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Merlin snuck to Morgana’s chambers late at night. Her smirk-ish glare earlier in the day promised trouble for him—she was up to something nasty. And it was up to him to stop her. Who knew what evil she and Morgause had plotted for Camelot?
He opened her door as quietly as he could and didn’t see her immediately in front of him. But her voice issued from further inside her room. “I’ve been expecting you, Merlin. Come inside and close the door.”
“What are you planning, Morgana?” he asked as he closed the door behind him. A glance to the side confirmed she was standing at her table, facing him. He walked a little closer, all senses on alert.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She looked up from the mortar and pestle she was using. “I have a feeling you won’t be bothering me for much longer.” She grabbed something from the table, lifted her hand to her mouth, and blew. Her eyes lit up gold as whatever it was unnaturally traveled all the way to Merlin.
“What the—” he started.
“Gefiel on lufe in mé!” Morgana said powerfully.
The mix of herbs that he tried to brush off glowed gold and gave off a heady scent. He recognized the words to the spell and knew what she’d tried as his wards fought off the enchantment. It was one of the less-common love spells—the enchanted one was supposed to become slavishly devoted to the enchanter. He decided to play along to see what she wanted.
Morgana smiled wickedly. “Merlin, come over here and kiss me.”
Well that wasn’t very evil. “Yes, my love,” he replied. He then “obeyed” by walking over to her, putting a hand to her face to tilt her head up and pressing his lips to hers. He made it brief but lingering so she’d know how “devoted” he was to her.
“Mmm,” she said as they parted. “You’re better than I thought.”
“Thank you, milady.”
“Now, kiss me as the French do. I want to really feel how much you love me.”
Merlin sighed internally, but put up his other hand to hold her face between his hands. He gathered all the old feelings he’d once had for her then pressed their lips together firmer. She gasped, so he used that opportunity to lick his way into her mouth. He curled his tongue around hers then swiped at the roof of her mouth. Her knees nearly buckled but he dropped his hands to her hips. Once stable, she began tangling their tongues together, causing shivers to run through his body. It seemed his old feelings weren’t buried so deeply after all.
She paused for a moment to breathe then took his mouth this time. And she did it seemingly with a vengeance. Their tongues battled and she gave no quarter. He gave in and let her do what she liked. And not so surprisingly, he enjoyed it too. Her hands grabbed his tunic and pulled him so close he could feel every soft curve of her body.
Morgana broke away again, panting. Merlin was panting too, but held her eyes as she said, “Sit on the bed.”
Merlin glanced over to her bed and said mechanically, “Yes, my love.” He walked over to the bed and sat down on it. He watched Morgana sashay over, provocatively swinging her hips.
She stopped just in front of him and commanded him to take off his jacket and neckerchief. He obeyed without delay. Her eyes widened and she licked her lips before jumping up to straddle him, kneeling over his lap. She assaulted his lips for a few long moments before moving down his jaw and neck to his collarbone. By now his mind was so addled it was all he could do to hold her in place.
But it was becoming clear where Morgana intended this escapade of hers to go. And he was fairly uncomfortable with that conclusion. But he allowed himself to fall back so she had to lean over him to continue her assault on him.
After a couple minutes, he grabbed her waist and rolled them over. He pinned her hands above her head and she gave a little shriek of surprise. She smiled coyly and said, “Mmm, I like this aggressive you.”
“I’ll bet you do.” He attacked her neck with kisses before he remembered he needed to stop himself, to find out her plan. He bracketed her hips with his knees and broke away.
“Don’t stop now; I want you to make l—”
“That’s not going to work.”
“But—the spell!”
“Morgana, I know how to protect myself from magic. Now tell me, is this all there is to your plan?”
“Let me go!” She struggled to get out from under him but he held her.
“Tell me.”
“Yes, this is all I was planning to do. Just seduce you. The spell wasn’t meant to last that long.”
“Seduce me? Why?”
“Because not so long ago, I loved you. I still do.”
“You’re serious.”
“I wanted to see what you’d be like, like this.” She closed her eyes. “And I knew you wouldn’t if I just asked you.”
“You’ve sided with Morgause!”
“Merlin, please. I just—”
He released her hands and bent over to give her a single chaste kiss. “I understand.” He got up off of her and the bed, picked up his jacket and neckerchief and put them on. “I loved you too, you know. If you ever change your mind about Morgause, come find me.” He gave her a heartbreaking smile, turned and quietly left her chambers.
Morgana burst into tears and rolled to her side where she pondered his words. She eventually fell asleep this way, but hadn’t reached a conclusion. Having to choose between love and freedom wasn’t such an easy decision, after all.