A Deadly Duet: Spellsinger: Book 6

by Amy Sumida

  After I finally reached the bottom of the path, it took me a few minutes to figure out how to get to the beach. The only times I'd gone there had been with Darcraxis, and he shadowed everywhere. I was beginning to think that I should have used my traveling stone to jump over to Hawaii and back when I finally saw the gleam of almond sand through the trees. I strode out into the sunlight and cast off my shoes to walk barefooted across the warm sand. Darc turned toward me when I was halfway to him and started to smile, but then he must have remembered that he was angry with me, and his smile disappeared.

  “I'm sorry for hitting you,” I said immediately. “You didn't deserve that. You were the one holding me back through most of our...”

  “Lesson?” He supplied with a smirk.

  “Lesson,” I agreed. “I'd like to try again, and this time I promise not to attack you; at least not in a violent way.”

  Darc's eyes widened in surprise. “You're here for more than my help.”

  “I'm here to see what we can be to each other; if we can compromise—you about my consorts, and me about who I am,” I said softly.

  Darc frowned and looked out at the water for a few minutes. Finally, he nodded and turned back to me.

  “I will consider a compromise if you will consider first consider us,” he said.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that I want you to give us a chance before you decide what you truly want,” he said. “Spend time with me without letting them intrude in any way; no holding back, no guilt, and no denying what's between us. If after we've been together honestly, you still refuse to give them up for me, then I will try to be okay with that.”

  “You will?” I asked in surprise.

  “Yes, but compromise is about both sides giving,” Darc said. “I will want something from you in return.”

  “What?”

  “I want to be your only husband; they will remain your consorts,” he said firmly. “It's the only way that I can accept them.”

  “I'll have to talk to them about it,” I said with a frown.

  “Later.” Darc waved it away. “We aren't there yet. First, let's go home.”

  Darc held his arms out to me, and I went into his embrace. I started to deny how good it felt to be held by him, but then I remembered our bargain. If I wanted him to try, I had to try too, and being honest with myself was a good place to start. Plus, he'd know if I wasn't trying. So, I sighed and relaxed; allowing myself to enjoy the feeling of his body against mine and the way he smelled so fresh and earthy all at once. Darc's arms tightened around me, and he leaned down to kiss my forehead before he shadowed us up to his palace.

  We drew away from each other slowly, but Darc caught my hand before we were completely separated. He had shadowed us to the courtyard; a large expanse of mosaic floor with a fountain set in its center. The fountain was dry; no water within its basin. I thought that was strange since water was one of his magics. Then Darc led me over to the wide, stone rim.

  “This is a fire fountain,” he said. “You made it to hold your flames. I think it should be your next lesson. Try to fill it, Elaria.”

  “I can't,” I said.

  “I will help you—”

  “No; I mean that I really can't,” I cut him off. “After you left, I tried to access my air magic and it nearly wiped out my parents' island. Whatever we did together, it didn't give me control over the Light.”

  “What happened with Air?”

  “I started a storm,” I whispered. “But I used a song to stop it.”

  “A song?” He lifted a brow. “You calmed Air with a song?”

  “I'm a spellsinger.” I shrugged.

  “Yes; I know.” Darcraxis frowned. “I'd just assumed that your singing would be pushed into the background once your soul was healed.”

  “Pushed into the background?” I asked. “Do you mean that you expected me to lose my spellsinger magic?”

  “It will be hard enough for you to house your goddess magic; even after you manage to control it, Elaria,” Darc said gently. “To have your spellsinger abilities as well will be far too much of a strain. I assumed that the Light would know this and destroy your spellsinger magic.”

  “You said that I had gone through all of these lifetimes specifically to collect this power,” I growled. “Why would I destroy it now?”

  “To save yourself,” he said. “But if you haven't destroyed it, there's a chance that you can retain it.”

  I calmed down and asked, “How?”

  “The Light could adopt it, and you could take it with you when you become a goddess,” he said.

  “And what if I don't become a goddess?”

  “Then you'll have to give something up,” Darc said. “And for that to happen, we'd have to find the soul-severing dagger that removed your magic the first time.”

  “Excuse me?” I gaped at him.

  “You asked me how to stay in this form,” he said grimly. “The only way for you to do that is to remove that which makes you a goddess. You'd have to cut away your magic again and go back to being only Elaria.”

  “Can't you remove my magic?” I asked.

  “No,” Darc shook his head. “Honestly, I don't even know how our children managed to make the dagger. Perhaps being less powerful has some benefits. At the very least, it gave them ingenuity.”

  “If we use the dagger to sever my soul, will I survive?” I whispered.

  “I don't know,” Darc said with a worried expression. “You were a goddess the last time it was done; inhabiting a body of your own creation. I don't know how this shell will react to having your soul sliced apart and your magic tore away with it. But if you do die, I'm confident that your soul halves will reunite, and you will become a goddess again. Without someone forcing the pieces of your soul apart, they will be free to reconnect.”

  “So, the only way to save this body is to endanger it,” I concluded.

  “Yes,” he said softly.

  “Then why are we bothering with trying to control my magic?” I huffed. “We need to be looking for that dagger.”

  “Gaining control over the Light will give us more time,” Darc explained. “And you promised me that you would give our marriage a chance, Elaria; that includes the possibility of becoming a goddess again.”

  “How much time do we have before I have to either cut my soul in half or die?” I asked. “Or both?”

  “Cut your soul or be reborn,” he corrected me. “And I don't know that either. It's not as if this has been done before. You could have a week or you could have a year. But, as I said, if you gain control over your old magic, you will definitely have more time. It will allow you to push back the magic when it causes a strain on your body.”

  “Fine,” I said with a sigh. “Where should we start?”

  “We must try to seduce the Light again,” Darc said with a sensual smile. “It must not have been satisfied with what we gave it the last time.”

  Darc held his hand out to me, and I was shocked to see that mine shook as I reached for him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Darcraxis led me up a grand staircase to his bedroom and then straight to the circular bed. He released my hand to slip out of his trousers and then stood before me gloriously nude. He wasn't even going to pretend that this lesson wouldn't result in sex. I was both shocked and excited by that. And very nervous. I slipped out of my dress and then started to fumble with my bra.

  Darc moved forward and slipped his hands over mine. “Relax, Elaria, nothing will happen without your enthusiastic consent.”

  “I'm not worried about the consent,” I said. “I'm worried about...”

  “Being too enthusiastic?” He lifted a brow.

  “Maybe,” I whispered.

  “No holding back, remember?” He asked. “Will you trust me?”

  “Okay,” I said and dropped my arms.

  Darc smiled as he undid my bra and slipped it down my arms. He knelt to slide my panties down my legs, an
d then I stepped out of them. Instead of kissing me as I expected him to, Darc took my hand again and drew me with him to the bed. He stretched out on the mattress first, angled onto his side, and then waited for me. I climbed up beside him and laid back on the mound of pillows nervously.

  “Close your eyes,” Darc whispered as his hand skimmed my cheek. “And bring to mind an image of the Light. You've seen it once already, it should be easy enough for you.”

  I did as he said, and immediately saw the Light inside me. It began to glow in my heart; responding to Darc's proximity. When Darc laid his hand over my chest, a shaft of light shot up to meet it. My body began to cool despite the Light within it, and I opened my eyes to see shadows collecting beneath Darc's palm. The skin over my sternum began to glow in response, and when I glanced at Darc, he was staring at me tenderly.

  I was completely nude beside Darcraxis, but he was staring at my face; content to have his hand pressed over my heart. Sex was pleasant for him, but it wasn't important; it didn't drive him as it did other men. I suppose when you began as a bodiless entity, the sensations of the flesh weren't as addictive. Darc looked at me as if he could see past my body and straight to the essence of who I was—and he loved the real me.

  I lifted a hand to Darc's cheek and slid my fingers back through his silky hair. I could sense the soul inside him too, and I focused on it; trying to see it as I had seen my Light. It came to me quickly. Past the sapphire of his eyes, I saw his Darkness and within those shadows, there was a pulsing energy. It flared with hope, strength, and determination. I felt its passion for creation and curiosity for all things. Darcraxis was arrogant, aloof, and a little savage, but he was also compassionate, generous, and loving. The centuries had given him patience and wisdom, and he used both kindly. The dark could be frightening because you couldn't see its secrets, but Darc's secrets unfolded for me as soon as I looked for them, and I lost all of my fear and doubts.

  “You finally see me,” he whispered with relief. “I thought you'd never look past this body.”

  “I know better than to become enamored with a pretty face,” I said softly. “It's always been a combination of physical desire and spiritual admiration that piques my interest in a man. But I didn't know that I could see the soul beyond the flesh and that it could be far more beautiful than any body of blood and bone.”

  “The physical world does that to you,” Darc murmured as he continued to stare into my eyes. “It makes you focus on bodily sensations. And that can be very enjoyable.” He leaned down to nuzzle his lips against mine. “We languished in our bodies for years at a time, but we always returned to our true selves. There is nothing more thrilling—more rapturous or tender—than merging your soul with that of the one you love.”

  “I felt it when I first freed you,” I said. “I felt you inside me. More than that even; I felt you merge with me. It was innocent and orgasmic all at once.”

  “Exactly,” Darc said as he lifted his hand from my chest. “And it's that which the Light longs for. Will you let me love you as only a god can?”

  “Yes,” I lifted my face to whisper it against his lips.

  Darcraxis groaned and covered my mouth with his; pushing me back into the bed. But then he rolled over and pulled me on top of him; settling my heart directly over his. I could feel Darc's soul reaching out to mine; a cool energy that tingled against my chest. I moaned into his mouth as our kiss slowed to a languorous licking and then it stopped completely. With our lips pressed together, his Darkness rose and my Light descended until they blended into one.

  The silver cloud of our joined souls spun through our bodies like falling star; saturating my flesh with Fire and Water, Air and Earth, Light and Darkness, and Faenestra and Darcraxis. I couldn't tell who I was anymore; I had become a blend of both of us. Then, when I thought it could get no better, Darcraxis pulled his soul out of mine, and we jolted back into our bodies with an explosion of silver sparks.

  I cried out as I jerked up and fell back; dropping across his legs. My knees were bent; thighs splayed wide over Darc's waist while my back rested on his calves. I knew that I was laid open to him, but after that experience, it hardly mattered. This was a shell; nothing more. We could enjoy it—explore every nerve ending within it—but our true connection had nothing to do with it. Our soul-blending did awaken our physical senses, though, and Darcraxis soon made me aware of the way my body was tingling with need.

  Darc slid his hands slowly up my thighs, across my belly, and then circled down to my sex. His fingers trailed lightly over my flesh, but even that gentle touch made me twitch against him. He pressed harder; rubbing circles over me that made me slick with desire. I moaned and stretched my arms back over his legs; spreading my thighs even wider for him. Darc growled deep in his throat and entered me with a thick finger. I shouted; arching my back and undulating against him as he rubbed me both outside and in.

  Then Darcraxis slid me further down the bed as he sat forward, and he pressed his face where his hands had been. I felt his cool tongue split me and start a ferocious lapping. I lifted my knees and reached down to pull Darc closer as his hands gripped my breasts. Fireworks burst behind my closed eyelids as my Light came to life inside me. My whole body began to glow, and when I looked down at Darc, I saw that his skin had filled with his magic as well; turning him a true black. His eyes blazed out of that darkness as he stared up at me intensely.

  “No more,” I cried out. “It's too much.”

  Darcraxis rose up on his knees and slid his hands down my inner thighs. He rubbed a palm against me and then took that liquid to his member; sliding it over himself until he was slick. He moved forward until he was pressed intimately against me, but then he paused.

  “Tell me this is what you want, Elaria,” he urged me. “Enthusiasm, remember?.”

  “If you don't slide that hard cock into me right now, I'm going to push you over and do it myself!” I shouted.

  Darc growled in triumph and guided himself inside me. He fell forward over me as he pushed home, and we both cried out in pleasure and relief. It felt as if we'd been waiting forever to feel this, and I suppose that we had. I wrapped my legs around Darc and used them to pull him even closer as he started a steady rhythm. Then he lowered his lips to my ear.

  “Now that you're mine again, I'm never letting you go,” he whispered.

  That might have worried me if he had said it on the beach earlier. But now, I didn't want him to let me go; I had no intentions of letting him go either. The Light inside me agreed and shined even brighter as Darcraxis drove himself into me. Darkness into Light; coming together without the silver blending. This was magnificent too; the shadows and radiance we created together. I stroked Light across his skin as he licked Darkness over mine.

  And then I pushed Darc onto his back and sped up our pace; a wild lust driving me toward completion. Darc smiled up at me as he ran his hands over my breasts; letting me have my way for a moment. But then he groaned, and his body tightened. He grabbed my hips and urgently pushed me backward. With his hands firmly beneath my knees, he lifted and spread me; holding me down with my own body. Then Darc slowly slid inside me. I looked down at the perfect view of him entering me with luxurious languor and growled in frustration.

  “You're always in a rush, my love,” Darc chided me. “This is the first time we've joined our flesh in thousands of years. Can we not draw it out a little?”

  As Darc slid that hard piece of himself into me once again, he pressed his pelvis down and ground it against that most pleasant place on my body. He angled himself as deep as he could go, and I moaned as I laid my head back.

  “Take all the time you need,” I murmured.

  “Oh, I will,” Darc said as he lowered his lips to mine. “Until both of our needs are filled.”

  As his tongue tangled with mine, Darc rolled his hips up again, and I tumbled into an orgasm more intense than any I'd ever experienced. I clutched him tighter as he continued to slowly grind into me, and I cri
ed out into his kiss. Darc moved his mouth down to my neck and lightly licked circles up to my ear.

  “I created the physical body; I know how to stimulate every nerve in ways that will bring the most pleasure,” he said. “And I'm not stopping until I've done just that with you. Now, turn over and get on your knees, Elaria.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  I awoke to light. Not sunlight; my own Light. I could see it through my closed eyelids, and it woke me gently. I blinked awake and then squinted down at my glowing body.

  “It looks as if you're happy,” Darc said smugly as he slid an arm around my waist and pulled me against his side. “That's the only time you glow without intention. That and when we make love.”

  “Really?” I lifted my arm in wonder. “Well, I wish it would tone down a bit; this is ridiculous.”

  The Light immediately lessened.

  I sat up in shock and held my arms out before me. “Holy smokes; it worked!”

  “Of course, it worked.” Darc sat up with me. “We lured it back under your control yesterday.”

  “After our first attempt failed, I didn't have the highest hopes for our second,” I admitted.

  “Our first attempt didn't fail,” he corrected me. “It was hobbled by your reluctance to be with me, and it wasn't completed. If you trust me, I will never fail you, Elaria.”

  “I know,” I whispered.

  Darc laid his hand against my cheek and eased me forward into a kiss. Passion rose instantly between us, and soon his hands were sliding across my feverish skin; cooling and exciting me all at once. I let him lay me back on the mattress and then stared up into his amazing eyes as he eased inside me.

  “We could have this forever,” Darc said as he moved his body against mine. “Joining our flesh and our souls, exploring our worlds and creating more, simply living as we were meant to live.”

  “I want that,” I said softly. “But I need more.”

  Darc lowered his forehead to mine and sighed. “Just give me a little more time alone with you.”