Aftershocks

by Marie Harte

  “Heaven,” she agreed and pulled him close for a kiss. Lazy yet stirring, her kiss had him twitching within her.

  “Not yet,” he groaned, needing more recovery time. Hell, she’d nearly made him lose his mind, and now had him hardening when he should have had nothing left to give her. “Ellie,” he warned as she squeezed around him. “You’re asking for trouble.”

  She grinned and arched a brow. “Are you saying you can’t deliver?”

  He pulled out and surged back inside, thickening with every push. “Baby, I’ll more than deliver. Can you take all I have to give?”

  Her lips parted, and her lids lowered. “Baby, I can take anything you’re giving.”

  “Good,” he said with a wicked grin. “Then get ready for more of this.”

  She moaned and writhed as he grew long and hard once more, and soon, his humour was replaced by the all-consuming lust that only Ellie aroused.

  * * * *

  Standing in the neutral haven of Shathra, Arim frowned at Ethim il Ruethe, determined to hear the Djinn out before he found his conniving nephew and beat some sense into him. Screwing around with the Sarqua ruler’s daughter was not only stupid, but incredibly dangerous. Despite Ethim’s fair features, the man was a walking threat. Equal in ferocity to a Storm Lord in a rage, Ethim had Dark powers that easily countered that of a Light Bringer. And Ethim’s kind played by no one’s rules but their own.

  “So Guardian of Storm, we‘re at an impasse.”

  “It would seem,” Arim said slowly. Where was Ethim going with this?

  “You want to keep Tanselm ‘pure’ while we want to return Tanselm to its natural order.”

  “To the Dark, you mean?”

  “No.” Ethim looked irritated and began pacing in the small stone keep that provided sanctuary for those needing it. “That’s not what I mean. You aren’t old enough to remember what Tanselm was like before the Dark Lords turned, when those of Light and Dark coexisted peacefully.”

  “Oh? Was that before the Djinn drained the lifeforce out of half the Light Bringers in existence, or after the Dark Lords converted the unwilling into wraiths and demons?”

  Ethim scowled. “The wraiths have always been. Yes, some were Light Bringer converts, but most were as they are today. And demons aren’t a Dark Lord invention.” Ethim sniffed. “Really, Arim.”

  “Really, Ethim,” Arim mocked. “Don’t tell me you want to share Tanselm? Not when so many Djinn have gone to such extremes to have it back.” He hid the pain of Faustus’ death, remembering too easily his sister’s grief when her husband fell to Djinn poison.

  “You know those aren’t my people.”

  “How do I know? Because I’m supposed to trust on faith?” Arim looked at him in disbelief. “The reason we’ve held onto Tanselm for so long is that the Light Bringers have distrusted everyone and everything of Dark and Shadow. We’ve resisted the Netharat before and will do so again.”

  Ethim shook his head. “But you’ve never before fought a Dark Lord like ‘Sin Garu. He killed his own kin. And like you, we Dark have limits against fratricide. He rules the wraiths, creatures that should not have enough control to follow a man. You know this, you have seen it with your own eyes. ‘Sin Garu even tempts the Shadren. And should they turn, the Light will surely fade under Dark’s creeping taint.”

  “You admit the Dark is evil.”

  “In the Dark Lord’s hands, yes, but not in and of itself. Foreia is my home, the place I consider most sacred outside Tanselm. Yet, even in my homeworld, some Light is welcome. Without it, there can be no Dark, no Shadow. Think, Arim. Once, two powerful forces existed in Tanselm. In the years since, the land’s magic has faded.”

  “Not so.”

  “It is so.” Ethim cursed, running his hands through his hair in agitation. “Are you so biased against us you cannot see the truth in your own magic?”

  Arim said nothing. For years, he’d been struggling to overcome growing weaknesses and disconcerting gaps in his energy that he’d assumed were his vulnerabilities made flesh. If what Ethim said were true, then Tanselm was in more danger than from the Netharat.

  It just didn’t make sense. Why now, when the Tetrarch was so vulnerable, did Tanselm show its limitations? The land had always before risen to face challenges, standing strong in the face of adversity. Tanselm had always worked with the Light Bringers, yet now, according to Ethim, needed saving from the Light Bringers?

  “You make no sense.” Arim shook his head. “Tanselm is strength, as well you know. I realise you had nothing to do with the treacherous Djinn responsible for our Tetrarch’s falling. But like calls to like. I have a hard time believing you Djinn would completely turn on your own, regardless of your opposition to Dark Lord involvement.”

  “You’re a hard-headed fool,” Ethim snarled, his eyes bright in the shadows of Shathra’s main hall. “Do you know how easy it would be for me to kill you now, right here?” He snapped his fingers and a score of Djinn warriors surrounded Arim.

  “Not quite so easy.” With a small motion of his hand, Arim created a shield so blindingly bright the walls shook.

  “Okay, okay,” Ethim rumbled, and his warriors disappeared. “No need to kill us both. You’ve made your point. But I gave you warning when, had I really been interested in your death, you would have been attacked the minute you entered this place.”

  Arim grudgingly admitted as much.

  “You can see how serious I am about this matter. Hell, Arim, I left my daughter with your nephew, and I love her more than life itself.” He grimaced. “You have no idea how hard it’s been to know what she and that Light Bringer might be doing.”

  “Oh?” Hell, Cadmus had really stepped in it this time.

  “Do not take me for a fool because I appeal to your good sense. Of course, appealing to your good sense does make me seem—”

  “As if you lack all intelligence,” Arim finished wryly.

  Ethim’s eyes narrowed. “Nevertheless, I believe in this cause so strongly that I’ve allowed my daughter to befriend a Light Bringer. Can you not see my position and understand it?”

  Arim studied Ethim carefully. Ethim had a point. There was no way in hell a Djinn would ever let his child near a Light Bringer, and especially not a Storm Lord, knowing the two might share physical pleasures. The Djinn prized their sexuality and considered the sharing of it as more than a gift, but a tying bind that would only grow stronger if not kept in check.

  “What do you expect me to do about it?”

  Ethim shook his head. “Nothing for now. Elliara didn’t like the thought of him leaving.”

  “I noticed.” He’d also noticed Cadmus’ half-hearted plea to return home. And that worried him.

  “It’s as she predicted. Our time is coming, and we have to be ready. Cadmus will help pave the way towards defeating the evil that threatens us all.”

  He hadn’t known Ellie was a seer. An uneasy feeling roiled in his belly. “Who predicted? Your daughter?”

  “A Djinn soothsayer. No one of importance to you. Now, Arim, promise me you won’t interfere in your nephew’s time in the mundane world.”

  “Why should I promise that? You’re interfering already. And you have ties to that mundane world that keep you there most of the time.”

  Ethim coughed. “Yes, well, my wife is not as easygoing as most humans. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was part Light Bringer.”

  “I’d like to meet her sometime.” He had an uneasy feeling he’d need to meet her, seeing as how friendly Cadmus and Ellie had become. The Light help him if another Dark female joined the royal family. Arim thought he might be turning a touch crazy. He had enough to worry about making sure the Dark Lords didn’t invade Tanselm, not to mention keeping watch over those untrustworthy Aellei.

  Aerolus and his unruly hormones. Why couldn’t he have married a nice human like his brothers Darius and Marcus?

  As if his thoughts conjured them, Arim felt a beckoning spell calling him to
Tanselm. “This discussion isn’t over.”

  “I agree. There is much more to talk about. We’ll get to it when you’re ready to hear the truth.”

  Arim scoffed. “You can debate Tanselm’s weaknesses as much as you want, but don’t forget who and what I am.” Arim’s vision expanded, and he trembled with indescribable power, inexorably bound to Tanselm’s riches. “I won’t let you destroy her, Ethim. I am charged with protecting Tanselm at all costs. Her people won’t suffer annihilation like they once did.”

  “So be it,” Ethim acknowledged the warning. “Your threats are groundless since I am already on your side. Go if you must, but contact me in Foreia when you’re ready to talk. I’ll be waiting.”

  Arim nodded, banking his energy as he sought a portal home.

  * * * *

  “Tell me again why I couldn’t simply tell him the truth now?” Ethim asked, rubbing the back of his neck in agitation as Lexa took shape from the shadows.

  She narrowed her gaze, aware Ethim had been suitably intimidated by Arim’s theatrics. “Leave Arim to me, Ethim. He doesn’t have the power to hurt you while I’m here.”

  “So you say,” he muttered.

  She kept her mouth closed, used to thinking before she spoke. For years, she’d had to prove herself among her peers and those she should have considered friends. Ethim, however, was more a weapon to be directed than a friend. Only Jonas put her at ease enough to relax in his presence.

  “I have been lenient with you, Ethim, because I need the help of your people. You know we work towards the same end.”

  He sighed and shook his head. “Forgive me, Mistress. I know what you say is true. But I can’t help feeling like a traitor to my own flesh.”

  He referred to Ellie, his daughter, who even now knew more pleasure at a Light Bringer’s hands than Lexa ever had. Grinning at the thought of Arim’s displeasure when he learned a Djinn would soon join the Royal House, she clapped a hand on Ethim’s shoulder, forcing her touch to comfort rather than harm.

  “Be at ease, Ethim. I would never have advised you to use Ellie in this scheme if I thought Cadmus might harm her. Believe me, everything your daughter has done has been of her own free will. We merely introduced her to another aspect of her life she’s been trying so hard to ignore.”

  “I admit I enjoy the fact she’s finally recognising her heritage. Hell, ‘til now, she’s only been accepting of Jonas. She’d rather see a hardened warrior than her own father?” He sounded hurt, and she well understood his pain.

  Lexa shrugged, but knew Ellie’s temperament better than her own father did.

  Ethim was used to command and thought he could simply order his daughter to love and respect him. Had Ellie’s mother not been so stubborn, the poor girl wouldn’t be so dead-set against her Djinn heritage. Her connection to Jonas made perfect sense. The Djinn had his own scars to bear and was a warrior through and through. Compassionate though strong, he’d learned much among the short-lived humans.

  He treated Ellie with a respect and care her father might have tried, had the autocratic Djinn ruler been allowed more time with his daughter.

  Ethim glowered, and Lexa suppressed a smile. He and Ellie looked so alike it was uncanny. It was no wonder Cadmus had fallen for the girl. She had a Dark passion that matched his own, the inner strength of true integrity and the looks of an otherworldly Djinn.

  “Don’t worry, Ethim. I’ve seen happiness in Elliara’s future.”

  He relaxed and made polite small talk before leaving for Foreia. Left standing in the shadows, Lexa felt as alone as she’d ever been. Dark yet not, orphaned with a family who hated her. Lexa had never really fit in, and it was with some envy that she watched fellow women of the Dark find true love. That those women found a future with creatures of Light gave Lexa a perverse sense of pleasure that she—a Dark Lord—was helping to shape Tanselm’s future.

  And if anticipation licked at her core at thoughts of finally meeting Arim face to face in a no-holds battle to the end, so be it. She was honest enough with herself to admit they’d never resolved the past. Until that happened, she had no future.

  “Sister dear, where are you?” A dark voice mocked her through space and time. “I’m looking for you, sweet Lexa. I have a message from B’alen that really can’t wait much longer. Come find me and we’ll…talk.” Husky laughter trailed in the recesses of the between, and Lexa shivered. ‘Sin Garu knew. He knew what she’d done. If he found her, the Next would be a welcome respite from the pain sure to follow.

  Chapter Five

  Ellie felt a warmth flutter up her spine, the gentle touch of callused hands caressing her awake. Snuggling into her pillow, she smiled contentedly. She’d been dreaming about Cadmus again, experiencing mindless pleasure—

  Firm hands spread her thighs wide, then pressed against the small of her back to keep her still.

  “Cadmus?” she rasped, wakening fully when his hand slipped between her legs to cup her exposed cleft.

  Smoothing through her folds, his fingers primed her, making her body deliciously wet and eager. Dear lord, but what a way to greet the morning. She couldn’t help the gasp that left her when he propped up her pelvis using elemental magic, a ripple of energy that reverberated through her entire being.

  “You are so sexy,” he murmured in a throaty voice. Magic poured through her in waves of riotous sensation as he encouraged her response. Those rough hands fanned the flames of desire, his fingers bringing her body to life. He continued to torment her, allowing her to grow steadily closer to climax while balancing her body on a desperate edge of need.

  She couldn’t help riding his hands, needing more of him, wanting everything. And then he buried his mouth between her thighs and she wailed his name.

  “Cadmus!”

  Driving his tongue deep in her channel, he gripped her thighs hard and drew on her clitoris. She bucked uncontrollably, awash in ecstasy as she exploded. Even as her body shook and her nerves screamed with pleasure, he refused to relent, stirring her to a higher plane of bliss.

  She couldn’t help thrusting back into his mouth. His tongue licked at her cream while his hands teased and toyed with her belly, her thighs and every other area of taut flesh he could reach. Ellie was truly, hopelessly lost in his dark, erotic web.

  Tense, her body strung out like a bow, she shuddered, needing Cadmus to finish her. As if sensing her desperation, he quickly knelt behind her and prodded with his hot, steely cock. Dipping himself in her come, he teased at her entrance.

  “Ah, Ellie. I’ve really missed you.” His deep voice made her shiver, his presence behind her a solid reminder that she had never really been rid of him, as much as she’d wished it. Even knowing how much a mistake this intimacy might prove, she couldn’t refuse him, couldn’t resist the temptation of being one with him again.

  “Please, Cadmus. Put yourself inside me.” She tried to squirm, but he wouldn’t allow her to shift.

  “Where? Here?” He slid between her thighs, teasing at her sensitive clit before pulling back to position himself at her small, puckered hole. “Or here?”

  He rested at her anus, letting her feel him strong and hard. Excitement took hold. “We never quite reached this point in our relationship,” he said thickly, his body tense as he forced himself to hold still. “You have no idea how much I want this, how much I want you.”

  He teased, prodding her the tiniest bit. She gasped, nervous of the unknown.

  “Later, Ellie, when I have the time and patience to prepare you,” he breathed and repositioned himself at her wet sex once more. “I can’t wait.” He thrust hard, his position from behind causing him to surge so far inside her pussy that it felt as if he touched her womb.

  “Oh, yes,” she gasped, relieved and finally full of what she’d been craving.

  Thick and hard, he shoved repeatedly through her tight walls, reaching that hidden spot inside her no one but he had ever managed. Darkness stole through her, wrapping around Cadmus’ powerful p
leasure until she felt consumed by the sexual heat surrounding her.

  “That’s it, baby. Come for me. Let it take you over until you feel nothing but me inside you.”

  As his excitement built, he thrust harder, adding vibrations to her clit that threw her into a blazing symphony of desire, a mingling of her cries and his moans that lit their passion into an unforgettable moment. She cried out and came hard.

  Throbbing around him, she could actually feel him pulsing within her as he continued to press deeper before he stilled and shuddered inside her. Dear God, but if it weren’t for his hold on her body she’d have fallen on her face a while ago.

  “By the Light, Ellie,” he rasped, resting his heavy weight over her back. His breath kissed her neck, and his stubbled cheek rubbed her shoulder in an erotic caress. “I can’t believe what you do to me.”

  “Me?” She tried to catch her breath, dazed and wary at how easily he’d mastered her, taking her back to a time when they’d shared such joinings regularly and with an eager expectancy. Affection and something more took root as she heard him sigh her name.

  No, no, no.

  This had not been on her agenda when she’d agreed to allow him to stay with her. Sure, she’d fantasised about sex again with the great Cadmus Storm, if for no other reason than to verify the accuracy of her memories.

  Check. She had not exaggerated. He really was that good in bed.

  That said, she needed to remain in control, to distance herself from the pesky emotions seething within her. She’d needed to get laid. It was as simple as that. If a man could do it, so could a woman. She’d simply had sex with an available man and satisfied her itch. No sense in wrapping her heart around a physical attraction.

  Ignoring the emptiness sweltering all too near, she slowly disengaged from Cadmus, pasted a false smile on her face and slid out of bed.