Concentric Circles Part 3

He inhaled sharply, released the air with slow deliberation and caressed her hand with strong fingers.

The new tattoo tickled and antic.i.p.ation boiled. She tugged his hand to remind him of the question.

He shrugged and scanned the street. "There have been people, wicked criminals who attempt to steal its Power."

"Power?"

"Aye."

She stepped down the stairs, floating in a daze. First, she experienced strange vibrations at the Vesica Pisces Pool. Then the miraculous appearance of the White Lady. Her mind spun in dizzying pirouettes.

Birl. Why'd it come back around to that little word? That wasn't the first circ.u.mstance, but the first cognitive step?

To top it all off, Meekal arrived on the scene and elicited emotions and physical attraction beyond all previous fantasy. She had fainted twice-something she never did.

"Shayla."

She moaned from somewhere so deep, it had to be primal. The physical reaction wasn't her imagination. Its potency raced under her skin, enflaming unprecedented desire.

His physical presence blurred.

Oh no. Not again. Head spinning, she leaned on him for support.

Meekal held her steady. "It's okay. I know this is all new to you. It'll be fine."

His voice t.i.tillated her. She endeavored to find his mouth. Moaning into him, she sought solace from sudden apprehension of the unknown. Steal Power? How?

He caressed her gently, and ran his hands through her hair.

She quivered, moving closer, savoring his taste. Forget such thoughts. She delved in, tonguing pleasure to new heights.

"b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, git a room."

Meekal pulled away with a laugh.

Harry's friendly face registered humor from his height advantage on the portico. "This is a B&B, you know, Kal. Course there's also the fact you do have your own room."

"Harry, you're embarra.s.sing Shayla."

"Uncanny," Harry said, leaning against the pillar on his left. "Don't cha think, Kal?" He scanned Shayla with blatant curiosity.

Her knees wobbled. Apparently, she was not the only one to notice the likeness to the portrait.

"Later, mate," Harry said with a smirk, and then wiggled his brows in jest. "I'd avoid the Abbey if I were you." He stepped down the stairs with an air of jauntiness and fun.

"Actually, that's where we're going," Meekal replied. "Wanna join?"

Harry grinned, and then tossed Shayla a wink. "Three's a crowd, mate."

Meekal pulled on her hand. "Fine."

Still dazed, Shayla followed. History always fascinated her. This was not history; it was more into the esoteric.

"Are you all right?"

"No, Meekal. I want to know what's going on."

His fingers caressed her jaw, and then skimmed over her pulse. He stopped there, mesmerized by the contact of his skin on hers.

Watching him, his handsome features expressing a newfound awe, took her breath away.

"You can call me Kal. That's what my close friends do." He sighed and leaned in, brushing lips across her cheek, and then her mouth.

She accepted his amorous kiss eagerly.

Pulling away, he whispered, "At this rate, we'll never make it to the Abbey." He nuzzled and ran a wandering hand down her arm. "You're beautiful. You know that?"

"No." She never liked her hair color and even changed it to blonde for awhile. That was the singular reason she never saw herself as beautiful. She detested her hair's difference.

Before today, she had never seen another person with her signature black hair blended with naturally deep, jeweled garnet highlights. Usually someone with her dark shade possessed a blue-black sheen.

Meekal's hand brushed a stray lock away from her cheek, and then lost its way within her fullness. "I never believed it could be real. I've always seen it right there in front of me. Never believed."

She ducked, hiding the heated blush that raced across her cheeks.

Fingers entwined, they walked to the grounds of Glas...o...b..ry Abbey. Neither spoke, instead, allowing a sense of antic.i.p.ation to wash over them.

Shayla smiled to herself over the new sensations experienced from their simple joining.

Together, they entered the grounds from the west.

Meekal guided them around a broken wall. "The fee to get into the Abbey actually keeps the number of visitors down. I have permission to come through anytime."

The Abbey's remains spread before them in broken majesty. Shayla pulled in a deep breath, and scanned the landscaped lawns. "Pictures don't do it justice," she said. "I have several screen savers on my computer. But being here is an astounding experience."

"In the tenth century, St Dunstan, the Abbot of Glas...o...b..ry enlarged the church." He waved his hand in an arc, taking in the full grounds. "He became the Archbishop of Canterbury in nine hundred sixty. This land is referred to as the 'holiest ground' in the isles. Joseph of Arimathea built the first Christian church near here, you know."

Powerful reverence came over her and she sighed contentedly. The sweeping lawns interspersed with the stone ruins of the Abbey called in soft nature whispers. Birds sang in harmony with the wind as it blew through stone openings in an expression of heavenly whistling.

She turned in a full circle, studying the representation of holiness in full panoramic motion. Finally, she reached a hand and traced her fingers across the stone archway. "It's strange," she murmured.

"What do you mean?"

"The same energy is here that I felt at the Pool." She moved her fingers along the carvings as though reading Braille.

"I understand. You've never felt that before? The earth energies? It's just the magic all around you."

Her eyes still focused on the stone, Shayla spoke as memory carried her home to her place of refuge. "There's a place at home that comes close, I guess. The Gorge. It's a national park that's actually an ice age formation. The Cuyahoga River runs north through it. The energy isn't as powerful there though."

Meekal leaned against the stone wall and crossed his arms. "It may be different for you now that you have been attuned."

Perplexity replaced her contentment. "Attuned?"

He smiled, the reflexive dimple increasing his charm.

Shayla's heart rate picked up at that simple move.

Eyes dancing in amus.e.m.e.nt, he said, "When she spoke to you, the White Lady opened your awareness to a new level. You'll probably begin to understand things you never did before. The omnipresence of life in all things is just a part of that. Some refer to it as earth energies, ley lines or even the web of power."

She chortled, tapping the stone as though playing the piano. "Yeah, stones have life."

He grinned, pulling her close. "Aye, they do. Haven't you ever heard a stone scream or purr?"

Bracing herself, she leaned back and looked up into his eyes. "You're joking." She could feel his heartbeat under her fingers and arousal in his jeans.

Hands on her hips, he pulled her tighter. "Those stones are screaming. Can't you hear them, Shayla?"

Her name rolled off his tongue with a sensual timbre, teasing with potential pleasure. She moaned, leaning in to taste. "This is crazy." Shayla stopped speaking and bit his pulse point.

"Ah, la.s.s, 'tis destiny."

She flicked her tongue over the bite she created on his savory skin. They both shivered in response. "Kal." She deeply inhaled his scent and clutched the soft cashmere sweater separating them.

Meekal's arms tightened while his lips spread b.u.t.terfly kisses across her cheeks and eyelids.

Tucking her face into him for closeness, Shayla rubbed his neck as though marking him for her own. "None of this answers my questions," she whispered into his ear, nibbling.

He entwined his strong fingers into her hair. She trembled with ecstasy when the sensation made him growl with possessiveness. "Only question I have is, when can we..."

She covered his mouth, stopping his words. Sure, she burned with unexpressed desire. But everything had happened so fast.

He moaned, clutched her tightly, and pressed her against his hardness. Pulling back from her mouth, he purred, "Shay, we can figure it out later."

Her mind whirling, all she saw was fathomless cobalt blue. Newly awakened senses overpowered her, carrying her on pa.s.sion's liquid rush. Forget happening too fast. "Kal, now."

Meekal growled, spun them, and braced her against the stones. Hands flashing in voracious want, he pushed fingers up her thigh.

She gasped at the fire left behind from the heated journey. Clasping his neck with both hands, Shayla wrapped him with her legs.

He groaned, pushing against her, delving into her mouth, sending hands in search of liquid heat.

"Kal!" Her head banged against the wall. Pain only intensified urgency. Rapturous sounds escaped from her as she responded with ardent insistence.

He plunged his face into her neck, and tongued her racing blood. Fingers explored, teasing and pressing with eagerness.

Thrusting faster, waves of an o.r.g.a.s.m began flitting from her center, growing in blissful power. Forgetting where they were, she cried, "Shree!"

"Kal," she said, breath rasping with husky longing. "Wanna feel you."

She sent her hands fumbling. Denim, zipper, exquisite tight skin.

He accepted her finger's embrace around him, and then squeezed his hand over hers. When his fingers left, she gasped with both loss of their eager guidance and surprise.

"Protection," she said with an out rush of air. Then just when she thought bliss couldn't go any deeper, he pushed into her molten center.

"Aye," he murmured against her ear before nibbling and teasing its most sensitive curves.

Eyes closing at the exquisite feel of him, Shayla cried out needing more.

He filled her.

She shivered and opened wider while embracing him with fervor.

He withdrew, and then stroked to the hilt. "Shay. G.o.ds, gotta have you."

"Yes!" She pulled his tongue into her mouth, sucking in time to the dance of life. Thrust for thrust, she accepted his pa.s.sion, and allowed it to fill her.

Powerful waves of new emotions and physical feelings charged over her. She closed eyes and wove fingers in Meekal's hair. The sensation extended the feel of his penetration as silk flowed through. She clasped tighter and pulled.

Meekal's hands clenched.

Pa.s.sion increased.

"Open your eyes, love. Look at me," Meekal demanded with a fierce thrust.

Exquisite ardor rolled through her. She opened her eyes, and became lost in his rousing power.

Meekal hissed through his teeth and with one final push he collapsed. His weight squeezed her against the cool stones of the wall.

Breathing heavily, she closed eyes and relished the feel of him. The last ripples of o.r.g.a.s.m teased with heighten euphoria. She moved her fingers again through his glossy black locks, caressing in atonement of previous roughness and laved his pa.s.sion-swelled mouth.

"G.o.ds, it's real," he said, breathing heavily.

She slid trembling legs down with deliberate slowness, enjoying the feel of his jeans on the inside of her thighs. "Yeah. Awesome, huh?" Fondling him gave her a thrill of coming home.

He leaned in and kissed gently. "I wasn't too rough?"

"No. Just right." Shayla smiled, turned to nuzzle in his hair and inhale his scent.

She could have sworn she heard purring.

[3] Magickal Bonds:.

Intertwined Souls.