Riding Magyk Page 3

  Xander shook his head. “We need to talk, witch.”

  Jolene felt her temper rising and began to pull her legs up toward her chest, moving slowly and cautiously, gaining a fraction of an inch at a time. He kept calling her a witch. She should be freaking out, feeling that initial panic and fear in spades, but strangely, she didn’t experience those things anymore now she was fully awake. She didn’t sense any harmful intent in him, but she didn’t want to get sucked into something that could turn in a heartbeat either. Her hands were tied together, and the fabric was coarse, so if she could have a few moments to herself, perhaps she could undo the knots she could feel beneath her fingertips. That meant luring Xander within range. Jolene knew if she could place a solid kick in his solar plexus, she would have the time to release herself while he caught his breath, even if he’d removed her cowboy boots. Having three older brothers who treated her like a boy, at least until they couldn’t ignore the changes in her body, and who taught her how to wrestle and fight with the best of them had its advantages. Not to mention her strong dancer’s legs.

  “I don’t want to talk to you, Xander, while I’m at such a disadvantage,” she wheedled. “Let me go and then we’ll talk.”

  To her disappointment, Xander kept his distance, and when he stared at the way she’d drawn her legs up and gave her a knowing look, Jolene felt herself flush. Damn him. It was as if he were reading her mind, although by the look of the bulge in his sweats, Xander was still interested in her, and not just to talk. Unless he was excited by her inability to protect herself. God. Jolene blinked again. For just a moment, Xander looked just like one of those creatures in her dream, the one who looked so familiar, the one she always dreamt about. A bit like her vision in the bar. Not like Terry exactly, but… She felt her pulse spike. Her heart pounded as her mind rejected the insanity even as she knew it to be real. She sucked in air in great gulps and watched as if through a gray haze as Xander’s face creased in concern, and he moved closer, just as she wanted him to do earlier. But now she was unable to move, being prostrate with fear of herself.

  “What is it? What is wrong, witch?”

  Jolene couldn’t answer. She was too busy trying to regulate her breathing and heart rate. She felt overwhelmed, terrified, and something else. Something she couldn’t name. Something powerful and new spiraled up from deep within her, pulsing in her chest, coiling up her throat into her head, and shooting out to all her extremities, boiling through her veins and arteries. She felt it start to consume her, take over her very being, and she tried to scream it out, only to choke on the magnitude of it.

  “Jolene Phillips!”

  Xander fumbled with the ties at her wrists, and she was lifted and turned, placed on his lap as he sat on the bed. She cuddled into his chest, seeking reassurance, and felt the calming influence he had on her, how the thing within her settled and rested. She closed her eyes against the pervasive impression that Xander was indeed a kind of horse creature. Not human. She was losing her ever-loving mind.

  * * * *

  Xander struggled with the wave of tenderness and possession rolling over him, nearly displacing the intense lust. He thought the little witch was having some kind of attack, and then realized she was reacting to the fact she’d seen through the spell binding him in human form. It was no surprise she’d done so, being a witch, but it was a disaster for his cover, his mission. Yet her obvious fear and anxiety touched him, and he responded to her, to calm her. Xander was becoming certain Jolene didn’t know she possessed such magyk, and the events of the evening had terrified her. He had to find a way to reassure and yet silence her. His cock made a suggestion, cradled as it was in the heat and softness of her buttocks.

  Xander wasn’t a Caprine or a Faun, but Satyrs also had considerable sexual prowess, and perhaps he could use seduction and passion to forge a connection with this witch. She would then tell him what she knew, and if he satisfied her, made her a slave to her sexuality, she would perhaps want to please him to the extent of maintaining her silence. Chiron knew it would be no hardship. Her touch drew him strongly, even against his renewed strength and health, and truthfully, he had never craved a female so much, regardless of the fact Jolene was human, and a witch. He just hoped he didn’t lose his soul in the process. He refused to consider his soul might already be impacted, and perhaps his heart if what was said about witches was indeed true. Not to mention the very real mortal danger, although his cock was insisting it was worth the risk. He held her closer and enjoyed the sensation of her curvy little form pressing against him, waiting for her to come to the conclusion that she needed to communicate with him in order to make sense out of what she believed she had seen.

  Chapter Four

  “Xander?” The fabric of Xander’s T-shirt further muffled Jolene’s whisper. He’d replaced the torn and bloody one with a fresh shirt, and she could smell him under the cloth, a nice masculine scent of sweat from the exertions of the night, and a hint of saddle soap. It was the same smell that drew her earlier, despite the fact he had been flat on his back in a dirty parking lot, beaten and bruised. Again it comforted her, reminding her of the cabin in the woods and all the animals Uncle Marshall cared for, letting her help where she could. She didn’t want to lift her face from Xander’s shoulder. Didn’t want to look up and see his handsome visage and be reminded of something she could no longer deny.

  “I’m here, little witch. Can you sit up?”

  Jolene pushed herself away from the security of Xander’s hold and squirmed to sit on his knee, looking at him cautiously. He winced and shifted beneath her, and she felt the ridge of his erection against her bottom. Her traitorous body instantly responded, and she cursed inwardly. He said he couldn’t resist her magic, but his personal appeal superseded anything she felt before, and she didn’t do one-night stands. She hardly did relationships. Jolene managed not to rub herself against him again as she slipped from his lap to make her way to the chair set against the far wall of the bedroom. She perched on the edge and stared at him. He was gorgeous. His large, dark-brown eyes were set widely beneath a noble forehead and his aquiline nose was perfect above chiseled lips. Those cheekbones were as prominent as she remembered. He looked sculpted, from his fine features to his lithe, smoothly muscled body. She carefully narrowed her eyes and saw him in his true form. He was indeed half-man, half-horse. The vertigo returned, and Jolene grabbed the arms of the chair to ground herself, taking deep breaths. She stole another cautious peek. Xander again looked human and good enough to eat. Jolene fought hysterical laughter. She was having a sexual reaction to a unicorn or centaur or whatever he was. Which made her what? Oh, of course, she was a witch! Or over-the-moon crazy.

  “What did you just see?” Xander’s voice brought her out of her thoughts.

  “Your face and upper body on a horse,” Jolene waited for him to laugh and call the loony bin police.

  “There are few humans who can see us as we truly are when we are here and masked by a spell, Jolene,” Xander said, with absolutely no hint of amusement. “And only those humans who are gifted can do so.”

  “What do you mean, gifted?” Her question dug her in deeper, but she found she needed to know. There seemed to be no going back.

  “Those with the second sight, some with the ability to communicate with the beasts of their world, and, of course, witches. Although contact with witches is rare. We try to avoid one another because of the strong magyk that can combust when we meet. Only those intended for one another are—” Xander abruptly cut short his explanation, clamping those chiseled, sensuous lips together.

  Jolene shook her head. “I’m not a witch. I think I would know if I had witchy powers, don’t you?” She tried to ignore the memory of that debilitating yet energizing surge of something nearly overtaking her earlier. The something that terrified her even as it intrigued her.

  “I don’t know why you have not realized your status, Jolene Phillips, but you are most definitely a witch. I near
ly took you against your friend Becky’s car tonight, and I am always in control of my passions. Our touching may have awakened your magyk.”

  “You seemed quite able to resist me a little while ago, when you knocked me out in the parking lot.” Jolene wished she could call the words back, or at least change the wistful tone. She did not need this, this, changeling in her bed. How would their parts even fit? Her pussy throbbed in response, and she crossed her legs tightly, noticing how Xander’s nostrils flared as she did so. Oh God, did horses have a good sense of smell? Did he know how aroused she was? Of course they did. He did. Her cheeks flamed with humiliation.

  “I am rested now, and our kind recover quickly. I also drew healing powers from you, little witch, when I kissed you, and even before, just by being in your presence, before I knew what you are. You also tasted me, my blood, from my injured lip, and we may have forged a manner in which to relate to one another and not simply succumb to lust. I would need to read the ancient teachings to confirm it.”

  Jolene remembered how she’d been able to resist Xander’s advances. She wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t been able to do so.

  “I would have fucked you against friend Becky’s car until you screamed your release, little witch, and then brought you into my bed where we would have learned one another in even more intimate and intoxicating ways. None of which I have the time for.”

  Jolene gulped. She must have said that out loud, or he read her mind again and answered her honestly. She found herself wishing she hadn’t stopped him, hadn’t been able to resist. She shifted her position on the chair and now wished her shirt wasn’t so tight against her nipples. She needed answers, not seduction! He was distracting her on purpose, and his bitter, off-hand comment about not having time for her really stung.

  “What are you?” she asked.

  “I am Ipotane, half-man, half-horse. We are also known by some as Satyrs. My kin are related to Centaurs. Chiron is our pride, like a god, the best known and revered Centaur, and there are few left. My cousins are Hinds, Caprines, and Fauns. There has been considerable mention of us in human legends. We live in a parallel world to humans, and chance meetings and crossovers gave birth to those legends. There have even been religions based on us.”

  “But you look human,” Jolene protested, making another attempt at denial.

  “It is a spell, witch, and one your kin must have known about for the knowledge to have been passed down to you.” Xander frowned, and it unsettled her.

  “I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact I can sometimes see you as half-horse, Xander. I can’t get my head around being a witch. Maybe I have that second sight deal or can converse with animals. I really like animals.”

  “I felt your magyk, Jolene. And so did you. You are a witch. I can help you sort this out.”

  “I don’t know, Xander, or should I call you Mr. Steed?” Jolene snarked, resorting to being nasty in a last-ditch attempt to deny what she knew to be true. “I still think this ability or whatever it is will go away and so will you, and I can get back to my life. Speaking of which, I guess I’ll go home now and maybe we can talk again tomorrow.”

  Xander flowed effortlessly across the room to stand in front of her, reaching down to grasp her hands and pull her up close against him. The connection again sparked all the synapses in her frontal lobe and made it hard to think, not to mention how the plump saddle between her legs swelled further. Liquid heat soaked her panties.

  “If you leave now you will convince yourself this was like a dream, a hallucination, Jolene, and I may never see you again. I can’t allow that. There is more we need to discuss.”

  Jolene held herself rigid, fighting against the pull of the attraction between them. “Please, Xander, don’t,” she managed.

  His hand slipped beneath her chin and tilted her head up. Jolene closed her eyes and hung onto her sanity.

  “Look at me. Look at me, now,” he ordered.

  Jolene shook her head and resolutely kept her eyelids anchored shut. A pinch on her nipple had them popping open, and she gasped at the sensation. Xander’s eyes were now like melted caramel, and she couldn’t look away as his face descended and his lips claimed hers. It was as electrifying as their first kiss yet more controlled. Xander took his time, working against her mouth gently at first, and then with increasing authority. His tongue teased the seam of her lips, and she obediently parted them to allow him entrance. He lifted her onto his thigh, her legs parting to slide down either side of his muscular limb, and she felt the very core of her essence burst as she pressed against him. She was soaking wet and so needy. Her breasts became heavy, and the nipples beaded into near-painful tautness. Xander groaned and sucked her tongue hard, sliding one hand down to clasp her buttocks, making her ride his thigh, the rasp of her panties against her clitoris causing her to her abandon any remaining thoughts of resistance.

  Jolene rubbed herself against him with abandon, feeling an orgasm coiling. She tore her lips away and dropped her head back to gasp for air and reach for it. Xander pressed his lips against the pulse at the base of her throat, and she felt his heart beat with hers. She went over on sensation and heard someone call out Xander’s name.

  Chapter Five

  Xander stared down at Jolene’s beautifully flushed face. Watching her climax had been a privilege and one he wished to have many times over. He’d been elated when she called out his name in her extremis. He struggled briefly with his lack of resolve and ignored it as his own body clamored for release. He scooped her up and returned to the bed, gently placing her on her back. She gazed up at him through passion-hazed eyes and watched as he pulled the T-shirt off and pushed his pants and boxers down. Her eyes widened as he kicked the clothing aside and crawled up beside her. He began to unbutton her shirt, his fingers feeling clumsy with his need, and tore the offending material open. It seemed to be a signal for his witch. She reached up to pull him down to her, seeking his mouth, and he dueled tongues with her as he slipped his hands between them to push her lacy undergarment up to free her breasts. She mewled a protest as he broke the kiss and nipped his way down her neck to lave first one turgid nipple, then the other. He chuckled against her flesh as she gasped and arched into his touch. She was as responsive as he could have hoped for in any female, and, if he was honest, she was the female he had hoped for.

  It took but a moment to pop the button on her jeans and slide a hand inside to seek her mound. He had been able to scent her arousal for some time, but finding her folds so wet and yielding drove his desire far beyond control. Xander pulled away from her breasts, ignoring her further protests, and yanked at the stiff fabric standing between him and his desire. Jolene lifted her hips and facilitated the task of removing her jeans and underwear. Xander stared at the chestnut curls decorating her mound. They glistened with her juices, and he reverently spread her folds to reveal the pink and coral flesh within. He wanted to taste her, explore her, and make her beg for his touch. The hard knot at her apex stood proudly for his perusal, but Xander couldn’t wait any longer. He surged up over her, reaching to grab and direct his cock. Jolene beat him to it, and her touch tested his control. Her little hand grasped his member and pushed it against her opening then stilled.

  “What about protection?” she asked, her voice strained and breathless. “I’m on birth control, but…”

  “I am without disease,” he managed to grit out between his set teeth. “And I will not impregnate you.”

  It was not the time to tell her that giving her a child wasn’t outside of his means, but such an event would involve mating, something he would not do with a human, even a human who was a witch and drew him like no other. A brief, sexual encounter was all that would be possible.

  Jolene guided him inside of her and the initial sensation of the head of his cock pushing past the tight ring at her entrance nearly made him come early and disgrace himself. Xander gritted his teeth harder, then bit the inside of his chee
k to gain some control. The witch unmanned him. He thought of bits of gravel caught in the tender frog of his hooves and nasty stinging flies, while thrusting deep into her clinging channel. She was so tight and hot. Chiron give him strength. When Jolene wrapped her amazing legs around his hips in a grip of silky steel and sought his mouth with her own, Xander lost all control and powered in and out of her, swiveling his hips to prod at the side of her sheath and grind his pelvis against her clit. She cried out against his lips in her release, and Xander bellowed his. He collapsed, his breath gone and his brains addled.

  “I need some air.”

  Jolene’s breathless voice pulled Xander from his postcoital reverie, and he regretfully rolled away, his sated cock slipping out of her, their combined juices flooding her thighs. Xander cuddled her to him, resting his chin on the top of her head. There were things he should be asking her, learning about, but his brain had gone the way of his cock. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking he would rest and allow Jolene to do the same before he initiated another anxiety-producing discussion about what she had seen tonight. He couldn’t forget his mission despite the fringe benefits. If he thought of her in that way, as a harmless diversion, surely he could maintain the aloof status of his emotions. This was not the time to reflect on his honesty.

  * * * *

  Jolene lay in an amazing, sticky, sex-induced stupor in the arms of Xander the horse guy. He looked gorgeous in slumber, too, lips slightly parted, blond hair tousled over his forehead, cut chest lightly rising and falling with each breath. His cock was one part of him the humanizing spell seemed to have missed. Not that she was complaining, or actually had that many cocks to compare. Apparently size did matter, although how he fit that thing inside of her was anybody’s guess. She felt stretched and tender, if pleasantly so. It had been amazing sex, something that had been lacking for her in the past, and there’d been some additional component she couldn’t describe, yet somehow felt so very special, so right. Not that there was any future here. Despite the intimacy of what they just shared, Jolene knew when someone was withholding, human or not. But she wouldn’t mind another round with horse boy, once he woke up, although maybe that was asking a lot. His recovery from the beating had been remarkable, but he must be feeling some residual discomfort, especially after the amazing sex. Could she say that often enough?