Actually, yes, Phoenix did agree. He had thought that the Directive was pure evil because it crushed the rights of so many people. But he knew now that the world was rarely separated in black and white. There were thousands, no, a million shades of gray, and he’d nearly gotten himself and his mate lost within them.
He’d have liked to say that and much more. He’d have liked to thank Sari for the trust and support, but at this point, he was beyond words. All lessons aside, right now the only thing Phoenix wanted was to be alone with his mate so that they could mend their bond. Everything else could wait.
Karein seemed to realize this, because he said, “We’ll give the two of you some privacy now. I’m sure both of you will appreciate it.”
“Thank you,” Rachen said. “Yes, we would.”
Just like that, Karein and Sari took their leave. They said nothing else, obviously acknowledging the fact that Rachen and Phoenix couldn’t really focus on them anyway. As the two men abandoned the room, Phoenix was finally alone with his mate.
At first, neither of them moved. Phoenix didn’t know why it was so for his mate, but for his part, he felt like he was in a glass cube and any motion from his part would shatter this fragile dream.
And the strange feeling did shatter, when Rachen finally pushed him down to the floor, crawled on top of him and crushed their mouths together. The haze of fear lingering over Phoenix’s mind finally dissipated. He wrapped his arms around his mate’s neck, parting his lips for Rachen’s invasion.
For the first time, Phoenix realized he was completely naked. It hadn’t even processed before. He supposed he should have been embarrassed that he’d put such a display on for Karein and Sari, but right then and there, he couldn’t have cared less. He could only think about the obvious advantages of the situation, the fact that Rachen’s hands could roam over his body unhindered.
It was just like in the beginning, during their first times together, when they’d let their passion flow freely, when that lust had guided them to the truth of Phoenix’s identity. Phoenix grinded against his mate, clutching at Rachen’s clothing, needing them off at that very moment. They weren’t perfect replicas of Karein’s uniform, but rather, they looked like the garments Rachen had been wearing the last time they had seen each other in the other world. His memory had summoned the image of those clothes perfectly, as if his life had stopped then and he was trying to continue from that exact point on. It should have been impossible, but it wasn’t. Rachen was truly here with him, and those precious moments Phoenix had stolen at such a steep price wouldn’t be the last days he had with his mate.
Fierce desire exploded through Phoenix. He wanted to crawl into Rachen’s very soul, to touch his lover everywhere and make sure this was truly happening. He craved to feel the hot brand of his mate’s cock as it thrust into his body. He bit down on Rachen’s lower lip, trying to convey that burning want without words. When that wasn’t enough, he willed Rachen’s clothes away and mapped the draechen’s muscles with his fingers, nearly crazy with urgent want.
Their bond would have normally transmitted the message, but that wasn’t possible any longer. It had broken with Rachen’s death, and unfortunately, Phoenix’s power couldn’t bring it back, not here. They’d only kept it in the other world because Phoenix had unraveled Rachen’s death altogether, but now…
Thankfully, Rachen understood him just the same. It didn’t seem that way when Rachen pulled away from their embrace and got up, but then, the draechen picked Phoenix up. He soothed Phoenix’s concerns by murmuring, “Hush. I have you now. I’ll give you what we need.”
Phoenix didn’t miss the very specific phrase—and it comforted him to realize that Rachen craved to mend their mate bond as much as Phoenix did. But even if at an intellectual level, he understood it, it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. When Rachen placed him on the bed, Phoenix grabbed his lover’s arm, pulling the draechen on top of him. Rachen allowed it, at the same time doing some exploring of his own. He touched Phoenix all over, his hands leaving trails of fire on Phoenix’s skin. But he seemed intent on driving Phoenix wild with lust, because he followed up those maddening touches by using his mouth. His talented tongue explored the hollow of Phoenix’s throat, awakening every nerve ending in his body.
From Phoenix’s neck, he advanced over Phoenix’s chest, stopping over his nipples. When Rachen’s hot mouth engulfed the sensitive buds, Phoenix arched his back and cried out, torn between the desire to enjoy every precious moment they had together and the need to complete their bond.
In the end, he surrendered to Rachen’s domination, embracing the flames of the passion between them. That part of him that was pure instinct stirred within him, but it wasn’t scary anymore. The loneliness and abandonment he had experienced both in his phoenix persona and as a person were chased away by Rachen’s ministrations. As always, Rachen gave him exactly what he needed, a perfect balance of unrestrained lust and gentleness.
He sucked on Phoenix’s right nipple while he tweaked the other one with his hand. On occasion, he even bit down just so before laving the bit of flesh with his tongue and soothing the slight pain. At one point, Phoenix thought he could easily come just from having his nipples sucked on. But Rachen had other plans. Without giving Phoenix a single warning, he released the bud in his mouth and crawled lower down over Phoenix’s body. He brushed kisses all over Phoenix’s abdomen, even wiggling his tongue into Phoenix’s belly button. And then, his lips finally hovered over Phoenix’s hard dick. The heat of his breath tickled the glans, making Phoenix whimper in frustrated arousal.
He wanted to beg and plead, but any word he’d have intended to say came out as a garbled cry as Rachen sucked his dick all the way into his throat. The draechen released a low groan, as if just having Phoenix’s cock in his mouth was the greatest pleasure known to man. Phoenix couldn’t actually tell if it was so in Rachen’s case because of their missing bond, and that hurt, but he told himself everything would come in due time. As his lover began bobbing his head up and down his cock, any potentially glum thoughts drifted away. Rachen alternated hard suction with more teasing, lazy licks, and Phoenix’s entire world became focused on the rapture buzzing through him, on the silken glide of Rachen’s tongue over his dick. He felt his phoenix rear up inside him, and tried to keep it in check, but the sensation building up inside him threatened to overwhelm any barriers he might have tried to erect. And really, Phoenix had never been great at self-control where Rachen was concerned.
Rachen knew that all too well, and he seemed intent to chip away any lingering resistance from Phoenix’s part. He stabbed his tongue into the tiny hole at the head of Phoenix’s cock, growling again as he drank in Phoenix’s pre-cum. He explored Phoenix’s dick with the same eagerness and enthusiasm he’d employed during their first time together. He took Phoenix’s balls in his mouth, adding yet another ingredient to the cocktail of pleasure.
Finally, Phoenix ceased his vain attempts to control the fire inside him. He couldn’t be afraid of his power, because it had brought Rachen back and had made these moments possible. Throwing all caution to the wind, Phoenix buried his fingers in Rachen’s hair and thrust his dick into the draechen’s mouth over and over.
He started to fuck his mate’s hot cavern, knowing that he might be causing Rachen discomfort, but unable to stop himself just the same. Fortunately, Rachen seemed to be enjoying this as much as Phoenix did. His grunts of pleasure sent vibrations all over Phoenix’s oversensitized body. It was too much, far too much, and all too soon, Phoenix was on the brink of climax.
At the last moment, though, Rachen broke free of Phoenix’s hold and released his cock with a wet pop. Still lost in his haze of lust and confused anticipation, Phoenix could do nothing but try to reach for his mate again. For once, Rachen didn’t comply. Instead, he spat in his palm and slicked up his cock with saliva. He lifted Phoenix’s legs on his shoulders and, in one single thrust, embedded his prick into Phoenix’s channel.
Ra
chen hadn’t even bothered to stretch Phoenix at all, and Phoenix hadn’t gotten the chance to lube himself up either. Therefore, the invasion hurt. But when Phoenix screamed, it wasn’t because of the pain, or at least, not directly. That burn cleared his head of the dreamlike state, focusing him, while at the same time adding another layer of sensation.
How had Rachen known? How had he understood that Phoenix needed this bite of pain to make sure that this was truly real? How did he always, always manage to see into Phoenix’s heart, even without their mate bond?
Tears pooled at the corners of Phoenix’s eyes as he held onto Rachen’s shoulders. Even as he wept, though, Phoenix exploded into a climax that ravaged his soul, a whirlwind of lust, bliss, and awe that almost stopped his heart. He spurted white streams of spunk all over his chest and Rachen’s, writhing under his mate, Rachen’s name practically a prayer on his lips. But still, Rachen gave him no quarter. Even as Phoenix rode the wave of his orgasm, the draechen started to fuck him, plunging in and out of Phoenix’s willing body.
As a rule, a period of satiation and contentment followed Phoenix’s orgasms. It didn’t happen now. Instead of losing the high of his peak, Phoenix found his pleasure soaring once again in response to Rachen’s motions. His cock never went soft, not even for a second. The blaze within him expanded more and more with each of Rachen’s thrusts. Too lost in the bliss, Phoenix could only hang on for the ride. Stars burst into his vision whenever Rachen’s dick struck his prostate, which was practically every other second. Then again, time meant very little now, and Phoenix actually felt tempted to stop it, to freeze time itself in this moment.
He didn’t actually think he could do it. After all, he had his limits, too. But even if he’d had that ability, he distantly acknowledged the fact that it would have been a bad idea. Life existed because of time, and Phoenix was alive through every beautiful and heart-wrenching second he’d spent at Rachen’s side. Everything else was meaningless, white noise in the background of his true existence. This, this was what he lived for—the heat, the slap of flesh against flesh, the symphony of rapture his moans and Rachen’s grunts created together.
Insofar as he could, he pushed back against Rachen, impaling himself on his mate’s dick. All the while, he never tore his gaze from Rachen’s face, reveling in the near grimace that foretold Rachen’s imminent climax, in the familiar way the draechen’s eyes glowed red. Even if he’d just come, Phoenix was already on the verge of another orgasm.
For this one, however, he needed something else, something beyond even this overwhelming physical pleasure. He tilted his head, offering himself to his lover. Rachen didn’t delay in taking his invitation. He thrust one more time inside Phoenix and buried his fangs in Phoenix’s flesh.
The bond that had been torn apart by death instantly flared back to life. Rachen’s emotions and thoughts rushed back into Phoenix’s consciousness, followed by an outpour of sensation, Rachen’s pleasure at their coitus. Phoenix couldn’t have kept his climax in check to save his life. Clinging to his mate’s shoulders, he came again. This time, his mate followed him over the edge, and Phoenix felt it all, felt Rachen’s orgasm as it flowed through every atom of the draechen’s flesh, heard Rachen’s words in his mind as his lover murmured, “I love you.”
For a few beautiful moments, there were no longer any boundaries between them, nothing to keep them separated. In flesh and spirit, they were one. Phoenix’s entire world was Rachen. He breathed at the rhythm Rachen’s lungs dictated, and his heart beat along with that of his mate. It was Rachen’s blood and his fire that coursed through Phoenix’s veins. Rachen’s thoughts combined with his, rotating around that one single concept, the love that had changed their entire world.
Phoenix must have actually blacked out, but he snapped out of his trance when Rachen slipped out of him. He felt a brief pang of abandonment at the loss of that physical connection, but it passed when Rachen reached out to him through their mental link.
“You’re amazing, baby,” the draechen said. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”
“I think it’s the other way around,” Phoenix replied, cuddling close to his mate’s chest. The last time they had truly been like this, Rachen had asked Phoenix to marry him. Right then and there, Phoenix truly believed that it could happen, that he could have everything he’d dreamed of, a true married life, with Rachen as his official mate and hatchlings of their own.
“We will, baby,” Rachen promised him. “This time, we can make it work.”
Phoenix just smiled and closed his eyes. Yes, they could, and if Phoenix had anything to say about it, it would happen soon. He had learned a lot from this strange experience, and he had every intention to put that knowledge to good use. With Rachen’s help, there was nothing he could not accomplish.
Chapter Fifteen
“That went well, I think,” Karein told Sari as they started to walk away from Rachen’s quarters.
Sari didn’t immediately answer. Instead, he just took Karein’s hand and squeezed it as tightly as he could. No matter what he’d told Phoenix, the fact remained that he would likely never forget what had happened in that second world. He was still very shaken, and while he’d tried to put up a brave front for Phoenix and Rachen, he couldn’t do the same in front of Karein.
It was just too easy to remember the ruthlessness with which the phoenix had wiped him and his family away, too easy to let the fear return. But he’d been granted the rare chance to see that Phoenix was just like him—a man in love—and he had to cling to that knowledge so that they could rebuild their family.
It wasn’t an entirely selfless endeavor. More than anything, Sari aimed to protect the child growing inside him and the mate bond glowing between him and Karein. But at the same time, he truly couldn’t find it in himself to hate Phoenix or reject him. He had meant his words when he’d said that he didn’t think he could have given his own mate up. In the end, in Phoenix’s position and with Phoenix’s power and background, Sari might have done the same thing. Besides, it hadn’t truly been Phoenix who had hurt them, but the creature who’d taken hold of his body.
Sari was so lost in thought that he nearly yelped when his mate stopped and pushed him against the wall, pinning him there with his bulk. Somehow, the draechen managed to both bring their bodies impossibly close and keep any strain off Sari’s swollen abdomen. But then, Karein had gotten particularly good at that. If anything, with every day that passed, he seemed even more loving and kind. Even remembering that different Karein, Sari knew that no matter how many worlds they met in, Karein would always be the man for him.
“I’m so proud of you, Sari,” the draechen whispered. “I know it wasn’t easy for you to do this. And I’m so impossibly grateful you love me enough to love my brother and Phoenix, too.”
Sari’s eyes filled with tears. “You know what my heart holds. You know that I’m not as kind as I’d like. I’m just afraid, for you, for our son, but I want to help Rachen and Phoenix, too. I want them to be happy.”
“And they will be, thanks to you.” Karein brushed a brief kiss over his lips. “You do realize that no one else would have treated Phoenix that way after everything that happened? Likely, if anyone else remembers, they’ll resent him. But not you. You always want to single-handedly make the world a better place, to shower everyone with your love. It’s okay to be afraid sometimes, baby. Just know that I’m always here for you, and everything you are and you need, I will gladly share.”
As always, Karein had ended up torn between his need for Sari and his affection toward his brother. Intellectually, both of them knew that Rachen’s Phoenix was different from the creature who’d attacked them. Even so, Sari could still feel the wound in Karein’s heart, stemming from his memory of Sari’s demise. Sari almost wished he could have kept it from Karein, but their bond allowed for no secrets between them. And so, Sari just hugged his mate, seeking the comfort of Karein’s familiar warmth while letting the draechen feel Sari’s own aff
ection.
Truth be told, there was nothing Sari could say that would have conveyed the depth of his emotions for this man. Well, almost nothing. Through their bond, Sari murmured, “I love you, Karein.”
He would have liked to show Karein the full extent of that love. The sexual frustration he’d experienced in the other world had carried over into this one. Truly, Karein’s offer to grant Phoenix and Rachen privacy seemed like a chance to fulfill the promise Sari had made.
They didn’t have separate quarters here, but their rooms were really close and they could easily slip inside to spend some time together.
It would be so irresponsible. Rachen might have survived the attack of the Ancient Horror, but the root causes of it remained. The benandanti had betrayed them, as had Caelyn’s family. The influence of the Ancient Horror seemed clear in Iasan Sutharlainn’s case—but how far did it extend?
Even with that knowledge, though, Sari found that he couldn’t focus on duty, not right now. Karein’s agonized roar still echoed in his ears, and Sari just wanted to soothe his mate’s wounded soul. However, they didn’t get the chance to retreat to their quarters. The sound of a cleared throat let Sari know that someone else had approached them while he hadn’t been paying attention. When Karein broke the embrace, Sari found the man in question was Taryn.
“I heard what happened,” Taryn said, giving Sari a wide-eyed look. He was cradling his newborn son, rocking him slightly. “Is Prince Rachen truly…”
He trailed off, as if he didn’t dare to say the word “dead.” Just by looking at him, Sari knew Taryn didn’t remember the other world, which was perhaps fortunate. Sari had been granted a vision of what had happened to Taryn and Hareem, and seeing it—even with the knowledge that it wasn’t true—had crushed him.
“Everything is fine,” he replied, his voice far more unsteady than he’d have liked. “Phoenix managed to save Rachen.”
Hyacinth, Scarlet - From the Ashes [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 7] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) Page 26