Binding Magic (An Obscure Magic Book 7) (8 page)

He snagged a cookie on his way past the tray and closed the doors to the library behind him.

Emile and Lenora came close, and Minerva explained the goddesses and the incarnations they appeared in.

“Well, the titan portion explains your height.”

Minerva chuckled at the observation. Apparently, she hadn’t changed in her master’s eyes. “I suppose so. Rhea took great pleasure in my physical appearance.”

Emile nodded. “You are an impressively built woman. If I didn’t have Lenora, I might have tried my luck.”

“And I would have blasted you back to the demon zone, but it is a good thing that I think of you as aunt and uncle.” She winked.

Lenora gave Emile a sharp elbow. “Yes, good thing.”

Minerva laughed and she sighed. “I don’t feel like anything else. I mean, I still feel like me.”

Lenora stroked her cheek. “I am guessing that you have been a goddess all along.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“You are welcome, Master.” Lenora chuckled. “Now, go and put the dragon out of his misery. Stealing time from him was not well done of you.”

“You recognized it?”

“I know the symptoms. Shoo.”

She got up and set her cup back on the tray. As she straightened her shoulders and opened the door, she heard Lenora murmur, “Do you remember when I did that to you?”

Emile chuckled. “Not until your master made you reverse the spell.”

Her tutors laughed together at close proximity. Minerva knew that sound. She was going to have to leave the house anyway. Things were about to get loud.

Zemuel was standing still in the hall with his eyes closed. As she stepped toward him, his eyes snapped open and she closed the library doors behind her as laughter and murmurs increased in volume.

“Come with me, Lord Zemuel.”

“I will follow you, Mage.” His lips quirked in amusement at the formality.

She turned and headed out the back door, across the deck and down the path. She didn’t say a word until they were in the new guesthouse.

She waited until he was inside and she had closed the door, shoving the coffee table out of the centre of the room.

“Kneel here.” She tossed a cushion down for him, and he looked at it in amusement.

Minerva put her own cushion down and knelt.

He ignored the cushion and knelt in front of her.

She sighed. “Probably better this way. Are you comfortable?”

He shrugged. “I am used to hard surfaces.”

“Right, well, do you want the spell removed slowly or quickly?”

“What is the difference? Pardon, but I am not often bespelled.”

She blushed. “Right. Um... slow will be an easing of the memories back into your mind. Fast will dump the entire night into your thoughts in one burst.”

“Slow then. I want to enjoy each memory as it surfaces.”

She blushed and closed her eyes, muttering the spell swiftly. When she finished, she opened one eye and he was looking at her expectantly.

“Damn. I must be missing something. Just a moment.”

She closed her eyes again and ran over the circumstances of the first spell. “Oh, damn.”

“Is there a problem?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I cast the spell while we... while you... damn.”

“What is the issue?”

“You were inside me while I cast the spell. That is the missing component. The physical connection.”

He grinned. “I believe that we could re-enact that.”

She thought about it for a few seconds, and then, she stood. He watched in surprise as she stripped to the skin.

Before she could lose her nerve, she knelt on the cushion again, and she said, “If you would slide a finger into me, that should be enough for the spell. I would have taken one into my mouth, but I need to be able to speak.”

His wings lifted slightly, and he leaned forward, running his fingers across her breasts and down her belly. He drew designs on her skin as his digits got closer to her sex, and when he parted her lower lips, she gasped.

He thrust his finger into her, and they groaned in unison.

She clutched at his arm and started muttering the spell again. This time, his eyes widened and she could feel the block peeling away.

She whispered the chant to keep it echoing and moving through his mind, but it was difficult as his finger was also moving inside her.

His gaze was distant as he relived their verbal foreplay. She knew when he got to the kiss, because his lips caressed hers. The spell had enough momentum now; it was cascading through on its own.

Stroking his tongue with hers seemed natural considering the occupation of his hand. She sighed against his lips as he stroked her clit with his thumb, and she dug her nails into her palms. She tracked his memories, and when he reached the moment when he slid into her, Zemuel backed up.

He pulled his finger from her and stood up.

Aching and frustrated, she watched as he stepped away from her. To her surprise, he wasn’t taking his memories and leaving. He was stripping.

The form he was wearing was his most human. At six foot six, it was as close to human as he could get, but his wings were still manifest. Those who didn’t know what they were looking at might have mistaken him for a gargoyle, but the silver of his skin didn’t look like anything other than metal.

The feel of him wasn’t that of icy metal; there was nothing but heat when he touched her.

He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from her kneeling position. “I told you that something had begun that would not be undone.”

Her face was nearly touching his. “Careful. That is when I zapped you.”

He grinned and walked toward the bedroom. “I will risk it.”

Her feet dangled off the ground, and his erection was pinned between them. She didn’t ask how he knew where the bedroom was. He could probably smell it.

Dragons were an exercise in the senses. Smell, hearing, touch, taste, each sense helped them keep their hoard safe. Sight was nice, but the others warned of danger long before it came into view.

He settled her on the bed and smiled. “This is familiar.”

She leaned up on her elbows and cocked her head. “Is it? I don’t remember you being this chatty.”

He let out a chuffing sound, deep in his chest, before he parted her legs and pulled her knees up, widening and opening her in one move.

His wings extended, blocking out the light from the windows. All she could see was Zemuel, and he nudged her folds with the head of his cock before sliding inside.

She arched her back and groaned as he moved into her in increments. He was nearly inside when she bucked and let out a coughing moan.

“It would sound so much better in my bed, but I will take it.” He leaned down and nuzzled her cheek.

She turned her head and kissed him. He delved into her mouth as he thrust completely inside her.

The slow rock of his hips against her was a beat she wanted to remember.

Sweat gleamed on her skin, and she raised her hips to meet his. He braced himself on his arms and continued to kiss her slowly as they mated.

Minerva ran her hands over his arms, shoulders and back. She stroked the hidden edge of his wings, and he thrust deep.

She lifted her legs and locked them at the base of his spine, pulling herself onto him as he slid into her.

He groaned into her mouth and pulled her hands away from his back, pinning them above her head as he thrust hard and fast.

Her peak rushed up and swamped her. She shrieked against his lips, and he shuddered against her, jerking his hips in short pulses.

He slowly lifted his head, licking at her lips, kissing her cheeks and brow.

“That, I want to remember.” He smiled and met her gaze.

His expression was nine shades of satisfied, and his eyes were gleaming.

She twisted her wrists in his grip. He let her go.

Minerva stroked his cheek. “I don’t know how this can work.”

“I believe we just proved that it can.”

She threaded her fingers into his hair. It felt like feathery down.

“That wasn’t what I meant. My friends, my family, my contacts are all here.”

He nuzzled her cheek. “I can have a fixed portal set, or we can move to my place in Corudet City. I should probably spend more time there, but there has never been a reason to settle in.”

She blinked. “You actually have a place in the city?”

“Several. I am the mayor or king or something. One forgets after time.”

Minerva stared at him. “This is going to require some logistics. I don’t know how it will work.”

“Do not worry. We have time. The child will not arrive for another eleven months.”

Minerva stiffened under him. “What child?”

“You are pregnant. I knew it the moment I saw you here. You quickened at our first meeting.”

She squirmed and bucked under him, but he seemed to have tripled in mass. He just waited until she got tired.

He was amused. “Now, now. That isn’t good for the baby.”

Minerva frowned and slumped back. “How can you be sure?”

“Well, your scent has changed, and a small marking has begun just above your pubic bone and is spreading upward. When it completely covers your belly, it is ready to come out.”

She tried to look down, but his belly was pressed to hers. “That is bizarre.”

“The wave changed me as it killed many in my village. I spent my first few years flying and seeking out others of my new kind. Two had mates, and this was their indicator.”

Minerva blinked at the conversation she was having with him still inside her. “You were near a wave point?”

“My village was split in two, and the survivors were all changed. Now, you would state it as ground zero. We absorbed magic that would not be seen again for centuries.”

“Where did you meet the gods?”

“When they were ready to leave their community and hide in the human world. Several chose death, but others scattered.”

“I have been warned against the surviving gods.”

Zemuel scowled. “Why?”

“They want to make another pantheon, and they need a new goddess to do it.”

He smiled slowly. “They can’t have you. You are mine.”

“I am my own.” She narrowed her eyes.

Zemuel started rocking against her, slowly delving deep with every inward thrust.

“I will agree that you are your own, but I am claiming the right to defend you and be your only lover from this point onward.”

She gasped, and he threaded his fingers with hers, kissing her softly as he moved inside her.

No words of denial worked their way through her lips, only small sounds of enjoyment managed to escape. When the fire growing inside shattered into waves of pleasure, she sighed and flexed her fingers against his. His groan was soft, and he moved his lips from hers and pressed them to her shoulder. His bite was soft, but she felt the sharp teeth pierce the skin.

She held perfectly still as the teeth went deeper and deeper, but he released her a moment later as he scraped his tongue over the wounds. She could feel the magic in his slow, wet strokes. Power was working into her skin.

It took her a few tries, but she managed, “So, were you planning on getting off me any time soon?”

“No. I plan to stay here forever.”

She sighed and wiggled her hands free. She put her palms on the balls of his shoulders. “That isn’t going to work for me.”

He wrinkled his nose. “You still think like a human.”

“I was raised human... mostly. I have a human mother, humanish friends. Time is still a concern, because they are in my life, and time is a major factor in the human world.”

Zemuel sighed and slowly lowered his head to her neck, licking and kissing his way down as he retreated down her body and withdrew from her sex with a wet sucking sound.

To say she was appalled when he pressed his lips to her bruised sex was an understatement. He slid his tongue into her, and once again, she felt waves of healing magic emerging from his appendage and working into her abraded tissues.

She shook and held onto the sheets as fire skimmed along her nerves, but before she could go over, he pulled back and licked his lips. His smile indicated that he knew what he had just done.

She sighed and slowly sat up. He helped her and held her against him, rubbing his hand up and down her back.

“You have enthralled Norman, by the way. In his eyes, you have always been a goddess and you should dress accordingly.”

Minerva leaned against him. “I know. He sent me a gown, but I have no idea where to wear it.”

“We will have to find an occasion. There are a few invitations that Matthias had for me when I arrived. Folk that wish to see me and a display of magical artifacts that he loaned to the museum. It is a good place for a date, I think.” He smiled.

“You... we... a date?”

He chuckled. “The courtship involves me winning your favour each and every day we are together. I do not want a running mate.”

She raised a shaking hand to her hair. “I don’t think I could walk right now, let alone run.”

He smoothed his hand over her back. “I should not be smug now, should I?”

She elbowed him, and he flexed his wing around her, supporting her like an upright hammock with the texture of chamois leather.

She wiggled her toes and waited for her limbs to come back under her control. “I don’t know what to do with you.”

He chuckled. “I can suggest a few things.”

She stroked a hand on his thigh. “I bet you could.”

He shivered slightly. “Never mind. I am pretty sure that it is something we will grow into over time. Just know that I will come when you call.”

She stretched and groaned at the double entendre. “Speaking of calling. I need to call my mother. If I don’t introduce you right away, I am going to hear about it.”

He perked up. “Would you like her to live near us?”

“Well, yes, but I don’t want her to move if she doesn’t want to. She enjoys gardening and meeting with garden clubs, but I have no idea what your city can offer in that regard. You should ask her about it.”

“Will I meet her soon?”

“As soon as I can get cleaned up, we will head over there. She will want to know what has happened and that I don’t have to dodge you anymore.”