Page 57 of Pure Magic
Arms and towel waving, he smiles wide. “Oh, yes. Please sit. My wife, Tilly, was just setting your places. I’ll fetch the meal.”
I hold the chair for Sara Beth. “So, Mrs. Drummond, what do you think of Lara Pinkerton?”
“I like her. If she’s not in the light, she has more magic than I can detect. Tomorrow night should prove interesting.” She places the napkin on her lap.
“Will you ask her about the shield staff?” My gut twists. It’s not that I don’t trust Miss Pinkerton, but that I lack trust in anyone.
“I can hear your thoughts, Adam.” She sighs and remains quiet as Mr. And Mrs. Bule bring two bowls of stew and a crusty loaf of bread.
The aroma of rich mutton and vegetables makes my stomach growl. The yeasty bread smells nearly as good. “This is wonderful. Thank you, both.”
After several bites with her eyes closed, Sara Beth lets out a long, satisfied sigh and looks at me. “If we don’t find the staff on our own before we go to dinner tomorrow, we can discuss how much is wise to reveal. I don’t know if I trust her either, but we may have no choice. She may be our only hope of finding this needle in a haystack.”
The joy of waking in a soft bed cannot be measured. Rolling over, I feel across the soft sheet, hoping to draw Sara Beth into my arms. Her space is empty. I open my eyes.
“I’m here. Don’t panic.” Her voice is soft and comes from across the room, where she’s leaning over the small writing desk. In just her blouse and trousers, without her dress overtop, and with her hair falling all around her face, she’s adorable.
“What are you doing?” I swing my feet over the side of the bed and sit combing my fingers through my hair.
“Come and see.”
After dragging my breeches on, I groan over the cold floor and cross to her.
Leaning over a salt circle she’s made on the desk, she dangles a lavender crystal from a rope.
I sit in the chair across from her and look at the symbols of north, south, east, and west. “What exactly are you scrying for?”
“A general direction of the staff.” Her eyes are closed, and her face is softened by the calm required to perform a scrying ritual.
My heart can’t help but beat faster just looking at her. “You look very fetching in trousers.”
“I’m glad you like them.” Sarcasm bleeds from her statement and makes me laugh.
“I do like them. I would have liked it better if you had stayed in bed to keep me warm on a cool spring morning.”
The crystal shimmies.
“Let me concentrate.” Voice soft again, there’s no heat behind her request.
How is it possible that with my sister and brother hunting me, and an impossible quest ahead of us, I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life? I would slay a dozen dragons to be near this glorious woman.
Letting out a long breath, she flops back in her chair. “It’s a good thing there are no dragons left in the world, as I can’t even find a simple piece of wood carved by a god.”
“By a god.” My thoughts flit to the wand Goddess made. “Maybe the wand would be a more appropriate crystal to search with.” I get it from my bag and bring it back to her.
While I’m holding it out, she doesn’t take it. “You would part with a gift given to you by Goddess?”
How can she ask such a thing? I take her hand and wrap it around the wand. “I would give you anything, Beth. Whatever I have is yours.”
Love cascades from her and covers me like the softest blanket. I could die happy at this moment. She presses her lips to mine, and the warmth turns to heat as she closes the gap between our bodies. Breathing fast and hard, she breaks the kiss and presses her cheek to mine. “We should find the staff. Lovemaking can wait for now.”
As right as she is, lovemaking is all I can focus on, and my cock aches to be inside her. Reluctantly releasing her, I close my eyes. “You are stronger than me by far, my love.”
Smiling, she loops the rope around the wider end of the black wand and pulls the knot tight. “Not stronger. I’m just determined to have a life where lovemaking doesn’t have to be put off because of danger.”
The image of a little girl prancing up steps to wake us in the morning flashes through my mind from Sara Beth’s imagination. The child has Sara Beth’s hair and my eyes. “Is that what you dream of? You want to fill a house with babies that will interrupt our lovemaking regularly?”
A warm blush travels up her neck and face. “It’s not a bad dream.”
