Guardian's Redemption

by Marie Harte

  Lexa looked to protest but caught sight of his straining cock and surprised him with a grin instead. “I knew you were bossy as hell, but this takes it to a whole new level.”

  Desire raged between them, to his delight. He quickly got to his feet and grabbed a damp cloth and soap from the bathroom. It took precious time to clean them both, but when done, his hunger returned full force.

  He rolled on top of her, no longer questioning his driving need to dominate. “You have no idea what I have in store for you.” But you soon will. Losing himself in her again, Arim focused his all on Lexa’s pleasure this time, and was rewarded with more than a “Master,” but with a splinter in the armour Lexa wore like a second skin. For a brief moment, he saw the emotion she held in check. That glimpse made him that much more determined to have it all.

  Tanselm, his family, and Lexa by his side for an eternity.

  Hours later, Lexa had trouble breathing when Arim finally let her up to take a shower. She was covered in his seed. Between her thighs, her ass, all over her legs and belly. Hell, the only thing she hadn’t done yet was blow him, but by the look on his face when he glanced at her mouth, she knew that act was not long in coming.

  Flushing at her own ill-timed pun, she scrambled for the bathroom to see to her needs, and for some much-needed privacy.

  They’d spent so much time in bed together that only her stomach rumbling, and her need to be clean, had finally forced Arim to cease. She didn’t understand his never-ending libido—or hers—not to mention her willingness to accept all of him.

  Those pieces of Darkness he allowed her to see only made her want him more. Granted, she had always been attracted to things Dark, but in Arim the sight of Darkness was so tantalising as to be mesmerising. His Light burned and drew on her essence, but it was his innate Darkness that beckoned her to be one with him.

  As if Tanselm could reach them even in Seattle, Lexa felt that pull to commit herself fully to Arim, to the Killer of Shadow. Bemused at the lust once again pooling at the thought of Arim’s fierce reputation and strength, Lexa blushed for being a fool and stood under the spray of cool water soothing her sensitive skin.

  How had he done it? How had Arim wormed his way beneath her emotional safeguards, getting her to the point where she now felt devotion instead of hostility? Where she wanted to be with him instead of apart from him? Even now, separated by a small distance, Lexa felt the burning need to close the expanse between them and touch him again.

  “I missed you,” the focus of her thoughts said as he stepped into the shower with her. “Silly, I know, since I just came all over you.” He grinned without repentance. “But I’m trying to make up for lost time.”

  That bothered her too. The raw anger she normally felt when reminded of what she’d been through thanks to his ‘misunderstanding’ was fading. Arim normally enraged her. He inflamed her anger. He didn’t make her crave his touch, to feel his arms around her like he was now doing.

  “You’re confusing me.” She sighed.

  “I know. You want to hate me, to be angry with me. But you can’t.” When she broke from him to look at his face with suspicion, he shrugged. “I’m not reading your mind. I’m feeling the same. For so long we’ve been at odds, Blue. And it’s taken its toll.” Arim took a deep breath. “I made major mistakes with you before. I won’t make them again. Pride be damned. I love you, Lexa. I’ve always loved you. Now that I’ve found you again, I won’t let you go.”

  Lexa stared at him in shock until he turned the knob on the shower, heating them up. She sputtered and turned the water cooler, to a temperature better suited to a Dark Lord’s affinity for cold.

  Arim simply smiled, letting the cooler water slide off his cold-pebbled skin. “I’ll do whatever it takes to convince you. I love you, Blue.”

  He looked so happy saying the words she’d longed to hear forever. Yet hearing them put a fear in her belly. She had to look away at the shower wall to get a grip on her faltering composure.

  “Shh.” To her consternation, the Light Bringer sorcerer hugged her, offering comfort. “I know. You don’t believe me, and I don’t blame you. But I’m not going away. Not this time.” He kissed the top of her head and she felt his arousal rise against the small of her back. “Damn, sorry. Has a mind of its own.”

  To her surprise, Arim ignored his erection and cleaned her carefully, giving her a killer scalp massage as he worked the shampoo through her hair. After they soaked in water that she eventually compromised on a warm temperature, she and Arim dried off with towels that soon disappeared.

  “Sava is in big, big trouble when I see him again.” Though, being able to see Arim strut around with that impressive body was no hardship Lexa admitted.

  “Well, I’m not going to thank him. Or Jonas either, for that matter.” Arim glanced away from her. “Hell. I have to know. Don’t get angry.”

  She had no clue why he was looking so nervous, but she couldn’t stop staring. Arim never looked unsure.

  “You and Jonas never…that is, you and Jonas aren’t involved, are you?” His voice hardened as he waited with what seemed like an uncomfortable patience.

  Lexa couldn’t help laughing. “Me and Jonas?” At her laughter, Arim relaxed. “You asked me that before. Why would you think that?”

  “Something Sava mentioned.” Arim flushed and tried to turn away, but not before Lexa jumped into his arms, still grinning. She didn’t think she’d ever forget that look on his face.

  “You were jealous, weren’t you?”

  “Maybe,” he grumbled, looking put out. His hands, however, remained firm on her ass, holding her in place against him. A reluctant smile lit his face. “You like that, don’t you? That even when I thought the worst of you, I couldn’t help feeling you were mine. I could have taken Jonas’ tongue out whenever he spoke so lovingly about you.” Arim’s gaze burned, and Lexa tried to tamp the grin threatening to split her face open. “In fact, I will the next time I see the asshole.”

  “Why, Arim, I think that’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  He chuckled and carried her to the sofa, where he dumped her before turning to the kitchen. “I’m going to feed that flat little belly of yours, Blue. Because if I don’t, I’m tempted to fuck you again. Damned if I know how you keep doing it to me. If Sava doesn’t get here soon with some clothes, I may not spend any time at all outside of that tempting body of yours.”

  Lexa kept quiet, a bit disturbed she had no thought to complain about Arim’s ideas for the foreseeable future. Making love with him was exhaustingly perfect. She’d decided to get as much of it as she could before the outside world once again intruded. At least this experience would be something to remember fondly when the world turned to shit again, as it no doubt would.

  Sighing, she couldn’t help wondering about ‘Sin Garu, which brought her thoughts back to Jonas and the others, and how she’d positioned all the ‘players’. Using Ethim il Ruethe to gather the Sarqua Djinn—those Djinn wanting freedom from ‘Sin Garu’s oppression—had been genius, if she did say so herself. Ethim had no liking for Dark Lords, but he’d been willing to risk a chance on Lexa if it meant freeing his people from a sadistic Dark sorcerer. It was through him she’d met Jonas…and Remir.

  Lexa wondered again about the Darkling who’d pledged his life and loyalty to her before any of the others had done so. For years Remir had given her information about his brethren, his affection for her impossible to miss. Just once she’d been weak enough to allow his attentions. Her disinterested body had quickly shown her what a mistake she’d made even though their intimacy had pulled Remir tighter. Which made it unfathomable to believe what she’d seen to be real.

  Lexa had been spying on Ethim and his kin a few months back, before her last altercation with ‘Sin Garu. There she’d prodded Cadmus, the last unwed Storm Lord, to take her friend Ellie, Ethim’s daughter, as his affai. To Lexa’s pleasure, the Storm Lord had easily fallen into her plans, in love with the
woman Lexa called a friend. Everything with the Djinn progressed according to plan. And then Lexa had seen Remir and a woman who could have been Lexa’s double having sex.

  Lexa didn’t have a twin. She had two brothers, one dead and one nearly so, his body reduced to a shell encasing demons that wanted nothing more than to sink the world around them into chaos. Not wanting to believe what she suspected, Lexa tried to contact Remir but had met with no success. Had she not been injured in her last battle with her egomaniacal brother, she’d have followed up on Remir’s disturbing disappearance. At the least, she would have tasked Jonas to look into the matter.

  Jonas. Lexa couldn’t help the warmth that filled her at thoughts of Arim jealous. Though Lexa easily admitted to Jonas’ good looks and obvious charm with the female persuasion, the Darkling had never made her burn the way Arim did. After her less-than-satisfying coupling with Remir, she’d sworn off males, at least until she resolved the regrets in her life.

  Lexa’s plans had been to kill ‘Sin Garu, destroy the Netharat, and find closure in her dealings with Arim. Reminders of her intentions turned her grin into a frown. How much closer was she now to her goals? She had no magic, no clothing, and nothing more than time to kill as she waited for that idiot Sava and that turncoat Jonas to return and set her free.

  The thought made her pause, because she wasn’t sure she wanted to be free, not if it meant leaving this behind. That in itself was cause for alarm. Lexa glanced at Arim, watching the muscles in his body flex as he moved. From here she could see the strength in his aura, could sense the magic returning to his body even though they both sat under Sava’s spell.

  Her Light Bringer sorcerer had so much power. That innate authority, along with his sexy body, made her mouth water. Just knowing he loved her gave her a thrill, even as his emotion made her wary. Love and hate were sides of the same coin, and how well she knew that truth.

  Now Arim thought he loved her. Lexa didn’t doubt his sincerity, but she did doubt his longevity. They’d been deeply in love before, and he’d ditched her at the first sign of trouble. Okay, she had to admit ‘trouble’ was too bland a word for what had happened to her family. But still. He should have demanded an explanation. He should have stuck with her through that terrible time, providing the same comfort he so easily gave now. Which made her wonder…

  “Arim?”

  “Blue?” He joined her on the couch with a plate of food. To Lexa’s dismay, she had a hard time focusing on her thoughts in view of his superbly conditioned frame. Arim grinned. “Hungry again, baby?”

  Embarrassed, she glared at him. “You are in perpetual heat.” And so the hell am I. She licked her lips, his arousal stirring her primitive needs. “Let me ask this before I lose my train of thought. Before, when you mentioned Muri that day it all happened… You said that I attacked you first.”

  His smiled faded. “You did.”

  “I don’t remember that. I was stunned at what had been done to my family. I was so scared, so sad and confused.”

  “So angry.” Arim reached for her hand and pulled her into his lap. “The Dark rage in the room was so strong. The violence grew, a shuddering wind of fury that literally hurt, Blue. For the first time, your Darkness attacked my Light.”

  “But I didn’t.” Lexa frowned, her hand over his chest. “I admit I was in shock. But Arim, I know what I did. I didn’t strike out at you. I was mired in the Darkness of death around me. The frustration and hurt about killed me, that I couldn’t heal Muri or Esel. Sercha was so badly wounded he had no chance. Mother, even Father…” She blinked furiously, not wanting to cry. Lifting her head, she met his gaze square on. “I destroyed the house in a rage. I threw things, crushed the material possessions that had meant so much to my family and were worthless compared to their deaths. But I know I didn’t try to hurt you. I only struck back to defend myself.”

  Arim’s brows drew together as he replied, slowly. “I was wrong about you killing your family, but I’m not wrong about what happened that day. So if you didn’t try to hurt me, then someone else did.” His gaze darkened as he met her widening stare. “The killer must have still been there when you, and later I, arrived.”

  The possibilities were staggering. “But I was there for hours. Why didn’t he attack me?” She shook her head. “That energy was Dark, we both felt it. I know for a fact ‘Sin Garu didn’t do it. I asked around, and his whereabouts back then were confirmed, as were his connections at the time. He was nearly as powerful as Ini…”

  Arim grimaced. “We looked into Ini’s involvement when we learned she was your biological mother. She had perfect motive, but she didn’t do it. Hell, we investigated everyone connected with you, Blue. We learned nothing from the Church we didn’t already know.”

  “From the Church?” Lexa scowled. “The corruption in that ‘sacred’ institution rivals the Netharat for sheer evil.”

  Arim stroked her hair, his calm acceptance easing the rage brewing within her. “I wish I could disagree with you. Back then the Church was the voice of reason. For the most part, they acted with good faith to protect and preserve a joyful way of life for the Light Bringers.

  “Now, they seem to be little more than vessels distributing hate and prejudice. Sava’s mentioned as much. I’ve been too busy with a certain Dark Lord lately to thoroughly look into the matter.”

  She met his quick kiss and snuggled into his arms, soothed when she’d initially wanted to fight. Damn it all, Arim made her feel like a well-fed kitten. Any longer in his arms and she’d start purring…yet she couldn’t make herself leave the security of his hold.

  “None of this makes any sense. If ‘Sin Garu and B’alen didn’t do it, and the Church says Ini was innocent, then who had motive to kill Muri and Esel? Like you said, the energy in the house was Dark.”

  “Was it?” Arim glanced away, his energy folding in on itself. Lexa felt his rage quivering to be let loose, and she didn’t understand his sudden fury. “Death is a Darkness, especially when murder is involved,” he murmured, his voice low, pained. “What if the rage overlying the scene had been staged? What if someone with a sorcerer’s skill used the energy surrounding the vicious deaths to trap you?”

  “Why me? I was no one back then.”

  “You’ve always been someone.” He cupped her chin, and his inner will seemed to strengthen, allowing the rage within him to subside. “You were powerful, the beloved daughter of two famous Light Bringer sorcerers—voices who spoke out for Church reform. They wanted an end to an institution that disagreed with anyone not of Light Bringer descent.”

  “You think the Church was behind it?” Lexa didn’t understand why this mystery behind her foster family’s demise seemed so urgent, all of a sudden. As if it had happened yesterday, Lexa felt the terrible burden of grief and anger hardening her heart. Tension blazed, and she had an abrupt desire for some space. “I need a minute.” She nodded towards the bathroom as she rose from his arms.

  “Blue—”

  “Just a few moments. I’ll be right out, I promise.” She raced into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Lexa stared at herself in the mirror, her eyes wild. “Why now? What does it all mean?” She shook with suppressed rage, feeling too much when for years she’d existed behind a cold, calculated exterior. “What’s happening to me?”

  Movement behind had her turning and raising her hands in preparation to strike. She’d just left Arim outside, so she knew he hadn’t snuck up behind her. And then she remembered that her magic didn’t work here. Shit.

  A slap of energy filled the small space as a form coalesced into that of a person Lexa knew.

  The green eyes gazing at her were familiar and non-threatening. The glow about the body clearly spoke of the Next. With horror, Lexa stared at the bleak promise of Tanselm’s demise as it approached her on the legs of the deceased.

  The minute Lexa left Arim felt as if something had clenched his heart and yanked it hard away. He rubbed his chest, his appetite no longer for
anything resembling food and everything that reminded him of the black-haired, blue-eyed spitfire he couldn’t stop loving. Now that he’d released the floodgates, allowing his emotions free reign, he could no longer deny how much Lexa still meant to him.

  He could only hope her desire to escape had more to do with bodily need than emotional heartbreak. He could understand the puzzle of her family’s death being hard to swallow no matter how they’d died or how much time had passed, but Lexa had to know she and Arim were in this together. No more castigation. No more Light versus Dark. Blue and he were a team, and they would be forever, until…

  Arim clutched his chest again, this time in real pain. Agony ripped through him. He seized, falling off the couch onto the floor as his mind was torn from the one person in life with whom he shared an unbreakable bond.

  Ravyn.

  Chapter Ten

  Lexa stared at Ravyn Storm in shock. “What the hell are you doing here?” And dead at that?

  Ravyn smiled sadly and shrugged. The pale glow of afterlife clung to her, a clear foreshadowing of doom. “I’m here to help.”

  “What happened?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.” Ravyn sighed, and Lexa immediately wondered how hard Arim would take the news that his sister had died. “I have little time. You must return with Arim to Tanselm. There’s much you must do if you plan to help the Storm Lords save the land.”

  “It can still be saved?” Lexa had her doubts. For years she’d spied on Tanselm, on the land’s power and the Light Bringers’ inner workings from religion to politics to magic. As overqueen, Ravyn was the glue holding the Light Bringers together. Without her there, and worse, without a new overking chosen, the opportunity for internal strife would do more damage than ‘Sin Garu might hope thanks to the corrupt Church of Illumination.

  “It can still be saved. But not without Arim, or you. You, Lexa, are his biggest vulnerability right now, much as you might wish otherwise. You have to accompany him, for he’ll need your power to guide him through these hard times.” Ravyn shook her head. “There is so much I needed to tell him, so much he doesn’t yet understand.”