From Jennifer Ashley, With Love

  “Well,” Sabina said. “If the Calling summons the Immortals, maybe it will Call Adrian too.”

  “I guess we’ll find out. Valerian—want to stand in for High Priest?”

  The tall man eyed her in trepidation. “What do I have to do?”

  “Stand by the altar and read a chant. It’s written down—then present me with a sword and give me the garland. That’s it.”

  “I thought Beltane witchy stuff was all about sex,” he asked, suddenly wary.

  “It doesn’t have to be,” Amber said. “You’re a powerful life-magic being—your magic will help infuse the circle with power. There’s no better candidate.”

  Valerian shrugged. “What the hell? As long as I don’t become a sex object.”

  “Don’t sound so disappointed,” Sabina said.

  He grinned. “Of course, I could be one later.”

  Amber hurried back to the circle, too agitated to be amused at her friends’ banter.

  The last thing Amber did before closing the circle was to place the crystals that would bring the Coven of Light inside on the ground near the four quarters. Valerian approached, looking out of place and uncomfortable. Magic was already rising in the circle, and Amber sensed Valerian’s dragon life-force, a strongly contained essence that wrapped him like white-hot fibers.

  Amber positioned Valerian near the altar and thrust a piece of paper into his hands, which he studied, frowning. “I’m not good at reading out loud.”

  “Just do your best,” Amber said, turning away.

  The other witches were in place, hands folded, falling to silence, waiting for Amber to start the circle. The outsiders quieted to watch, and Sabina sat down cross-legged in the grass, grinning at Valerian. Kelly had returned to Seattle that day in order to see the Calling ritual—”Honey, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. My director can lump it”—and now sat demurely in a lawn chair near Sabina.

  Septimus, as promised, was nowhere in sight. Beltane was a celebration of life, a reinforcement of life magic to last another year. A death-magic being like a vampire wouldn’t be welcome even if he could draw near.

  In the sudden hush, Amber took up her wand and walked the circle, this time infusing power from it down to the ground. A blue nimbus flowed from her finger and glowed around the circle, rising above her in a dome, closing the circle. The non-magical outside the circle wouldn’t see the bright hue of the magic, but the witches, Sabina, Valerian, and members of Sabina’s pack would.

  Amber started her walk on the north side, behind the altar. She ended the large circle at the point she’d begun, and looked up to see Adrian standing calmly in Valerian’s place.

  Amber jumped. Valerian now sat next to Sabina, looking smug, his arm around Sabina’s waist.

  Adrian regarded her calmly, as though he hadn’t rushed in at the last minute. He was dressed in medieval garb, with surcoat and boots, a dark cloak fastened at his shoulder with a gold clasp in the form of a Celtic harp. Not to leave out his Egyptian heritage, his forearms were adorned with gold bands in the form of serpents. Ferrin, now a sword, rested between his hands, the sword’s point touching the earth between Adrian’s feet. Adrian’s black hair was bound at the base of his neck, his dark eyes as enigmatic as ever.

  There was no time for Amber to demand to know where he’d been. She let out a breath of relief and took her place beside him.

  A hush fell over the circle, over which Amber distinctly heard the hum of magic, and then Adrian began his chant in a loud, clear voice. He didn’t have the paper Amber had given Valerian. The words he spoke were similar to the ones she’d written, but not quite, as though he’d done this ritual before but in a different time and place.

  “We hail the Goddess and welcome her return to earth.” His deep voice rumbled through the circle. “With her comes life, new hope, love, prosperity. Hail to the Goddess, the bringer of life.”

  The others in the circle touched their hearts and kissed fingers to Amber, now the representation of the Goddess on earth. Amber felt a shadowy presence behind her, similar to the presence she’d felt under the ice cave before Isis had appeared. She couldn’t turn to look, but when Adrian left his place at the altar to face Amber, he made a faint acknowledging nod to someone over her shoulder.

  Adrian went down on one knee, lifting his sword by the hilt. “My pledge and power are yours, Lady, as well as my love, to you, the bringer of life.”

  He laid the sword at Amber’s feet then gently placed his palm on her abdomen and leaned to press a kiss there. His lips burned through the silk of her robes, and Amber felt an ancient and powerful magic in Adrian’s touch.

  Adrian moved his hands to her hips and gazed up at her, eyes filled with strange power. Amber looked down at him, caught in his eyes, her fingers curling at her sides. Somehow she knew Adrian was merging with something even more ancient than he was—the prehistoric god who’d evolved into a deity for primitive farmers, the Father God who loved and revered his wife, the Goddess of the Earth.

  Amber had never felt the manifestation of the deities so strongly in a ritual as she did now. Adrian gazed at her with the God’s eyes, while Isis touched Amber’s shoulder with transparent fingers, her magic flowing into her. “Love my son,” Isis whispered.

  Amber’s love for Adrian filled her as much as did grief for Susan, and she sensed Isis grieving with her.

  She was a good woman, Isis told her. She was true to you and loved you from her heart.

  Tears filled Amber’s eyes, and she saw the same tears in Adrian’s. Amber leaned down and kissed his forehead.

  Adrian climbed to his feet and rested his hands on the curve of her waist. In a voice that rang with the power of the God through the centuries he said, “Goddess, thou art mine.” Then he crushed Amber in his arms and kissed her hard on the lips.

  An energetic madness filled Amber through their joined mouths. As she clung to Adrian, returning the kiss, the circle, the soft night and its fires, the bright paper lanterns, Valerian and Sabina, the interested neighbors and children playing in the dark—all vanished.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Amber found herself on her back next to Adrian, lying in a green field with trees swaying above her. The trees looked the same, decorated with the streamers she’d helped to hang a few hours ago, but the houses and the people had gone. In their place, woods and green grass surrounded her, sharp moonlight glittering through the branches. Ferrin, as a sword, lay in the grass between her and Adrian like a sentinel.

  Before Amber could ask where they were, Adrian’s mouth was on hers, his body pinning her to the grass while he pushed aside her robes. A fierce longing rocked her, and Amber found herself tearing at his clothes as much as he tore at hers.

  He pushed her robes off and had her underwear down and crumpled in the grass before she could do more than fumble with the old-fashioned laces that kept his leggings closed. Amber ripped the laces of his linen shirt in her haste to untie them, pulling up the shirt to bare his scarred torso.

  She skimmed her hands over his flesh, fingers splaying on his chest and curls of black hair there. She touched his ridged abdomen, feeling every rock-solid muscle, and slid her hand to the erection that reached for her.

  As she explored his cock, Adrian lay back, naked now, on one elbow, his eyes dark with desire. Wiry black curls twisted against his inner thighs, dark against his skin.

  “My sweet Lady,” he whispered.

  Someone else spoke along with Adrian in a deep masculine voice that held almost, but not quite, the same timbre as his.

  “It has been so long, my Lord,” Amber answered. Another woman spoke with her, the Goddess, Amber thought in wonder as she watched her God with hungry eyes.

  “Drink me,” Adrian said, reaching for her.

  Amber lay down beside him, pillowing her head on his welcoming thigh, and took his cock in her mouth. He laced his hand through her hair, pushing himself into her mouth, his breath coming faster.

  “I lov
e you,” he said, the two male voices overlaid.

  “I love you, my Lord,” the Goddess responded.

  Amber licked and explored, tasting her way along Adrian’s cock to its base. The coarse hair there tickled her tongue.

  Adrian groaned as she licked him, raising himself on his knee so she could better reach him. Amber loved this man, every inch of him, loved his firm skin and the hard muscles beneath it. She loved the masculine scent of him, the taste of him in her mouth, the feel of him under her fingers.

  She moved back to nibble his tip, then she closed her mouth all the way around him. She felt the frenzy of the Goddess build up inside her, her need for her God.

  Adrian twisted his hand through her hair but Amber felt no pain. His own frenzy excited her as did the sound of his breathing and broken voice. “Amber. Love.”

  He moaned suddenly and came hard into her mouth. He tasted of salt, and of honey and mead, the good things of the earth. Amber drank him while the Goddess laughed in glee, enjoying, through her, the God.

  Amber fell back onto the grass, smiling, landing on Adrian’s cloak. Adrian rolled onto her, pinning her wrists with strong hands, and kissed her lips, face, and throat. The Goddess within her lay back in rapture, spreading herself before her God.

  Adrian cupped Amber’s breast while he suckled her, his lashes black against his cheekbone. He licked the crease between her breasts, then slid his tongue to her navel, poking into it to tickle her. Amber laughed for the joy of it.

  Adrian nipped the skin beneath her navel, his hot breath stirring excitement, then his tongue swirled in patterns across her abdomen and down to her opening. He knelt back, hands on her thighs, and dipped his mouth to her.

  Adrian had pleasured her like this before, but tonight the God within him went wild. His tongue worked magic, making her writhe, cascading heat through her body. Amber threaded her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer.

  “Adrian.” She laughed out loud, and the Goddess chimed in. “My Lord, you please me wondrous well.”

  Amber laughed harder. She’d never used the word wondrous in her life.

  Adrian raised his head. “Think it’s funny, do you?” The fire in his eyes and the dark-as-sin way he looked at her wiped the smile from her face.

  Adrian’s fingers on her thighs were bands of fire, pushing her open and drawing him up to her. He licked and suckled, then delved his tongue into her until she was gasping and groaning. A wave of tingling darkness rolled over and over, and she screamed.

  Adrian went on and on, pleasuring her through her orgasm, and not stopping. Amber’s cries echoed up through the trees and the colorful streamers floating on the wind.

  At last Adrian lifted his wonderful mouth away and sat back on his heels, a satisfied smile on his face.

  The breeze cooled Amber, but not by much. “Please,” she said.

  Adrian’s eyes swam with sparks, the power in him building with his excitement. “Turn over,” he commanded.

  Amber rolled onto her front, wriggling all the way onto his cloak. He covered her body with his, his warm chest pressing against her back. “I love you so much,” he whispered in that strange, double voice.

  Before Amber could respond, he grasped her hips in firm hands, pulled her back to him, and filled her.

  Amber’s voice rang out, already broken with screaming. Adrian drove into her in wild, mindless sex, no gentle lovemaking this time. The Goddess inside her laughed, and the God growled in response.

  Adrian loved her for a long time, his sweat dripping to mingle with hers, their bodies locked together. Amber came long before he did, and then twice more, her body squeezing to a single point of pleasure that was abruptly set free. Adrian pumped into her even as she wound down, then he threw his head back and shouted to the watching sky as his seed burst into her.

  They fell together to the ground, out of breath and sweating, too exhausted to say a word. Adrian touched Amber’s flushed body with gentle fingers and kissed her swollen lips.

  After a long time, the Goddess that filled Amber spoke. “My Lord, I missed you.”

  “And I you, my Lady.”

  “You are as virile as I remember.”

  He smiled. “And you as ripe and sweet as a peach in summer. We chose well, my Lady. Their love is strong.”

  “As strong as ours?”

  “Maybe,” he said. “Kiss me again.”

  Amber lifted her head and met Adrian’s mouth in a long, warm, after-lovemaking kiss. Their intimacy was complete, any hesitance gone, the only thing left pure enjoyment of body to body.

  Amber felt the Goddess and God fade away, and then Adrian alone kissed her. They lay on his cloak in the deserted clearing, and Amber tasted him and only him.

  Adrian touched her lips. “Did I hurt you, love?”

  “No. But that was . . . powerful.”

  “One word for it.”

  Adrian smiled and kissed her again, a touch of lips, dark eyes languid. Then laid his head on her breasts, making no move to leave.

  “Where are we, do you think?” Amber asked.

  His voice rumbled pleasantly against her. “The same place we were when we left. The God and Goddess brought us to the heart of the place, that which is truly here, if that makes sense.”

  Amber looked around in sudden trepidation. “No one can see us, can they?”

  “I don’t think so. They must have made it so we are obscured, or no one notices we’ve gone.”

  “You don’t think so?”

  Adrian dropped a kiss to her breast. “Don’t worry. The God and Goddess know what they’re doing.”

  Amber glanced around nervously, expecting to be propelled back to the circle naked and in Adrian’s arms at any moment. How embarrassing.

  To distract herself, she asked, “What happened to you today? Did you find out something important?”

  “Today?” He sounded surprised. “No.”

  “So why were you late? I was worried about you.”

  Adrian raised his head, eyes warm. “You don’t know how much I love it that you worry for me.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? There’s a demon targeting you, not to mention your insane brother, plus power-hungry vampires and other nasties.”

  Adrian smiled slowly, as though she’d complimented him. He kissed her with the heat of their lovemaking still on his lips.

  “I wasn’t fighting vampires,” he said. “It took me all day to find a Renaissance clothing maker with a surcoat my size.”

  Amber stared. “You’re joking.”

  “I am.” Adrian laughed at her outrage, then sobered. “A demon horde moved into one of the residential neighborhoods and started a reign of terror. I met with some of Septimus’s people and Detective Simon’s team, and we took them out.” Adrian caressed her as though reassuring her. “Then I really did have to pick up my cloak and surcoat. The artist I’d commissioned for my costume wasn’t finished, and I had to wait.” He regarded Amber quietly a moment. “I’m not used to having someone worry about me.”

  Amber pressed a kiss to his forehead, afraid to say the wrong thing.

  “We’ll have to go back soon,” Adrian said, resigned. “And start the Calling spell.”

  “I know.”

  Amber knew she might be lying alone with him for the last time. If the spell worked, and Adrian’s brothers arrived, they’d go after Tain. Once they found Tain and killed the demon, Adrian’s quest would be over. He would return with his brothers to the place called Ravenscroft, finished. Amber ran her hand over his sleek hair, swallowing a lump in her throat.

  Adrian rolled onto her, covering her body with his. “I want to make love to you again. Just you and me this time. No God and Goddess listening in.”

  Amber smiled and nodded. He kissed her, Adrian’s kiss, which combined loving with fierce possession. He entered her again, not with the frantic frenzy of a God who’d not coupled in half a year, but with the loving thoroughness of Adrian the Immortal who wanted to pleasure Amber,
his love.

  * * *

  Later, they dressed again, and Adrian drew Amber to the approximation of the north quarter of the circle. As he pulled her into his arms for a kiss, Amber sensed the world shift. The noise of the Beltane revelry came back to her—the people, the laughter, the dogs barking in games with the kids.

  Adrian eased back from her, and Amber opened her eyes. The circle was still glowing magic blue, the witches with garlands in their hair watching them. Valerian and Sabina sat on the grass with Valerian’s arm around Sabina’s shoulders; Kelly was in her lawn chair, delicately sipping a frozen drink through a straw.

  As Adrian ended the kiss, everyone applauded. “All hail the God and Goddess!” Cheering began, followed by a shower of flower petals, thrown by the witches in the circle. Adrian lifted the crown of flowers and streamers from the altar and placed it on Amber’s head.

  As the cheering went on, Amber whispered to Adrian, “Didn’t they notice we’d been gone?”

  Adrian shrugged. “We were the tools of the God and Goddess. They fixed everything the way they wanted it.”

  “It doesn’t bother you?”

  His smile became strained. “I was created to serve the goddesses, to help fight their fights. They make me do what they want.”

  Her fingers tightened on his. She could still feel the warmth of him inside her, and she wondered, when the God and Goddess had exchanged their flurry of fertility, if Adrian and she had done the same. The thought made her heart flutter.

  Amber remembered when they’d first slept together, how Adrian told her he could get her with child or not, as she liked. She assumed he’d held back in their subsequent encounters, but this time they’d been in the hold of deities who did what they wanted for their own purposes. If they thought Amber would be better off bearing Adrian’s child, it would happen.

  Adrian raised their clasped hands and kissed Amber’s fingers. “Ready to try the Calling spell, love?”