Page 78 of Which Witch Is Wicked?
6
Tierra lay on a wing and a prayer, floating on a plane of gratification so complete it couldn't be wrong.
Killian's fingertips lazily drifted over her skin as though he couldn’t get enough of her. It was heady to have a man such as him worship her body, and if she wasn't careful, she'd crave his touch with the need of an addict. She tingled everywhere, on overload, higher than she'd ever been. She didn't think she'd survive another coupling. If she climaxed again, she'd burst into a million twinkling lights, become one with the stars overhead that had begun to wink out as the eastern horizon pinked with hints of the coming sunrise.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
The question caused her to laugh, and she curled her naked body into his. "If you don't have any idea, I don't think I can adequately explain."
An amused rumbled sounded in his chest. "I meant, are you well?"
"Extremely well." In fact, she felt better right now than she had in a long while. Locked up in the house her skin crawled and she had to constantly fight the ever-present nausea, but here within the stones and lying in Killian's arms, she felt beyond wonderful.
His hand covered the slight rounding of her abdomen. Naked, her body revealed the effects of their first time together, but clothed she probably had another month, maybe six weeks, until she'd no longer be able to hide the pregnancy. Luckily, she wore a lot of loose-fitting clothes, but she'd have to go up a size if she were to keep her secret a little longer.
"And the babe?" he asked.
"No complaints." Her heart swelled with sudden emotion. She wished they could stay here in this bubble. "Is sex always like this?"
"No. What's between you and me is magical." His voice held a note of reverence. "Tierra, I must tell you something."
"Must you?" She didn't want the moment to end just yet. Most likely what he had to tell her would make her angry and then she'd have to leave him, give up his touch, and take up her staunch position on the other side of the line that cut between them like a canyon.
He drew complicated circles on her belly with his fingertip. "This is important."
"Isn't everything lately?" she murmured.
"There is something...dangerous in your house."
"I know. Aunt Justine is moving back in." Her attempt at humor wasn't received.
"This is serious. An item...lurks inside your home."
"What? How did it get past the wards?"
"I can't say. No, don't ask. Ireallycan't say. There is power in a name spoken aloud. Especially if spoken in a place as powerful and sacred as this."
"One of your fellow Horsemen?" The euphoria was definitely waning. She wanted to press, make him tell her "the what" if he wouldn't tell her "the who."
"So what the hell is this thing?" He stiffened, and she held up her hand. "You can't even tell me that? Cut to the chase and tell me what you safely can."
"The element in the manor is like poison. Haven't you been feeling ill?"
"Of course, I'm pregnant," she scoffed.
"More than symptoms consistent with pregnancy. Intense sickness, out of sorts, change of attitude. Pay attention to how you feel in certain rooms. Concentrate."
The kitchen.But how much of that was due to her aversion of food? Most of the worst bouts of sickness had been after encountering Tommy. Now it was her turn to stiffen.
"Do not touch it. Find it, get it out of the house, but do not touch it. Promise me."
Fear crawled along her skin, completely diminishing any leftover tingles. "Are my sisters in danger with it in the house right now?"
"The more exposure, the deeper and lasting the effects. You and your sisters will react differently depending..."
"Depending?"
"That is for you to discover. Find it, but whatever you do, you must not touch nor burn it."
