She looked at Aria, who was watching the argument with a curious expression in her eyes.
“Can you get their attention?” Beth asked her, lifting her voice to be heard through the shouting.
Aria didn’t move or respond. Instead, from seemed like only a foot or two above everyone’s head, a clap of thunder sounded, so loud and shocking that nearly everyone winced and put their hands over their ears, some of them ducking away from the potential danger.
“Look at you,” Beth told them. “You’re at each other’s throats. That is what the Grimoré intended when they sent Helidoro to emphasize the risks of attacking them directly. They want us divided because it weakens us. Think of it. We all know that a full trinity is far more powerful than only one or two of that trinity. If we are to win this war, if we are to succeed, we must be of one mind. We must stand together.”
There were some guilty looks among them. It was Diego, who was allergic to authority, who challenged her.
“So, what are we going to do, while we’re standing shoulder to shoulder?” he demanded.
Beth gasped. Diego’s question triggered a cascade of ideas, thoughts, images, concepts…. She held up her hand, asking for silence, as she tried to grasp the central core of the flood of thoughts. This was the idea that had been eluding her.
Then she had it.
Everyone was looking at her, some of them smiling.
“Can everyone see the light bulb that just went on over her head?” Cole asked the room.
Beth nodded. “You’re right. I’m tingling with it.” She shook her hands to disperse the sensation. “Everyone, I’m going to need thirty minutes to sort out details. So rest. Eat. Sharpen your blades. You’re going to need all three when I get back.”
She picked up Lindal’s hand and beckoned to Zack. “You two, come with me.”
* * * * *
The little cubicle was darker than the room beyond, shaded by the blankets. Through the blanket wall, Beth could hear the sounds of the trinities going about their business. There was chatter and even some laughter. The tensions of a moment ago had completely gone.
That was right. That was as it should be.
Beth drew Lindal farther inside, as Zack ducked under the overhanging blanket that made up the informal door.
She put her arms around Lindal’s neck and kissed him, giving it her full attention. She stroked his lips with her tongue, then pressed it inside, to touch his. Her nerve endings fizzed in response. It had been too long since she had stopped to enjoy this fundamental pleasure.
“Zack, help me,” she breathed, her lips brushing Lindal’s cheek.
He moved up behind Lindal and settled his hands on Lindal’s hips. His fingertips moved against his shirt, almost as if he was sampling the flesh beneath. “This is a fine lightbulb idea you had…”
Beth smiled and kissed Lindal again. As she pressed her lips against his, she could feel Zack’s hands between them, drawing Lindal’s shirt up out of his trousers and dealing with the buttons.
As soon as his flesh was bared, Beth pressed against it.
Lindal was already breathing hard. He cupped her ass with his long fingers, over the top of the denim. “If it had just been a skirt…” he whispered.
Beth pulled away from him and bent and unzipped the boots. “Keep doing what you’re doing,” she told Zack.
“Just try to stop me,” Zack said, as he pulled Lindal’s shirt off his shoulders and dropped it to one side. He pressed his lips against Lindal’s neck, making him shiver and brought his hands around to play with the fastenings on his pants.
Beth was grateful Zack seemed to understand what she was doing. She stripped quickly and let her hair loose to brush against the small of her back. Her nipples were hard, tight with anticipation. Her clit was throbbing. Even though this time was not for her specifically, she knew she would enjoy it.
There was only a foot or two of clear floor space between the blanket wall and the mattress. They were all standing in that space. Zack removed the last of Lindal’s clothing, so that he was as naked as Beth. Lindal’s cock was a marble-hard shaft and his eyes were a dark, stormy blue as his gaze swept over her.
Beth pressed herself against him, feeling his cock against her belly, which made her clit pulse and her pussy squeeze. Her nipples scraped against his chest.
Lindal cupped her ass cheek again. “That’s better,” he said. His voice was thick with lust.
It had been Beth’s intention to make Lindal stand and accept whatever Zack and she chose to do to him. Zack, though, had moved away and was rapidly removing his clothing.
She had also forgotten Lindal might have different ideas. He reached back behind him and caught Zack’s arm, pulling him closer.
Zack dropped his jeans and willingly moved to his side. He was naked now, too and his cock was deep red, swollen with excitement.
Lindal kissed him, taking his time with it, while his hand wandered over Beth’s back and ass and the back of her thigh, teasing with soft strokes that made her flesh ripple and her hips push forward in little jerks. The sight of the two of them kissing, one dark haired and dark eyed, the other light against Zack’s dark, both of them taking pleasure from the other…she shuddered in reaction. She could never get enough of watching them together.
Lindal curled his hand around Zack’s cock, making him moan. He ran his fingers loosely up the length of his shaft, making his cock twitch and Zack hiss in reaction, his lips pulling away from Lindal’s.
So Lindal turned back to Beth. He slid his hands up to her waist as he dipped his head to kiss her again. He lifted her off her feet with what felt like no effort. He pressed her against him and it was only natural to wrap her legs around him, which opened her up, so her heated and throbbing pussy was pushed up against him.
Lindal’s kiss was deep and long. It felt as though he was trying to inhale her, or absorb her. It was as if he knew the decision she had just made that had driven her to pick up his hand and pull him here.
He leaned her back and dipped his head to suck in the tip of her breast and Zack’s hand took the other, stroking it and rubbing over the sensitive tip.
Beth shuddered and fought not to moan. There were people only a few feet from where they were, separated by only the thin blanket. Except that these people were part of the force that had brought them to this spot. They had experienced the power of the trinities, too.
She let herself moan and enjoy Zack’s and Lindal’s attention.
It felt as if Lindal was letting her fall backward and for a fraction of a heartbeat, she was alarmed. Except that Lindal was strong and had never let her be hurt. Ever. She relaxed as he lowered her to the mattress and laid over her.
He was breathing hard, his body glowing not just with heat, but with the unearthly light that all elves shared. It always grew stronger when he was at his happiest.
He pushed himself up on one arm, leaning over her. He almost rammed his cock into her, driving deep and filling her. She caught her breath. This was one of those moments she loved, when either one of them took her and her pussy clenched around them for the first time.
“Two can play at that game,” Zack said and gripped Lindal’s shoulder. Lindal stiffened, his eyes closing. Beth couldn’t see what Zack was doing to him, although she knew that expression. Zack would be taking Lindal from behind, driving himself into Lindal as Lindal had done with her.
This was perfect. It was the meshing of the three of them in mind, heart and body. The absolute rightness grew like a bubble inside her, building until it overwhelmed her.
Lindal thrust, his breath escaping him in a heavy exhalation and her body tightened around him. The climax was building in her belly, leaping to life.
Beth could feel Zack moving against Lindal, his breath harsh. His knuckles were white, where his fingers dug into Lindal’s shoulder, pinning him down so he could get deeper.
Lindal’s thrusts were uneven, almost strained. The pleasure he was taking from her and
the arousal from what Zack was doing to him was keeping him off balance and his excitement growing. He was trembling with it.
So was Beth. She couldn’t take a full breath. The climax was building, making her lie helpless, writhing, as it raced for the peak, while Lindal worked against her and in her, directing it. She gripped the edge of the mattress, clamping down on the sheet, as it gathered.
The orgasm washed over her, stealing her breath completely, making her body arch. Muscles and tendons strained. So did her throat. She was incapable of making a sound.
Her chest unlocked and the blinding, sizzling pleasure tore through all her nerves, abrading them with silvered heat.
She clutched Lindal to her as he strained, stiffening, as his climax took him. The tendons on his neck stood out and his eyes closed.
Then he drew in a deep breath and reached around behind him, twisting. The movement let Beth see him grab the back of Zack’s neck. He tugged him forward, pulling him down to the mattress.
Zack’s cock was glistening with lubricant and the veins were crawling along its length, thick with blood. It looked as if he would come at the slightest touch.
Lindal flipped him on his back. He kissed Beth briefly, then pulled himself over Zack. Zack groaned and rolled his head back as Lindal took him.
Beth caught her breath once more, watching as Lindal thrust deeply and steadily, his eyes almost completely closed. It was as if he was concentrating on every sensation and nuance. Storing it up for future reference.
Zack had been too close to coming already. He lasted only a few beats before his climax was triggered. He jerked, as he came with a choked-off groan. Beth could almost feel the way his body tightened, straining with the pleasure and how he would be clamping around Lindal.
Lindal’s jaw rippled and his eyes opened wide as he came with a harsh breath, almost ramming into him. He grew still, propping himself up on one arm, his chest heaving.
So was Zack’s. Zack reached up and pushed at Lindal’s shoulder and Lindal fell between them.
Beth threw her arm and leg over him, turning on her side as Lindal was.
Zack rolled over to face them both. They were still breathing heavily, slowing as they recovered.
“I thought, when you pulled me in here, that we were going to talk,” Lindal said quietly.
“We did ‘talk’,” Zack said. His grin faded quickly.
Beth bit her lip. She couldn’t put it off any longer. Both of them knew, even if they didn’t understand the details yet. It wouldn’t be fair to leave them waiting any longer.
“I know how to end this war,” she said.
Neither of them reacted. It wasn’t a surprise to them.
“What I don’t know,” she added slowly, “is what happens after.”
Zack’s gaze dropped away from hers. He wasn’t pretending to not understand. “Can’t we…just pretend nothing changed? After?”
“Can we?” Beth asked.
“Or maybe,” Lindal said heavily, “we should start again. Afterward, I mean.”
“What, all the way back to McGinty’s when I didn’t have a clue about either of you?” She tried to make her tone light and failed.
“Why not?” Lindal said. “After, we’re all going to have to figure out what the hell we do once the Grimoré are gone. We could figure us out while we’re at it.”
“Maybe you won’t want to, afterward,” Zack said.
Lindal swallowed. “No.” He said it flatly. Denial.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Zack said gently, “That doesn’t apply to you, son of morning.”
Then he did know. Beth drew in a breath that shuddered. Her eyes stung with hard tears and she blinked them away.
Lindal shook his head. Mute mulishness.
Beth leaned over him and stroked his cheek. “I know how to finish this war,” she said softly, “and the only way we can win it is if you go back to your father.”
Chapter Nineteen
Lindal didn’t speak much as he packed the backpack with the things he thought he might need. None of them were weapons.
Beth and Zack helped him, while everyone in the bunker moved around them, sorting out gear, weapons, armor and more. No one came to Beth for answers or directions. The trinity manning the communications area didn’t bring messages or request responses.
Perhaps, in the ways the trinities worked, everyone had sensed their mood and was leaving them alone.
Finally, Lindal closed the backpack and shoved his arms through it, shrugging it into place. He stood looking at them. His eyes were stormy, dark with emotion.
Beth didn’t wait for him to say goodbye. She didn’t think she could stand it. Instead, she kissed him, damming back any farewell he might have uttered. His arms tightened around her for a moment, then let her go.
He pulled Zack closer and stared into his eyes. Then he kissed him.
“Lindal!” Sera was running across the open space between the nearest tents and cubicles and the table where the three of them stood. Blake and Diego were both hurrying, behind her.
Sera threw herself against Lindal and hugged him. Tears sparkled in her eyes.
Lindal hugged her, hard. Then he turned her and pushed her back toward Blake and Diego. “Take care of her,” he told them.
He turned his head to look at Zack and Beth again.
“Don’t forget—” she began, as even more details and possibilities occurred to her. Failsafes, strategies. Things to keep him safe.
“Never,” Lindal said, his voice hoarse.
Then he was gone.
* * * * *
Beth found Remmy perched on the old workbench in the dusty corner where no one else went, his long leg thrust out in front of him. He had a piece of chamois leather spread over the bench next to his hip and had broken down and was oiling and cleaning the six-shooter he normally kept strapped to his hip, even while using the old cavalry sword he favored.
He was peering through the barrel, inspecting it, when Beth approached. He put it back on the leather and got to his feet. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he had bowed to her. He was an echo of centuries long gone, much more than Zack or even Diego, with his long life, ever were.
Remmy studied her. “Are you coping, Seaveth?” His voice was gentle.
Even though Lindal’s departure had not been announced, everyone just seemed to know about it. Beth pulled the long cardigan in around her more tightly and held it closed by crossing her arms. “I’m staying busy,” she told him honestly.
He nodded. “If there is anything I can do to help, you have only to ask.”
“That’s why I’m here.” She turned and leaned her back against the bench, feeling an odd tiredness. She didn’t need sleep—she had only just had twelve solid hours—yet she felt enervated. Drained. “I’m trying to find something. A place.”
“Somewhere you have forgotten?”
“Somewhere a long way away from the Triumvirate and their portal. As far away as possible. Then I remembered that you spent decades in Oregon. All those redwoods and firs…there must surely be a place among the trees that you know, a location that no one else could possibly stumble across by accident.”
Remmy hitched his hip back onto the bench next to her. “You mean, a place that no human would find unless they knew about it? Somewhere far away from human settlements?”
“Yes, exactly.”
He crossed his arms to match hers. “You’d need a big clearing. Enough for two armies.”
“With trees around the edges,” Beth said.
He raised his brow at her.
“Dryads,” Beth said.
“Ah, I see.” He considered. “There is one place. The timber cutters over-harvested the trees and cleared the Earth of every last seedling.” He grimaced. “This was long before the damage to the land such clearing caused was properly understood. Then they discovered that the river no longer ran pure, the soil would not stay in place…they began to understand what they had done. The compan
y moved on yet the clearing remains. Reforestation was also not a concept back then.”
“It sounds perfect,” Beth said. “Only, wouldn’t the forest have reclaimed the clearing now? That was how many decades ago? There would be seedlings, whole trees, even.”
Remmy’s smile was twisted. “You’ll understand when you see it.”
“Very well. I’ll take your word for it,” Beth told him. “Thank you.”
“Then it is your intention to draw the Grimoré out?” he asked.
Beth got to her feet. “I’m not waiting for the hammer to drop, anymore,” she told him. “I’m done with waiting.”
Remmy gave her a long, measured look. “Good,” he said quietly.
* * * * *
Lindal had forgotten how, each time he returned, he was reacquainted with the fresh air, the scent of growing things and the sense of balance and peace that pervaded the elven world.
He tramped through thigh high grasses that bent in the gentle breeze, creating ripples across the meadow and looked up at the sky. It was very pale, almost colorless. The sun didn’t dazzle.
His father’s personal retinue was standing at the top of the short rise that Lindal was climbing, waiting for him. His presence had been detected immediately, of course. Elementals with their fingers on the pulse of the world could not help but notice a new arrival. He would have sent out ripples that the smallest child among them would have felt.
Despite that, they had made him wait. He had been walking steadily for several hours now, always heading in the same general direction, crossing fields and rivers, woods and glens and more than one meadow filled with lush grass like this one. Sooner or later, he knew, his father would appear simply because he would not be able to help himself. He would come to find out why Lindal had returned.
The retinue had appeared on the horizon when Lindal cleared the last copse of trees. Somewhere among them, his father would be sitting or standing, passing judgments and making decisions. His court was a mobile one. It was also a busy one. Lindal had no illusions that his father didn’t work hard.
Every now and again, one of the figures around his father would stand and peer at him, watching his progress.
Terra's Victory (Destiny's Trinities Book 7) Page 18