Chapter 30 Faolan
THIRTY
FAOLAN
Connection radiated through the touch when she placed her hand in mine. I barely bit back a groan. Never had I wanted anyone as badly as I wanted her. The sensation suffocated and burned inside me with equal need. I barely held back, and my resolve dampened with each interaction.
I forced it out of my mind as she looked at me expectantly, exhaling the primal need to mark her as mine. “Open your mind to me. You were taught to shield well, but to show you, I’m going to need to be inside—” I cut myself off as soon as the words left my lips, but it was too late.
Her eyes went wide, and I kicked myself for scandalizing her when she said, “You want to be inside me?” Her lips twisted into a sly grin.
“You know that’s not what I meant!”
“It sounded pretty clear to me…”
I growled.
She put her soft fingers to my lips. “All you have to do is ask.”
My lips parted, and I fought the unspeakable need to take her fingers into my mouth. “Do you want to learn how to draw magic from the ley lines, or not?”
She stepped closer, not withdrawing her hand. “Show me.”
“Let me into your mind.” My voice came husky as I tried to maintain focus, like she wasn’t touching me.
She closed her eyes, and her delicate lashes lay against her cheek, drawing my attention to her soft freckles. “Do I let my shields down completely or…”
“No, not fully. That would be dangerous if anyone else were around.”
She slid her petal-soft touch over my lips, tracing them while her breath fanned over my chest. “Then how do I just let you inside me?” Her words were so pointed, and I fought a battle with myself.
“Find the cords between us and their connection.” I barely managed the words.
“Okay,” she said breathlessly.
“You found them?” I didn’t know when it happened, but she’d leaned forward and we were body to body, her breasts pressed against me, and half my focus dropped below my belt.
Fuck.
“Yes.”
I grabbed her wrist, unable to handle it anymore. “Allow just that past your shield. Make the space exactly the shape of where that connection comes together.”
She didn’t try to pull herself out of my grasp. I felt her do what I asked. Neither of us spoke as we were in each other’s minds. It came with a closer connection I wasn’t ready for, and it seemed neither was she, as she gasped.
“You’re aroused!” she accused.
“That’s hardly the point.”
“Isn’t it?” A tinge of need edged into her inner voice.
“No! This is a lesson.”
“You could give me lessons on something else,” she teased.
I groaned, unable to hide it mind to mind.
Delight sparked in her, soaking through the connection and making me even harder.
“One lesson at a time!”
“That’s not a no.”
“Focus, please,” I said, sure she could sense I was barely holding on to my resolve.
“On what?” She probed at my inner self, making herself at home.
I directed us both towards our connection with the land under our feet and the air particles brushing against our skin. Every molecule carried some magic. Every part of the Twelve Kingdoms did.
Inside her mind, I could help her draw from them, instead of taking the magic into my own reserves, I could fill hers.
“Do you feel that?”
“Yes. How are you doing that?”
“Follow me.” I stretched out, brushing into the reserves of magic we could collect.
She did as I asked, taking some of it for herself. It wasn’t much power, but it was good in a pinch. “How did I not know there was magic all around us?”
“You were never shown.” I stroked my thumb over her wrist in encouragement.
She drew in a breath, making her chest expand against me.
Goddess give me strength.
“Now if we reach further…” I stretched out my mind, pulling her with me, reaching deep into the ground, looking for a stronger connection to the magic of the earth.
I stretched past what was comfortable, further than most could actually draw magic from, searching out deeper ley lines and finally touching one.
I directed her mind to it, letting her feel the pulse of power.
She jumped physically as well as mentally. “Has that always been there?”
“Yes, but not all places have them near enough to use. Being able to draw from ones further away takes lots of practice and talent.”
“And these are all over?” she asked.
“More or less.” I pulled us back carefully, showing her how to retrace our steps to our minds.
As soon as we returned, she tried to stretch out again herself, but it was tight, and her hands balled into fists, flexing her wrist under my fingers. “It’s difficult.”
“It is, but the more you practice, the easier it will get. It takes time, like anything else.” I opened my eyes to find her already looking at me.
“Is it always like this?” she asked.
“Is what?”
“Being intimate with another.” Her tongue barely pressed between her lips, wetting them.
“No, it’s never like this,” I said out loud. “At least it’s never been for me.”
“So this is…”
“Nothing.” Sorrow laced my words. “It can’t be anything.”
“But I know you feel it, too.”
“I can’t feel it, and it’s better if you don’t feel it either. We’ll just make it harder on ourselves.”
“Fine.” She tried to pull her wrist back. but I didn’t let go of it.
I brought it to my lips and brushed them over her skin.
Leaving her would be the death of me.