Stealing My Heart

by Stephani Hecht, Jambrea Jo Jones, A. J. Llewellyn, Carol Lynne, D. J. Manly, Jaime Samms, Serena Yates

  “Oh.” Kaythan relaxed a little and tilted his head in thought. “I guess you could use water magic, right?”

  “Now you’re thinking like a wizard.” Elryk nodded. “I’ll be using a variation on water magic. The heat inside the fire imp will be so intense that I’ll need ice to protect my skin from burning.”

  Kaythan finally let him go and he walked over to the fire imp. He stopped when he could feel its heat on his face. Focusing on his hands he surrounded them with a layer of magic ice before reaching inside the flame.

  Elryk almost pulled back out. The heat was still intense enough to make his hand feel like it was burning. Strengthening the ice magic a little more he took a deep breath and focused on detecting the Key.

  He smiled when he felt the tiny flame that was hidden in the very centre of the fire imp’s body. He enclosed it inside a fist and pulled out his arm.

  Kaythan’s eyes widened when Elryk sat back in his lap, the little flame dancing on the upturned palm of his now open hand. It started sparkling and soon covered his entire arm. The fire magic started engulfing Elryk’s body, making him feel hot all over. It was wild and untamed, ravenous and almost playful.

  He absorbed all it had to give, feeling the heat sink into him, smelling smoke and crumbling ashes under his feet. After a few seconds the imagined sensations faded and he returned to reality. His hands were empty and the little flame was no more.

  “Goodbye my friends.” The fire imp came closer, but instead of burning heat there was a soothing warmth that lulled them to sleep.

  Elryk leaned his head against Kaythan’s shoulder and closed his eyes. Kaythan held him close as they drifted off. With a last flare the flame vanished and just before Elryk fell asleep the landscape around them changed. Barren desert surrounded them, a grey wasteland with some dead trees between the rocks and blackened bushes.

  Chapter Eight

  Kaythan twitched when the crackling tension travelled along his skin. It felt as though someone was trying to shock him awake by using electricity. His eyes flew open. They were supposed to be in the fifth chamber of the temple of Tah’Muyd to obtain the last part of the Key. Instead they’d fallen asleep? Crap!

  As his eyes adjusted to the low light levels he recognised a few skeletal remainders of trees, some rocks and a few burned-looking bushes. Dark clouds rolled overhead. Surely the mother of all thunderstorms was about to break. The very air around them felt tense.

  Elryk was still asleep, snuggled against him. His breath was shallow and fast and an occasional shudder went through his body. Kaythan carefully shook him awake.

  “What? Where?” Elryk sat up with a start, still clinging to Kaythan’s arm.

  “Shhh, it’s okay.” Kaythan stroked the back of Elryk’s head. “I don’t think we’re supposed to be sleeping and I have no clue whether we’re even in the right place.”

  Elryk’s dark eyes widened as he examined their new environment.

  “So I wasn’t wrong. Tah’, it’s bleak enough to depress anyone.” Elryk blinked the last remnants of sleep from his eyes. “I thought that’s what I saw right before I fell asleep. But it isn’t right.”

  “You mean it shouldn’t be like this?” Kaythan itched all over. The first distant lightning bolt lit up the sky. “Or that we’re in the wrong place?”

  “I don’t think we’re in the wrong place. I can feel the lightning magic all over my body. But it shouldn’t be this barren.” Elryk shook his head as his eyes surveyed their environment yet again as if staring at it could make it change. “Lightning is the spark that brings life. It’s a positive elemental just like the other four in their own way. The way this chamber looks makes it all about death and destruction. That’s just wrong.”

  “So this tingling and itching is what lightning magic feels like?” While he was relieved that he knew what it was, Kaythan still didn’t like the feeling.

  “You can feel it too?” Elryk’s eyes widened. “Now I know something is wrong. Non-wizards aren’t supposed to be able to feel magic.”

  Screeching laughter suddenly surrounded them and the air sizzled with static.

  “Clever, clever wizard.” The voice sounded like rumbling thunder. “Unfortunately for you this brilliant deduction will not help you obtain the last piece of the Muyd’Zel.”

  Yep, sounded like another guardian. This one was the most unfriendly yet. He hadn’t even shown himself. Another distant flash of lightning briefly brightened the doom.

  “So, what will help me find the last piece?” Elryk closed his eyes.

  “Nothing.” The cackling made Kaythan’s head hurt. “You are too late. The Xoh’kas made me an offer I couldn’t refuse and they’ve taken the Key to a safe place.”

  “Shit! I can’t believe they managed to get in here.” Elryk’s eyes flew open. “I guess it’s not impossible with the entire Magic Council behind them, but still.”

  “So how do we make up for the missing bit of the Key?” Kaythan shivered when another thunderous chortle rent the air. He wanted to strangle this guardian.

  “I’m not sure what to do.” Elryk’s shoulders drooped. “Without the missing piece I have no idea how to get my full power back, never mind how to find the Muyd’Othar. And obviously the Xoh’kas are using the Key as a weapon, the way it was never intended to be used. It explains the desolation around us. Everything is out of balance now.”

  Thunderous laughter and another flash in the distance increased Kaythan’s unease.

  “That will be fixed soon.” The guardian’s voice shrieked. “When the thunderstorm gets here it will kill you and your life force will restore the balance. Enjoy the last minutes of your miserable lives. I’m finally leaving this place.”

  And with that the immediate sense of crackling tension stopped.

  “I’m glad he’s gone.” Kaythan rubbed his arms. “Even if he might be back, I’ll take what rest I can. Why is he invisible anyway?”

  “Lightning can’t be seen, so this guardian apparently doesn’t have a visible form either.” Elryk’s brow furrowed.

  “What are you thinking?” Kaythan scanned the darkening sky. “I hope you’re about to figure out how to get us away from here. I don’t like the look of that thunderstorm one bit.”

  “Well, I’m just wondering…” Elryk sat up and turned around in Kaythan’s arms to make eye contact. “This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but—remember how Arith explained that lightning wizards have a bit of all the other types of magic inside them? And how I would gain my magic back by absorbing all the other types first?”

  “Yes…?” Kaythan got hard just from watching Elryk think. It was sexy as hell.

  “Well, I’ve got all the other types back now and have used earth and water magic successfully already.” Elryk ran a hand through his tousled hair. “And it’s not like I haven’t got any lightning magic at all. It’s still inside me, it just isn’t active.”

  “Ah, I can see where you’re going with this.” Kaythan grinned. “You’re thinking that you can use the other types of magic to coax the missing one back to life, right?”

  “Basically yes. But I don’t think that’s going to work on its own. If it did, the lightning magic would have already come back and we wouldn’t be sitting here anymore. No, I think it’ll need an external spark, some extra energy to work.” Elryk blushed.

  Oh, that was cute. He grinned when he realised what Elryk was thinking. The grin made Elryk’s cheeks even darker.

  “So you’re suggesting…” Kaythan was going to make his mate say it. He decided he liked him even more when he was all flustered.

  “I’m suggesting…” Elryk swallowed. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

  “Just want to make sure there are no misunderstandings about this, dearling.” Kaythan couldn’t resist any longer. He cupped his mate’s face between his hands and kissed him.

  “That’s what I mean.” Elryk closed his eyes and brought their lips back together.

  It m
ade Kaythan forget all about his intention to make Elryk say what he wanted. His mate’s body melted against him as they deepened the kiss. He was already hard and, by the feel of it, so was Elryk.

  A bright flash and the first rolling of thunder brought him back to reality. They broke apart as Elryk glanced at the approaching thunderstorm. With a quick movement of his hands there was a sheet-covered mattress next to them. Elryk bent down to take off his boots, followed by the rest of his clothes. When he was naked he lay down on the improvised bed and looked at Kaythan expectantly.

  Kaythan’s eyes were riveted on his mate’s gorgeous body. Lightly muscled all over and well toned, Elryk drew Kaythan like no other man ever had. His chest was almost hairless, his large red-brown nipples already erect. His gorgeous cock was hard and lay heavy on his flat belly, the dark red head starting to leak pre-cum when Kaythan kept staring.

  Elryk grinned and lifted a hand, crooking his index finger at him in an unmistakable gesture. Kaythan had never shed his clothes so quickly. When he lay down next to his mate he pulled him close so they were skin to skin. Elryk’s arms slid around him in welcome and they kissed like they had never kissed before.

  Kaythan tingled from the top of his head to his curling toes from the tongue fucking his mate was giving him. Intense, demanding and unbelievably arousing, Elryk’s tongue explored every part of his mouth. The caresses went straight to his swollen cock and his balls started pulling up way too soon.

  Kaythan pulled back and looked into Elryk’s midnight black eyes. More than passion shone back at him and he swallowed the lump of emotion in his throat.

  “I want you to take me, Kaythan.” Elryk’s voice was deep and husky from desire.

  “Tah’, what you do to me.” Kaythan’s hips bucked involuntarily, his arousal almost painful.

  “It’s totally mutual.” Elryk smiled and turned onto his back, pulling Kaythan on top of him, pushing their cocks even more closely together.

  Kaythan moaned.

  When Elryk slowly spread and lifted his legs Kaythan put his hands next to his mate’s shoulders and lifted his hips a little. His cock slid past Elryk’s heavy balls and along his opening crack as his mate lifted his hips, resting his lower back on a cushion that had magically appeared out of thin air.

  “Cool.” Kaythan grinned. Making love to a wizard apparently had its advantages.

  Elryk slid his arms around Kaythan’s chest, placing his hands on his shoulder blades to pull him down. Open lips and hot breath greeted him when he lowered his head. His cock head touched Elryk’s opening and they both moaned.

  “Take me.” Elryk lifted his hips a little more and pushed up. “I’m ready for you.”

  With a sigh Kaythan pushed inside the tightest, hottest space his cock had ever been in. It was probably magic lube that made entry so easy. Not that he really cared at this point, it just felt fantastic. Elryk’s eyes widened but didn’t show any pain as Kaythan kept pushing until he was balls deep inside his mate for the first time.

  “Fuck.” He wasn’t going to last.

  “Please!” Elryk nodded and clenched his muscles.

  With a deep groan he pulled almost all the way back out before pushing back in. All the air left his lungs in a rush and he thought he was going to fly apart into a million pieces.

  “Oh, yes.” Elryk panted, trying to pull him closer. “Just like that.”

  Kaythan moved to his elbows to hold Elryk’s face between his hands and started to move. He fused their lips in a kiss, his tongue imitating the thrusts of his lower body. The pressure around his cock was incredible as he pushed inside Elryk’s body again and again.

  His mate met him thrust for thrust and he could feel his orgasm approach even as he lost his rhythm. Their arousal went higher and higher, the tension palpable in the air as lightning lit up the murky night and thunder rolled overhead.

  Finally it was too much. Tingling all over his body he pulled back his head and howled with the power of his orgasm. Spurting his release into Elryk, pulse after pulse, he felt Elryk spray their chests and stomachs with hot sperm in response.

  Shaking and still spasming with pleasure he saw a bright flash in Elryk’s eyes before his mate closed them and smiled. It seemed they’d been successful on more than one front.

  Chapter Nine

  Elryk tingled all over. Little sparks were dancing across his skin. He grinned, his eyes still closed. Not only had he just had the best orgasm of his life while his mate’s deep blue eyes stared into his soul, his magic was back. Full force, better-than-ever back.

  “You okay, dearling?” Kaythan’s voice rumbled in his ear as his mate nuzzled his neck and burrowed his face into the sensitive space between his neck and his shoulder.

  “More than.” Elryk opened his eyes. “I feel like a new wizard.”

  “Well, you are.” Kaythan chuckled and pulled out before turning them onto their sides and pulling him close. “Your magic is definitely new.”

  “You’re right.” Elryk slipped a leg between Kaythan’s. “It feels different, more alive and powerful.”

  “It could be the mate bond.” Kaythan grinned mischievously and winked.

  “It could be.” That was entirely possible. The legends did say that mated pairs were always stronger, more resistant than single wizards. Huh.

  “I thought I was joking?” Kaythan’s eyebrows rose.

  “Maybe you were, but I think there may be something to the mate bond myth.” Elryk stretched. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

  “We need to get going, I know.” Kaythan lifted his head and kissed him much too briefly. Tah’, but the man could kiss.

  They got dressed the normal way, Elryk wanting to save his magic strength since he didn’t know what was coming. He took Kaythan’s hand and closed his eyes, focusing on the Muyd’Othar. Using the directions Kaythan had relayed to him before, a clear picture of a room in black and purple rose before his mind’s eye. Even though the room seemed empty it was clear that it was where they needed to go.

  A bright flash of light later they stood inside the room. A large, cloth-covered pedestal rose from the middle of the room, obviously meant to hold the Magic Shield.

  There was only one problem.

  The Shield was shattered.

  A thousand jagged pieces reflected the light from numerous sconces on the wall, adding a silvery halo to the jumbled mess. That’s what the Xoh’kas had used the last piece of the Magic Key for.

  Shit.

  As he stood there, trying to comprehend the enormity of their loss, he noticed a crackling, hissing presence floating just above the destroyed object.

  “You are too late!” The triumphant screech hurt Elryk’s head. “You shouldn’t be here at all, but you are too late anyway.”

  “The guardian.” Kaythan tensed. “I knew I should have strangled him.”

  Elryk almost laughed. His mate was such a physical person.

  The presence became more real, mist turning into dense fog. Tendrils of the silvery essence of the Shield reached up into the hovering mass to feed it, to make it more real.

  Double shit.

  The guardian was trying to become corporeal. Elryk quickly focused on the now doughy-looking mass and tried to probe it, but the Shield must have retained some power because it reflected his efforts back at him. Absorbing the spike of energy easily he tried to sever the thing’s connection to the Shield’s residue instead. Nothing. He couldn’t get in.

  The writhing mass above the Shield slowly changed to the colour of skin and started to morph into a human body. Legs, arms, torso, a head with long grey hair, and then a black robe covering the body. It stopped moving after having absorbed the last rays from the now only dimly flickering shards of the former Muyd’Othar.

  The body floated away from the central pedestal, legs stretching and touching the floor, standing straight before turning around. When the face became visible Elryk gasped.

  High forehead, bushy eyebrows and a nose like
a hawk’s beak sat above a thin mouth that was twisted into a cruel smirk. Black eyes stared at him as the man shook out his hands and stamped his feet a few times.

  Elryk would have recognised him anywhere.

  Fuck!

  Rhunnyt, the last Lightning Grand Master to have run the Magic Council in over two hundred years was back. And he didn’t look happy.

  “Lost your tongue, little one?” Rhunnyt’s voice sounded like shards of glass grating on a hard surface. “The Xoh’kas warned me about you. Guess I should have known better than to believe them after they’d already double-crossed me when they killed me last time. You’re not much of a threat to my plans at all, are you?”

  “I don’t care what the Xoh’kas think about me.” Elryk needed a plan. He couldn’t let Rhunnyt loose on Tah’Nut again. But how was he going to stop him?

  “Then you’re even more stupid than I thought.” Rhunnyt’s evil grin distorted his face into a mask of hatred. “I will squash you like the worthless bug you are and then nothing will stand in the way of me taking over the Magic Council again.”

  Kaythan stared at the evil wizard in mute disbelief. Not just because he’d rather not have had to deal with him. But how could the Xoh’kas have made him an offer to come back to physical life after they’d decided he was too dangerous for them two hundred years ago? How dumb was that? There was only one advantage to their current situation—the evil being whom they’d met as the guardian now had a neck to wring.

  “I can’t let you take over the Magic Council.” Elryk drew himself up to his full height. “Things are bad enough with the Xoh’kas exploiting and terrorizing the people of Tah’Nut.”

  “Try and stop me then.” Rhunnyt’s angry snarl made Elryk flinch.

  Kaythan squeezed his mate’s hand for moral support. Damn it, he wished he could do more. But he had no magic at all.

  “Keep touching me, Kaythan.” Elryk’s voice was a low whisper. “I need you to ground me as I try and fight this bastard.”