Page 21 of Birthright

And then I started moving. His eyes shot open.

The pain disappeared, replaced with the ultimate bliss. With each stroke, my body responded eagerly to the feel of his cock, to the emotions he expressed with his touch. I thrust to meet him each time. I felt our magics start to mingle and the warmth from our joined bodies intensified to a point I hadn’t imagined possible, filling my body, my mind with the surreal feeling of being enveloped in the combined powers, floating in a space not of this world, but one we shared only with each other.

I arched to him, pleading for more, grasping, clutching, loving the feel of his skin against mine and the friction of hot, sloppy sex.

I knew I loved him. And I could feel that he loved me. It was a connection I had never had in my life. I understood more in that moment about myself than I had from all the lessons and studying with Bevin, Doran, or Manus. I felt it. I felt everything.

Tynan continued at his steady, infuriatingly slow pace, making me tremble. “Tynan, please.”

I was desperately clutching his arms as tears flowed. He groaned in my ear and turned us over ’til I was looking down on him through my hair. He tenderly brushed his fingers over the moisture on my face with a knowing grin. He didn’t question the tears. He understood without explanation. We were open to each other, and I could feel the mingled emotions we were sharing. He knew my desires, my fears, my power.

“Take of me what you need.”

I leaned back, pushing my hips forward, grinding him deeper inside me, further into my heart. Looking down on him, I felt as if a part of me had been missing that I’d never realized was gone. His magic, his power poured over me and mingled with my own, giving back to me all I had lost during the battle, leaving me charged—and the sensation was divine. I could have drowned in his powers, that emotion, at that moment and not cared.

I lifted off his cock teasingly slowly for the first few strokes and watched as his face grew strained. His fingers dug into my hips. I could tell he was fighting his release. Leaning forward to brace myself with my hands on his chest, I accelerated. A wildness came over me. I let myself go, opened myself to the power as Bevin had taught me to do. I felt the burn in my stomach rising, and it echoed where we were joined. I was on fire. We were on fire. It was as if we were engulfed in flames yet not being burned, the heat dancing around us.

I cried out as another shattering orgasm shook me. My nails dug into his chest, drawing blood. I felt him swell as he let himself come with me. Tynan sang my name into the night as he held tight to my hips and pulled me hard onto his shaft.

The night exploded into white light and a tremendous thunderclap. I didn’t know if it was in my head or not. At the moment, I didn’t care. I’d lost the strength to hold myself up and fell onto his chest, savoring the feel of his cock still throbbing inside me.

I lay there another moment, amazed, and then opened my eyes. I blinked twice to focus…

The huge plate-glass window next to the bed was smashed into a thousand pieces. I turned to gaze at the other window that looked out over the back garden. That glass was also shattered, pieces of it gleaming in the moonlight on the lawn beyond. “I guess that thunder wasn’t just in my head.” It came out breathy and weak.

Tynan laughed. “No, my love. That thunder was born of your magic. I’m quite sure the entire island experienced that.”

I found the strength to sit up, still straddling Tynan. His eyes widened as he reached toward my belly button. “Keena!” Hurriedly, he wrapped his arms around me, pulled us out of the bed, and carried me to the mirror, setting me down facing away from it. He carefully brushed the tangled mass of hair from my face. He was grinning. I was amazed at the lightness of his eyes. The old vampire looked almost boyish.

“What are you doing?” I reached to kiss him, but he abruptly spun me around to face myself.

The sight caught my breath in my throat.

I tried to talk but could only stare at my reflection. My hair was falling in graceful waves all the way down my back, and around my face, it feathered out like a lion’s mane. The color had changed to a brighter, bolder auburn, the shade of red oak leaves in the fall just before they drop from the tree. Golden streaks cut through it, shimmering so much they looked alive. My skin gleamed as brilliantly as the highlights. My hazel eyes were now a sparkling gold, flecked with black and green. Not a dark yellow but pure, glistening gold, like a piece of a pirate’s treasure.

“The prophecy,” I whispered. I had come into my full powers. I was looking back at the face of the true Witch I had been born to be.

I looked down, and I had to suck in a small gasp. On my stomach, from hip bone to hip bone and arching over my belly button, was a bold tattoo of the sun, seemingly rising from my womb. It was painted the same brilliant colors of fall, like my hair, and accentuated with golden streaks that shimmered in the candlelight. I touched it with the tips of my fingers. It was still warm from the heat of our bodies and magic.

The door flung open, and Manus came barreling in with his sword drawn.

“No need for that.” Tynan turned me to face Manus. I stepped in front of Tynan to block his nakedness, but no one cared about the lack of clothes in this place.

Manus saw the mark and fell to his knees, head bowed. Hogan came scurrying after him, and as soon as he saw the mark, he did the same.

In unison, they looked up at me with identical expressions. Pride. My lady!” Hogan said, still out of breath from running after Manus.

“Stop it. Get up, both of you.” I turned back to look at myself in the mirror. I saw Tynan beside me in the reflection. Just looking at him made me weak in the knees. I let my gaze follow the line of his chest, down to his hips. “Tynan!”

He had a shadow of the tattoo as well. I turned and reached to touch his. It wasn’t as bright or bold as mine, even on his light skin, but it was there. He looked down and saw it. His face filled with an emotion I didn’t recognize as he ran his fingers over the mark.

“You have your full powers now,” Manus proclaimed as he reached for my hand, placing a delicate kiss on my knuckles. When he released me, I placed both my hands on his shoulders to return the kiss⁠—

He howled, jerking out of my grasp. He rubbed one of his shoulders, and a smile crossed his face when he looked in the mirror. Where I had touched him, marks of the rising sun were left behind on my guardian.

Hogan shot to his feet to stand before me. “I wish to carry your mark as well, my lady!” He was practically spitting the words as he stood stiffly to appear formal. The look wasn’t quite accomplished since, as usual, his mohawk fluttered back and forth from his abrupt movement.

Manus was still rubbing the burn. “You will be pledging your life for her and hers, Hogan.”