Cry Me a River: (Destiny Paramortals, book 2)
Page 18
His erection got even harder. “Darlin’, why don’t you hush and climb aboard. Let’s see if I can take you on another flight to the stars.”
“Do you see it too?” I asked.
He thrust against me. “No, I suspect you’re experiencing my memories. It brings back the adrenaline rush, the sites, the excitement. Some flights were indescribable,” he grinned, “like making love to you.”
I leaned down lifting my hips until the silky tip just grazed my wet sheath. Pleased that I’d been able to let go and enjoy this incredible intimacy with him, I ran my tongue across his bottom lip. His teeth tugged on my lower lip in then his tongue plunged into my mouth sweeping in and pillaging, his hips pumping. I pushed off his chest and slammed my hips down on him.
He was larger than before, filling me to bursting, and I rocked to push his bulk further into my depths. I imagined the tip of his rod touching my heart, like mighty Zeus’ spear finding the heart of the Earth. A thunderous crack resonated through my body as I moved faster, meeting his powerful thrusts as our bodies melded and souls converged.
* * *
Jack
Looks like “faking it” will be out of the question.
* * *
The term “fly apart in my arms” took on a whole new meaning. I’d lied to Tempe. My best guess about her hallucinations had been memories of thousands of jet flights and the excitement of revisiting them, but this was more; it was primal; it was unearthly; it was tied to the storm woman I was buried inside. I didn’t want our lovemaking to end. I’d felt like this when I flew, suspected it was like doing crack—the rush, the heightened response, the ecstasy.
No, this was more than primal, more than leaving the bounds of the earth. Images of roiling clouds, racing stars and eyes with meteor showers in them preceded a loud crack. I felt the lightning bolt between my thighs, heard thunder in my groin, and heat exploded along my shaft as I claimed this woman for my own.
She screamed, “Ah, Jaluu,” and I knew in my heart, in that part of me that had longed for someone like her who could be my mate, that her soul called to mine. I thought I’d been ready for this, but I’d been as much a virgin as I had as a 15-year-old. Nothing could’ve prepared me for this—for her.
Her hands dug into my shoulders as she joined the stars or storms or wherever she went. Her skin sparkled like the iridescent light filtering in through the skylights. A distinctive, translucent pink cast was tinting her hair an even deeper red. Her flesh was hot to the touch. I trailed my fingers down over her breasts, cupping them, rising enough to nip at the hot, turgid tips, when my gaze caught on the scraps of material at her hips.
The edges of the camisole she’d worn were charred, the panties as well. Only enough lilac remained that I could identify them. I looked at the mattress below us. There was a ring of fire, and scorched black what-used-to-be-sheets in the outline of our bodies, like a controlled burn at the edge of a wildfire.
A wildfire begun by a lightning strike. It had been real, not just my imagination. And I wasn’t even singed.
“Damn, Sweetheart, you give new meaning to the word, ‘hot’. You set the sheets on fire.”
I pointed to the air flickering, like indoor heat lightning but gradually fading, then down at the bed. “Look’s like faking it will be out of the question for you.” I grinned.
Her eyes were eerily light, reflecting the moon’s luminosity. But her dreamy expression changed when she looked down, and saw the sheets. She whispered, “I’m sorry, Jack.” She tried to roll away from me but our bodies were still joined.
“Tempe.” She pushed at my chest, and I saw tears on her cheeks. “Tempe. Stop, Sweetheart.”
Distressed, tear-flooded eyes searched mine. “How can you—”
“That was…”
“An aberration?” Her mouth turned down in a defeated grimace. “Bet you never dreamed what it would be like to have sex with a freak.” She swiped at her cheek.
I held her wrists firmly but gently when she tried to wiggle free. Her eyebrows drooped as if she expected the worst.
My body quickened once again inside her and her mouth opened as she realized… I wasn’t mad, or turned off. Quite the opposite. “I’m trying to tell you that it was… Tempe, you have ridden with me in my F-18; experienced G forces; shot up in the atmosphere until you could touch the stars; flew along the water at near supersonic speed and heard the sonic boom. Remember?”
When her mouth curved in a tremulous smile, I knew she was revisiting those flashes of… love travel? Hooyah!
I touched my lips to hers, which were swollen from our kisses. I tasted rain and spring and something else that was so exclusively Tempe. Sulfur? Ozone?
I released her lips slowly and my body made its desires known, again. Her eyes widened.
“Don’t ask me... never before. Never have I experienced anything like this, Tempe. It was like my life, everything I’ve done, led me to you. To this.”
I began moving inside her again going deeper with each stroke as she squeezed me with her powerful core, making me even harder, longer. It was as if our intimate parts were feeding off of each other like some internal mating dance. I was awestruck, and totally, mindlessly spellbound when she stopped, and the energy between us began to dissipate. I gasped, “No.”
Then I heard her voice, “Jack.” My brain cells came back online slowly, her voice making more sense.
“Jack. Someone’s at the door.”
“Wha—” I sounded drunk. I was. I was intoxicated by this woman who was still impaled on the hardest ride I’d ever had. The noise filtered through. The doorbell ringing—persistently ringing—as if someone was leaning on it. I groaned.
Tempe kissed me, just once and slid to the side. “Sounds, um…urgent.”
“Hell.” I looked at my watch. 3:15 a.m. “Whoever it is, I’m taking my gun.”
Tempe giggled, then sobered. “What if it’s an emergency?” I could see her tick off all the possibilities with her family and friends in a flash. “Jordie?”
I frowned as the bell continued. “Jordie has a key, I think, and why wouldn’t she call? Stay here. I’ll check it out,” I winked at her, “and get rid of whoever it is.” I threw on my jogging pants. “You don’t have to get up.”
She walked around the bed and grabbed my robe off the hook on the door. She answered me, hurriedly tying the belt around her waist. “If it’s Jordie at this hour, it’s important.”
I could tell Jack was worried. His mood had gone from sexy and playful to all business in a flash. I wrapped the robe around me, pulled the tie tight and followed him down the hallway. He carefully picked up my dress and draped it over the couch in the living room, then unlocked the door and swung it wide.
“Nooo,” he nearly growled under his breath and the hand with the gun in it ran through his hair. “Damn it.”
* * *
Tempe
“Tell me that wasn’t an earthquake… in Louisiana!”
* * *
The proverbial blonde bombshell stereotype stood in the doorway. The first thing I noticed were the bright green eyes that looked me over, just before her eyes narrowed. Thick platinum hair fell over her shoulders and impressive cleavage, which was on display for anyone and everyone, the mounds of her breasts nearly spilling out of her lacy low cut blouse, the unbuttoned bodice an unnecessary and obvious contrivance. Her figure was the classic hourglass shape, cinched in tightly at the waist with a silver belt, and she appeared to have been melted and poured into a pair of sequined studded blue jeans. Her lush lips, painted a neon shade of coral, broke into a wide smile.
Jack was frozen in place. The woman glanced over his shoulder at me, her eerie green gaze taking in his bare chest, my bathrobe, and the abandoned gown over the back of the couch. “Wow, did y’all feel that? Tell me that was not an earthquake… in Louisiana?” Turning her attention back to Jack, she threw her arms around his neck. “Jack, honey. I’m home.”
I could feel my eyes wide
n as my brows nearly met my scalp.
Jack struggled to extricate himself from the blonde.
“Jackie, you haven’t introduced me to your… friend.” She turned a very controlled show of teeth toward me. “I’m Georgeanne Lang, Jackie’s wife—”
“Ex-wife,” Jack said through clenched teeth. “Tempe, Georgeanne just dropped by, but she won’t be staying—”
“Oh, now, Jack. Don’t be mean.” Her voice was like a sly alley cat, slow and sultry, the laser beam green eyes locked on mine. “He’s just a bear sometimes, ‘ya know? I didn’t have anywhere else to go, and I knew he wouldn’t turn me away. After all,” she turned entreating eyes to Jack, “it’s been over two years since I’ve seen my baby.”
Did she mean Jordie, or Jack?
Jack tried to push her away but she didn’t budge. “Georgeanne, what do you want? Really.”
She acted confused by the question. “Why, I just said, didn’t I? I missed you and Jordie, so I packed my bags and headed on down to your fine little town.” She pronounced “little” with a lot of distain.
“It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Lang—”
“Oh, call me G, dear. Any friend of Jack’s and all that…”
“I’ll leave you to your, um, visit, Jack,” I said scooping up my dress.
“Tempe, no.” His expression was total horror and hadn’t left the woman at the door.
Sorry, Sweetheart. You’ll have to handle this on your own.
Jack’s head rolled back against the doorframe and he ran his large hand through his hair, mussing it further from what was obviously good-sex bed head. His good mood was gone. He was a man with a giant problem, and I couldn’t help him with it.
* * *
Tempe
Sunday, 3:15am Zeus’ darkest night!
* * *
As I let myself out of Jack’s house through the back door and remembered I had no transportation, I could make out the increasingly apparent outline of Cache as it made its trajectory toward the earth moon. It was a pale lavender ghost that would soon obscure the smaller moon and filter out whatever it is that gives us Paramortals our power for at least twenty-four hours. As the coincidence got closer, our powers would gradually diminish like light from the sun during a total eclipse.
Zeus’ darkest night! With everything that had happened I’d forgotten to fill Jack in on the details of the power down. And on the heels of that thought was how odd it was that Jack’s “crazy” ex would show up on the eve of Chaos.
To my readers
Thank you for reading Cry Me a River. Jack and Tempe and the other Paramortals continue to surprise me. Did you have any idea a Dark Knight was going to show up at the Mardi Gras ball? Wow.
I can’t wait to share Eve of Chaos with you. As one reader said, “Run don’t walk to the buy button!” There’s some serious trouble coming their way but hopefully Destiny’s newest hero will help Jack deal with the Chaos. Get Eve of Chaos now or read an excerpt.
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ALSO BY LIVIA QUINN
All books available on your favorite formats here.
* * *
(Cozy Paranormal/Urban Fantasy)
The Destiny Paramortals
Storm Crazy, #1
Cry Me a River, #2
Eve of Chaos, #3
Blame It on the Moon,#4
Destiny Boxset Books 1-3
* * *
(Contemporary/Military Romance)
Thunder Point
Storm Warning #1
Under-Cover Knights
Hard Days Knight #1
Her First Knight #2
Merry Christmas, Baby #3
* * *
Undone
A Sexy Romantic Adventure
Eve of Chaos
Destiny Paramortals, book 3
* * *
“That’s what I thought,” the gnarly-faced troll said, his eyes burning with hostility. The long needlelike incisors and tongue seemed larger as his muscles bunched preparing to attack. He sprang, just as a hot whoosh of flame flashed across Montana’s vision. She’d had no time to jump back and as soon as she opened her eyes, she realized it was over.
Scorch marks marred the floor where the being had stood, ready to spring. Death from above! Everything had been annihilated in front of Montana except the woman on the floor and the fae’s foot still propped on her chest. Pretty accurate aim. The woman’s one good eye opened, widened when she saw the bloody thing on her chest. Her gaze tracked toward Montana briefly then rolled back in her head.
Montana sighed and more smoke escaped.
“Did I do that?” she wondered out loud and looked down her snout at the still oozing tendrils of gray. A deep rumbling chuckle came from the ceiling and she looked up. The most beautiful creature she’d ever seen towered over her, leaning against what was left of the roof—dragon smugness, a special kind of arrogance singular to dragons—adorning his features. Well, he had a reason to be smug. He’d taken out half the roof and the variant in one fiery exhale without harming her or the woman on the floor.
“Oooh, you’re good,” she acknowledged, giving him a slight bow.
“Lassie, you dinnae ken the half o’ it. Tell me. What made ye think ye could take on that hackit—ugly—faerie by yerself in yer wee fog drakon form?”
Fog? Hm. So she’d missed her target. “So that’s why I couldn’t produce the fire...” she said, more to herself. He took her measure intently; eyes traveling over her lithe ten-foot dragon form just before it reverted to her Valkyrie sized naked warrior body. She thought he smiled. She stood perfectly still, unashamed of her nakedness.
A small stream of fire sizzled from his nostrils and his irises swirled. The head disappeared from view and Montana felt a pang of disappointment, then he returned with two tiny scraps of fabric—well, they looked tiny in his massive jaws. He opened his mouth just enough to allow the material to float down to her and she recognized it was her lingerie. You never knew where they were going to end up when you shifted. His eyes drifted down as he said, “I know your secret, Victoria.” Who would have thought a forty-foot dragon with a head the size of a house could wink and raise his… non-existent brow?
“Better cover yourself, Lass. The coppers are coming.”
Glossary Beings & Terms
Good and Bad POPs (Jack’s term for “People of Power”)
Paramortal – beings who are bound through their ancestors by blood or spell to The Pact and called to defend all manner of innocent beings
Coincidence or Para-moon – When the Paramortals’ moon, Cache´ and earth moon are full at the same time. The last time was 400 years ago. Exact arrival and strength is unpredictable.
Chaos – 24 hours when blood Paramortals lose their power or suffer ill effects and their enemies take advantage of the power-down to grab power and eliminate good guys
The Forge – a super pulse of leylines that runs through Destiny. Its center is the swamp behind Tempe’s house
Collecte – the ancient members of the original Pact and their descendants.
Tempestaerie – A being that can control water and air and affect earth and fire while manipulating wind and weather.
Djinn – a fire elemental with the ability to grant wishes
Finrir – a shifter, eight-foot tall wolfish creature with a grizzly head. (Think Wolffie from Star Wars)
Vouivre – a four elemental water dragon that appears as a naked blonde on the bank to catch ‘food’
Fae– the Bright Fae(good) an
d the Dark Fae(bad)
Nucklavee –an ugly, mean creature that can take any form. When it dies it smells like dead fish and rotten eggs
Goofus – a species of flying creatures that look like pterodactyls, come in many sizes
Shmoo – smallest goofus that spews poisonous fluid
Squonk – a larger goofus, which can also fly backwards
Fengbo –looks like a flying head with wings for ears, has a square mouth and fat sharp teeth. It feeds on the organs of its victim while it’s alive, then carries the remains under its head until it finds a replacement.
Walking dead – well, you know, they used to be people, and now they’re not.
* * *
Paramortal Language/Terms
* * *
Qi- core source of power within
Para – two, side by side; to shelter, protect, or defend
Vyal k’allanti The Paramortal quickening, the change, literally ‘find his destiny’
Aq’ligeameile (Aqua-le-me-elay) Paramortals, defenders of humans
Menori – Tempe’s life force or qi
Deremelei – living skin, the sign of a new Paramortal
Dovelo – from do’vel, clueless, literally in denial
Allanti - Destiny/ Fate
Vel lua – I love you (to a friend)
Jah’allantiduen - The Convergence – literally ‘as prophesied all will come together’
Jahlua – The Collecte - All allies
Aretuu – All Paramortal enemies, literally ‘he hates’, includes variants