Author's Note: Welcome to Part Two! It's about to get real!
Song for this Chapter: Love Lies by Kalid and Normani. I cannot think of a more perfect song for Hearne and Dru. They both want to find that place where their love lies. They maybe aren't quite there yet, but they've decided to make the journey a pleasurable one!
"Welcome back, Cernunnos," Dru whispered.
Cernunnos smiled, his eyes still closed.
"I die a little every time you love me like that," Cernunnos groaned. "You riding my cock is the best way to wake up ever."
As he opened his eyes lazily, the soft pink glow of dawn was filtering around the edges of his bedroom shades, and Dru's beautiful naked body filled his sight. She was still atop him, glistening with sweat, and he was still inside her, and slowly returning back to consciousness from the oblivion of release. With much more effort than it should take, he curled his abs and raised himself up to meet her, running his long-fingered hands up her back, licking sweat from her chest before palming both of her full breasts, teasing one nipple, and then the next. She groaned in pleasure, but she grasped his hand that was sneaking toward her sex.
"No," she murmured, "you'll waste too much of my magic. I need it to heal you, Cernunnos."
He growled, low and feral. She had been refusing orgasm since they started having sex, but he wasn't letting her refuse him today.
"You say my true name like you mean respect, but I don't think you really believe in me," he murmured, biting at her earlobe. Sweat trickled from her hair line. She was working very hard not to come.
She sighed as he massaged her back with one hand. "No. I'm a believer, now. A witch. A pagan. Your follower."
"So what you are saying is...I'm not just your man, I'm your god?"
"Of course," she sat perfectly still, refusing to move, refusing the friction, as he bucked a bit underneath her, pushing what remained of his firmness deeper into her. "My god," she moaned, her mind fuzzy, so close to the rush of ecstasy.
"Then you will not deny the pleasure of your Lord," he murmured into her ear. She shook her head.
"Say it," he commanded.
"I deny you nothing, my Lord. Whatever your pleasure, take it."
"Good. It pleases me to make you come." He cupped her breast and lowered his mouth to it, grinning as she made a feral sound. That wasn't a sound of the Dove. When she was "feeling" Druantia, her language and her sounds changed. Her scent too, but he wondered if he was just imagining that part. Scent is so tied memory, he couldn't be sure, but when Dru talked in that old-fashioned way so much like Druantia's speech, he could smell Druantia...her stronger green and floral scent. He was enjoying this new mix of Dru...her ancient witchiness blooming like wild roses amidst her youthful honeysuckle.
With his cock still filling her, he pushed down to her sweet spot with one finger. She was already so close, it wouldn't take much. He made slow circular motions, his finger buzzing with a little godly energy. Inside a minute, she was crying out "my God, my God," against his shoulder, her hands gripping but sliding down his sweaty back. She shook in his arms and pulsed around him, as he continued his slow circular attention until she begged him, "Too much...no more... please." He ceased, but he could tell, it had only been a physical, not a magical release. She was holding back on him.
Slowly, painfully, he wiggled them backwards, until he could rest against the headboard. After too few minutes of their bodies intertwined, Dru murmured. "Hearne, help me..."
That was her cue to make sure he attended to the condom. Hearne gripped himself as she rose off, making sure it didn't slip.
Dru handed him some tissues and turned her lovely naked ass around to him. He smacked it lightly and she cried out in mock protest.
"If you don't get back up here into my arms and enjoy your post-coital bliss, woman, I'm going to—"
"You're going to what, Cernunnos?" Dru challenged, but she was looking over her shoulder with a broad grin and mischievous eyes. "Make me? The whole point is to raise my magic so I can heal your wounds. You know that. I wasted half of it just now, so let me work, while I'm still hot."
He sighed and closed his eyes. The whole point?
Fuck no, healing his burns wasn't the whole point. The point was to make love—literally. To create more feeling between them. He'd been having sex several times a day with this beautiful witch for two and half weeks now—since a few days after the lightening strike, and even naked on his lap, hands and mouths and sex intertwined, she was still hurting his pride.
"Owww!" he complained as her red sparky magic worked its way into the fucking Roman burns on his legs and feet that were so slow to heal. He jerked away, "That tickles."
She giggled, but she kept hold of his foot. He tried not to think about the teasing sensation, instead focusing on the very lovely view of her naked parts all beautifully on display. Ten minutes later, when she had pushed all the magic she could muster into his wounds, she turned around, and smiled at the undeniable sign of his renewed arousal.
She licked her lips.
"Don't even think about it," he said. "You made me use one of those unnatural rubber barriers filled with death chemicals. No way are you putting that poison in your mouth. Although if you are ready for another ride, cowgirl, I'm happy to oblige."
She snuggled against his chest. "Can I take a mortal minute or two, before more divine...intervention?"
He laughed. "Divine? This is me in a sick bed, Dru. You haven't seen the sex god yet. Wait until Beltane. " He was sure his injuries would be healed by then, sure he would make her feel like the goddess she would one day be. "But of course you can rest, Dru. I'm good. Go back to sleep if you want..."
"Mmmmm...Beltane. Who do you want to invite?" she asked sleepily.
"Invite?" Hearne was mildly surprised, but he supposed he shouldn't be. Dru was not just this modern young woman who made him wear condoms. She was also an ancient witch, who'd performed ritual sex publicly. With him, though he couldn't remember it.
"Who would you want to invite?" Was she thinking of the pagan class? He wasn't sure the times...or the class...could abide such a rite.
"What about your boss?" she inquired.
His boss? Maybe Druntia was effecting Dru's judgement, after all. "Dru, I don't think my boss wants to watch us have sex. Well, he might, but he's not pagan, so it would just be...pornographic, not sacred."
She raised her head off his chest and stared at him. "I was talking about helping you throw a Beltane bash, since the official festival is cancelled. You expect me to have public sex with you on Beltane?"
Hearne bit his lip, "Oh. Well, no...I don't expect it at all. Times have changed. But I wasn't sure what you meant, and, well...I thought maybe you wanted me to...make amends. Publicly."
Fuck, as soon as he said it, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. She winced. "Actually, I'm trying hard not to hold the past against you, but I do not want to repeat that particular part of our history."
Dru patted his chest and slid off the bed, pulling on a robe as she went.
She moved around in the bathroom for a few minutes, and then returned, crawling onto the bed, crossing her legs, looking him square in the eye. "We need to talk, Hearne."
He nodded. Since the night of the concert, they hadn't talked about the past, or the future much. The first couple of days after he absorbed Jove's billion joule WMD was a frantic gabble of Carrie, Lana, and Dru arguing over what to "do" with him, like he was not a god and capable of making his own damn decisions about his injuries. Which really weren't that bad. He was alive, and he had all his limbs intact, it was just a little sunburn, no biggie. But the burns would have likely killed a human. Dru and Lana were freaking out, wanting to take him to a hospital, and Carrie was freaking out, popping in and out of Hearne's bedroom at all hours of the day and night. Dru was sleeping on the couch, refusing to come to his bed for fear of Carrie finding her there and murdering her in her sleep.
At first he truly was grateful for Carrie's help—of the three witches, her magic was undeniably the best pain relief, but when he caught her attempting to cut herself and put her blood into the salve she used, they had a huge fight. Jesus Christ—and he didn't usually like to profane other gods in the specific, but Jesus Christ what was she thinking? She wasn't making magic...she was leeching her godpower.
Insane woman.
He wouldn't have it. He renewed his godpower from the earth, she renewed from him—from his love, that was the way it always been. But there would be no more renewal for her from him; she'd made that clear. Plus she'd have to give Faraday part of her power to make him a god; that meant she didn't have a drop to spare. Fuck, she could lose her immortality, bleeding herself like that, and then trying to make Faraday a god.
The fight they had was epic—rivaling the old Litha fights when he would leave home to begin his own blood-lettings. Except this time he was in pain and he lost damn temper and roared at her, banishing her with one fist strike on the bedside table. Shit, so much for their new "friendship." She was probably so pissed that he forcibly removed her from his sight that she wouldn't come back around for weeks. Hell, maybe years.
The one good thing about his fight with Carrie was that Dru and Lana saw a flash of his temper. They tightened up, remembering who was in charge. They asked him what he would like to do, instead of talking about him like he wasn't there.
So he let Lana apply herbal wounds and salves and her mildly soothing white healing light during the day, and he explained to Dru that the best healing she could give him was returning to his bed.
He'd really only meant the comfort of her warm body, but she had woken him the next morning with her mouth on his maximus, Druantia's aura streaming from her. For one instant, he wondered if Dru was in her right mind...or if the memories of her past life and Druantia's instability were clouding her judgment. But her clear amber eyes met his, and she smiled—as best she could, considering. She was both Druantia and the Dove and clearly in charge of herself, and his...self.
"You don't have to do that, you know..."
She stopped. He groaned in regret.
"You don't want me to?" she teased.
He laughed. "You're kidding, right? What man wouldn't want to wake with your beautiful lips around him? But if this is a pity job—"
"It's not. I want to," she murmured, still attending to her task. "It makes me hot. It will raise my magic, and then I can use it on your burns. Blowing you and healing you? That's really hot, Hearne..."
And seeing her unashamed of her desire and unafraid of her magic—it was an incredible moment. He crossed his hands behind his head and flashed her a heavy-lidded look of approval.
"Well, then. By all means, baby...blow away."
The next morning, she was even bolder. She was already naked when she woke him, with one hand stroking him as she fumbled with an unopened box of contraceptives. He was startled, realizing from the condoms that she'd thought this through the day before, but he felt he had to ask.
"Are you sure?"
"We've done it before," she said a little harshly. "What's the big deal?"
He rubbed her ass gently. "That wasn't you...not this body, not this life. You aren't responsible for what happened then, and you can make your own choices, now. You know that, right?"
"Are you telling me you're a god that doesn't believe in fate?" Her gaze was so penetrating, it cut him to his soul.
Yeah, he believed in fate. Two witches and he had failed them both. And now they were both in his life again. Still, there wasn't a choice to be made, between them, like before. Carrie had offered him forgiveness, but she wasn't offering this. Dru was the path to redemption.
He crushed his mouth to Dru's, and he didn't ask her again if she was sure. He was sure, he wouldn't fuck up again.
After that, he and Dru didn't talk much, except about the healing progress of Hearne's wounds and daily matters. Things had returned to the simple domestic bliss of the weeks prior to the concert, except that Hearne was mostly confined to bed, and sleeping alot in order to heal, and they were having multiple sex sessions a day when he wasn't sleeping, and Dru and Lana were juggling their classes and healing rituals and bringing horrible processed food into the house at random times of the day.
But this was Spring Break, and Dru didn't have anywhere to be today, except a study group session later in the afternoon.
Now, here they were, down to the "talk" about their past and future. Dru looked nervous, but determined as she tightened her robe around her.
"I know what you are now, and I know what I am. But I still don't know what you're planning, Hearne."
He decided to be totally honest. "I came here to find you...for a second chance. Even before I understood our history, I knew...I wanted to make you a goddess. I want a life with you. I want a family with you. I want us to build something together. Something...epic."
He watched Dru twist her hands nervously. "I'm not her, you know."
"I know. You are more than Druantia. You are more evolved than her...more disciplined, savvier, sweeter..."
She looked at him sharply. "I wasn't talking about Druantia."
He let out a long breathe. "Of course I know that. Why do you think this is so...easy, between us? Because you are nothing like Cerridwen. You and I together are nothing like she and I were. You and I are nothing like Druantia and I either." He held his hands up, gesturing to the camp and then between him and Dru. "This is a totally new vibe. A good vibe. Don't you think?"
She nodded. "I do." She fiddled with the cord of her bathrobe, tying it into knots. "Will Cerridwen do the same thing? Will she..."
"Make Faraday a god? That's what she intends," Hearne concedes.
"Does he want that?" Dru asks.
Hearne didn't want to tell her the truth, but he wouldn't lie. "When he committed his soul to her, he already made the choice. He will want what she wants. Up until now, she's wanted to give him freedom, choice...and so he's had it. But now, she thinks godhood is the way to protect him."
"From me, you mean."
He shrugged. "It's still what you want, isn't it? To protect him?"
"Yes, but..." Her mouth worked, and finally she said..."He's not Angus. I see all the way to the back of his eyes, to the edge of his soul...he's not Angus."
"No, he's not," Hearne agreed.
"But so like him,"
"I wouldn't know."
"Angus loved Cerridwen. Different than he loved me, but he perhaps...more. Do you think...do you think Sean will be happy? Do you think she'll be good to him?"
"Yes, I do. His soul is aligned with hers. He'll accept godhood, to please her. And like you say, she's different with him. Kinder. More patient. "
Dru squared her shoulders, as if she were a soldier accepting the inevitable battle. "When?"
Hearne shrugged. "There's no master plan. Well, not a real one anyway. Carrie and I did joke about making you gods on the next St. Patrick's Day. But we weren't serious." He felt like he should clarify that this was a joke, in case Lana or Finn had mentioned it.
Dru looked at him sourly. "Speaking of Carrie, I wish you would let her heal you. I don't really know what I'm doing, without her guidance."
"You're doing fine," he assured her. "Carrie needs her strength for the lad's...injury." That was only part of the reason, though. He would never ask Carrie to nurse him again.
"How is he, by the way?" Hearne asked mildly.
"Lana says the same," Dru waved away the topic. She knew Sean was in no danger, and she did not want to think about Faraday's injury. She knew that Lana thought he was too heartbroken to heal, and it made her feel guilty. She needed to change the subject, before she dissolved into tears.
"So...how do you do this?"
"Do this? You mean how would I make you a goddess...?" Hearne tapered off. He was unsure what to say. Cerridwen had told him Angus and Druantia had attempted the act. It seemed like Druantia's memories came and went in Dru's mind. Druantia had surely known how the Ritual was performed, hadn't she? But maybe not. Angus and Druantia had failed.
"How exactly?" Dru pressed. "What will you...do to me?"
"Oh, you'll like it. I make you a goddess with sex, of course. But not mortal sex. With the Divine Act."
"The Divine Act," Dru repeats, her eyes glittering. "Of course. I never knew exactly what it was."
"Well, the Divine Act is a ritual. The ultimate magical sex rite. During the ritual, we remove from this mortal plane, and ascend into a place of pure energy—our bodies become energy. Sensation is heightened...an entirely new dimension to all the senses. There is nothing in this world like divine union in that place."
"Is it...heaven?" Dru asked.
Hearne shrugged. "Who can say? It's the closest I've ever been. It's only in that place that my soul can meet yours, and my true power flow to you. But it is dangerous, for a mortal to leave behind their physical form. It can go wrong. I think you already know that, yes?"
Dru nodded, but she wouldn't meet your eyes.
"I have created Divine Union many many times. You will be safe. Still, I want us to be perfectly attuned, so that I can give you the full measure of divinity that you deserve. That's why...I need us to make the Greenspark, before we can attempt the ritual."
This seemed to relieve Dru's mind. "So until we are in deeply in love, you can't make me a Goddess?"
"Hmmmmm...let's just say, I wouldn't try."
"Angus and Druantia...they made the Greenspark," she said softly. "I don't where we went wrong." Hearne winced at the way she switched her point of view back and forth when she spoke of her past life. It must be so confusing to her.
"I believe it was because Angus was dedicated to Cerridwen. He was in love, but his soul wasn't his to give to...Druantia."
Dru nodded. She looked at Hearne shyly. "I do...you know. Maybe it's not strong enough yet for the Greenspark, but I do. Love you, I mean," she added softly.
He pulled her to him, so that she was on his lap once more. "I love you too, Dru. It's a just a different kind of love, we have. Slow-growing. But perhaps, the slow burning kind is the surest, hmmm? Trust me, the crazy kind goes supernova after about ten thousand years or so," he whispers conspiratorially, "but don't tell Finn and Lana; I'd hate to crush their hopes."
They laughed for awhile, but in the quiet, Dru asked "So what are we saying? The minute we make the Greenspark, you're going to make me a goddess?"
"Not necessarily. I do need my full horns. But they are coming very soon." He grinned, fingering the three inches of growth curving up from sides of his head. "And...the most auspicious time for the Divine Act is Beltane."
"That's only a month away," Dru's voice was tight.
"Relax, love. I don't think our stars will align quite that quickly. I just meant, the most ideal circumstance would be to set our Divine Act for the Beltane after we start making the Greenspark. Perhaps a year or two or even three...however long it takes, Dru. I'm in no hurry. I want to start a family but I know the world is different now. Women are different now. In this modern world, I can keep you reasonably safe as a mortal woman for a few years. If you promise to listen to me and do the things I ask you to, to stay safe and healthy, I have no problem giving you the time you need to be ready. Becoming a goddess, having a child is a huge undertaking. I understand that, better than I once did."
Dru stiffened slightly. "So the Divine Act will get me pregnant?"
Hearne smiled. "I've given alot of thought to that question myself. The truth is, I'm not one hundred percent sure. I never performed a Divine Act that didn't get Cerridwen pregnant, unless she was already pregnant of course. But things were different back then. Even when she and I were in trouble...she still wanted to get pregnant. It was...a thing we considered a holy duty, a sacrament to spread our fertility to mankind. You and I hardly need to spread fertility in a world with billions."
"So because the world doesn't need fertility, I won't get pregnant?"
"I didn't say that. Look, the bottom line is, I'm reasonably sure that once you are a goddess, with enough power to balance mine, together we could hold back from conception, even during the Divine Act. I can't imagine a modern goddess wanting to have a child every year, and neither do I—" he trailed off, looking pensive. "But the first Divine Act, making you a goddess...I have to put everything I've got into that act. All of my soul. And my soul has...a great need to be the father to your child."
"Because of Tadj" A slight shiver ran down Dru, and she looked scared, and like she might cry. "It's so strange to think of him. He's not my child. But he was...and he's gone, so long ago..." she puts the heals of hands against her eyes, like she could shut out the world and perhaps, her memory of Tadj.
Suddenly, he was very apprehensive. He realized there were many deep new emotions driving his Dove, and they might be confusing her priorities. "Dru...before you remembered your past life, did you ever think about having kids one day? I mean...are children something that you want?" He knew not all modern women did.
"Yes, I think so," she said slowly, "I mean. Yes, I do. It's just...I've always though of having kids as a long way off. Like when I'm thirty-five or forty..."
"Thirty-five?" Hearne said sharply. Or forty!" he repeated. "Dru, that's insane! I can't wait that long to make you a goddess. Do you know what might happen to you in that length of time? You could have an aneurysm, you could fall victim to violence, you could have a car crash. You could die, Dru. Even I can't raise you from the dead. I was a god, and Carrie had to sacrifice the god-power of our children to raise me. I have no one I would sacrifice, not even for you, love. No, if you do desire children, and if we are to be mated, it is out of the question, to wait that long. It's not worth the risk to have a few years of selfish indulgence before becoming a mother."
"Selfish indulgence?" Dru repeated. "It's not selfish to want to do something with your life besides be a baby factory, Hearne."
"A baby factory?" Hearne repeated. "You think that's how I see this? I'm talking about making you a goddess. My goddess, Dru—the other half of my power and my heart. Eternal, powerful, able to do all manner of good for all humankind. What more could you do for the world than spread your goodness, which would be infinitely amplified as a goddess? What more good could you do than extend your love to our children, who would in turn be gods? I'm talking about creating a new Pantheon, restoring the natural order, changing the world—maybe even pulling humanity back from the brink. What are you talking about? Getting a 9 to 5?"
They glared at each other for a long moment. Then Dru raised her head to the ceiling and collapsed onto the bed, covering her face. "Okay, you have a point, Hearne. But you're talking about me becoming a mother at what—twenty? Twenty-one? And not just a mother. A mother to gods. That's a lot of responsibility. I wasn't...the best mother...in my last life."
Fuck. That's what this was about. Suddenly Cernunnos felt a million years old. He ignored the pain of his burns as he crawled over to Dru and kissed her chest above her heart, then kissed the hands that covered her face. He lay down beside her, snuggling against her ear.
"That was my fault. I left Druantia to parent alone. I left her to be a Queen without a King. I left her to rule the Druids and safeguard herself in a world that was rising against our ways. I will never, ever leave you again, Dru. Not if you become my goddess. Not if you become the mother of my child."
Dru put her hands on Hearne's chest.
"Sometimes, I still think I'm crazy, Hearne," Dru confessed. "Crazy people shouldn't be mothers."
"You are a sexwitch with the memory of a tragic past life. That's enough to make anyone feel crazy. But you are not mentally ill." Hearne reached down to her hip, rocking her. "All you need to stay happy is a good fucking every day and purpose to put your magic towards. A life with me will give you both, Dru. You know that. You're a loving, nurturing woman. Look what excellent care you are taking of me," he flashed her a brilliant smile. "You'll make a wonderful mother. I know it."
She rubbed her hands down his stomach and closed her eyes, "It is true that these last couple of weeks, being with you constantly, I've felt...stable. Even with Druantia's memories in my brain. And even with the...sadness."
Hearne knew exactly what she meant by sadness, but he also knew she was doing her best to put Faraday in the past. She was a loyal girl—she just couldn't see her way clear to be atop his cock every day and have Faraday on her mind. "He'll be all right. Carrie will heal him." Before she could settle into the sadness of thinking about Faraday, Hearne decided to give her something else to think about.
He snapped his fingers and in his hand was a small, black velvet box.
Dru's amber eyes went round. "What's in the box, Hearne?"
"Nothing yet, unless you wish to make a covenant with me. Then, it fills with...the ring of your heart's desire."
"You're asking me to marry you?" she whispers, and he laughs.
"I'm asking you to become my eternally mated goddess and bear my godlings. Generally, hand-fasting is a small part of that package, yeah. Although, if you don't want the ring..." he closed his fingers around the box, and her hands went involuntarily to stop him from blinking it out of existence.
He was surprised that her hands reached for the box. He only meant to tease her. He didn't truly mean to extract a promise yet.
"So what's the covenant?"
He considered. "That we'll complete the Divine Act on the Beltane following the commencement of our Greenspark...as long as my horns are fully regrown, of course. And in the meantime, that you will do what I ask, to stay safe, until you are unbreakable."
Dru's eyes glittered darkly. "I still remember how...she...how I... felt, when you took me by that Beltane fire." She reached up and wrapped her hands around his horns. "I remember your horns, huge and ebony, but reflecting the balefire. I remember holding on to them, so...incredibly aroused by your beauty...so terrified...I didn't know what it all meant. If I was just part of a Rite to you, or if you were claiming me as a mistress, or making me a goddess. I didn't care. I just remember feeling so...honored." Her voice was hoarse, and lilted, in Druantia's accent. "Until I realized you didn't even know me...you only saw Cerridwen."
Cernunnos stiffened at her words. He had never thought about that night, from Druantia's perspective. He realized now, he had disrespected her in the worst way.
" Tell me what I can do to make amends. To prove to you that I see you now." His voice was low. "I'll do anything."
"You're doing it," she replied, touching the velvet box. "I believe in this. I believe...we are good for other, Hearne. I trust you."
He raised himself up over her.
"Dru...tell me honestly...are you eager for this? To be with me...forever? Even if it comes with making an instant family?" He had to make sure.
She smiled and ran her hands up his arms. "I am so drawn to you, now I know why. Who wouldn't want to be your goddess, Cernunnos? Who wouldn't want to live forever with you? Who wouldn't want to bear the child of a god—of a man—like you?"
He was speechless. He kissed her lips tenderly.
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they were lighter—amber. "I want to finish my degree, though. Even if I take time off, and go back. It would be...a normal pregnancy? Like the normal amount of time?"
"No, not exactly. The pregnancy of a goddess is tied to the season cycle. A divine pregnancy on Beltane means the child is born on Yule."
"So, whatever Beltane I get pregnant...if it's before I graduate, I could still do a fall semester and take the following spring off. Maybe I could summer classes, and double up next year. Get ahead. If I worked really hard, I could maybe graduate in two, two and half years. Maybe even before the Greenspark..."
He blinked. She was seriously planning a pregnancy. A child. His child. His whole world was suddenly reeling with green hope.
He didn't tell her about the difficulty of growing a godling. He would take perfect care of her, make it as easy as possible. Once the child was borne, he suspected, as a newly empowered goddess with a godling to care for and the whole world before her, she would see things differently. He doubted she would want to go back to college life, but hell, if she thought she wanted to attend a few classes during the day and chase around a godling after, he'd certainly let her try. After all, he intended to continue working at Sabit, for the foreseeable future. He wanted to see if he turn this school into a hub of mystical learning.
It was a modern world. He was sure they could find a nanny. Maybe their Priestess would know a suitable witch...
Yeah. It could work. They could make it work.
Dru traced his scars over and over, still musing, still making plans. "Two, or three years would be perfect. We'll have time to ourselves, before...the baby comes."
Hearing Dru talk about having his baby made Hearne instantly hard again.
"I need more healing," he murmured, desiring his horns now much more than he cared about healing the burns on his legs. "But first," he held the box out to her, and then snatched it away as she reached for it.
"Dru Scott, will you covenant with me to be my goddess? Will you promise to let me keep you safe?"
Her eyes were smoky again, as she said. "This witch accepts your ring and returns my promise, Lord Cernunnos. I surrender my mortal existence into your care, until I surrender my soul into your making, on the Beltane after your horns and our Greenspark arise."
Hearne grinned at her high words. Druantia had always been rather...dramatic. He held out the box, curious to see her taste in jewelry.
His smile faded a little as he opened the box.
The ring inside was not at all what he expected, or what he would have chosen. He would have put a modern two carat solitaire diamond on her finger. One that brooked no question that the girl was taken.
Instead, Dru had chosen a modest black diamond—so black that it looked like onyx. The gem was mounted in silver petals, making the ring a black rose. Intricate vines and celtic symbols trailed the band, and the silver was tarnished in the crevices—giving the ring a lovely antique depth, but not the sheen of young love.
Druantia would have worn this in ancient times, but it was nothing at all like a modern engagement ring. No one, except maybe a witch, would see this ring and know it for the symbol it was. Certainly no man would know she was taken, no man would see them together and know from the ring that she was his.
"This is really your heart's desire?" Hearne asked slowly. "You wouldn't prefer something more...conventional? Showy?"
Dru's eyes were glittering with excitement.
"It's perfect."
Hearne put away his disappointment as he slipped on the ring, and tried to slip inside her. She accepted the ring, but wrapped her fingers around him softly, barring his entry.
He stayed on top of her, not giving up, but not forcing entry either. "Are you...too used, my love? I want to make love to seal our covenant, but I don't want to abuse any part of your beautiful body."
"Hmmm, I'm a little tender, but it's not that. That's actually kind of...a pleasurable pain." He chuckled and bit playfully at her throat. Now that they had broken the barrier of intimacy, and now that Dru was merging her modern aspect with Druantia's impulses, she was becoming more and more insatiable; he loved it. "It's just that...you're forgetting something..."
"I love you?" he suggested hopefully.
"That's nice. I love you, too...but don't you want our first child to be a godling, not a mortal?" she reminded him with a smile. He groaned and rolled toward the infernal box of barriers on the bedside table. She had a point, so he made a note to take responsibility for this part of their love-making, and not to complain again.
A/N: Finally! I'm curious what you guys think about Hearne and Dru. Dru's newly merged consciousness changes their vibe a little, huh? There's more boldness, but also more intimacy. So what do you think about their Covenant? Cernunnos is on track to get what he's wanted from the beginning, but do you think Dru is acting recklessly or does she finally have clarity? Did you notice the picture of Dru's engagement ring at the top of the chapter? There's a vote button around, if you like their new sexy vibe.