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.
