their daughter had been chosen for the honour. And as for all her friends …
Magus had smiled at her eagerness, stooping to kiss her lightly on the lips. But Rowan had swayed slightly, her lips apart with longing, and before she knew it he was kissing her long and hard, one strong arm holding her upright as her knees went weak whilst the other hand found her full breast and caressed her with a perfect, knowing touch. On and on it went, his masculinity and passion overwhelming until she was breathless with desire. She was more than ready to lie down on the stone floor of the hot basement, with the white sheets billowing around them, and give herself to him there and then. Fortunately he had more control and reluctantly pulled away. She knew he was very aroused and his dark eyes had practically set her alight the way they burned with that black fire.
‘Well, Rowan,’ he’d chuckled a little shakily, ‘it promises to be a Beltane I’ll never forget. Save yourself for me, won’t you? No sneaking off before then with a Village boy.’
‘Oh no, sir!’ she’d breathed, her chest still rising and falling fast and a flush spreading up over the creamy skin of her throat. ‘It’s only you I want, nor ever will.’
He’d laughed at this.
‘I doubt that very much. Once I’ve given you a taste for it you’ll be favouring the whole Village I’m sure, a beautiful goddess like you. You were made for love with curves like those.’
He’d watched her with admiration as she straightened her clothing and did up a few of the buttons that had burst open under his eager hands. He’d tenderly smoothed the damp wispy curls off her face and kissed her once more, gently this time.
‘Tonight I’ll dream of you lying amongst the bluebells,’ he murmured.
Then he was gone and she was alone amongst the white sheets and the drying racks.
Rowan roused herself from her reverie, not wanting to start Beltane right now. She’d save that memory for later. As always when reliving her perfect moments with Magus, she came out of it feeling depressed and bitter. It had been so short-lived – Beltane itself and a few more times after that during the month of May when she’d managed to be in the right place at the right time. But by the end of May it was over for Magus had moved on to another for the Blue Moon at the end of the month – Miranda.
Rowan felt the familiar tide of jealousy flood through her. Why would he prefer a woman in her thirties, and an Outsider at that, to a ripe young girl like her? She knew she’d pleased him – she’d worn herself out pleasing him and she knew it had been good because he’d come back for more, which he rarely did. But then he’d passed her over for Miranda whom he’d continued to favour that summer, although Rowan knew that he’d been with others too including the young doctor up at the Hall. A man like her Magus needed many women and there was no shortage of offers. Rowan’s rapture at discovering she was carrying Magus’ baby – his first child, or so everyone had thought then, since Buzz – had been marred by the fact that a month later, Miranda had also fallen pregnant. The news had only added fuel to her resentment of the red-haired Outsider.
And then of course by the autumn he was sniffing around that skinny girl Sylvie. The gossip was that he was totally obsessed with her in a way he’d never, ever been with a Stonewylde girl, except perhaps Maizie, some said, several years before. He’d practically locked Sylvie up with him in his rooms throughout December and Rowan, heavily pregnant at the time, had wanted to die. She could’ve accepted him acting normally and having a different woman every Moon Fullness and every festival. But she couldn’t bear to think of him constantly with one girl and besotted with her. It twisted Rowan’s heart and made her baby leap inside her … and then at the Solstice, her beloved Magus had died. Yul and Sylvie – they were the ones to blame. Rowan had never forgiven them and she never would.
When her baby was born just after Imbolc she’d hoped desperately for a boy just like his father. But the tiny girl was beautiful and had Magus’ eyes. Rowan had named her Faun in memory of