Others had been less fortunate. Ivan had stood alone for hundreds of years before Elena found him. Lev had been lost for even longer.
Soren materialized as he fell. He collapsed on the ground beside her. Big and solid and not lost to the Ether, although he shivered as if its ice had penetrated to the marrow of his bones.
“H-h-hate th-that sh-sh-shit,” he said as his teeth clicked together.
Anna shivered, too. She’d pushed herself to the limit of her abilities. Her vision was blurred, and a ringing in her ears made Soren’s voice seem to come from far away. This was familiar, too. The first few moments of materialization after a long time in the Ether were always hard. She staggered to her feet and stomped them against the ground in order to increase circulation in her legs. She hugged herself against the cold.
Ineffectual when the cold came from within yourself.
The problem with being Volkhvy was that the Ether tried to eat you from without and from within.
“I. Hate. It. Too,” Anna agreed. She clenched her teeth between each word to prevent a chatter. Soren pushed himself up from the ground at her feet. His big arms flexed and extended. His powerful legs obeyed his silent command. They gathered beneath him, and he stood much more gracefully than she had.
“Where are we?” Soren asked.
They were in an evergreen forest, but it wasn’t the one they were used to. The trees were smaller and more tightly spaced together. Their needles were shorter and more compact. Their scent was sweeter. Anna could hear unfamiliar night sounds rising around them from creatures that didn’t inhabit the Carpathian Mountains.
“Never mind. It isn’t the Ether. That’s good enough for me,” Soren said.
The air was temperate. For that Anna was thankful. She wouldn’t be able to travel again until she had rested and refueled. It really didn’t matter where they were. It only mattered that she could still sense where they were going. The Call of the sword still pulled her in a definite direction.
Suddenly, Anna swayed on her feet. Soren’s hand clamped down firmly on one of her shoulders. He moved his large body to stand against her back, warm and steady. He had noticed her sway even though he hadn’t been facing her and his attention had been on the forest around him. Or so she’d thought. Her attention was always on him even when she gave no outward indication. She suspected his was on her, as well. She felt his focus. His attention hummed beneath her skin.
“You need to rest,” Soren said. The rumble of his voice against her was as supportive as his physical strength.
He didn’t move to pick her up. Thank God. Instead, he walked with her to the nearest fallen log where she could collapse. She sat while he prepared a spot for a fire by kicking out a hollow and lining it with rocks.
“The air isn’t cold, but I need a fire after the Ether. You look like you could use one, as well,” Soren said.
His practiced movements to start a fire mesmerized her. It was a skill they had all had to know once upon a time. Even during the curse, she’d often used flint to kindle a fireplace. She wasn’t surprised when Soren pulled one from his pocket. It took much longer than a match and even longer than flicking a switch, but even before the first flames began to crackle, Anna was already comforted by Soren’s actions. His deft fingers reminded her of the night before. His concern for her well-being reminded her of always.
They would have to say goodbye.
She would be cold without him, fire or not.
But for tonight they would sit together by this fire he’d made while the forest creatures sang.
* * *
They didn’t sit together. Soren dragged another log into place across from her and sat on the ground with the log at his back. The large logs framed the heat from the fire and kept it from dissipating too soon. Soren had created a sheltered nook for them, but he also kept his distance.
Anna tried to be glad.
She focused on the water and the energy bar she’d taken from her backpack.
“Using your abilities saps your strength,” Soren said in between bites from the bar she’d tossed him.
Talking about her Volkhvy blood was treading on dangerous ground. Her power would eventually drive them apart, no matter how well they came to understand it. Neither of them would ever fully trust it because of what her mother’s curse had done to them.
“You know the Ether’s vacuum,” Anna began.
“Better than most,” Soren interrupted.
“Exactly. We know the vacuum. I’m coming to know the energy that the vacuum expels. I tap into it. It channels through me, and it’s converted to the shine you see. The power. That power can be used like electricity to fuel many different things. Travel through the Ether is one of them. But it isn’t without risk. A witch can use too much power and dwell in the Ether too long. The energy can flood a witch who isn’t careful. Until the vacuum eats from the inside as well as the outside,” Anna explained.
She shivered and the remembered chill urged her to slide off her log closer to the fire. She sat with her back against the wood like Soren.
“The witchblood prince was flooded and consumed. He was eaten by the Ether,” Soren said.
“Yes,” Anna said. Her shivering increased. She recognized it as shock. They’d traveled through the Ether all day. She’d expended every ounce of her abilities to use the energy to protect them from the vacuum. But the cold had sunk deep into her bones. She had to reach the sword. She had to take it away from the Dark Volkhvy. Yet she risked the witchblood prince’s fate if she rode the Ether’s energy too long and she danced in the darkness of memories she’d rather forget.
She inched closer to the fire, but its heat didn’t seem to warm her.
“Be careful. I’m not sure even a Volkhvy princess is fireproof,” Soren said. He was suddenly beside her. He had risen and come to her when he’d seen her distress. Now he sank down next to her and pulled her against him.
“You don’t have to hold me,” Anna protested.
But her words were muffled against his warm, broad chest, and she didn’t even try to stop herself from sinking into the body heat he offered.
“You’re shaking. And if the Ether’s inside you, I know why. The damn stuff on the outside is bad enough,” Soren said.
His willingness to get close to her warmed her more than his body did. And his body warmed her a lot. She could already breathe in the difference on his skin and hair as the fresh forest atmosphere clung to him. Before she could think, she had taken two fistfuls of his leather jerkin in her gloved hands. The move parted his shirt so that her face was suddenly against his bare skin.
And then all thoughts of the Ether fled from her mind.
Her shaking gave way to stillness, his and hers. His chest stopped rising and falling beneath her cheek. She held her breath. One second dragged on to the next with neither of them moving. Then Anna broke. She nuzzled against his skin and pressed her lips to his chest.
“Anna,” Soren sighed. He exhaled as if both the release of air and saying the syllables of her name was a relief.
His hands came up to thread into her hair. Her ponytail broke free and curls spilled down. His warm palms cupped her face, but he didn’t push her away. He cradled her close. She took the gentle move as permission to flick out her tongue and taste the skin she’d bared.
* * *
She was drained of power. She was as close to being human in his arms as she would ever be. But he didn’t glory in it. He worried. He wished he could recharge her abilities with sheer force of will.
Anna was a witch.
He accepted that. He no longer wished for what might have been if she’d been a completely different woman. Her abilities meant that they couldn’t be together, but he wouldn’t change who and what she was even if he could. He was grateful that he’d been able to get to know the real woman—her deepest strengths and
desires—before they were forced to part. Volkhvy power might lead to inevitable darkness, but Anna wouldn’t be herself without it.
“I’m not strong enough to let you go right now,” Anna murmured against his skin. The butterfly movement of her lips against his chest as she spoke sent a frisson of excitement through him. He hardened, and his fingers tightened on her face.
“I wouldn’t let you go right now even if you could,” Soren confessed. He had buried his face in the curls on top of her head. He breathed deeply of her rose-petal scent. It had mingled with the forest air to become more fresh and wild.
“Last night was supposed to be the beginning and the end of us,” Anna said. She had snuggled so tightly against him that his right thigh was between her legs. She was no longer shivering with cold. Her heat pressed to his muscular leg just inches from his hard cock was a siren’s call he was only able to resist with supreme effort. He shook as he battled his desire.
And he grew harder still.
“This never ends, Anna. We never end. We have to walk away from each other. We have to destroy the sword. But this—you and I—we’re paired for life. Even if we can’t be together,” Soren said.
He pulled her onto his lap to illustrate his point. She came willingly, grasping his hips between both of her thighs and settling her weight against his bulging shaft. His pants still contained him—barely. But there was no hiding what she did to him. He didn’t want to. Soren wanted her to know how badly she was wanted even though he had to let her go.
After he’d helped her position herself straddling his lap, he returned his hands to her head. He held the back of her neck and looked up into her flushed face. She had let go of her tight grip on his clothes. She met his gaze boldly...and lifted her hands to slowly loosen the fingers of first one glove and then the other. His stomach tightened. His breath caught. He didn’t move to stop her.
When the gloves were loosened, she pulled first one and then the other off each arm, inch by inch, and threw them on the ground. He already knew her power had been depleted. He also knew that the gloves were more for her peace of mind than an actual tool to control her abilities. She used them as a reminder that there needed to be a shield between her and the world to protect the world from harm.
He wasn’t afraid. His quickened heartbeat was pure excitement. Her eyelids had lowered, giving her eyes a sultry cast as she watched him crave her touch.
Then her warm palms found their way under his shirt. She didn’t need energy from the Ether to make him gulp a sudden gasp of air as the brush of her fingers on his chest made his erection harder. She used her palms to brace herself above him.
He might have been able to control himself if she had stopped there. Instead, with her bare hands on his chest, she undulated her hips to rub her heat against his hardness. He allowed his head to fall back and his eyes to close as pleasure pulsed through his body. He stroked down her back to cup her rocking bottom and moaned his approval of her movements.
“I’m warm now,” Anna said. He opened his eyes and was rewarded by a vision of firelight dancing on her face and skin. Her hair glowed crimson and her eyes sparkled with reflected flames.
“You need to be warmer,” Soren said. “I can help you recharge, Anna. When we touch, I can feel the emerald sword in the distance. Its energy flows through us when we allow the connection. I want to help you accept the energy and resist the vacuum of the Ether. Use my strength. Use me.”
* * *
Anna froze even as she combusted at Soren’s offer. Her beloved, muscular shape-shifter was beneath her. She held his powerful body between her thighs. The heated steel of his erection had inspired her to writhe against him. Now she paused. She could feel the pulse of his excitement through her leggings. His face was flushed against the darker russet hair of his beard. The waves of his bangs fell over his eyes, but she could still see the amber gleam of his irises in the firelight.
She could see he was earnest. He wanted to help her.
Her champion.
The seduction of his offer to indulge the connection between them stole her breath. She paused because it was too good to be true, even as it was so poignant that it slammed into her chest—no longer arrows to her heart, but a battering ram.
“I don’t think we can. I don’t think we should. If we accept the sword’s Call only to reject it later...” Anna began.
“I won’t risk letting the Ether have you,” Soren vowed. “Not again.” He sat up from the log he’d been leaning against. His move brought his chest against hers. The friction of her breasts flattening against his muscles sent arcs of pleasure from her nipples to the V between her legs. Her hands slid to his shoulders beneath his shirt. She held on for dear life as his mouth came within inches of hers. The closeness didn’t help her to breathe any easier. “This is the only way we can be sure you can fight the Ether’s vacuum until we reach the sword.”
She was going to argue. He needed to know that his offer was dangerous. That once they forged the connection, it might be devastating to part. But the hot press of his lips against hers interrupted her before she could gather enough air to speak.
And then she didn’t want to breathe anymore. She only wanted to taste and savor and fill the velvety, moist recesses of his mouth with her questing tongue. She devoured his groans of approval as she sank down into the kiss. She inspired more groans as she began to rock against his erection once more. His hands dropped back to her hips and he aided her movements with his strong arms. His fingers splayed and he cupped and kneaded her bottom until she was wet in reaction to his touch.
The rough linen of his homespun tunic parted beneath her eager hands. She didn’t care that the fabric was vintage and irreplaceable. She only wanted it to be out of her way. The sound of it ripping spurred her on, as did the eager thrusts of his tongue against hers.
She pressed the torn shirt off his shoulders and then sat back. His palms had moved to brace against the ground on either side of his hips. He could no longer hold her. He was bound by his half-removed shirt and jerkin. The fabric held him in place halfway down his biceps and across his back. His broad chest and lean stomach were displayed beneath her. His muscles rippled with his heavy breathing. He could have easily ripped the shirt and jerkin off. But he didn’t. His heavy-lidded eyes watched her to see what she would do. He waited, obviously excited, throbbing between her legs, for her to make the next move.
Anna’s hand trembled when she reached to trace the outline of his beautiful face. He wasn’t perfect. The sharp Romanov angles of his nose, cheekbones and jaw were more weathered than they’d once been. There were fine white scars here and there on his skin. She leaned to kiss one, then another and another as she cupped his whiskered chin. His eyes searched hers after her tender tastes. She didn’t look away. She’d waited so long to see him again. Only to discover that she was seeing him for the first time. He was no longer the young knight he’d been. He was no longer the red wolf. But, somehow, he was both of them combined in an older, wiser, more hardened version of himself.
She’d waited hundreds of years only to be overwhelmed when he finally reappeared—more handsome, more appealing and more irresistible than he’d ever been before. She was certain her appreciation shone from her eyes even though no power did, because Soren’s widened as if he was surprised by what he’d seen.
Anna held his beautiful face and swooped in for another taste.
This time she pressed her lips to his and even though his arms were still bound by fabric he joined the kiss wholeheartedly with his hungry lips and tongue. He opened for her, coaxed her closer with sultry licks and then took her bottom lip between his teeth. She gasped at the shock of the sudden pleasure-pain, but then he soothed the nip with seductive suckling that caused a hot coil to tighten low in her stomach.
Her nipples tingled and peaked. The thrusts of her hips became more urgent and frustrated, and Soren’s chu
ckle growled deep in his chest. She’d been wrong. He wasn’t bound. She was the one who was tied by her need to join with him.
Anna drew back from his kiss to catch her breath. She leaned her forehead against his while she panted. Soren took the chance to nuzzle his lips into her neck. His hot mouth teased hungry, open-lipped kisses from the tender skin below her ear to the rapid pulse beating at the base of her throat. He interspersed kisses with teasing flicks of his tongue. Anna moaned and rode his erection while he caused her skin to go up in flames.
“This time won’t only be physical, Anna. I want to join with you. Just once. I want to connect. I want you to answer the sword’s Call. Will you do that for me? Will you join with me and claim your power?” Soren asked. “The Ether can’t have you. Because you’re mine.”
“The sword is still too far away. I’m not sure I can claim it from here,” Anna said.
Soren ripped his arms from the fabric that held them in place. The pieces of his shirt and jerkin fell aside as he finally reached for her. He held her steady with both hands on either side of her face and looked deep into her eyes.
“It’s already yours. And you’re already mine. All you have to do is claim me to make our connection complete,” Soren said.
He swam before her as her eyes filled. He wasn’t only offering to help her against the Ether’s vacuum. He was giving her his heart...if only for a little while. After all the years of waiting, a little while seemed like bliss.
Anna stood, and he allowed his hands to slip away from her as she rose. She stripped in front of the fire. He watched her every move. His gaze tracked her hand as she pulled the zipper of her fleece jacket down. Underneath she wore only a simple white lace camisole and bra. His attention was riveted as she unhooked the bra and pulled it and the camisole over her head. Her freed breasts were heavy, and her nipples were hard.
“You’re killing me,” Soren whispered. But still he waited for her to proceed.
Anna pulled her stretchy, formfitting leggings off her hips and down over her legs. She kicked them to the side. She stood above her legendary wolf wearing nothing but lacy white panties. They’d lived together for a long time. But she’d never been naked around him. Never once had she forgotten that he was actually a man.
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