Guardian's Redemption

by Marie Harte

  She groaned when he laved kisses over the column of her neck and up her throat to her ear.

  “If you’re not carrying yet, maybe we need to work harder.” He nipped at her earlobe and tongued the sensitive shell of her ear, driving her into instant, all-consuming lust.

  “Wait,” she rasped, trying to clear her hazing thoughts. “Shouldn’t we be going after a blooddrinking Dark Lord?”

  “Don’t rush me,” Arim breathed, lifting her into his arms. He carried her to the nearest wall and leaned her against it, grinding his massive erection against her throbbing clit. “I’ve almost got my Dark Lord right where I want her. Now to do away with our clothes.”

  She wished them gone before he did and shuddered at the feel of their skin pressing tight. His warmth was arousing in itself, but the feel of his hard cock pushing past the slick walls of her sex was enough to bring her to climax. He groaned as he thrust deeper, and then he stilled, impaling Lexa over him.

  “I love you so much, Blue. You saved me twice now. I think I owe you.”

  He controlled her movements with his large hands, pulling her almost off him before shoving her back over him, thrusting as deeply as her sex would allow.

  “Arim.”

  “Ride me, Blue. Take my Light. Let me come deep inside you.”

  His palms held her with ease as they came together in pounding thrusts that merged both bodies and minds. Lexa felt so full of him. When he leaned harder against her breasts she cried out at the sensation.

  “Feels good, baby. So good,” Arim moaned as he surged into her even harder.

  She gloried in his strength, in the touch of a powerful sorcerer commanding her body into a wanton mass of nerves and feeling. Unbidden, a taste of his Darkness met hers, and she writhed as energy pulsed through her body with every push of his steely-hard cock.

  Arim’s scent wafted over her, sure maleness and Light with more than a share of arrogance. So sexy, so demanding, so hers.

  “Come for me,” he urged, shifting so that his pelvis brushed her clit with more and more pressure.

  Unable to stop herself, Lexa burst in an orgasm so intense, she felt a blast of cold leave her pores, washing Arim in the process.

  “Oh, yeah,” he grunted, his body heat absorbing her energy with greedy pulls.

  He had yet to release, however, and waved a hand on the floor. A thick rug suddenly appeared and he lowered her to it, his erection still pulsing within her.

  Without stopping, Arim remained joined and bent his head, brushing her nipple with his lips. Lightning curled through her as if Lexa hadn’t just violently come. She arched into his touch and he pushed deeper, touching the heart of her womb. His mouth closed fully over her breast. He sucked as he thrust in and out, his motions unhurried while his lips and teeth brought her swiftly, incredibly, towards climax once more.

  Arim alternated between breasts, tormenting Lexa into a state of desperation. She pulled at his shoulders and scratched his back. Her ankles hugged his hips and she struggled to pull him into her faster. But he wouldn’t be rushed. His slow, steady pace made her crazed with lust.

  “Arim, fuck me already. By the Night, you’re driving me insane.”

  “Good. That’s just how I like you,” he chuckled. When she looked up into his eyes, she saw more than carnal need, but an emotional desire pooling in his gaze, emblazoned in a rainbow of colour. “You’re mine, Blue. Say it.”

  She couldn’t think to deny him. “I’m yours.”

  “You love me. Tell me you love me.”

  That was more difficult, yet the powerful thrusts shaking her foundation eased her restraint, and the band of Light that passed into her—Arim’s overwhelming love—made it impossible to resist. “I love you. I’ve always loved you.” His smile was blinding, and she knew he’d be impossible to deal with after her confession. “You jerk.”

  His boisterous laugh tapered off when she squeezed him inside her. He groaned and finally quickened his pace. Arim loved her with swift, powerful strokes, his pelvis brushing her clit with agonizing sureness. This time when she came, he was right with her.

  “Blue,” he shouted as he pumped, his seed jetting into her in bursts of Light and Dark, his love pure as it washed over them both.

  Lexa could only ride it out with him, astounded at the sudden welling of energy pouring into them from the ground, the air, the energy of life all around them.

  Arim continued to groan as he spewed, his orgasm so powerful it was magical.

  “Light and Dark, Blue, but that was incredible,” he panted as he lay over her, his forehead beaded with sweat. Arim kissed her, his tongue sliding between her lips to tease her tongue. “You make me so hard so fast. The thought of you carrying my child…” His eyes flashed with colour. “Let’s just say I wouldn’t mind.”

  Lexa smiled, too relaxed to worry about motherhood, loving Arim inside her. She couldn’t help her pleasure at feeling his seed running down her thighs towards her ass. The claiming, his marking, made her feel cherished and accepted. And like that, she wanted him again.

  “Arim,” she groaned. “How is it I want you again when I’m too weak to lift my head?”

  He chuckled. “That would be your masterful Light Bringer’s seductive powers, my sweet.” She punched him in the arm and he nuzzled her neck. “Ah, Blue, I don’t want to ever leave you. But it seems I’ll have to.”

  “Don’t even try it. You don’t know what happened when I brought you back. You aren’t capable of taking ‘Sin Garu down, not without me.”

  “I won’t risk you.” Arim kissed her cheek. “We both know what he really wants. He wants me to suffer, and the surest way of doing that is to harm you. Maybe if I distract him long enough, Sava can work some Shadow magic and take him out.”

  “Bullshit. Sava’s great, but he can’t take on a Dark Lord who’s as crazed and powerful as ‘Sin Garu. It’s not just Dark energy he’ll be fighting. It’s demons too.” Though Sava had spent some time in the Pit… What might he know?

  “What if you’re pregnant, Lexa? Would you risk our children in this fight?”

  She paused. There was nothing motherly about Lexa. Yet…her hand curled protectively over her stomach.

  “That’s what I thought.” Arim’s smug tone put her back up.

  “Now hold on. If I am, by some otherworldly means, pregnant already, after just a few times with you—”

  “It only takes once, especially with the Guardian of Storm.” He arrogantly arched a brow.

  “Then my children won’t ever be safe until ‘Sin Garu is dead. The only way to do that is to combine our powers.” She continued as if he hadn’t interrupted her. “Much as it annoys me to admit it, we’re stronger together. Our energy builds off each other instead of attacking and degrading the other. It’s always been that way.”

  “I know.” Arim’s cockiness faded. “But I don’t think I can do it. I can’t put you in harm’s way.”

  “You had no problem battling me a few months ago.”

  He frowned. “That was different. I thought you were…ah, not quite on our side. Even then I would never have let you come to serious harm. I’m not saying I didn’t want to seriously spank your ass. When we fought ‘Sin Garu, it practically killed me to let him touch you. I was barely in time to save you after you took that demon blast meant for me.”

  “Which reminds me. What the hell were you thinking to give me so much energy?” She slapped his arm.

  “What?”

  “You gave me too much of yourself the last time we were together. I thought I felt something, but I chalked it up to Tanselm welcoming me back. That’s part of why you were fading so fast after you passed out over Ravyn. The stress, Tanselm’s faltering magic, and your generous ‘gift’ nearly did you in.”

  He looked uncomfortable. “I saw you hurting and wanted to help. Why is that a problem?” Arim’s discomfort faded under a dark scowl. “And why the hell didn’t you tell me the demons ripped away part of your soul? Your soul
, Blue. You should have come to me right away for help.”

  Lexa rolled her eyes. “Please. All you needed was an excuse to have me under your thumb.”

  “You’re damned right.” Arim tilted his hips and slid deeper inside her, his rising erection a carnal promise for more. “Hell. Much as I want to continue this fight, among other things,” he paused and pulled out, only to thrust harder in. “We’re eventually going to have to find Sava. We need a plan to separate ‘Sin Garu from his wraiths and finish him off for good.”

  “Yeah,” Lexa breathed, unable to do more than feel Arim’s shaft stoking her to new heights. Tanselm, bless her, echoed the sentiment, sending bursts of ragged power through Arim into Lexa, power the land could ill-afford to lose but power the land gave regardless. And Lexa knew they’d need every bit of it to aid them against their enemy. “We’ll find him. But after, okay?”

  Arim groaned his assent and moved faster. Their passion again spiralled out of control, as intense as their previous joinings. Hearts and souls mired together, the cautious voice in Lexa’s mind as if it had never been. Unspoken love flowed freely between Light Bringer and Dark Lord, and Lexa knew happiness again.

  In the aftermath of their climaxes, when Lexa came back into herself, she swore she felt the first stirrings of something foreign in her belly. Something that felt suspiciously like new life.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As they walked through the castle towards the commons for Sava, Arim stared at the back of Lexa’s dark head, his mind a whirl of chaos. His emotions ran the gamut from one end to the other. Grief for his sister’s untimely departure, joy that he finally had Lexa where he wanted her—in love with him—and fear that his happiness might be taken away before it had a chance to take root.

  Their relationship had taken a drastic turn, and through it all, his little Dark Lord remained tough as nails and twice as sharp. Though he’d had her screaming his name in ecstasy and in love—something he’d dreaded would never happen after so much enmity between them—the cold, emotionless shield that encased so much of her feelings remained intact.

  The caution that seemed so much a part of her had yet to be exhausted. Arim wanted to slam his head through the wall even as he wanted to press Lexa up against it and fuck her until she cried his name out loud again, showing him, if not telling him, what she felt inside.

  Several Light Bringers passed them, staring in fear. A few Church brethren glared their hostility, bringing home the very real problems Arim and Lexa were going to have to soon face. Still, Arim couldn’t stop looking at her, feeling the touch of her soft skin under his palm, the spicy taste of her on his tongue, and the exotic scent of Dark and danger she emitted like the sultriest of perfumes.

  Mother of Light. Had he lost all sense? His sister was gone, another casualty in their war against an evil blooddrinker and Dark Lord, and Arim drowned in love for his enemy’s sister. Rationally he knew he was out of his mind. Emotionally… How could he consign Lexa to the same hatred he felt for her sibling and many of her kind? Lexa was as much a victim of Dark manipulation as Arim’s family. He rubbed his forehead as a familiar headache surfaced. Thoughts of the life he’d lead before coming to Tanselm remained foggy, his one connection to that life now swimming in the Next.

  Ravyn had died, but Lexa was still alive. She needed him, whether the stubborn witch would admit it or not. She had a lot of issues to deal with, the least of which would be facing her last sibling, a creature more demon than man. And she was surrounded by what she no doubt still considered ‘the enemy’, a Light Bringer populace that would as soon hang her as welcome her.

  Lexa had suffered much at Light Bringer hands, and the notion made Arim pause. Could he expect her to put the past aside and start afresh? He was more than willing, but she had a clear right to her anger. She’d been blamed for a crime she hadn’t committed and lost a loving family, only to inherit a twisted ‘family’ of emotionally barren Dark individuals like ‘Sin Garu, B’alen and Ini. A true hell in every sense of the word. Arim thanked the Light that at least Ini and B’alen were dead and no doubt writhing in hell. Now he just had to convince ‘Sin Garu to join them.

  Walking past several Light Bringer sorcerers and one Church brethren Arim definitely needed to talk to, Arim noted the absence of children in the halls—a safety precaution—and couldn’t help wondering if Lexa indeed carried his child. He’d tried but hadn’t detected any signs of life in her womb, though he knew it was too soon to really tell. Even his magic had a hard time seeing through Lexa’s Darkness, and a babe could only have been conceived hours, or even days, ago.

  Still, the thought of his child made his heart soar and obliterated much of the sadness still lingering over him. Ravyn had gifted his nephews, and him, with that final good-bye he sensed but couldn’t prove. Word of her sons and daughters expecting a new generation of Light Bringers would please her. Just as soon as Arim took care of an evil Dark Lord bent on world dominion, he’d do his best to add to the royal brood. As the royal uncle, Arim and his powerful Dark Lord wife would do much to heal the land’s hurts…provided they all lived long enough to conceive.

  Arim snorted, ignored Lexa’s concerned glance, and walked faster towards the commons, where Sava waited. If Lexa really thought he’d allow her to put herself in danger, she wasn’t as smart as he thought her to be. Yes, he’d admit that together their magic was more powerful. But Lexa was still missing a part of her Light-forsaken soul. He seethed just thinking about it.

  If that weren’t bad enough, the little fool had just healed him at a cost to herself. She’d been weak before he’d given her his energy, and in her bid to return the favour, she’d given him back more than she should have. Which didn’t explain why Arim felt odd bursts of incredible strength mixed with a weakened pulsing of Light. Attributing the strange power spikes to Tanselm’s reedy flow of magic, he began shoring up what he’d need to confront ‘Sin Garu.

  He made a mental list of the spells he’d need to review, as well as the weapons he planned to take with him. His staff, a Light-edged knife, a quick trip to Tanselm’s healing fountains deep within Morn Mountain—a place few knew about because it was so Dark, and because the land would only allow certain bodies the knowledge.

  Ravyn and he had visited the well many times. But never with Faustus. And never with his nephews. Though he’d thought it odd, Arim didn’t question Tanselm’s right to share her power. He had his strength by her grace and now needed to use it to the best of his ability to heal the savaged land. ‘Sin Garu had lost whatever right to life he’d had. Killing Light Bringers and Storm Lords was wrong, but it was the threat to Lexa’s life that brought out the Dark feeling in Arim the most. Though Arim felt his sister’s passing with his whole heart, he couldn’t still the fury that grew within him at thoughts of ‘Sin Garu taking Lexa.

  “Arim? Your eyes are doing that funky rainbow thing,” Lexa murmured and took the lead, tugging him after her.

  In the short span it took them to reach the eating area, Arim managed to regain control, if by a slim lead. Sava nodded to them warily, his gaze keen on Arim’s as they sat with him and four Light Bringer females crowding the Aellein king’s space.

  The table was littered with plates of sweets, snacks and goblets of ale surrounded by gracious, helping hands as the women fed Sava from their fingers.

  “Typical,” Lexa muttered as she huffed and sat across from Sava and next to Arim. She frowned at the besotted females. “He’s busy. Find someone else.”

  They gasped at Arim’s ‘dreaded Dark Lord’, and Arim shook his head. “Blue, you’re really going to have to learn to use some tact.”

  “Oh? Why?” She tilted her head in question, the cocky look one she’d perfected over the years.

  Sava chortled as he drank what smelled like cinarum.

  “Who the hell gave you that?” Arim wanted to know. The cinarum stores were preciously guarded, the spiced drink one that Ravyn used to pull out for special occasions.

>   Sava shrugged. “One of the women in the kitchens. Does it matter?” He drank again, closing his eyes in bliss, and Arim stifled a grin at Lexa’s clear irritation.

  “Could we focus on ‘Sin Garu for a minute? I think your belly, and your ego,” she added under her breath, “should hold.”

  Sava frowned at Lexa, including Arim in his aggravation. “What has you so irritated?” He shot Arim a definite sneer. “You’ve at least slaked your hungers. Let me deal with mine.”

  “Please.” Lexa rolled her eyes, and Arim didn’t need to look at Sava to sense the annoyance clouding his expression. “We need to hit ‘Sin Garu now while we know where he is.”

  “What’s the sudden rush?” Sava fingered his goblet, his gaze narrowed between Lexa and Arim. “The Dark Lord has yet to leave his haven in Orfel, and that means his Netharat can’t be too far away. The wraiths and Shadren pop in and out of that place at all hours. Only the Djinn remain conspicuously absent. I figure that’s because even they draw the line at so much blood and gore saturating any one place.”

  “And you know this how?” Lexa’s suspicion echoed Arim’s thoughts.

  “I left a spell in place to alert me to ‘Sin Garu’s movements, but I don’t think he cares who knows where he is. ‘Sin Garu’s suddenly very open to anyone who wants a peek. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he’s waiting for you.”

  “Then let’s not disappoint.” Rage flared, and Arim fed the fiery anger burning brightly within him. Let that damned Dark blooddrinker try to touch Lexa again. Arim would feed him his head in one bloody lump before he’d see Lexa harmed.

  “Look, you two, we have to be careful.” Sava’s words dripped with sarcasm. “Arim, you’re supposed to be having a calming effect on Lexa, but it seems as if our bloodthirsty little Dark Lord is affecting you.” He shook his head when Lexa grinned. “With the demon world sapping Tanselm’s strength, you’re both going to have a hard time defeating ‘Sin Garu. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that may help.”