Page 47 of Hidden By the Gargoyle

The image of the boulder shrinking was still in my mind, though. Clear as a bell.

At least until the magical ball I’d tossed stopped right above the rock before it dropped straight down, the bluish haze of light suddenly expanding to encompass the entire boulder.

I gaped as the boulder began to shrink rapidly. So rapidly that I nearly missed it when a tiny pebble fell in its place.

“Very good,” Talant said.

I’d done it! But how?

“How did I hit the boulder? It should have missed.”

He patted my shoulder as he walked around behind me. “Intent is the most important part of magic. If your intention is clear, the magic responds.” He grinned at me. “I think it’s safe to say that your intention was more than clear since the magic did exactly what it should.”

He walked over to the pebble and picked it up. Talant came over to stand in front of me. He took my hand, turned it palm up, and dropped the small rock into it.

“Keep this as a reminder that your intentions should not only be clear in magic, but good.”

I stared down at the pebble in my palm. “Thank you, Talant,” I said.

He shook his head. “Don’t thank me. I’m completely selfish. I want you to learn your magic so you can wake me up and get me out of this rock prison.”

I knew he was full of crap, but I didn’t call him on it. He might want out from under this mountain, but he wasn’t completely selfish. I just wrapped my fingers around the rock, cradling it in my palm.

“Either way, you’re teaching me and I’m grateful for that, Talant.”

He opened his mouth to answer, but the cave seemed to shake.

“What—”

My question was cut off when the cave went dark and vanished. I gasped and opened my eyes.

Dax loomed over me in the darkness of the bedroom. He looked angry, a rare expression on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Did something happen?”

“Were you with Talant again?” he asked, his voice so low.

I blinked up at him. “Yes. He was teaching me how to use my magic.”

I couldn’t believe it, but he looked even angrier. His brows lowered over his eyes as he glared down at me.

“You’re talking to another male while you’re lying in my bed?”

Well, when he put it like that, it did sound terrible.

“It’s not like that, Dax. You know it’s not,” I answered. “He’s more like an annoying big brother than anything else.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Okay, so he had a point there. If our roles were reversed, it would bother me. So, I pointed out something else he needed to know.

“I can’t control it,” I stated. “Every night, I dreamwalk with him. It’s not intentional and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

Some of the ire drained from his face.

I cupped his cheek. “Even if I could stop it, I wouldn’t.”

He scowled at me. Any other time, I would have been discouraged by his anger, but he’d spent another hour wringing every ounce of pleasure he could from my body before bed, and I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything but relaxed. He still hadn’t made love to me, but he’d brought me to orgasm over and over with his hands, his mouth, and the toys I’d packed in my duffel bag.

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