Page 139 of Magic of the Damned

He instructed me on how he did his, and after several failed attempts it became obvious there were distinct differences to our magic. I quickly learned that as with all magic, there were some commonalities: a protective barrier was a protective barrier. It was the execution of the wielder’s magic that was the difference. Tenebras Obducit magic seemed to go a step darker than even Dominic’s.

It was offensive and aggressive in nature. Everything I gathered from Dominic and the others who’d dealt with that magic led me to believe it was strong, powerful, and minacious. The same qualities were attributed to the practitioner, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the magic that made them that way.

Dominic urged me to erect the protective barrier. Instead of urging the magic to protect me, I willed it to push Dominic away. Crowd him out. Thrash him. It managed to form a diaphanous shell around me. Dominic smiled, directing magic at it. It wavered but never fell.

“Drop it,” he instructed. That was more difficult than willing it to go away. Chaotic energy burst from me, slamming into it and dissolving it.

“I had to think of hurting you,” I explained, frowning. “It’s very aggressive magic. Be careful.”

He snorted, suppressing a laugh.

“Excuse you. I have bad-ass magic now. I’m to be feared.” I extended my hands in quick jerks of movements.

“What are you doing?” Amusement coursed through his words.

“Making claws.” A great deal of effort was put into my unsuccessful attempt to cosplay Wolverine.

His rumble of laughter filled the room. Erasing all the distance between us, he was next to me, his claws grazing lightly over my skin, sending shivers through me at the sensuous touch and his control of them. Like his nails crawling over my skin. Then they slid over the front of my dress, from the top to my belly. I shrugged the material off, giving him a full view of me in my panties. He hadn’t brought a bra as part of my wardrobe and I went with it. He kissed my lips, then laved his tongue and light nips over my jaw, neck, collarbone, and shoulder while his hands kneaded into my back, sliding over my butt before caressing me into his hardness. Putting some space between us, he continued to stroke my body until he came to my breasts. Palming them, his thumbs teased the nipples until they hardened. His fingers twined through my hair as he pulled me into a kiss. I quickly kicked away the torn dress as he lifted me into his arms. A breath later, he’d pinned me against the wall, letting me settle against his hardness. A frenetic energy raced through me, like nothing I’d experienced. It needed to be sated. The need so commanding and intense I clawed at his shirt. Magic stirred and mingled with my desire. I willed it, and it happened. His shirt shredded with a simple touch.

Dominic glanced down at the missing shirt and pulled away. “Luna,” he drawled, pride in his voice despite me using magic to disrobe him. It was going to be damn near impossible not to conflate magic with sex as his mouth covered mine. My legs circled his hips. He inched away, giving himself just enough space to unbuckle his pants. His cock pressed against me, and I accepted him with a deep moan that was silenced by his lips covering mine. My fingers curled into his back, meeting the frenzied rhythm of his hips with each thrust and my back pounding into the wall. The blaze between us erupted into hard, hungry kisses. Pants and groans filled the room. I yearned for more—we yearned for more. Deeper and hungrier, our bodies connecting devolved into something primal. A cumulation of magic, need, and lust exploded into intense satisfaction.

Dominic rested his head against my chest before easing me to the floor. I turned, following his eyes to the damage we did to the wall.

“That was intense,” I acknowledged with his nose nuzzling against my cheek.

Sex, magic, and Dominic’s sensual touches were no longer conflated as I glared at him. He’d gone from the sexy Dark Prince of the Underworld to a taskmaster urgently trying to teach me a lifetime of magic in just a few days because Dominic—no, we—needed to return to the situation we’d left and start damage control and repair the shambles. The multitude of problems we were going to return to were distracting, so I pushed them aside.

After our intense sex session, he’d left and returned with more clothing. Then for the next two hours, it had been nonstop magic practice.

“Again, Luna,” he instructed, giving me a devilish smirk at the sharp glare I’d fixed him with. The first hour, I perfected the barrier, erecting it with an ease and speed that satisfied Dominic enough to move on to other things. It was easier to transfer an object from one spot to another. Even easier to lob it at someone.

Performing my version of the ictus spell on a vase, I looked around with a dichotomic feeling of pride and fear at the pieces of the vase I’d exploded. I didn’t want to do that to anyone. It was a very good spell to have in my quiver against the worst of the worst, but I dreaded doing it accidentally.

“A person, even a human, won’t respond like that. People with magic are even less fragile. It will be a powerful blow and one that would protect you, but you wouldn’t be surrounded by body parts,” he assured me. “Do it to me.”

“I will not.”

“Luna, I’ll be fine.”

‘Fine’ was being generous as I watched his jaw clench so hard the pressure could make diamonds from coal. As the pain abated, his short sharp breaths leveled out.

“See?” he said. “A tinge of pain and it was over.”

Tinge, my ass. I saw his face. Well, maybe that was a tinge to him. What was his pain tolerance like? Dismissing those thoughts, I moved on to the other spells and tasks he had for me. As the lessons ticked by, some things came easily to me. Learning to heal myself was a challenge I mastered, coming up with several variations of spells and offensive magic that could work to heal me. My string of successes led to a moment of hubris until Dominic enclosed me in his flames.

“Get out of there, Luna,” he directed me. The flames were far enough for them not to be a threat; Dominic had impeccable control, but I felt the heat, which drove my desire to defeat it. To do something similar to what Peter had done, crystalizing it and blasting it away. Nothing. It was a reminder that I was still a novice. No matter how strong the magic, it was still limited by the skill of the wielder.

Feeling a little defeated by a string of failures, I was staring at the floor when Dominic’s finger lifted my chin. He listed all the things I’d learned in the ten hours of practice: protective fields that only another Dark Caster could break, performing offensive and defensive magic, and a general understanding of the differences between my magic and Dominic’s. The latter was something we were discovering together because he’d never had such intimate proximity to Dark Caster magic to understand it other than in an adversarial manner. The hunter to the hunted. Now he had the opportunity to explore it through me.

CHAPTER 24

Three days had passed, and I had shown remarkable improvement, but concern had taken up residence on Dominic’s face. I awoke to him watching me with a pensive look.

“What?”

“Stay here with my mother until things are handled.”

“No.” He’d given me a statement and his tone left no indication for feedback, but I had plenty to give. “I have magic and I’m able to protect myself and perform magic. I can help, and you’ll need it.”

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