-grandfather and I…we weren't in love at the start. We married when I was 22, in 1920, because it was good for the clan, and so we did our duty. But over the years, we fell in love, and we found that our magic was strong together."

"I didn't know you were in an arranged marriage."

"A lot of marriages were still arranged back then. We may have known each other, instead of being strangers, but when great families come together, the offspring seldom have much say in these matters."

"I see," I said, grateful I was from my own generation.

"About ten years after we married, we went on a vacation. We lived in Blair Athol at the time, and we decided to travel to Glencoe for a week. It took us over four hours to drive the eighty-five miles there, because the roads weren't the best. We owned an Austin Seven, one of the more economical cars at the time, and while it could manage a speed of fifty, on those roads we maintained a steady thirty miles an hour. But to us, we were speeding along. We stopped along the way to get out every half hour in order to stretch and walk around. You know, I would have loved to have a digital camera with me—there were so many beautiful spots to look at."

The idea of my great-grandparents chugging along in a touring car, stopping to see the sights as they headed out on vacation, made me feel like I was peeking in on a different world.

"You didn't have any children then, did you?"

"No, Terrance didn't come along till 1941, and by that time, I didn't know if I could have children. We didn't worry about it, though. Peter was relieved, I think. It gave us time to establish a real home and savings. It allowed him to build a business without having to take labor-intensive jobs."

"So, what happened on this vacation?" I bit into my roll, melting at the taste. There were few things better than warm bread and melted butter.

"Well, if you ever travel to Scotland—hopefully with me—I'll take you to Glencoe. In 1692, there was a massacre there. Nearly 40 members of the Clan MacDonald family who lived there were murdered by government forces. The story's tragic. King William III sent in forces posing as friends, and after a couple weeks, those forces turned on their hosts and slaughtered them."

I caught my breath. "How horrid. I imagine the land remembers?"

"Oh, aye, indeed. The land is drenched in anger and sorrow, though by now, some of the spirits have gone to their rest. The original orders designated that all men under seventy were to be slain, but somewhere along the line they were changed to an order to kill everyone."

"Even the children?"

"Even the children. There are more tales to tell concerning the massacre, but we'll save those for another time. Your great-grandfather and I stayed in a tiny inn. Glencoe is surrounded by mountains, so we went walking every day, hiking into the foothills, and soaking up the energy. The terrain is rugged, and wild, and it's one of my favorite places. The earth is powerful there. The elementals are always listening."

I could feel, from her words, the strength and age of the land, and I suddenly wanted to go see it—to hike deep into the mountains and just…be…for awhile.

"Glencoe was once a supervolcano. Not many people know that fact. So there's a disruptive, explosive memory in the land, as well. It will never erupt again. At least they believe it's long extinct Anyway, Peter and I were up on the side of one of the mountains there one day, and nobody was around so we stripped and made love off the road, behind our car. That was the first day that our magic took over, and…it was transformative."

"Did it happen again? Every time?"

"Well, yes and no. It changed our relationship. Neither of us knew what triggered it, but it was like you said. Wild, passionate, and we were both in body and yet, out of body. After that, while it didn't happen every time, it would always come round again whenever too much time elapsed between our lovemaking sessions. It brought us back together, every time it happened."

I nodded, thinking over what she had said. It was always odd, when I would capture a glimpse into a friend's world, or Grams's world—into a time and place where I hadn't been present, or even born. It was like peeking behind a closed door.

After dinner, I realized I was beat. By that time, Von, Kells, and James were on the doorstep, ready for another night. I thanked them for coming and, as they headed out to patrol the grounds, I kissed Grams and curled up in my bed with the cats to watch a movie and fall asleep early.