"Do it," I said, gritting my teeth as I felt an orgasm begin. If I came while he bit, it wouldn't be as bad. The sensations of discomfort and disappointment washed away in utter blissful release.
I felt Theo thicken, harden even further, if that was at all possible. He'd been big before, stretching me, filling me, taking me somewhere I'd never experienced except with him. The thought of biting me turned him on, and he'd been pretty well beyond turned on to begin with, but now with the permission to go ahead and claim me as only a Thisavros would claim his mate, he was about to explode.
It didn't matter that we both knew it wouldn't work. Nico had been right, even without the supernatural connection, Theo and I were Thisavros in our hearts and bodies and minds. Our souls may not have had that honour, but the rest of us willingly accepted it as fate.
His lips pressed against my skin, his tongue licked, sending me over the edge and falling, falling, falling, and then teeth bit down, skin depressed and I waited, waited, waited, for the pain of flesh tearing.
But it didn't come. The climax too great. I cried out, my mind blanked, and then as stars exploded and lights flashed and somewhere in the world, but feeling too close by far, lightning struck making glass shatter and ozone to mix with burning wood and the scent of the fresh grass and thick forests to assail my nose, I felt it.
Joy. Happiness. Desire for more, for him to never stop, to keep biting and licking and pumping and thrusting and sending me dizzyingly up and up and around and around until I came with a shout of surprise and awe, and Theo followed with a loud groan of triumph.
He panted as he kept pumping, his teeth free from my skin as his lips found my ear and he whispered through the fog of utter completion, "Take me. All of me. Take my body, my heart, my seed. Thisavros."
He shuddered, buried himself deep, and emptied all of what he was inside in an exquisite display of virility and sexuality and golden, love-filled eyes.
Thisavros. I closed my eyes as realisation hit and the world, for that small moment, felt perfect and right.
Theo sank to the cold floor on his knees, my legs still wrapped tightly around him, my chest pressed hard against his, my face buried in his neck and my arms holding on for dear life as I sobbed. Body racking convulsive gasps, tears streaking down my cheeks and falling on his still too hot skin; ugly, desperate noises and too frantic clawing to stay connected and close and never let him go.
It was embarrassing. It was cathartic. It was the release of months of agony, days of torment, and a lifetime's - no, an eternity's - worth of love for this man, this preternatural powerful being. This beautiful creature who had chosen me as his mate and despite everything everyone threw at us, despite separations, and memory loss, and the world coming to an end, he chose again.
He let me cry. He held me tenderly, whispering in Greek in my ear, words I didn't understand but needed, soft touches, smooth strokes of his hand down my back, gentle kisses against my temple, in amongst my hair.
Then when I finally cried myself out, so exhausted, but invigorated and full of life and hope and utter blissful contentment, he pulled back and looked down at me, such tenderness in his golden gaze. He brushed my hair off my face, our bodies still intimately connected, Pyrkagia still dancing along the surface of our skin.
"It's back," he said simply, and all I could do was nod and sniff and offer a wide, watery smile.
We stared at each other for what felt like minutes, soaking in features, letting the sensation of a Thisavros connection sink in. Savouring it.
Then Theo sucked in a shocked breath of air and I swear, even in the dim light I saw a sheen over his eyes, as he whispered, voice reverential and in awe, "I remember. Cassandra, I remember."
"What?" I said, ineloquently.
"Everything. Laying eyes on you the first time I walked in your store. Flirting with you every day for almost a year. Watching you blossom and gain courage and start to flirt back. The day Gi showed itself in your kitchen out the back. The green that shone in your eyes and nearly brought me to my knees. Our first kiss. Taking you for the first time. Everything. Every single beautiful, frightening moment. I remember."
"How?" I really wasn't up to stringing words together. This was surreal. Unbelievable.
A dream.
"The Thisavros connection," Theo guessed. "Whatever my father did was tied to that."
"I don't understand," I managed.
"We'll talk to Aktor, he may know something. But, Oraia, I remember." His smile said it all. The boyish grin he rarely showed the world, the joy and excitement that reached his eyes.
And then I felt him harden inside me. The grin turned wicked. The glint in his eyes sensual.
He reached out and pulled our clothes over, spreading them behind my back and then laying me down on top.
"Again," he purred, starting to rock his hips, growing evermore thicker and longer and harder inside me. Stretching me and making a flood of wetness invade my core.
"Theo," I gasped, as he circled his hips and ground against just the right spot.
"I have a mind to fill you with my seed again," he advised quite reasonably against my neck. His lips smoothing over pebbled skin and finding his Thisavros mark. He kissed it, then licked, then sucked.
My back bowed.
"Now is not the time to get pregnant," I commented in a puff of air as his thrusts increased in force. All this talk of "seed" sounded a bit too purposeful. I'd always known how difficult it was for Athanatos to procreate, but maybe saying it aloud while doing the deed helped.
"It's my need to mark you," he rasped against my cheek, hot breath fanning my skin, hot body gliding over hotter flesh. "A Thisavros reunion, when significant time apart has transpired, is primal," he explained, managing to get words out between thrusts, the punctuation of his hard pumps inside me making him grunt on the end of each segment spoken.
It was such a turn on.
"Oh," I managed and he rumbled in laughter, twirling his hips and pushing up on muscled arms to watch me fall apart beneath him.
My eyes flicked open and found gold staring down above me, transfixed with what he saw on my face.
"I want to get inside you," he declared, then thrust, slow and measured. "I want to empty myself, fill you up." Another thrust, slow and measured. "I want you smelling of me." Thrust. "Covered in me, inside and out." Thrust. "Wearing my mark on your shoulder." Thrust. "Growing my child inside." Thrust. "I want to shout to the world, you are mine." Thrust. "I want you screaming loud enough for every male in the city to hear I satisfy you beyond measure." Thrust. And then two more as his eyes closed and his nose flared and he moaned low and long.
Utter turn on.
I came again in a rush, his hips circling and grinding, pumping and thrusting, making me fall apart in every way possible. My limbs weak, my body glowing, my heart soaring.
He moved, placed one arm under my hips lifting my rear up and allowing him deeper inside.
"I may not be able to stop this," he announced, his jaw tightening, the words pushed through clenched teeth.
I could see his orgasm approaching, it was fascinating to watch his body curl and tighten, to feel his shaft thicken and harden, to sense the impending explosion as a tangible thing.
"I may need to fuck you for the rest of the day," he managed on a low growl from the back of his throat.
"Fuck," I breathed, intending to argue the point that this wasn't fucking, it was making love, but that was the only word I could get out.
Theo chuckled, picked up speed and said, "You're right. This is mating."
Ah, what?
"Take me, Oraia. Milk me. Aetheros, I am yours."
"Yours," I repeated, but what I meant was, I was his, not the other way around.
He smiled, held my gaze determinedly, and then let me see him come. His shaft again buried deep, his big body shuddering above me, his lips parted and a gasp of delight escaping as he filled me with his seed.
It felt right. Those words. Archaic
and foreign to my ears, but right. Because as Theo held my gaze throughout it, and I felt the well of his release deep inside, I swear I heard Aetheros sigh.
A sound of hope and expectation, of resounding joy and a sense of anticipation.
The first sign that maybe this wasn't the end of the world, but the beginning of something else.
Something beautiful and frightening and so very special.
Something that Theo was giving me and I, unknowingly, was giving him in return.
Life.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Come Dance, Aether
Theo looked a little stunned. Actually, as we sat up and began to dress, I'd go as far as saying he looked shocked.
I frowned at his extraordinarily perfect butt, before he pulled his trousers on and hid it from me.
"So," I started and he turned back around to face me as he pulled on his shirt. "A mini Theo or Casey running around?"
An amused smile banished the shell-shocked look of before.
"I seriously doubt that," he offered, helping me into my own t-shirt. "It is notoriously difficult for our kind to procreate." As I'd already suspected. "Some say it takes an act of our god to conceive."
He obviously hadn't heard Aetheros' joyous sigh.
"Did you not intend for that to happen?" I asked, tentatively. Had he just got carried away in the moment?
"Nothing's happened, Casey," he argued softly. "Other than our Thisavros connection being re-established and somehow returning my memories to me. Which is just as well," he went on, reaching forward to do up my jeans with the utmost of care. "Now is not the time to bring new life into the world."
A part of me desperately wanted to argue that fact, because deep inside it felt so very right. Although, logic made me reconsider the notion. Of course now was not the right time. What was wrong with me?
"So, all that talk about taking your seed was spur of the moment," I pressed, unsure why I was pushing this at all.
Theo paused. His eyes turning thoughtful. "No," he said with a shake of his head, still with that contemplative expression on his face. "I meant it, when I said it. I just hadn't realised I wanted it until then."
"Well," I offered, thinking he needed a lifeline. "I guess the reunion makes us do things we hadn't expected."
"The reunion would make me want to mark you, possess you, and exert that claim for all to see, but impregnating you is all on me. Just wishful thinking. And perhaps the influx of memories all at once." He turned a dazzling, Theo Peters smile on me. "Delicious and beautiful memories."
I shook my head at him, unable to hide my smile as well.
"Let's tell the others," he declared, gripping my hand and starting back towards the arched ceiling area of the cellar.
"They probably heard," I muttered, heat washing up my face.
"I should hope so," Theo replied pleasantly. "I worked very hard to effect that result."
My eyebrows shot up my forehead.
"You covered my mouth!" I exclaimed.
"I was attempting to be a gentleman."
I gaped. He laughed. It was free and light and utterly sensational.
"I am far from a gentleman, Cassandra. You should know that by now."
I wanted to call him on that, but we'd made it back to the main area, and the smell of something being cooked over the open flames.
"Oh, good," Theo announced. "Dinner. I'm famished."
And all eyes turned towards us, landing on my blushing face with way too much awareness for my liking. I scanned the area, unable to find Mark and Isadora, and felt infinitely better about their obvious absence. Which was quickly followed by a frown at what that absence actually meant and the fact it was my brother with the cow.
I liked Sonya's new nickname for Isadora. I was thinking that could stay.
"I'm afraid we're on to the tinned stew," Aktor announced, stirring the contents in a pot over the brazier. "But it doesn't smell too offensive and is full of protein."
"We could use protein," Theo declared, depositing me on the couch beside a now upright Sonya and then walking over to a shelf and pulling down a bottle of wine. "And a drink to celebrate," he added.
"The return of your Stoicheio," Nico supplied, a note of something poignant in his tone.
My eyes flicked from a smirking Sonya, who'd been having a "I know what you've been doing" staring match with me, towards him. He was looking up at Theo as he opened the bottle with what could only be longing. I felt my brow furrow.
Then it clicked.
"Your Stoicheio didn't come back?" I asked, understanding the longing I saw on his face now.
"No," he said, pulling his eyes away from Theo, who had opened the bottle and then stilled on Nico's words, staring down at his cousin sitting in a pile of cushions at Sonya's feet.
"Nothing?" Theo asked.
Both Aktor and Nico shook their heads in reply.
Theo's eyes lifted to mine.
"We have both had ours returned," he announced, albeit carefully. "Isadora?" he queried.
"She hasn't either," Aktor supplied. "But Marcus has access to his Water and Air."
"Well, that makes no sense at all," Theo remarked, finding clean glasses in a wooden crate and checking them for dust. He poured out a glass of red wine and then walked over and handed it to me. His eyes held mine, a depth of love and recognition in them I hadn't seen for far too long.
Tears welled and he smiled.
"I do not have an answer," he said, addressing Nico. "But this celebration is not for our returned Stoicheio."
"It's not?" Aktor asked.
"No," Theo said, his eyes once again on my face as he held out a glass to Sonya beside me.
"He's back," Sonya announced, taking the offered drink and raising it in a mini toast to my Thisavros.
Aktor stopped stirring the stew and hurried over, his eyes scanning Theo's face and then flicking to mine.
"Oh, Aetheros," he exclaimed. "This is a celebration." Then he hurried away down an aisle in search of something he needed right that very instant, no doubt.
"The Thisavros connection?" Nico enquired.
"Indeed," Theo replied, handing him a glass. "Strong, if my reaction was anything to go by."
"You don't say?" Nico offered with a smirk.
"I advise you keep well away from Cassandra, cousin," Theo added. "Precautionary measure, of course."
"Of course," Nico agreed, grinning profusely and then offering me a wink.
Aktor came barrelling back into the open space then, several boxes under his arms and muttering merrily.
"We'll feast," he announced, loud enough for everyone to hear. "A celebration is much needed right now."
He stirred the stew eagerly, then turned his attention to his packages, as Theo placed a glass of wine beside his old friend, on a barrel similar to the one he'd just screwed me senseless on.
I watched as Theo's fingers brushed the edge of the barrel, and then golden, lust-filled eyes flicked up to my face. I felt the heat rise on my cheeks, even as I grinned at him.
He poured himself a glass and walked over, sinking into the seat at my side.
"To your returned Thisavros," Nico announced, lifting his glass in a toast. Everyone stopped what they were doing and repeated the toast, taking a sip of delicious wine.
"I do hope this is the turning point," Aktor declared, unwrapping his precious parcels and placing what looked like crackers and antipasto - sundried tomatoes, olives, and oiled feta - out in dishes to the side. A Mediterranean feast.
"Do you have your memories, Theo?" Nico asked, taking another more relaxed sip of wine and falling into the celebratory atmosphere despite his lack of Stoicheio.
"Yes, thank Aetheros," he replied, slipping his hand into mine and bringing the back of it up to his lips for a sweet kiss.
"Oh, this is a happy day indeed," Aktor declared, bringing his feast over to us and placing it on a low pedestal, that must have housed candles or some such thing from the look of al
l the melted wax.
"But what are we going to do about your Stoicheio?" I asked, snuggling into Theo's side and nibbling on a cracker.
"Let's not worry about that right now," Aktor chided gently. "It will all fall into place."
I doubted that, and as the conversation rose around me, even Sonya getting in on the joyous atmosphere, I sent a tendril of thought out to Earth and Fire, unwilling to confront Air just yet.
Are you there? I asked and held my breath.
Aether, they both intoned, one grounded and serious, one playful and frisky.
What's happening out there? I asked, taking a fortifying sip of my wine before they could answer.
A sigh. A mournful hiss from the fire.
The world dies, Earth said. We need you, it added. Aether, come save us.
Save us, Aether, Fire added, to push the message home.
I stared into the red liquid in my glass, remembering the blood coating the streets above, and I knew our reprieve was not over. I had my Stoicheio back. I had my Thisavros back. But I did not have the answer to Genesis.
How do I stop this? I demanded them both.
Silence was my only reply.
What do I do? I begged and the only sounds was those of my companions laughing despite the still oncoming threat.
I shook my head and Theo turned to me, concern washing away the delight he'd just displayed.
"What is it, Oraia?"
"It's not over," I replied.
The room fell quiet on my words.
Then Theo murmured, "One night. That's all I ask. One night to enjoy having you back."
I reached up and cupped his cheek tenderly, infusing my touch with Pyrkagia because I could. His eyelids fluttered closed and he sighed a blissfully contented sigh.
My hand fell down when I realised Aktor and Nico were watching us, and I shouldn't have been rubbing our returned Stoicheio in their faces. Neither looked angry, just wistful. But still.
"They won't tell me what to do," I announced, knowing we had no choice but to address this. Time was not on our side. Each new Genesis event had happened quite quickly after the last. We couldn't hide down here. Like Mark had said, the next might be Water and we'd be flushed out anyway, even if our responsibilities called to us and we pretended we couldn't hear them.
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