Mother of Shadows (The Chosen Book 1)

by Meg Anne

  She stopped him then with a kiss, using her lips to convey the nameless emotion that was bursting within her. He pulled back slightly waiting for her to open her heavy eyes and look at him.

  “All that I am, is yours. Regardless of what it is that brought me to you, I am yours. I belong to you, and I will strive to be worthy of you.”

  “Shh,” she whispered soothingly, breathing kisses against his lips. “If I was made for you, then you were made for me. How could you ever see yourself as unworthy? The Mother doesn’t make mistakes.”

  “I – I have not been a good man,” came the faltering confession.

  Helena merely shrugged. “Do not waste time regretting who you have had to be, Von. You have done what you needed to do, in order to get to me. Now it is my turn to help you carry the burden. You are mine, and I would have no other.”

  In that moment, he felt a broken piece of his soul fall back into place. “All my life I have been trying to get home, and I have finally found it, in you.”

  “Von,” she whispered brokenly, tears spilling out of aqua eyes.

  “Do not cry, my love. I just needed you to know, so that you would have no doubts about me or my intentions.”

  “I have never had any doubts.” The multitude of voices responded. “I have always known that you were Mine.”

  “Yes,” he breathed before his lips crashed down. No longer gentle, his kisses were brands each one claiming her as his.

  One of his hands wound itself in her curls while the other began to work its way down her back, fingertips teasing the exposed skin.

  Helena shivered and pressed herself against him. Impatient, Helena wished that she could feel his skin against hers.

  She could feel the change in Von almost immediately, his lips had stopped their assault on hers. “Von?” she asked as she started to kiss along the stubble covered jaw.

  She felt the rumbling in his chest before she heard the laughter, “It would seem that you are in a hurry, darling.”

  Pulling back to look at him, she realized what had him laughing. Her wish had been the only catalyst her magic needed to take action. Their clothes were now piles on the floor below them. Her eyes rounded, she slowly looked up, taking in every glorious inch of him as she did so.

  Von’s past was etched in every line of his body. Battle-scarred and heavily muscled legs tapered into narrow hips and waist, while his stomach was bricks of muscle stacked atop each other. The deep V between his hips only emphasizing his swelling maleness.

  Helena paled at the sight. He was big. Too big. Needing to look away before she panicked, she raised her eyes to his chest, taking in the tattoo that started in its center and wove its way around his right shoulder and arm. The swirling black tattoo was comprised of words, but she was too flustered to make sense of them.

  Shaking fingers traced the pattern. He stood still beneath her touch, the rise and fall of his chest the only movement.

  “At, at least I didn’t completely destroy them,” she muttered, daring a glance up at him. His eyes were hooded, but the humor was still on display in the twist of his lips. Blinking she continued, “I really like that dress.”

  “So do I, I would have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to take my time removing it.”

  Helena blushed in embarrassment, staring at her toes. “I-I could put it back on,” she offered.

  “Maybe next time,” he responded, before bending to lift her and toss her over his shoulder.

  “Von!” she squealed, now face to face with the well-sculpted globes of his buttocks.

  He walked towards the bed, each step making her bounce and her hair brush against the back of his thighs.

  His warm hand ran up the back of her leg before coming to rest atop the swell of her own backside. He squeezed gently, before giving it a quick swat and tossing her back onto the bed.

  The feeling of weightlessness was short-lived before she bounced gently and was splayed beneath him.

  Before she could be embarrassed about her own nudity, Von whispered one word. “Mine,” came the low growl.

  “Yes,” came her heartfelt response.

  Placing a knee between her legs on the bed, Von bent down and pressed kisses along the tops of her thighs, before dipping down to run his tongue from the side of her knee up the inside of her thigh.

  Helena’s legs pressed together on their own volition. Her mind a tumble of thoughts and emotions she was helpless to process.

  “Let me taste you.” His voice whispered inside her, as he was busy licking and nibbling up her legs.

  Swallowing uncertainly, Helena forced her legs to ease back open.

  Calloused hands continued the journey his lips had started, touching and spreading her to his liking. Fully kneeling before her on the bed, Von looked up from where his hands were resting on the tops of her hips and straight into her eyes.

  “Beautiful,” he whispered reverently before he bent down and pressed his lips beneath her belly button. As he continued to kiss back down to the core of her, Helena’s hand found its way to his head although she wasn’t sure if it was to push him away or hold him in place.

  When he finally ran his finger along her seam, she felt the responding tug of their bond inside of her. His fingers began to work her like an instrument, strumming and rubbing as she moved against him. And then his tongue continued what his fingers had started, licking and sucking until she was bucking below him. Gasping for breath, Helena’s head tossed on the bed.

  “That’s it, my love, let go.”

  That was all it took. One simple command from the deep voice rough with desire and she came undone. There was a loud crash and then the tinkling of falling glass, as all around them the windows and glasses shattered.

  Too lost in what had just happened to notice, Helena rode the waves of her orgasm. When she finally came back to herself, Von was sitting back on his heels between her legs staring intently at the floor.

  Turning her head to see what he was looking at, Helena finally noticed the broken glass.

  “Not again,” she moaned, covering her face with her hands.

  Von’s hand gently circled her wrists before trying to pry her hands from her face. But Helena resisted.

  “Look at me,” he ordered softly.

  Helena shook her head in embarrassment.

  “Now, Mate.”

  She splayed her fingers and looked up at him with bemused eyes.

  “Perhaps I should have sealed the entire room?” he murmured.

  At that, her shoulders shook with laughter, and she leaned up to wrap her arms around him.

  Bringing his mouth to hers, he kissed her gently once, twice. “You are perfect, Helena.”

  “But I have no control,” she pouted.

  “I have every intention of ensuring you lose control as often as possible.”

  “We’re going to go through a lot of windows.”

  “It’s a good thing you can use magic to put them back together.”

  Seeing the gears shift in her mind as she sat up to attempt it, his arm snaked around her and pulled her back to him. “Oh no, you don’t. We are in the middle of something or did you already forget?”

  Looking over her shoulder she couldn’t help but appreciate the sight of Von spread out on her bed.

  “I didn’t forget,” came the soft reply.

  “Are you nervous?” he asked gently, fingers running up and down her back soothingly.

  Helena shook her head quickly, causing her curls to dance down her back, but he felt the flickers of her nerves as though they were his own.

  “What are you afraid of?” he asked, sitting up to better cradle her body against his.

  “You’re just so large,” came the mortified whisper as her eyes dropped to his lap before averting quickly.

  He tried not to, he really did, but he laughed.

  Twisting in his arms to look at him, her jaw dropped, “That’s funny to you?”

  “Helena,” he gasped, as she scooted,
trying to put distance between them. His arms tightened in response, keeping her against him.

  “Helena, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just, you have nothing to fear. I promise. By the time we’re done you’re going to be thankful I’m built exactly as I am.”

  She raised a brow in disbelief.

  “Aren’t you the one that said the Mother doesn’t make mistakes?”

  “I think she may have gotten a little too ambitious when she was working on you,” Helena muttered sullenly.

  Chuckling Von pressed a kiss to her shoulder. Relenting, Helena laid back down beside him, allowing her own hands to explore the ridges of his body.

  “Will you tell me what this means one day,” she asked as her fingers explored the whirls of his tattoo.

  “Yes, but not now.” With that, his lips descended on hers again. It took only moments for the fire to rekindle within her.

  Shifting Von moved so that he was between her legs again. As he felt her stiffen, he whispered, “Look at me.”

  As she did, he ran his length down her center, twisting his hips to circle her opening. Helena’s eyes widened before closing.

  “Look at me,” he rasped, continuing to tease her entrance.

  Helena struggled to keep her eyes open and on him as he began to slowly press into her.

  There was no pain, only pleasure, as he filled her. Helena could feel their hearts beating in time, each breath a ragged gasp until he filled her completely. He stayed there, allowing her to get used to the feeling of him within her. Once she began squirming below him, he allowed himself to flex against her.

  “Oh,” she gasped, eyes rolling back in her head.

  She felt his hand run down her chest, pausing to pluck at the hard bud of her nipple, before moving back down to rest on her hip.

  “Are you still nervous, Mira,” the deep growl asked. She could feel that he was at the edge of his control, desperate to make sure she was comfortable before going further.

  “More,” she purred, arching up into him.

  She heard his own answering moan before he pulled back and slid back in.

  “Yes,” she cried, hands reaching for his as his thrusts picked up speed.

  “Helena,” he growled.

  Iridescent eyes met molten gray, hearts beating in time with each thrust.

  Mine. Neither was sure who had uttered the declaration, but with those words, Von buried himself inside her, body shaking with the force of his release, while she wrapped herself around him as she came apart.

  He shifted to lay beside her, and she whimpered in protest at the loss. He brushed a soft kiss against her forehead and pulled her close so that her head was resting on his chest.

  The soft thundering of his heart became a lullaby that lured her to sleep, but before she drifted off she felt him stir beneath her.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked sleepily.

  “I was just thinking it was probably a good thing we didn’t fix the windows.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Gillian paced restlessly across the floor of her opulent suite; her fingers tapping nervously against her lips as her mind raced. Now that the pair were mated it was time for her to put her plans into motion. It would have been a fool's errand to try to do anything to stop what fate had already decreed to be, so there were no moves she could have made prior to now. Well, other than preparing the ground for the trap she would spring through her friendship with the new Kiri.

  Gillian sighed, still lost to the thoughts that tumbled about her mind. It was a shame she actually liked the girl, naive though she was. Too bad she would stop – could stop - at nothing to destroy her and that blood traitor she was mated to.

  As she continued to walk back and forth in front of the massive fireplace, she no longer heard the crackling of the flames. In fact, she was not aware of anything until the mirror hanging on the wall began to fog.

  She stopped suddenly, head spinning to look at the swirling mist replacing the glass. Fear and shock at war for dominance within her. The mirror was ancient, its frame a combination of twisting metal and magic. The words of power carved into the metal hidden in the flowing vines and flowers that the metal was shaped into.

  Gillian's heart stuttered in her chest, before she dropped to her knees in front of the mirror, eyes cast to the floor in front of her.

  “Mistress,” she said hoarsely.

  “It is time,” came the disembodied voice through the mirror.

  “Yes, Mistress.”

  “You know what will happen if you fail me. The impostor cannot be allowed to remain on my throne.” The voice wrapped itself around her in an icy caress, each word scraping against her skin like talons; a sharp and deadly tease. Gillian felt her skin break out into gooseflesh as the waves of power rippled around her.

  “Of course, Mistress. It will be done.”

  “You have until the new moon rises.” With that the flood of power that had encircled her ebbed. Gillian risked a glance up at the mirror to see that the swirling mist was fading back into her reflection.

  Seeing herself again in the mirror she took in her appearance: pupils so wide they almost swallowed the green of her irises, skin bleached of all color, teeth biting down into her colorless lip. Her heart continued to race as she tried to recover from the unexpected visit.

  Gillian took a shuddering breath before whispering, “Yes, Mother.”

  Helena tilted her face up to the sky, letting the warm rays of light kiss her skin. Smiling she knelt in the grass, surrounded by the roses and jasmine in bloom beside her. After days, nay weeks, of endless preparation she finally found herself with nothing to claim her time.

  Von had left their bed that morning with a whispered brush of his lips against hers and a promise to see her soon. She could still feel the throb of their bond within her, diminished slightly due to their distance, but strong nonetheless. Her own pool of magic seemed to ripple in answer to its steady thrum.

  She flushed in pleasure remembering how he had roused her in the middle of the night, his phantom hands exploring her body while his lips worked their way over the peaks of her breasts. He had grinned up at her wolfishly in the moonlight before using his body to keep the promise his magic had made upon her sleep-slackened limbs. She had lost track of the number of times his name broke from her lips as she shattered and clenched around him.

  She shook her head quickly before those kinds of thoughts could get her in any more awkward situations. It was bad enough dealing with Alina's knowing grin when she had finally eased herself out of the bed late that morning noting that the shattered glass had all been repaired; and she had yet to run into any of her Circle, sparing her the need to answer for her loss of control at the celebration the night before.

  Cringing slightly, she made herself take in the peaceful beauty of the garden. That reckoning would come soon enough, no need to borrow trouble imagining it now. Instead, she wanted to take the time to explore the garden with her heightened senses. She had been careful to keep herself in the magic dampened state ever since her trial, especially when wandering throughout the Palace. No one else seemed to glow with the force of a thousand candles when using their gifts and she was tired of being the cause of stares and whispers.

  Glancing around quickly to make sure she was alone, she called to her magic. It came to her like a sigh, the internal well gradually emptying as it was released.

  Standing slowly, Helena drank in the changes. Each enhanced sense was in perfect harmony as the garden came to life around her. It was if time had paused so that she was able to view each moment as it occurred. Each blade of emerald grass shifting in the jasmine scented breeze, each rustle of the leaves dancing above her and each beat of wings a gentle strum as the bees floated from petal to trembling petal.

  The colors were overwhelming in their intensity. The reds, pinks and purples more vivid and real than any she had ever seen, almost as if she had been viewing the world from muted lenses, never truly underst
anding what depth and variations existed.

  The scents were intoxicating. Closing her eyes, Helena breathed in deeply. She was able to taste the sun and dew-covered petals in the air, while the aroma of wet earth was vying with the fragrant roses for attention. It was all so alive, so much more than her mortal senses had ever been able to comprehend before.

  Iridescent eyes caught a slight movement to her right. Spinning to face it, Helena’s hand thrust out to the nearby tree to hold her steady. The force of impact caught her off-guard and the tree pulsed once as it came into contact with the full potency of her magic. Between one breath and the next, the tree groaned as it began to expand and grow; its roots snaking deeper into the damp earth while its flowers exploded to life in its branches.

  “There you are!” Darrin called in surprise as a bevy of leaves rained down upon him. Noting the riotous curls and swirling depths of her eyes, his hands moved to the sword at his side and he stepped towards her carefully, each snap of grass causing her to flinch.

  Realizing that he was reacting to her appearance as if it were a threat, she willed her magic back into the recesses of the pool. Blinking once, twice, she looked up at him with aqua eyes and smiled sheepishly.

  “Good morning, Darrin.”

  Shoulders easing, he moved his hands from his sword and offered her a lopsided smile.

  “Timmins sent me to fetch you. He said, 'Now that the Circle is formed the time is ripe for making plans.'” Darrin mimicked Timmins voice before smiling conspiratorially.

  Helena laughed despite herself, Timmins certainly had a tendency to adopt the lilting tone when he was in full lecture mode, and she could only wonder how much more Timmins had actually said before sending Darrin on his way to find her.

  “Not even a day to rest before putting us to work, how very like him,” she murmured as she stepped away from the tree to stand beside him. He gestured to the path ahead indicating that he would follow. As she stepped towards the path she stole a final glance at the now massive tree in full bloom about three months too early. Worrying her lip between her teeth, she turned back to Darrin.