Immortal Promise

by Magen McMinimy

  “You’re cryptic and infuriating sometimes.”

  “And you are lucky I care for you as I do, or I could smite you for speaking to me in that tone.”

  She shook her head as he smirked at her… He was kidding… well, mostly. She had no doubt he could do some smiting, but there was no real threat to her where he was involved. He was like her Fae father or brother, but she already had a solid group of brothers.

  “Just know that everything will work out as it is meant to, and I believe you and yours will be okay in the end.”

  Izzy smirked, something Kale had once told her sparked a thought. “Do the rules the Immortal Three have with the brothers apply to you and your brothers when dealing with Rowan or me, for that matter?”

  Makyle arched a brow. “Acacia has a big mouth. You aren’t supposed know about that rule.”

  “So they do apply? You can’t lie to me.”

  “Technically, no. But be aware of what you ask me now.”

  “Do you know where Lothar is?”

  “I do not.”

  “Do your sisters know where he is?”

  “I do not know.”

  “Is Lothar alive?”

  “Yes.” Makyle smiled at her.

  “But he is off your radar for some reason?”

  “Yes, now no more questions. You need to feed.”

  “One more.” She smiled as sweetly as she could at him.

  Makyle sighed. “One more.”

  “Do you know who the vampire that flashed him away is?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you tell me?”

  “Not unless you can guess.”

  Makyle pushed his wrist towards her and arched a brow as he drew a blade across it. “Drink up before my blood spills and ruins Rowan’s furniture”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “How long until they retaliate?” Jaeb asked Darion.

  Darion shook his head, moving to the large window that looked out upon the dark forest below. Yanking on a thick, gold rope, Darion drew the burgundy velvet drapes over the cool glass.

  Darion knew the Light would come upon him; they were cautious though, so he knew he had some time. During that time, he would continue to mess with them while he figured out how to draw Esperanza to his side. Permanently. He knew it wouldn’t take much. He just needed to show her what she could look forward to at his side.

  “What will you do next?” Jaeb asked.

  What would he do next? That would have something to do with the wretch Katarina. She needed to pay for rising against him, but how to get to her with the blasted warrior glued to her was the real issue.

  “Perhaps next I will deal with Jake and the seer. That should hit Katarina where it counts.”

  Jaeb smiled. A wicked twist to his plump lips, he had a feminine air about his features, but with that smile, he was rather cruel looking.

  “You sneer at her name.”

  “I sneer at the thought of all of them. They should have been thankful for what you gave them. I do miss Synawen, though. She was quite fun.”

  Darion smiled. “She was. However, she is the past and no longer a need of mine.”

  “Ah, but Lady Esperanza?”

  Darion moved to the bed where Jaeb sat. “We will not be discussing Lady Esperanza. She is of no one’s concern other than mine. Now, I am finished talking about this as you are not a member of my council or part of my guard.”

  The beautiful nymph closed his eyes as Darion ran one finger across the smooth skin of Jaeb’s cheek. “I have already summoned Ardea. Shall we get started without her?” Darion reached for the tie at his waist. The long, green robe he wore fell open around his sculpted body. With a hard stare, Jaeb slipped from the bed to his knees in front of his Lord.

  The door to Darion’s chambers opened, and Ardea slipped inside.

  Darion lifted his gaze from Jaeb as the nymph leaned forward. He smiled at the magma, who began undressing as she made her way to the two men. “You’re just in time.”

  ****

  Esperanza watched as Ardea slipped through the thick, wooden doors that led to Darion’s chambers. Something was up with the little fairy. She had met Esperanza with barely veiled animosity as she tended to her, becoming her lady in waiting over the past week. However, tonight when Darion had summoned her to his room, the young woman had smirked with satisfaction. As if she had just won some sort of challenge against her. Well, the little fairy would soon learn that Esperanza didn’t lose. Ever. She got her way. Always, and what she wanted, she took… right now, she wanted Darion and all that came with him. Power.

  With a twist on her lips, the challenge accepted, and confidence free flowing through her veins, Esperanza rapped against the thick wood that Ardea had closed behind her. “Open the door, Darion.”

  The door swung open slowly, the space filling with Darion’s sweaty, sculpted frame. Naked and hard. Her eyes drifted lower to his thick erection standing at attention. Esperanza licked her lips.

  Darion smirked at her. “Esperanza, what a delicious surprise.”

  She peered past him to the fairy and a male nymph naked on the bed. Her eyes drifted back to Darion’s smug face. She arched a brow and smiled right back at him. “Delicious indeed.” Stepping closer, she grasped Darion’s erection, stroking it softly. “Get rid of the fairy, and it will be downright decadent.”

  Darion gripped her hand that lightly stroked him. Squeezing harder, he forced her hand to jerk him roughly, his eyes sliding closed. “Ardea, you’re dismissed.”

  The fairy didn’t argue as she got off the bed and dressed quickly, fire flickering in her eyes as she passed Esperanza.

  Esperanza smiled cruelly back at her, shutting the door on the retreating fairy.

  ****

  It was unexpected and unreal. Darion stood at the cracked drapes, letting the rays of a new day peek into his chambers. His left shoulder held a mark. A gray-scale, tattoo-style infinity symbol rested over a black rose with lavender highlights. His gaze moved to the beautiful, blonde-haired, lavender-ice eyed woman. Esperanza was naked in his bed, the cover resting just below her breasts. A matching mark decorated her skin just below her left collarbone. Years of searching and capturing succubi to satiate his feeding, and he had finally found his true mate.

  The mother of his enemy was the one person who controlled the calling of the incubus that dwelled within him. Darion played the evening over, the way she had entered his room after forcing him to kick Ardea from the chambers. She had stripped on her way to his bed. The woman knew what she wanted and worked her body to get it. A beautiful body that was taut and well treated—it put some of the youngest women he had taken to his bed to shame.

  She was perfect, and she was his. There was nothing that would make him give her up now. He would go to war for the conniving and cruel woman who just stole his heart. The black rose was a perfect match for them.

  Darion moved back to the bed, staring down at his most prized possession. He felt his cock stiffen, her breasts were rising and falling with every deep, sleep-filled breath she took. Pulling the covers off her, Darion moved to lie next to her. Shoving his fingers through her hair, he jerked her head back and nipped at the skin of her throat.

  She responded as he had hoped, a moan passing through her lips before she reached out and dug her nails into the flesh of his arm.

  “Is that any way to wake a lady?” she chided.

  “I will wake my lady any way I want to,” he growled, before rolling on top of her, forcing his knees between her thighs. “It’s just me and you now. No Jaeb to get in the way of what I want to do with you.”

  She laughed at him, a wicked smirk gracing her lips. “You ran him off pretty quickly last night.”

  Darion dropped his lips to hers, crushing her with a brutal kiss. “He didn’t understand the rules.”

  “And what are the rules, Darion?”

  “He touches you only when I see fit. And because of this mark,” he tapped his shoulder, “you a
re mine, Therefore, I decide what he can and cannot do to you.”

  Esperanza eyes widened as she took in the true-mate mark. “And here I thought you were a lying bastard when you told me the legend of the true-mate mark all those years ago.”

  Darion ran his fingers over her collarbone to caress her mark. “I told you, you should have let me fuck you all those years ago.”

  She smirked. “Well, this is unexpected. However, it means I decide who gets to do what to you as well.”

  Darion smiled down at her before thrusting deeply into her heated sheath.

  “Seems we have some things to discuss.”

  He pulled out, and then thrust back into her hard.

  “You’re taking this news rather well,” he noted.

  She scoffed. “I don’t run from what I want. You have what I want. Power.”

  “That I do, Essie, that I do.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Lothar watched as the sun dipped past the horizon. He had left Holly hidden in tonight’s shelter while he collected some berries for their dinner. The goblins had cautioned him from the waters, a warning he would think about tomorrow. For right now, the berries would have to suffice. He was getting hungry, but the fruit was tiding him over for now. They had collected some mandarins on their walk. They were still following the river, hoping that the goblins were wrong about their chances of getting off the island.

  Lothar leapt to the tree house Holly was able to conjure. The full night’s sleep and a quick sip of his blood had refilled her power, allowing her to call her magic and make a real shelter for the night. Pushing open the door, he stepped into the studio-style room. It was lit with sparkling orbs that flitted and twinkled above them. Holly sat on a small couch, her knees pulled to her chest, and a distant look in her eyes. The awe of the unicorns and the goblins had long worn off and something dark had settled on her just after she finished creating a home for them for the night.

  Holly closed her eyes, chanting softly. When she opened her purple eyes, a slight smile graced her lips. “A shielding spell, nothing will see or hear us up here now.”

  Good, Lothar thought. “Are you ready to eat? We’re having fruit salad tonight.”

  She nodded and rose from the couch to take a seat at the small dining table. Lothar placed a bowl of mixed fruit in front of her as he took a seat across the table. Silence reigned in the room as he finished his food. Her bowl of fruit remained untouched as she sat quietly and avoided eye contact, keeping her face cast down at her hands in her lap.

  Lothar scented the salty wetness before catching sight of the tear she attempted to hide.

  He pushed back from the table and moved to kneel next to her, pushing her chair away from the table so he could kneel between her legs. Cupping her face, he forced her to look at him.

  “Don’t cry; it is going to be fine.”

  She sniffled, trying to hold back the sobs that threatened to wrack her body. “We’re stuck here, and it’s all my fault.”

  Lothar shook his head. “We’ve been over this; it was not your intention. Therefore, you shouldn’t blame yourself. I don’t blame you. We will work on the flashing, and you will get it down and when you do, we will get home.”

  “I can’t flash us out of here… I was terrified when we saw the griffin. I tried to think of home, and I tried to flash us out of here. I felt the rush of magic but nothing happened. I think the goblins were telling the truth… we’re never getting off this island.”

  Her tears let loose as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Lothar ran his hands over her back before he hoisted her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. Making his way to the bed that took up the far wall, he gently laid her down. Starting at her bare feet, he kissed her ankle and up her calves. He murmured comforting words as his lips pressed against her smooth skin.

  He grazed his teeth against her thighs before lifting his head to unbutton her shorts and pull them down her toned legs. He started back at her ankles again, repeating the process of kissing every inch of her skin, this time his words were all about her.

  “Mmm, your skin is like satin teasing my lips.”

  Back at her thighs, he pushed her t-shirt up, exposing her firm belly. His tongue circled her navel, flicking the small, silver flower belly ring that decorated her perfect body. Then he kissed up her side to the top of her ribcage, before moving to the other side and staring all over.

  “You make me ache for you. I want to taste, nip, and kiss every inch of you.” His big hands flattened on her belly. They slid gently up to her breasts where he cupped them, squeezing softly as his lips found her cleavage, and then moved over the swell. Lothar flicked the front clasp of her bra, releasing her perky breasts and beading nipples. Her shirt and bra disappeared, causing Lothar to stop devouring her with his eyes and meet her gaze.

  “That is a convenient gift you have there. Are you feeling better?” he asked before dropping his mouth to her breast, sucking her nipple into his mouth and worrying the other with his fingers.

  “Mmhmm,” was her moaned response.

  Lothar let the hand that wasn’t filled with her full breast travel back down her side. His fingers brushed feather soft over her skin, until they met her trimmed curls and cupped her mound before he let two fingers slide into her warm, slick folds.

  Lothar captured her mouth as he worked his fingers slowly over her swollen pearl.

  She whimpered against his mouth, her fingers finding the fly of his jeans to free him from the thick material. His erection pressed against her belly, eliciting another deep moan. Lothar released her breast and slid his fingers from her. He climbed between her legs, the head of his cock pressed against her core. With a slow move, he buried himself inside of her. Resting his elbows on either side of her head, he supported his weight as he gently caressed her hair. He kissed her deeply and held her gaze every chance he got. With slow, unrushed movements, he made love to her.

  With every second their gazes were locked, Holly fell deeper into the man that cradled her head and thrust in languid movements deep inside of her. The sex in the lake had been good, had been amazing, but this time something clicked, and Lothar stole her breath, and stole her heart and soul. She knew with each slow in and out he took from her body that she was lost in him. Whatever he needed, whatever he wanted, she would do it for him. Love. For the first time in her life, she felt the connection that had always been missing for her. She felt precious and priceless. The steel of his eyes seemed to swim, mesmerizing her as she fell deeper into their silver depths. Laying down the last guard she had, Holly reached between them and unscrewed the small navel ring.

  The silver slid from her skin, and Lothar was slammed with every emotion that was radiating from Holly. He groaned as he felt the love, surrender, and need wash over him. He struggled to keep his hips at that perfect speed that built her up, brought her to edge, and heated her body. Holly held up the piece of jewelry, letting him get a good look at it before she threw it across the room. Lothar’s lips slammed back against hers in a crushing kiss that pushed them both over the edge. The waves of pleasure slammed through her, crashed against her skin, flooded her nerves, and sent a moaned version of his name into the night.

  Lothar’s back arched. Her name roared into the night as her walls pulsed, squeezing his release, milking every last drop of his seed from him and into the core of her body. Lothar collapsed on top of her, barely holding his own weight on his elbows. As he shifted to move off her, Holly held tight.

  “Don’t you dare move off me,” she murmured.

  She liked the feel of his weight upon her, his shaft still seated within her. She ran her nails over his back in long, smooth lines. “I love you, Lothar,” she whispered in his ear, and then pressed a kiss to his neck.

  He lifted up enough to catch her in his gaze once more. “I know, I felt it. And I love you too, Holly. More than you may believe is possible. But I will spend every day from here on out convincing you of how much I love and ado
re you.” He ran one of his long fingers over her cheek and kissed her softly, before pulling back and smiling down at her. “And I will forever. No matter what happens, I will love, care about, and support you.”

  She grinned and cupped his face, pulling him back to her lips.

  Chapter Twenty

  Two days passed as Lothar and Holly navigated the island, building shelters as the sun dipped past the horizon. They spent their nights shielded from the dangers of the island as they familiarized themselves with each other. Having removed what shielded her from his gifts, Lothar lapped up every moment of her emotions. In their intimate moments, her love, pleasure, and pure openness often sent him over the edge. He found that they came together, enjoying and finishing with one another. He didn’t need to hear her say that she loved him, the pure emotion permeated his very soul, but damn if he did love hearing it.

  On day three of their long journey to make it to the shore, the forest began to thin.

  “Maybe the goblins were wrong, the forest is breaking,” Holly said hopefully.

  Lothar didn’t want to crush the hope in her voice, but the steady incline told him they weren’t coming any closer to the shoreline. The soft earth beneath them and the thick forest foliage began to give way to a rocky landscape.

  She sighed. “You don’t think so though, do you?”

  Lothar simply smiled at her.

  “Oh, Lothar, your face says it all; we’re heading back to the waterfall, aren’t we?”

  “The landscape seems to indicate that we are coming into an area like when we first saw the griffin.”

  Holly blew out a heavy breath as Lothar helped her over a downed tree, the freshly uprooted ground telling him something large had made its way through the area.

  He nodded towards a deep pond of water. “Let’s take a break.”

  “Is this a good spot?”

  He smiled. “Whatever took the tree down is likely gone now. The earth doesn’t show any signs of disturbance since the tree fell.”