Gently, she released his hand and brought the stone to her eye again. “Ah, there it is.” She noted the spell, repeating its steps in her head until she knew them by heart, then slipped the gem back into her pocket. Reaching into her sleeve, she drew her wand.
Tavyss eyed the wand skeptically. “Will this hurt, Medea?”
“No. I will not hurt you.” Touching his cheek, she met his amber eyes. She hoped she was telling the truth. She’d never performed this spell before. It shouldn’t hurt, but how could she be sure?
Wrapping his hand around hers, he pressed a kiss to her palm. “Then I am ready when you are.”
Her skin burned where his lips had touched. Oh, how she longed to know what it would feel like for that kiss to have been on her mouth. But she couldn’t think about that now because she needed to make sure that Tavyss was around long enough to someday, maybe, kiss. She leaned back, focused on him, on the land of his youth, which she’d studied for hours by candlelight the night before, and spoke the incantation.
“Ekdiókontai,”she cried, circling the wand above her head before pointing it straight at him.
A pulse of energy poured out of her and washed over him like a wind. His eyes went blank. A blue halo surrounded his body. She felt him go, felt his soul cast out toward Paragon, led by his thoughts, his memories. The connection between them tightened like a drawn rope until she had to lean back against the invisible force.
And then she waited.
And waited.
And waited.
The sun arced overhead and began to descend. Sweat bloomed on her upper lip. Ready or not, she’d have to pull Tavyss back soon or she’d pass out from overusing her power. She wasn’t sure what would happen if she did, and she was afraid to find out.
Thankfully, the pull between them slackened and she pitched forward, reeling in the magical thread that held them together. She gasped as he landed back inside his body and collapsed into her arms. His weight was too much to bear, and she rolled onto her back, his body pinning her to the moss.
“Tavyss? Tavyss, I can’t breathe.”
He blinked at her. Finally he seemed to notice where he was and rolled off her and onto his back with a groan. She sat up slowly and leaned over him. He didn’t move.
“Are you all right? Did it work?” she asked. “You were gone for hours.”
His expression gave nothing away as his eyes roved, then locked onto hers. With a noticeable amount of effort, he propped himself on his elbows. Unexpectedly, his hand shot out and hooked behind her neck.
“Oh—!” Her sound of surprise was cut short when his lips met hers. He kissed her with a white-hot passion she had never experienced, never even dreamed of.
His lips burned against her own, a wicked and wonderful fire that she drank in. She’d read about kissing, but all the books in the world couldn’t have prepared her for this. His mouth was sultry and wet, like a firm peach warmed in the sun, and she tasted him, welcoming his tongue against her own. She breathed in his smoky-wood scent and gave herself over to the flutter of energy that rose within her.
The things that kiss did to her!As exhausted as she was from performing the spell, her heart galloped in wild fits. The world sharpened as if all the sensations she’d ever experienced were concentrated into the place where their mouths joined. Her stomach flitted like birds flushed from the trees. Lower still, the place between her thighs ached with need. She was falling, dropping from the sky toward him. Everything vibrated and whooshed inside her until she was left breathless and her head spun. When he finally broke the kiss, she was left gasping.
“It worked, Medea,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “Your spell worked.”
Chapter Eight
As Tavyss held Medea in his arms, somewhere in the back of his mind he understood that she was too powerful to belong in the garden. He’d believed her when she said she was born there. The acrid scent of a lie would be impossible for her to hide from his dragon senses. But she didn’t belong there. Of that he was sure.
His latest theory was that a god or goddess had planted her there, perhaps as a way to exact revenge against Hera. The affairs of the gods were notoriously tumultuous, and Hera was not well liked among her kind. The goddess held a reputation for bitterness and a vengeful nature. One of Zeus’s many past lovers might have proudly done the deed.
But Tavyss couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. However Medea had arrived, the power she’d displayed today, conducting his spirit to Paragon, marked her as a witch—a very powerful one. He was aware of no other creature who could wield such magic other than a god. He’d go so far as to say that she was as strong as any witch he’d ever known.
That should have concerned him. If Hera found out a witch was living in her garden, she’d see her as a threat and expect Tavyss to eliminate her. Which was precisely why he hadn’t asked Medea what she was. He cared too much about her. Hell, his inner dragon wanted her. Plus what he didn’t know for certain, he had no obligation to tell Hera.
Medea’s magic had been a godsend. Once he’d reached Paragon, he’d appeared to his sister Eleanor in her chambers, and although she’d immediately attempted to take off his head, her claws had passed right through him. That got her attention. He’d conveyed Hera’s message slowly and carefully, along with a threat that if the golden grimoire could not be found, there would be repercussions from the gods. Eleanor had assumed that his astral projection was courtesy of Hera and thus agreed to assign her best people to finding the grimoire.
All that and now he was back in Medea’s arms. The deed was done. He might as well have returned to the bosom of heaven itself.
“I’ve never been kissed before.” Medea brushed her fingertips lightly across her lips.
He reached for her and ran his fingers along the edge of her raven-dark hair. She reminded him of a warm night, her skin as luminescent as the stars and her hair flowing like the celestial sky around her shoulders.
“I find myself drawn to you, Medea.” He swallowed. “Drawn to you like I haven’t been drawn to anyone in… ever. I think about you always.”
