The Warrior and the Druidess by Cornelia Amiri Page B

They had hungered for him since he was little more than five and ten turns of the year. But after he bedded them for a moon cycle or more, he needed another— prettier or sweeter or more adventurous—a new delight. Tanwen’s radiance, her unsurpassed strength—well, she was different. She was both sweet and bold, and he had to have her. She wore on his mind and burned in his heart.
    Her eyes flew open. “What time is it? I have to go.”
    “Go where?” His lips covered hers as he drank in her sweetness.
    She pulled away and rose. “The ritual of foresight is today.” She picked up her clothes. “The gods await.”
    He raked his eyes down her oval face and the soft color of her lips. As she slipped her tunic dress on over her head, his gaze slid down to her smooth breasts, to her ample thighs and shapely legs, until they were covered.
    “I’ll stay on the hill alone fasting for the next three days.” She pulled on the flowing purple, gold-speckled robe. She wrapped her white, gold-speckled cloak around her.
    “I had forgotten.” Three days. I cannot wait three days to lie with you again. “I shall come with you.”
    “No, you cannot.” She slipped on her shoes. “For the prophesy, for your tribe… our tribe.” She pinned on the silver broach. “The gods will not grant it to me if I’m not alone.” She slid the gold clasps onto her ears. “Only my body will be on the holy hill. My mind must be with the gods.”
    The wry smile she flashed enticed him even more. “Would coupling not heighten your perception?” His shoulders shifted in a slight shrug. “I’ve never had a vision, but I’m sure the nearest I’ve come to it is the eruption—the ecstasy in bedding a woman.”
    A trill of laugher spilled from her as she turned and ducked out of the wheelhouse. He pulled his tunic and braes on as fast as he could and chased her. She called for Gethin, who came with the druid drum in hand. Taking the sacred instrument, she continued on as Brude followed her all the way to the base of the hill.
    Brude took the drum from her and set it on the ground. Then, he gathered her into his arms. Her soft curves molded to the corded muscles of his body. His lips descended to meet hers. With his hands locked against the smooth plane of her back, his mouth swooped down on hers. As his lips twisted over hers, fire spread through him.
    She pulled away. “You must see to the other chiefs, our allies, now.” Her face flushed, and her eyes gleamed with yearning. “Use this time to test them and their men, so when Calach blows the battle horn, you will know the strength and weakness of all you lead to war.” She bent down and grabbed the drum.
    “Ever the druidess.” His lips burned, aching to cover hers.
    “You, better than anyone, know I am a woman as much as a druidess.” She headed up the trodden path, and then turned her head back to him. “But this is not the time or place.”
    He grinned at the sway of her hips as she climbed the trodden path cut in the grassy hill. His arousal swelled again, but he left her to her duty. I will forever have to share my wife with the gods. It will not be the marriage I had in mind.
     
    * * * * *
     
    A thick mist engulfed Tanwen as she reached the top of the hill. She stood in front of the great standing stone. “Pillar of stone, giant of rock, the ancients labored in pain and sacrifice to move you to the top of this green hill where your magic stands for all the people who came after them. I seek your wisdom. You have been here longer than all the trees of the forest, and within you is more wisdom than any oak could contain. Speak to me. Lead me. You have been on this earth since time out of mind; you know all its secrets. I seek the way to halt the Romans. Tell me what we need to do, spirit stone.”
    She sat on the ground with her back and head leaning against and supported by the stone. Her energy fused with it. She stretched out her feet into the most comfortable of all