JONAH
One word, that’s all it is, but it is everything. Her yes means that she trusts in me and believes, at least for the moment, that whatever we have is meant to be.
Painfully hard, I want more pleasure for her before I sink into her sweetness. I take one perfect nipple in my mouth and suck.
Her back arches off the ground. “Oh, that’s…so…good…”
I run my tongue around the center, then bite just hard enough to heighten her pleasure.
Screaming my name, she grips my hair with both fists, pulling me closer.
Giving the same attention to the other breast wins me more of her arousing cries and moans. If a man might die of desire, I’m close to my end.
She strains her hips up, but my weight prevents her from the friction she needs.
I kiss a trail down her ribs, to her navel, and dip inside.
Gasping, she releases my hair and clutches at her dress lying beneath us in the grass.
Continuing lower, I lick and kiss her abdomen and inner thigh, wet with her juices. The honeyed taste of her is all I’ll ever want, and I’ll never have enough.
I blow across her sex.
“Jonah?” She lifts her hips.
I lightly trace along her crease. “You’re so wet and sweet. I could lose myself in you.”
“That feels so good.” She gasps.
Lying flat, I press my shoulders under her thighs, which spreads her wider. I lap up her juices and circle the pearl at the top.
Hips bouncing, crying my name, she clutches my hair, pushing me closer.
I’ll never deny her anything, so I devour her warm, wet, core. With my arms wrapped around her thighs, I spread her lips and slide my tongue in and out before sucking hard on her and repeating until she’s writhing beneath me, and her mind is a jumble of sensation where no words get out, only pleasure.
Easing back, I unwrap one arm, reach under and slip my finger inside her.
She presses hard against the invading digit then sets a pace for her pleasure.
I lick and suck, my own arousal growing more urgent the closer she comes to rapture.
Screaming my name, she quickens her pace. Her channel tightens and pulses around my finger, and her juices flow. I lick up ever drop. Sliding my finger free, I lick it clean as well. “You are the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen. Nothing will ever be more beautiful than your pleasure, sweet Mina.”
Glassy eyed and panting, she lifts her arms toward me. “I need more of you, Jonah. I need all of you, and I don’t need anyone.”
“I would be satisfied with your pleasure today, if it pleased you.” It’s not the full truth, but close enough. I want her to be certain.
Minerva rises to her elbows. “Kiss me?”
Crawling forward but keeping my weight off her, I claim her lips.
She moans as she tastes herself on me.
With that erotic thought, my cock jerks.
Her soft hands caress along my ribs and over my stomach. She takes my shaft in both hands and caresses from base to tip.
“Mina.” It’s more groan than her name, but it’s the best I can do with her soft delicate hands on me.
Pressing her to the ground, I deepen the kiss. Our tongues slide together and apart as our lips caress each other’s. It’s as much war as dance. I’m completely spellbound by this woman.
My weight forces her to release my shaft in favor of caressing my back.
Perched at the apex of her center, I pull back and meet her gaze. “I love you, Mina. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
Joy tugs at her lips and gleams in blue eyes made darker with passion. “Tell me again later.” She lifts her hips to bring the tip of me inside her.
In one slow grind, I press inside her. The pleasure of it ripples through my body.
She moans the most alluring sound.
Trying to hold still, I want to give her time to adjust to my size. It’s torture to not move.
Minerva digs her nails into my back and lifts her hips for more.
I pull back and dive in again. “Goddess you’re perfect.”
She wraps her legs around my hips, meeting my every thrust. The most spectacular noises fall from her lips, and she clutches my back.
The bit of pain from her nails urges me forward faster and harder. I capture her lips for more of those kisses that drive me wild with want.
“Jonah, oh, Jonah. I’m nearly there. I can’t hold back.” She grips my neck with both arms.
“Never hold back, my love.” I pound harder as my own pleasure is near erupting.
Her sheath tightens and pulses around me. She cries out with pleasure. If there are words, I don’t understand them.
I jerk to pull out before spilling my seed, but Minerva clutches me tight with both legs, holding me in place as I topple over the mountainside of rapture and spill deep inside her.
Still on my elbows so as not to crush her, I press my forehead to hers. “I would have spilled between us and not been harsh about it.” I kiss her nose.
“I know. I heard your good sense taking over.” She is panting, and each inhale moves her body around my shaft.
Goddess, I cannot want her again so soon, but I do. Knowing she’ll be sore, I pull out and sigh a lament.
Wide-eyed, she studies me. “So soon?”
“You are the object of my desire beyond any other in this world.” My breath and voice are ragged as I sit up. “I will always want more of you.”
“Then you should have stayed where you were.” She sits, but instead of pulling on her clothes, she tugs at her boots and rolls down her stockings.
“I think you must be tender and need a break from my advances.” I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her into my lap, then kiss her exposed neck behind her ear.
“I am a bit, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like more of the pleasure we make together.” She makes the most adorable little gasps as I bite her tender earlobe.
I cup her full breast and pinch her nipple between my fingers. “You are so beautiful and precious. I’ll never risk harming you.”
“That is very kind, but I would risk a little more soreness to have such pleasure again. And I could heal any discomfort.” She wiggles her bottom in my lap.
My cock is already on full alert. “How about a swim in the sacred waters of this pond?”
She turns and straddles me, which brings my shaft head to the entrance of her dripping core. She settles down an inch. “A swim would be soothing.” She rises and falls again.
Unable to resist the delight of her, I relax my crossed legs, bringing myself deeper.
Head back, and mouth open, she cries out. Knees on the ground and her forearms on my shoulders, she rides me into oblivion. Every time she rises and lowers, her nipples rub against my chest.
I run my hand along her spine and down to her ass. My fingers skim between those perfectly round cheeks.
She gasps and presses back for more, then forward to bring me deeper. “Jonah!”
Inside, I feel her body closing in on another orgasm as her pace grows erratic.
Gripping her hips, I steady the pace while my legs tingle with my own pleasure drawing near. Unable to slow the rush of the little death, I press my hand between us, find her pearl, and rub the slick bud until I feel her clench around me. Grunting through my own rapture, I hold her tight and fill her.
It’s a struggle to catch my breath, especially with our bodies still connected. “You are everything.”
She hugs me, running her fingers through my hair. “I would have that swim now, if you like.” She looks up at the sky. “I need to be back by noon to attempt calling through the fire to Sara Beth.”
We have about an hour. “A swim, and then we’ll dress and head back.”
Standing, she groans as we separate. She offers her hand.
I take it, and we walk to the rocks with a break where we can access the pond. I steady her while she steps in, and she lets go and dives under the water.
She surfaces a few feet away and looks back at me. “This is lovely and cool.”
I wade in until I’m in front of her. My feet still touch the ground, so I spare her paddling and pull her against me. “You were right, of course. A man should never declare his love during the act of making love. However, I’ll not regret it. I do love you, Mina. I will love you all the days of my life, and I suspect I have loved you in many lives past.” My heart pounds with nerves, but I hold her stare.
Pleasure flickers across her face, and she tucks my hair behind my ear. “I didn’t set you on fire. That seems like a mark in your favor.”
“I’m grateful to Goddess that my most erotic moment was not also the moment I was burned to ash.” I look over her shoulder then back as I gather my courage. “I still would have risked it.”
She kisses me slow, drawing in my top lip and then the bottom, again and again, our tongues only touching then retreating. “I know you would have. I also believe we are meant to be together in this place and in this time.”
“Just now?” The first cracks in my heart shoot pain through me.
She shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“Then there’s hope.” Slightly wounded, I begin to mend.
Minerva releases me and floats on her back away from me. Her breasts high above the water and just the hint of her womanhood visible beneath the surface, she’s more stunning than the sun. She smiles back at me. “There’s always hope, Jonah.”
I swim after her, turn, and float beside her. Our fingers entwined. “I’m not going to stop pursuing you.”
“I don’t recall asking you to stop.”
“No. You didn’t ask.” She also didn’t tell me she returns my love. She didn’t say it, but I feel her affection for me. I feel it as clearly as mine for her. “You know you can’t hide anything between us.”
She sighs. “Jonah, you have done and shown more than enough to gain my favor, not only with what we’ve shared here, but you will have my endorsement with the Windsor coven.”
My temper flares. Is that what she thinks this was about? There is nowhere in the pool where I can’t stand, so I do.
When she sputters to an upright position, she paddles.
“I am in love with you, and that has nothing to do with wishing to be accepted by a coven.” I’m so angry, my heart races as I walk out of the water and back to find our clothes.
Despite hearing her mind reaching for the right words, I choose to ignore her thoughts.
She follows me to the altar area and pulls on her shift. “I never said that was your motive. Why have you closed your mind to me?”
Once my breeches are up and the fall buttoned, I face her. “Do you love me, Mina?”
As she grabs her dress, her cheeks color. She pulls the blue fabric over her head and sits. “I have no reference for such a feeling. I want you, is that not enough?”
Boots on, I drop to my knees in front of her. “No. Not nearly.” Grabbing her hips, I pull her against me and press my hand to her chest.
She heaves heavy breaths and watches me.
“When I look at you, nothing else matters. When I’m near you, I’m filled with joy. When I think you’re in danger, I want to toss myself into the fires of hell to save you. When I think of a life without you, my soul empties of all happiness.” I stand.
Mouth open and expression full of surprise, she fails to give a response that would bring me happiness.
“When you feel some portion of that, you’ll know if you love me, sweet Mina.” I pull on my shirt and catch my breath. “I’ll wait by the tree.”
Her voice is small, and I hate that I’ve caused that. She grabs her stocking. “I can make my own way back.”
On the roots of the great oak, I pray to Goddess for strength. I know I’ve had my doubts, but I don’t doubt that Minerva and I have a purpose together. She only sees that purpose for the present trouble. Perhaps she’s right, but I don’t think so.
When this business with the Kent coven is over, will she see the truth? If not, she will leave me a broken man. Too late to go back. I have to have faith.
Minerva is twisting her hair up into a wet knot when she rounds the pond. “You didn’t have to wait.”
Stepping down the craggy roots of the tree to flat ground, I steady my breath. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper. You cannot change what you feel or don’t feel. I will help you in any way I can to bring Maidstone back into the light if that is possible. For that purpose, we were brought together.”
“Yes.” She’s searching for more to say in the trees and ground.
I save her the trouble and take her hand. “You and I are friends. If it is meant to be more, it will be. Forgive me?”
She hugs me around the neck. “Please don’t apologize for loving me.”
I wrap my arms around her. “No. Never for that, Mina. I’m only sorry that such a beautiful morning was marred by my temper. I was hurt, and I lashed out when there was no cause. As you said, there’s always hope.”
“Then we are still friends,” she mumbles against my neck.
“Always.” I let her go, though it’s not easy, and take her hand.
“Before we leave this place, I wish to tell you what I saw in your magic.”
My heart races with the events and the heartache, and now whatever she’s about to disclose. “What did you see?”
“Strength, Jonah. Not the kind that makes the earth shake, but the kind that heals her back to fullness. I believe this magic has always lived inside you, and because you never abandoned it, it will continue to serve you and those you share it with.” She smiles.
I know she thinks this should make me happy, but it seems a cruel gift. “The magician that wasn’t. That is what I am to be. A witch in reality but not in practicality. I can’t make the earth rumble, though I am an earth witch. Imagine if you couldn’t command fire.”
She grabs both my hands in hers. “I know it doesn’t seem fair, but if Goddess made you this way, there is a purpose. Magic doesn’t make mistakes.”
The fact that she’s right doesn’t make me happier, but it does make her news easier to take. “I suppose if I were a normal witch, I might have been turned to dark with the others in Maidstone.” A shiver runs up my spine.
“I need to contact Windsor. We should get back.” Hand in hand, we walk back toward the house.
“Will you regret a child if that should come of today’s lovemaking?” I should have kept my peace, but it burns in me to know.
“It would be thrilled to carry and give birth to our child.”
I relax and enjoy the vision of our child growing inside my Mina.
She smiles, as my guard was down, and she likely saw what I was thinking. “I should warn you not to get too excited. I only managed to carry a child the one time and he perished. I fear I’m not very fertile, even for a witch.”
Her sorrow bleeds through any disappointment I might face. I give her a nudge and grin. “We can always keep trying.”
The girlish giggle is out of character, but I love the sound more than I can ever say.
The sun is high when we reach the back door of my house.
Bellamy is waiting in the sitting room. “I had Trent build a fire and sent him and Phillip to the barn for a while.”
I drop her hand. “Should I join them?”
“No. Stay. You may have something to add.” Minerva kneels in front of the hearth.
I sit behind her on the sofa, and Bellamy sits beside me.
“Been for a swim?” Bellamy asks with a wicked grin.
I chuckle. “Indeed.”
Minerva whispers to the fire in words I didn’t study enough Latin to fully understand.
The flames part, and a cool breeze washes through the room.
“Sara Beth?” Minerva says, and her voice echoes.
Like any fire, the flames flicker and spit. The dark parting at the center is the only element that makes this fire different. I heard of this type of communication but never saw it. Usually, only fire witches and coven leaders can create this kind of connection. Mother never showed me anything of higher magic, and fire witches are rare from the time when men hunted our kind.
The darkest part of the fire distorts. A dark-haired woman with big eyes and fair skin appears within. “Minerva, I am here.”