by Liza James
I can see her relax in both her eyes and her body. “How did you know we were Fated?” she asks. She has no idea how different it feels compared to a blood bond.
“Because you wouldn’t bond to Nathanial when I brought you home that first night.” Stella visibly tenses in front of us but shows no reaction in her expression. “And because of how different this feels compared to anything I had with Amelia. You asked the first time we touched, if what we felt was normal. It’s not, because we’re so much more than simply bonded through blood. It was the only way I was able to find and heal you today.”
Luna accepts my answer with a gentle smile as she leans forward and quickly places a soft kiss against my lips. God, I want to take her right here, show her how much she means to me in more than what just words can provide. Then her face suddenly falls, and hesitancy pulls at her eyes.
“I saw something else,” she begins, and I urge her to continue as I brush my thumb across her lower lip. “Stella and I, when we were young. Stella was only a baby and I was barely a toddler.” She’s whispering, like she’s sharing a secret that I already know. Disbelief washes over me as I instantly know what she must have seen. Nathanial tenses as well and I instruct him to pull over on the side of the road.
“Show me,” I insist. But I glance up to Stella who is watching us intently. I nod pointedly at Nathanial as he gently turns her to face him. If this works, they’ll both see the vision anyway. But I need Stella in her right frame of mind to truly understand it.
“I don’t know how, Elijah. It just happened in flashes earlier,” she explains, but she does know by what means this can be initiated. We both do, we just haven’t tried to access it intentionally until now.
I take her hands and place them on either side of my face as I rest her forehead against my own. I lay my hands gently on her cheeks as our lips brush against each other with each breath. “Relive the memory, call it up in your mind and I will meet you there, my Luna.” I hungrily take her mouth with my own, easing her lips apart as we fall into a day that happened so many years ago.
Instantly, I’m thrown back in time and Luna pulls away in a rush as we find ourselves back in the middle of the woods. Stella gasps in surprise and fear as she watches the memory unfold around us. Nathanial takes her neck in his hand again, reassuring her safety as we find the two little girls left abandoned so long ago.
It plays out, and I feel the wave of nostalgia ripple through me as we see ourselves with wings again. But I would never take this moment back, never regret this decision in the slightest. However, I’m surprised at a portion of the memory I don’t recall. When Luna reaches her small hand forward and touches my wing. Reliving the memory like this sends an electric shock across my back where my scars now adorn me as flaws. I don’t remember Amelia telling us their names and by the look on Nathanial’s face, he doesn’t remember this part either.
Just as quickly everything shifts back around us, placing us each back in our respective seats in the Jeep and on the side of the road.
“How is that possible?” Stella asks quietly, and for the first time, I have a somewhat decent answer to her questions.
“From the very beginning I was drawn to Luna. It’s as simple as that for the time being.” My eyes don’t leave Luna’s as I speak the words and fall deeper into my Fated. Quiet tears fill her own and I brush them away before they can break free. Pulling her back into my arms, I press a soft kiss against her head as Nathanial drives us the rest of the way home.
Home.
I’m finally home. Finally comfortable in Elijah’s house, knowing there is nowhere else I’d rather be. Although, I don’t feel complete. I know there’s a piece of us missing. Something instrumental to our connection, the basis of us first coming together.
We just got back a few hours ago and the blood bond is still muted. It’s a silent tether that forcibly divides us by simply not giving us what we crave. My drug is being dangled in front of my face, held against my blood but never fully given into. It tempts me and arouses me but doesn’t satisfy the need I have for him.
I know he feels it. He’s twitchier than usual, constantly moving his hands across my skin in search of that fix we both need. Our only option was to call Esme and hope that her magic would be able to restore this disconnect within our blood.
“This is going to hurt,” the tall blonde says as she steps forward in front of the couch. Elijah and I are both sitting next to each other, his hand is wrapped possessively around my thigh as I lean into his side. I’m comfortable in long jogger pants and his sweatshirt which hides the scars that haven’t fully healed. I hate the sight of them, the markings she left me with to remind me of the poisonous words she said.
The painful comments about her and Elijah gnaw at my mind and fester in my chest. Without actually being able to feel what Elijah is truly thinking, I can’t help but question the validity of what she said. I believe everything he’s told me, I really do. But it’s different when I don’t have his resolve flowing easily through our bond.
“It can’t be worse than everything I went through last night,” I say sarcastically, and she offers me an apologetic smile.
Nathanial and Stella stand in opposite corners of the room, reinforcing the separation they generally maintain now that we are back in familiar territory. Stella is visibly nervous, chewing on her nails and fidgeting restlessly in the corner. I smile at her, conveying my confidence in what we’re doing with my eyes.
“Thank you for this, Esme.” Elijah’s voice breaks through the tension in the room, solidifying the fact that we truly are going through with this complex spell.
She nods and motions for both of us to rise. “Elijah, you stand behind Luna. Go ahead and wrap your arms around her waist. You will want to hold on to each for this.”
I feel Elijah’s heat as it wraps around me and I sink back into his embrace. I rest my hands against his arms and focus on the touch of his skin against mine.
“Everything over the last eighteen hours will hit you at once. All of it. Elijah, everything you missed while she was gone, every ounce of pain she went through, every spike of fear will course through you. The same goes for you Luna, any terror or anger he experienced, you will feel as well. I know you both experience flashes of visions at times and there is a chance that will happen again. It’s something you need to be aware of if you’re ripped into that moment.”
My heart begins hammering in my chest at her warning, the last thing I want to do is relive anything over last night again. But if this is the only way we can restore the blood bond, then I will give anything to have it back.
“Nathanial and Stella, I suggest you both leave. Elijah and Luna will need the time to find their balance again.” She turns towards us, “As soon as I know the spell has worked and your blood is cleansed, I will leave as well. You will both be left alone, which is exactly what you need.”
I can see the hesitation in Nathanial and Stella’s eyes, neither of them wants to leave us but they have know it’s for the best. Nathanial nods to the front door as the two of them quickly leave the house.
Esme begins once we’re alone by lighting a small bundle of sage she has tied together with twine. She steps closer to us and immediately I feel the undeniable strength that surrounds her. She’s powerful, and even alone, without a Fated mate, she’s incredibly strong. I can’t begin to imagine what she’s capable of.
She starts slowly walking around us, chanting words I vaguely recognize as what I believe may be Enochian. They filter through my ears and begin pricking at my blood. I feel it, the way her magic is strangely seeping in through my skin.
My heart rate kicks up and I close my eyes, focusing on Elijah’s warmth surrounding me. My breaths quicken and I forcibly slow them to try and calm the rising force inside of me. Elijah tightens his arm around my waist and wraps his other around the front of my shoulders and chest as he pulls me against him.
Esme stops in front of us, I can tell because all of my sen
ses are enhanced. I keep my eyes closed but I feel her presence directly in front of me. Her voice grows louder and the pull in my blood grows stronger. It feels like the spell is literally withdrawing from me—my strength, my essence, the toxic poison of the pill. It’s infected me far more than I realized because every one of my organs is responding in a sudden stretch of pain and panic.
I can’t hold back the sharp whimper that falls from my mouth and I feel Elijah stiffen around me. My lips fall open as I try to maintain the pace of my breath. My chest falls and rises in heavy motions and Elijah has to hold me together as he suddenly begins trembling around me.
“Support each other. Focus on each other. Feel the blood bond as it comes rising back to the surface. Pull it out of the blood that flows between you both,” Esme shouts over the loud chaos that begins invading the space around us. Everything seems louder. Our breaths, the rushing of blood in our veins, the sound of our bodies moving against each other with every exhale.
I hear Elijah groan behind me, a painful and dark sound that transforms into a dangerous growl at the back of my neck. My knees weaken and everything becomes too overwhelming. Elijah tries to hold us both up, but we surrender to the fall and slide to the ground as I collapse against his chest. He keeps us tangled together, and my hands seek his skin as I lift them and cling to his warmth.
I sense when Esme leaves the room. She does it silently, her presence is no longer here. Her magic, however, is in full force as it continues ripping through us and everything begins shifting in the room.
I don’t want to open my eyes because I know what’s happening. I feel the anger and fear that doesn’t belong to me, rising in my gut. It’s Elijah’s, his emotions from last night shredding my flesh as the memory is relived around us.
But just as I’m experiencing his nightmare, he’s reliving every moment of mine. Our clashing visions come colliding around us. I pry my eyes open as my fingers dig into the skin of Elijah’s arms. His body is rock hard behind mine, a dangerous mix of volatile rage and fury at what surrounds us.
It’s a deadly storm of chaos and revelations. I hold on to him for my life, because if I let go, I know I’ll drown in a sea of anguish. Everything mixes in two messy visions. I see myself pressed to the ground as Camden climbs my back and reveals his involvement in that night seven years ago. I watch as Amelia takes her blade and slices through my skin, hear the words she spewed into my ears about Elijah.
I feel the blazing anger burn through him and into me. I uncontrollably arch my back as the pain pierces through my blood and the bond begins restoring new life. I watch as the vision shows Elijah rushing through the club, breaking down every door he passed as he shouted my name into the empty spaces. I feel his pain and regret as they drove endlessly without any idea of where I was. I see Stella crying in the back of the Jeep and watch as Nathanial fails to comfort either of them.
Suddenly it’s there. Thriving between us. Pumping so strongly it’s nearly bursting at the seams with our heavy emotions. The blood bond is at full force as the vision shatters around our bodies. Elijah’s trembling hand grips the side of my face as he tears me back to press his forehead against my own.
His thumb drifts down the front of my throat, touching, connecting, absorbing the feeling of my skin against his while both our Fated and blood bonds pulse with new life. My head falls back as the pain flows from our bodies, leaving us with a new energy that demands the same attention.
My body shifts from the messy pain into a needy desire to claim Elijah once again. I feel the change in him as well as he frantically drops his hands to the hem of my sweatshirt and rips it up and over my head. I’m leaning back against his chest and his hands fall around me, his rough fingers grazing over every inch of my skin as he explores my body.
“More,” I choke out, reaching back to grip his shirt so that he knows I need to feel him as well. He responds quickly, ripping his own shirt over his head and dropping it the ground beside us. I lean back again and consume the heat of his flesh against my colder torso.
My hand rises to the back of his neck as he presses his lips against my ear, sucking my lobe in between his teeth before his tongue slides out and down the length of my jaw. He presses hard, hungry kisses against me, tasting me and eating at me while my body arches against his.
“Fuck, Luna,” he growls and I turn my head towards his in search of his lips. He takes my mouth harshly, savoring me while we’re alone and can finally give in to each other on our own terms. “Everything she said was a lie. Feel that, know that in here,” his hand slides to rest over my heart as he takes my lip and sucks it into his mouth before deepening the kiss even more. His tongue slips inside, clashing with mine in a hungry battle for satisfaction.
“I want every part of you. The Angel. The Demon. Every dark and dangerous corner, every bright space that claims you. I take them all and demand each piece as my own.” His hands slide to the thin straps of my bra as he slowly tugs them down my shoulders and exposes my breasts. His thumb brushes across one of my nipples, pulling and rolling it until I’m moaning against his neck. “I want to consume every inch of you. Devour you and destroy you until you’re writhing beneath me and begging for what only I can give you.”
His other hand slips to the waist band of my pants as his fingers slide underneath and find my bare pussy, soaking wet and aching for him. He groans against my shoulder as his teeth nip and pull at my skin. His tongue slips against the same space, dragging up the side of my neck until he’s whispering against my ear again. “Life. Passion. Energy. Satisfaction.”
He dips his finger down to my opening, slicking through my wetness and bring it back up to soak my clit. My legs fall apart for him as my hips roll against his hand, seeking to be filled in any way that he’ll give me.
“I fuck you because I need you. Because your body calls to me in ways I’ve never felt before. I fuck you because my blood calls out to yours, demanding the fix it craves from what only you can give me.” He plunges two fingers inside of me, going deep as I cry out and succumb to his hold. His other hand leaves my breasts and grasps the base of my jaw as he turns my head back to him. His lips graze mine as he continues speaking in that dark, dangerous voice that affects me just as strongly as his touch. “But I fuck you in the same breath that I make love to you. Because I do, Luna. I love you. More than anything or anyone that came before. More than anything that could ever happen in the future. I belong to you. You own me in every way that could ever exist.”
An orgasm quickly erupts inside of me as my pussy grips his fingers. He continues sliding inside of me while I ride it out against him. He’s quick to pull out and twist us so that I’m on my back on the floor beneath him and he hovers over me.
“I love you,” I say the words as his lips fall to mine and he rolls his hard cock against my aching core. His hands grip my pants and panties in one motion as he yanks them down my body. He lifts my legs by the back of my knees and spreads me wide open for him as he sits back. I watch while his eyes hungrily fall to the apex of my thighs and his fingers drop to my wetness.
He lets one finger slide through my slit, slick and hot as his eyes lift to watch my reaction. I whimper at the slight touch, begging for more as he gently pulls my thighs even further apart and slowly slips his finger inside me. He’s pacing himself, agonizingly slow as he begins building me back up in need and desire for him. His thumb rubs against my clit as he pumps that one finger in and out, in and out.
“Give me more, Elijah. I need more,” I say as I roll my hips against his hand in search of that friction. He plays with me, continuously taking me incrementally closer to an orgasm, but not nearly enough to throw me over.
His lips fall to my ear as he comes above me. “Beg for it,” he demands and suddenly the air around us turns hot and thick with a darker desire. He halts his movements, slowly pulling himself away as I’m left painfully empty.
“Please. I need you. Fuck me Elijah,” I plead on a breathless moan as his li
ps move to the center of my chest and work down my body.
“Not yet, m’aingeal. I’m taking my time with you.” He lifts my legs and drops them over his shoulders as his mouth roughly takes my pussy. I feel his tongue slide through me, tasting and eating me before he trails it up to my clit. He sucks the sensitive bud into his mouth, biting before soothing the sting he intentionally gave me.
“So good, Luna. You taste so fucking sweet. Like my own personal poison.”
My hand slides into his hair as my hips uncontrollably start grinding against his face. His tongue dives into my pussy, going deep as he fucks me with his mouth. His hands grip my hips tightly as he pulls me against him, shifting and moving me so that we’re working as one to draw out my orgasm.
“Fuck, Elijah. God, more. Please,” I beg him, needing to feel his thick cock inside me.
“Soon, mo dheamhan. Soon.” He tugs my clit between his teeth as he slides two fingers inside of me and begins working me over while new sensations rush through me. The painful bite of his teeth and soft stretching of my pussy around his fingers is overwhelmingly delicious.
But I’m greedy, and now my body is begging for his rough touch and hard fuck. So, I reach down to his head and tangle my fingers in the strands of his hair as I pull him up back up to my face. I take his mouth with my own as he groans into me. I lick his lips and delve into his mouth, tasting my own wetness on him and becoming that much needier to have him inside of me. I lift my lips to his ear, brushing them along the shell as I speak.
“I need you to fuck me. Hard and dark like only you can do to me,” I whisper as I push him back and throw my leg across his waist. I quickly unzip his jeans and roughly tug them down his thick thighs. His black briefs are tight and hold back his long, heavy cock which begs to be inside me.