Encore (Descendants of Ra: Book 4)

by Tmonique Stephens

  “Everybody out!” Roman opened a vortex. Thane, Quin, and Brayden raced through. Avery had Emeline in his arms. Roman had Stella, and Reign had Ridley. The vortex remained open, waiting for EJ to enter. Instead, he chased Alamut from the room and into the tunnel.

  Another rumble shook the ground. EJ expected to dodge another cave-in, but the rumble didn’t come from above. Frigid water rushed across his boots. Daniel must’ve breached a retaining wall to the lake. EJ rushed from the room and into a tidal wave crashing through the tunnel. The bastard had planned this well, right down to the quimaera tossing around like discarded lumber. They crashed into him and dragged him under. The wave swallowed him and tossed him about. He choked, yet managed to kick to the surface while being battered by the floating bodies of the quimaera.

  A hand grabbed his ankle and dragged him down. EJ fought the pull, but ended up sucked back underneath. Claws climbed up his body. The inky water hid his assailant, not the purpose.

  EJ waited for the right moment to strike and slash. He connected with flesh, then the blade was knocked from his hand. He broke free and scrambled after it and took some hard hits for his effort until he bobbed to the surface. His head skimmed the roof of the tunnel. Luckily, the water had stopped rising.

  Snout and eyes, that’s all he saw of Alamut stalking a few feet away. His chin cleared the surface of the water, and the blade came into view. “Awaken, my brothersss, and kill.”

  Quimaera floated all around them.

  “I sssaid, awaken and kill!” He slapped the quimaera nearest to him.

  The quimaera continued floating. EJ laughed. “You don’t control them anymore.”

  A rough bark left Alamut. “I created them. I control them! Awaken.” He beat and clawed the quimaera floating all around. “Rise!” His voice escalated to a whine.

  EJ dived and cut through the cold water. He came up next to Alamut. A hard blow to his wrist flipped the Harvester into the air. EJ caught it and repeated Alamut’s words, “Awaken and kill.”

  The water came alive with movement. Everywhere quimaera thrashed and zeroed in on their target. EJ stayed, shivering in the icy water, he watched the quimaera, created and ruled by Alamut, rip their master apart.

  The screams, the smell of blood, both were so thick in the air, and water. He watched each slash, recorded each scream to memory. He had to bear witness. Had to make sure this time would be the last time Alamut…Daniel hurt the family.

  With dry eyes, he watched the death of a man he’d once counted a brother.

  The water stilled. The event was over.

  It wasn’t enough.

  All eyes—hundreds of pairs—shifted to him.

  He had quimaera collect the pieces and drop them outside of the tunnel. Quimaera surrounded EJ as he punctured a rusted gas tank in a partially stripped Corolla. He coated the face and torso—not of Alamut—but of Daniel. The beast had transformed back into the man who was once a Nicolis.

  It was his brother EJ doused in unleaded fuel and ignited. The fire wasn’t hot enough to reduce all the parts to ashes. What remained was pitched into the middle of Lake Ontario by way of a vortex.

  His last act of the night was to return the quimaera, and himself, to New York City. The great lawn in Central Park was his chosen location.

  “You’re free to return to your real bodies. Free from the Harvester’s possession. Free to resume your lives.” The dagger trembled in his hand and a visible wave of power leaped from the tip and washed over the beasts. Each shed their reptilian appearance and returned to their naked human forms. His phone destroyed by the water, EJ wobbled away. He couldn’t ignore the gouges on his thighs and side, or the blood any longer. He stopped the first person he came across. “There’s some people on the lawn who need help. Call the cops.”

  Near exhaustion, he staggered to the first quiet spot, opened a vortex to RockGate, and collapsed in the marble foyer.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  “What did we discuss about personal space?” EJ groaned and shoved Avery’s face away. The man hovered too close for comfort. His brother’s square head wasn’t the first thing he wanted to see upon waking. Where was Ridley?

  His body ached as he shifted in the bed. His last memory didn’t place him falling asleep in comfort. His last memory was of him freezing quickly and scattering Daniel’s remains in Lake Ontario. An epic moment he had no regrets about. Briefly, he wondered who’d stripped and dressed him, not that he cared much.

  He sat up and realized he had an audience. Emeline and Avery were here. However, Ridley had his complete attention. Dressed in the same black skirt and a red sweater, she sat on the edge of the bed. She looked…alive and so damn good poised at the foot of the bed. So close and still too far away.

  “You’re real?” he asked.

  She nodded, and the ends of her spiky hair sort of waved at him. Her smile made his chest hurt.

  “The curse is over?”

  She nodded again. “I saw my name and Josie’s wiped clean. Then the book burned. I’m here.” She shrugged. “That better mean it’s over.”

  “We think Ridley saving me must have something to do with it,” Emeline said.

  Made sense to EJ. Even if it didn’t, he’d worry about the how later. Touching her, right now, had to happen or he’d lose it. He stood and erased the distance between them. He gripped her neck, stroked the fine hairs on her nape, and brought her to him.

  Avery cleared his throat. “Excuse us.”

  Oh yeah, company. “Someone care to tell me why the party is in my room?” EJ didn’t break contact with Ridley. He rubbed his cheek along her soft skin, and she purred. The sound made him hungry.

  “We wanted to apologize to both of you and—” Avery said.

  “Later.” EJ pulled Ridley flush against him and drew her breath into his lungs. Vaguely, he heard the bedroom door open and close.

  EJ scooped Ridley up and plopped her on the bed. Though all of him ached to possess, to take what he desperately desired, somehow, he controlled the urge and didn’t launch himself at her. He dropped down, touched her knee, and slipped his hand to the soft flesh of her inner thigh.

  “Now’s your chance to tell me to stop. Your only chance, because I’m going to have all of you.”

  Her pupils dilated, lips parted. Her breasts rose on a long inhale. “And what about me?” Breathy, her voice stoked his fires.

  “You…” God, she was lovely. Gentle pressure on her thigh from his hand and her knees parted for him to shift between. His new home. He clasped her hips and slid her core against the bulge straining against his zipper. “Get me, kissing you, touching you.”

  He whispered the words into her mouth and had planned to give her another moment to decide, but she hauled him closer. Her lips were soft and winter-kissed cool. He kept still and let her have her way even when her hands crept beneath his shirt and teased his skin. Her tongue made its way down his neck which she mixed with feathered kisses.

  Warm tongue, cool lips.

  A hot hand eased past his belt and cupped him. He groaned, pressed his bulge into her palm, and rocked. Her mouth returned to his in a frantic kiss.

  He broke away and studied her through half-mast eyes. “Last chance, Candy Cane. Tell me what you want. Say it. Wanna hear it from your own lips.”

  As she did in the shower, she unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his pants, and freed him. “I want this.” She stroked up to the ridge, down to the base, up again to the blunt head and repeated the motion. Gasping, EJ gritted his teeth to keep from exploding until she trailed her fingers away.

  “Too tight, sorry? I’m still learning.” She blushed to her roots and released him.

  He grabbed her wrist and chuckled. “Not all of me is tough as nails. I do like a firm hand, just not a Kung Fu grip.”

  Foreheads pressed together, her eyes bore into his. “I want you to strip…slowly, so I can enjoy the show.”

  No one had ever requested that; it gave him a thrill she had. �
�Do that? Yes, I can.”

  EJ secured his pants on his hips and stood. Ridley didn’t move from her semi-sprawled position. Lust rode him hard as he took in her creamy thighs, red Doc Martens, and –Surprise! Surprise!—red panties playing peek-a-boo. He couldn’t help grinning as he caught the edge of his wife beater and lifted. She hissed, and her gaze grew sultry. He adored the need drawing her face tight, made him feel…

  “What’s wrong?” The need faded from Ridley’s face, replaced with a wary unease. She closed her legs and seemed to lock herself down.

  A hunger that had nothing to do with food gripped him. “I’ve never stripped for a woman.”

  Her eyebrows furrowed, her head tilted; she blinked a few times. “Come again?”

  “Oh, I plan on cuming again. And again. And again.” He pulled his shirt off and let his pants drop. Then he got tangled up trying to yank them off. He landed on his ass. Giggling from a woman was not what a man wanted to hear when he’s naked and hard. Had a way of deflating a man’s ego.

  “Need some help there, big guy?” Ridley peered over the edge of the bed at him. Flat on her stomach, the heels of her Doc Martens swayed behind her head.

  Caught in her aura, he gazed at her, took in everything she was. The center of his chest burned with all he felt for the woman who had first captured his body, and now his heart. He reached out and stroked her velvety cheek. The kiss was slow, painstakingly gentle.

  “I love you. You, Ridley Cross, are the only woman I have ever loved, will ever love. Whether you have fifty more years or one hour left in your life, I will spend it loving you.”

  Ridley blew out a long breath and launched herself at him. “Now that’s how you tell a woman you love her.” Her gaze turned all melty, and she wet her lips. “I love you, too. This is our second chance to get it right, get everything right.”

  He nodded because talking wasn’t what he wanted from her lips. She moaned against his mouth and he pulled away. Wide amethyst eyes stared at him. “Strip, for me Candy Cane. Leave on the boots.”

  She laughed, a musical sound, which filled him up, made him lighter than air. “You’re serious?”

  “I will never joke about getting you naked. Now strip.” He yanked his pants off while his gaze stayed locked on target: Ridley. Super-fast she was done and reclining in the center of the huge bed, all creamy skin, white hair, and red boots.

  He’d already tasted her, had her peppermint tingling his mouth. He wanted that again, only later, after he buried himself inside her a few hundred times. She crooked a finger, beckoning him. He crawled across the bed to his woman, growing hungrier by the second as her legs parted and he eased between her soft thighs.

  ~~~~~~~

  Ridley sighed as EJ’s weight settled on top of her. He felt right. This felt right. She brought her legs up and rubbed them along his sides. His head snapped back, and he gave a shallow groan. Then, he dropped forward to nuzzle the column of her neck. She tilted her pelvis and grazed his hard shaft. Fear stabbed her.

  “Maybe we should sto—oooohhh.” Ridley’s words died as his fingers slipped between her folds and stroked her sensitive flesh. He traced her opening once, twice, trailed up to her clitoris, and rolled his thumb against the sensitive nub. She danced on his fingers.

  White-hot need left her trembling. That lasted until he pressed two fingers inside. A jolt of pleasure zapped her and that was before he started moving his fingers in time with her thrusting hips.

  With his free hand, he gripped the back of her neck and angled her face away. His whiskers grazed her tender skin all the way down to her collarbone, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. His tongue retraced the same path back up to her earlobe where he tenderly sunk his teeth into the flesh.

  “Are you ready for me? Tell me, Candy Cane. Tell me you want it ’cause I can’t wait any longer.” EJ dipped down to latch onto her nipple. He began with a lick and ended on a long suckle.

  She arched her back and let her legs fall completely open. Panting hard was the only answer she could summon while she watched as EJ sheathed himself with a condom from the nightstand and fisted himself. Then it was all sensation. Her core blossomed at the first touch of his blunt head. He rubbed, teasing her with what she desired, torturing them both.

  Ridley whimpered and clung to his broad shoulders; her fingernails dug into his skin. Unbearable tension seized her, building every second. If he didn’t get inside soon…

  He pressed at her entrance. She stared into his icy blue eyes. Her blood slowed, everything inside her paused for this one moment. He slid home on a slow, mind-blowing thrust. The hollowness that had defined her life ended.

  Passion etched his face, turning his features stark and harsh. He planted a raw kiss on her lips, utterly ravished her mouth, as his hips withdrew, and plunged forward. Ridley wrapped her arms around his neck and gave herself up to his loving.

  EJ broke the kiss and dragged in a ragged breath. He surrounded her; his bulk pressed her into the mattress, and he snaked his arms around her hips. She felt all of him. His pecs rubbed her nipples with each thrust. His arms trapped her in a cage she didn’t want to escape. Their abdomens touched at the end of each down stroke, making her aware of his hard ridges. She ran her hands down his broad and back and scraped her fingernails along his ribs. He gritted his teeth, and his hips flexed in a maddening rhythm that left her careening toward a bright abyss.

  “Ridley, Jesus...” The rest of his words were lost in a garbled moan.

  His fingers dug into her hips, locking her in place so all she could do was receive. Ridley didn’t care. He took her to a place she’d thought she would never go to, a place she doubted existed, the utopia where nothing except pleasure lived. That heaven drew closer. So close, she could almost peer inside at the twinkling star waiting for her arrival.

  Tension coiled deep inside her, wound tighter and tighter. Fire pulsed through her veins. Her body torqued, arched against EJ, and silently begged him for more. And he gave it, pounding into her. He was rough and big and hard, almost too much for her senses and body to take in, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

  He nipped her breast and soothed the sting with the flicker of his tongue. She grabbed his head to keep him in place, but he reared up and captured her mouth with an intensity that branded her as his.

  “Cum for me, Candy Cane.” His hot words poured into her on a low growl that snapped the unbearable tension inside of her.

  Ridley broke free.

  She flew. Trapped in his arms, she soared.

  He shouted her name, and his hips ground into hers. Deep inside her, he pulsed. The most exquisite sensation she’d ever experienced. They met again in a tender exchange of lips and tongue. Ridley held on tightly and listened to their synchronized heartbeats.

  “Whoa,” she panted. “Can we do that again? I want to do that again!”

  EJ rolled onto his back and settled her on top. Already, he moved inside her again. “Baby, I am always up for an encore.”

  Epilogue

  “Shall we take inventory?” Quin gazed at everyone gathered in the great room. Hector’s body had just been taken to a funeral home, which had been well paid for their silence.

  “Of our failures? Let’s see, Hector is dead.” Thane stopped, and all the energy in the house seemed to grind to a halt. He cleared his throat and continued. “Tyrone is still missing...” Thane’s voice trailed off.

  May be dead, Quin finished the sentence. Though unspoken, everyone’s head bowed. The family has lost much this day.

  Quin sighed. “The Sijnruhs, the Soul Catchers of the Gods, are missing.” Those sacred orbs were invaluable. Placed in the vault, their safety was assured until Daniel breached RockGate. Quin was now running an extensive search, hoping that Daniel had hidden the anu’Ra somewhere on this plane of existence and not in an unreachable realm. His priority list kept growing.

  Mrs. Kelly may have been correct when she demanded the Soul Catcher remain with her at the Order. Quin
wasn’t stupid enough to voice that opinion aloud. If only they’d had a chance to interrogate Daniel before his very necessary death, made him tell where he sent the orbs.

  “With Duat breached, they will weigh in the balance,” Reign added.

  Or who he sent them to.

  That knowledge he took to his grave. There had to be a way to track them. Nu would know. A few feet away, Ember played with Gypsy. Gaining access to the goddess within her was tricky, but with Chemmis unraveling and the gods free to roam in this realm, finding the Soul Catchers would be key to everyone’s survival.

  “Are we certain Daniel took them?” Stella said and gained everyone’s attention. “I don’t remember seeing them when he captured us. Do you, Emeline?”

  Emeline shook her head. “No. I don’t. But if Daniel didn’t take them, who did?”

  “Once EJ’s strong enough to leave his bedroom”—a few snickers went around the room—“there are more quimaera he needs to free at the different houses where Daniel left them.”

  The doorbell chimed.

  Everyone turned toward the sound and waited for Hector to answer. Roman jerked to his feet. Unease pricked Quin, and he found himself moving from the corner of the room to follow Roman. Footsteps echoed on the marble behind Quin. He didn’t have to turn to see the family lining up next to him, behind Roman.

  The somewhat opaque glass door, with its ornate iron scrollwork, hid the identity of his guests, though not the shape. The two men on the other side were large, closer to Roman’s six feet, seven inches than Quin’s six feet, three inches.

  Roman flexed his power and unlocked the front door. The door swung wide and the men entered. Their olive skin denoted a Mediterranean descent, yet their features were more classical Greek even with their long tawny hair and eyes a pale bluish-green. The brawn, their height, and most important, their aura stamped them as demi-gods.