Esher (Guardians of Hades Romance Series Book 3)

by Felicity Heaton

  They were cold again, emotionless.

  Empty.

  “What did I miss?” he said, as if nothing had happened, and beside him, Aiko frowned and leaned forwards.

  Trying to read his brother?

  He squeezed her hand, telling her silently to leave him be. He appreciated her wanting to help him understand what was playing on his brother’s mind, but Keras might hurt her if he realised she was probing his thoughts, and he didn’t want to fight with his brothers today.

  “Keras, I know it takes a lot out of you, but I need your shadows.” Esher ignored the frown his older brother levelled on him. “I need you and Marek to work together.”

  Keras looked as if he wanted to glare at Marek, but he nodded, keeping his eyes away from him. Esher was pushing his luck pairing them, but hopefully it would help Keras get over his anger. Besides, Esher was damned if he was going to have Keras lay his hands on Aiko, and not only because his brother seemed too unpredictable right now. Marek was the better choice for teleporting her.

  If Keras touched her, Esher would want to go after them and rearrange his face so it was a little less handsome.

  “I’m staying here then.” Ares tossed him a look that warned him not to argue. “I’ll protect the gate if I have to, or the other gates. Megan will be safe in the mansion, within the wards, and we might need her to heal us.”

  “Me too. We’ll take care of the gates while you deal with this bitch.” Valen wrapped his arm around Eva’s slender shoulders. “Eva can help.”

  Cal raised his hand, the tips of his blond ponytail fluttering as he sat forwards, on the edge of the couch, his voice holding a hint of a snarl that spoke of his temper. “What about me?”

  He thought everyone had forgotten him, when Esher was counting on him.

  “You’re coming with me.” Esher looked from him, to Daimon. “I’ll need all of our powers combined.”

  Ares and Valen kicked off again.

  “Daimon I get, but Cal?” Valen snapped and Cal grabbed him by his hair, dragged him into a headlock and rubbed it.

  “I’m as powerful as the rest of you.” Calistos grinned as he pressed his knuckles harder into Valen’s skull.

  “He’s less destructive too, and far less likely to let his power control him.” That earned Esher a glare, but he didn’t take it back or apologise.

  Valen and Ares were the two most likely to be seduced by their power and cause damage to the area, and he intended to have this battle in a very public arena.

  Valen huffed. “But it’s Cal… he’s the baby.”

  He was Valen’s junior by only eighty years, and just thirty-eight years younger than Daimon, the second youngest. He wasn’t a baby, and Valen knew it, was saying it to ruffle his feathers, and it worked.

  “I’m always on the fucking bench. It’s about time I got off.” A flash of regret crossed Calistos’s face, and he opened his mouth to amend what he had said, but it was too late.

  Valen grinned. “You a virgin still?”

  “Fuck off.” Cal didn’t even move, but Valen went flying across the room, his ankles clipping the low dining table as he shot towards the kitchen.

  He hit an invisible wall before he smashed into the kitchen one, striking it with so much force he grunted and his arms and legs flew forwards.

  He didn’t drop to the floor.

  He struggled in thin air as he recovered, kicking and clawing, trying to punch his way out of Calistos’s hold.

  It wasn’t going to happen.

  Valen’s eyes brightened and sparks chased between his fingers.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Esher snarled and shot to his feet. He turned to Cal. “Put him down, or you’re on the bench too.”

  “When did you get so chatty and bossy?” Cal huffed and dropped Valen, who landed on his feet and stormed towards the couch, on the warpath. “Text me the details.”

  Calistos disappeared, leaving Valen growling at the spot where he had been.

  “Little shit.” Valen stalked around the couch, snatched Eva’s wrist and growled as he pulled her into his arms. “I need angry sex.”

  Her eyes darkened at that and she wrapped her arms around him as they disappeared.

  Keras pulled a disgusted face and teleported, and Marek followed suit.

  “You’ll be okay?” Daimon said and Esher nodded. “Call if you need me.”

  He stepped, leaving swirls of black smoke in his wake.

  Esher met Ares’s gaze, nodded again to let him know he really was fine, and breathed a sigh of relief as his brother disappeared with Megan and he was finally alone with Aiko.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, and wondered if he would ever stop feeling the need to apologise for his brothers.

  She smiled softly. “What did Calistos mean?”

  He sighed and leaned back into the cream couch as he slipped his arm around her and pulled her against him, savouring the feel of her as she settled her hand on his chest and tucked her knees against his thigh.

  “I used to be quiet, distant in a way… before you.” He brushed the backs of his knuckles across her cheek, looked deep into her eyes and marvelled at how he had changed because of her, how she had drawn out the side of himself that had been locked away for longer than he could remember.

  A side he had thought he would never see again.

  She nestled close to him, her fingers playing across his chest, circling the buttons of his shirt and driving him mad with need. “What do you want me to do?”

  He half-smiled at that, should have known she would see through him and would be aware that she had a part in his plan.

  “How are you feeling?” he whispered and brushed his lips across her brow, pressed a kiss to it and breathed her in.

  He didn’t want to put her in danger again, and she wouldn’t be, he would make sure of that.

  “Strong… in body… not as tired as I thought I might be.” She sounded confused by that, and he kept his theory about what his mother had done to her soul to himself, for now.

  When she was stronger, when this was over, he would tell her.

  “Strong enough to help me?” He angled his head so he could see her face.

  She jerked away from him, sitting bolt upright, and nodded. “I want to help.”

  It was strange to see that flash of hunger in her eyes. Such gentle eyes. It unsettled him, because he knew the source of it. She wanted revenge. He wanted to refuse her, but he couldn’t, not when that desire stemmed not only from her own suffering, but from a need to protect him. She didn’t want him to suffer, wanted to make sure the daemon couldn’t hurt him, or turn him against his brothers and everyone he loved.

  And gods, he loved her for it.

  “We’re only going to make it known you’re alive. I’ll walk you home, and Marek and Keras will make sure you’re safe. As soon as the daemon shows, they’ll take you back to the mansion.”

  She nodded and her brow wrinkled as her eyes searched his. “Are you going to capture her?”

  He could see she didn’t want him to do that, that she was afraid of being in the same building as the daemon, and it made him want to kill the bitch and forget questioning her, but he couldn’t.

  They needed information.

  But it wasn’t going to be easy.

  It was going to be dangerous, and there was a chance he might not be the victor, that she might prove too powerful for him, or might do something to make him snap.

  He framed Aiko’s face and stared into her eyes, grounding himself to push away from his fears, clawing back his strength and pulling up his courage, using the sight of her to vanquish all of his doubts, because winning was the only option. Losing didn’t even factor in when winning meant seeing Aiko again.

  “I’m going to try.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Aiko caught the fear in Esher’s blue eyes, a flare of it that he tried to conceal from her. It rang through her veins, as clear as her own feelings, together with something else. Need. He n
eeded her as fiercely as she needed him. It had been building inside her since her return, a steady welling that had come on so gradually that she hadn’t noticed it until today, when he had come to her, and it had felt as if she had seen him with clear eyes at last.

  And he had been beautiful.

  Breathtaking.

  When he had come to her at the cherry tree, all of his feelings on show for her, none of them hidden, and the light had played over him, the peace she had been feeling had grown, completed by his presence, and it had dawned on her that she loved him. Truly loved him. It was deep, unconditional, infinite. A love she knew would never die. It would only ever grow stronger. Through every trial they faced, every setback and every victory. All of it would mould that love into a stronger form.

  She had never realised love could be so powerful, so consuming, and so beautiful.

  Fear of what was to come flowed in her veins too, colliding with everything that had happened to rouse a need in her, a deep and desperate desire to lose herself in a moment and forget the rest of the world existed. She wanted to narrow everything down to only them, and that feeling grew stronger as she stared into his eyes, saw it reflected in them. He needed it too, ached as she did with a desire to forget, to push tomorrow aside and focus on today, on the here and now.

  She wanted to crush the darkness too, to let light back in and feel alive again, to forget what lay behind her and focus on the now, on the fact they were both alive.

  He didn’t resist as she captured his lips, or when she crawled onto his lap, settling herself astride his thighs, the position making her remember when they had made love in the bath. He lowered his hands from her back to her bottom, exhaled hard as he drew her against him and angled his head, kissing her deeper, sending the rest of the world and her worries drifting to the back of her mind.

  A thrill chased through her, a surge of desire stirred by the way he pulled her closer still, pressed her against his hips and had that moment in the bath rushing back into her mind. The memory of him inside her, their bodies joined, had the heat of passion flaring hot in her veins, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her fingers through his hair, clutching him to her as she kissed him, tangled her tongue with his and lost herself.

  He groaned and swept her up into his arms, tearing a squeak from her as he stood. She held him tighter, kept kissing him as he carried her, each step making her desire flare hotter, her blood run quicker, heart beat faster. An ache started low in her belly, flames licking outwards over her body from it, making her restless in his arms. He moaned again as she gripped the back of his head and raised herself in his arms so she could kiss him as deeply as she desired.

  When he reached his room, he set her down, his mouth still fused with hers, his kiss turning wild and deliciously desperate as he skimmed his hands down her sides, up again and over her breasts.

  She lifted her arms when he grabbed the hem of her navy jumper, tugged it up and broke the kiss for only as long as it took to get it over her head. He tossed it aside and groaned again as she fumbled with the buttons of his black shirt, some of them snagging in her haste to strip him, her need to have her hands on his bare flesh again.

  He helped her, dealing with the last few buttons, and shirked the garment as he continued to kiss her, his breath coming faster now, rising to match the pace of hers. She moaned as she pressed her palms to his chest, frustrated as she met cotton, and slid them down, that heat blazing hotter as his muscles tensed, delighting her fingers as they traversed each powerful ridge. When she reached the hem, she dipped beneath it, and moaned all over again at the feel of his soft warm skin stretched tight over hard muscles.

  He shuddered and stilled, breathing ragged against her lips as she explored him, charted every muscle and each scar, feeling them on his skin.

  “Aiko,” he groaned, the sound rough and low, strained as he trembled.

  It was too much for him. She knew that, because it was too much for her too, had that need rising to startling heights where she felt as if she was losing control, would die all over again if she didn’t kiss and lick every inch of his bare flesh and satisfy the need rolling through her.

  She pushed his dark grey t-shirt up, exposing his stomach to her eyes, and trembled at the sight of him as he pulled it off, the action of raising his arms above his head making his muscles even more pronounced.

  She leaned towards him and kissed the scar on his right side, and he froze with his arms in the air, tangled in his t-shirt, his breath rushing from him. She gently kissed across his stomach to the other side, brushed her fingers down the scar above his hip that was paler now, finally healing. She dipped her head and kissed it, willing it to no longer bother him, aware that it was a source of pain and conflict for him, that it had something to do with their enemy.

  One had hurt him, and damn, she wanted to make them pay for that, a fierce need to protect him as he protected her rushing through her, setting fire to her temper.

  He tipped his head back and moaned, shuddered as she licked the scar and travelled lower, towards his navel. She kissed around it and followed the fine trail of dark hair downwards to the waist of his black jeans.

  For a moment, she feared he would stop her, would treat her as if she was too delicate for this, still weakened by what had happened to her when she was strong now, wanted this moment with him with all of her heart.

  He remained immobile, hands trapped in his t-shirt, breath stilled in his lungs.

  Waiting.

  She undid his fly, carefully slipped her hands around his hips, under his trunks and jeans, and eased them down, her eyes glued to him, drinking her fill as she revealed him and not wanting to miss a thing.

  She moved to kneel before him as she pushed his jeans down his legs, as he stepped from them and finally discarded his t-shirt, and when he was naked, her eyes lifted, taking in every honed inch of him, some deep part of her purring in approval at the sight of him.

  He moaned again when she leaned towards him, his breath hitching as his bright blue eyes followed her. He tensed, his entire body going rigid as she stroked her tongue over the head of his shaft, and his low groan went through her, had her stroking him again, hungry to hear that sound she had pulled from him again, wanting the thrill that had come with it.

  She circled his cock with her right hand and wrapped her lips around the blunt crown, drank every groan that left his lips, each moan that stirred the heat inside her and had her growing restless.

  When she moved her hand on him, his shot down to grip her wrist, and she looked up at him.

  His eyes were dark as he shook his head, his pupils gobbling up the blue, revealing the depth of his desire to her.

  He was still a moment, and then he pulled her up to him and kissed her hard, pressing his rigid length against her belly as he gathered her into his arms. She clutched his shoulders, swept up in the kiss, losing herself in it as she clung to him, her passion slipping beyond her control.

  She needed him.

  Now.

  The urge was desperate, hit her so hard that she couldn’t hold it back, clawed at his shoulders and kissed him harder, matching his fervour and groaning when it didn’t satisfy the need rolling through her, one that only grew more frantic as he dropped his hand and cupped her through her jeans.

  She rocked into his touch, moaning into his mouth, swept up in the moment and needing more, wanting more.

  “Esher,” she whispered, shocked by the sound of her own voice, so raspy and needy.

  He growled and tackled her jeans, his movements jerky and rough, as if her desperation had flowed into him and was affecting him now, had him on the verge of losing control, frantic with a need to take things further, faster.

  She could barely breathe as he pulled her dark pink camisole off, tossing it aside, and swooped on her breasts. He tugged her left nipple into his mouth and she gripped his shoulders again, his head, couldn’t decide where to hold him as she rose on her toes and melted under the
onslaught, her entire body singing and coming alive.

  Giving her everything she needed.

  He pushed her jeans down, growled again as he struggled to get them off her feet. She kicked at them, heart thundering, that desperate need mounting again as cool air washed over her body, each brush of it a blast of sensation that made her finally feel alive again.

  It overloaded her, had her crying out as Esher stroked his hands over her sides, her breasts, and lower, delving one between her thighs. She tiptoed, threw her head back and moaned, holding nothing back as bliss swept through her, each caress of his fingers between her folds and his tongue over her breasts sending her out of her mind.

  This was what she had been craving, needing. This bliss. This heaven.

  Nothing else existed here.

  There was only her and her beautiful Esher.

  Lost in each other.

  In their love.

  He dropped to his knees, and she cried out as he pressed his mouth between her thighs. The first stroke of his tongue had her tensing, and the second had her grabbing his head, the onslaught of feeling almost too much to bear. She rocked against his face, shame forgotten as she spiralled higher, flew on wings he had made for her, each stroke of his tongue over her flesh sending a thousand volts rushing through her, cranking that feeling in her belly even tighter.

  “Esher,” she moaned, bit her lip and frowned as she desperately rode his tongue, the hard press of his fingers against her thighs sheer ecstasy.

  He lifted her left knee, spreading her thighs, and she cried out again, not caring if anyone heard her as he licked her, flicking his tongue over her pert bead, sending electricity arcing along her every nerve.

  Her entire body jerked as release slammed into her, crashed through her and had her breath lodging in her throat as she quivered, tingles and heat sweeping through her, the suddenness of her release stealing her voice as her mouth opened on a silent cry.

  Esher lapped at her and moaned as he slowed his assault. Her legs trembled, her heart starting to race again as the haze of her climax began to fade and a new one built inside her, each gentle stroke of his tongue teasing her back towards the precipice.