Those arms continued to hold her so effortlessly against the wall, as he thrust and ground his cock, hitting that spot that many men claimed to find but never had. She couldn’t help the sighs and moans seeping from her lips. Sometimes sex was good, but rarely was it phenomenal. Raenos not only made her moan, she heard herself scream, trailing his name on her breath.
His gaze pierced her own before he pulled her lips into a passionate, frenzied kiss that sent tingles down her spine to compete with what his delicious cock was giving her. And then she felt it. That warmth that began to build deep inside of her body. Her vaedra. Her aura. She’d felt it many times before. But something was different this time. The warmth was more like a heat, and the tingling had changed to a current of electricity tethered to Raenos, and threatening to ignite them both. So, when she couldn’t hold back any longer, when she knew somehow instinctually that he was close to his release, she let go of her aura to surround them both, pulling him into such an exquisite orgasm, making him yell out his pleasure, bow his back, and stare up at the ceiling. She knew that he would collapse to the floor. She was waiting for it. After she released her aura during sex, men were weakened from the experience. But Raenos continued to hold her to his body, as they braced against the wall. It was wrong. He should have collapsed to the floor in a heap of orgasmic fulfillment.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, trying to catch her breath and comprehend why he was still standing with all of his strength.
“You’re kidding me, aren’t you? That was amazing, Eielawyn.” He lay soft kisses along her brow.
“No, no,” she said, pushing him away. She began to pull her clothes together. “What are you? You shouldn’t have your strength. I released my aura. I felt it. I still feel it…fuck,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “But you shouldn’t be able to move. Why are you still standing?”
“Your what? Released what?”
“You have to leave.”
He was gazing intensely at her, as he struggled to put his semi-hard cock back into his pants. “Leave? No. What’s wrong?”
“You’re what’s wrong. I’m vaedra. A Mocmoran vaedra, and I released my aura to intensify our…our…fuck it. The sex. I released my aura to intensify the sex, but you seem to be immune to it.”
“Eielawyn, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but making love—”
“Sex. It was sex. Carnal, and sure, it was amazing, but it was only sex. I want you to leave. You’re immune to my aura, and I don’t know why.”
“You planned this? You released something that was supposed to have me unconscious on the floor?” She saw his doubt and then his anger build in his face. “Why?” he asked her forcefully. “Maybe I’m the one that should be asking the questions, Eielawyn.”
“Just like a royal guard. I didn’t do anything to you. It happens with vaedra during sex with someone we—”
Love. But she couldn’t finish her sentence, as she watched his retreating back leaving out the door. The small bell tinkled with his departure, leaving her alone in the soft stillness of the shop. She could still feel his touch on her skin. His lips on her breasts. She could still taste him on her tongue, but something was definitely wrong. No man—no human man—could be immune to a vaedra’s aura.
She gathered her thoughts, leaving the shop a little after Raenos and walking back to the hotel down the street where the dance was still going full tilt. Once inside, she didn’t see him there, but her heart dropped into her gut at seeing Kinsbithu walking toward her.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered to Kinsbithu.
Kinsbithu shook her head, glancing around the hall at those around them. “Not here,” said Kinsbithu.
Laeros walked over to stand to the side of Kinsbithu. “Hello,” he said, smiling broadly. “You must be Kinsbithu,” he said, bowing low. “I’m Prince Laeros of Zinvia.” He glanced at Eielawyn. “Walk with me toward the back of the hall. My transport is behind the back entrance. We can talk freely there.”
Kinsbithu eyed him warily, but her trepidation seemed to ease at seeing Eielawyn nodding in agreement. Once in the back of the hotel, Laeros held the door to his transport open for them, dismissing the skinny man sitting inside. Eielawyn had never been in something so grand before. She’d heard of the royal transports of Teveoch, but Laeros’ transport was roomy and opulent with leather seats and rich Balknian rutria wood.
“You do travel in style, Laeros,” Eielawyn said to him.
“It belongs to the palace. But I apologize first to Kinsbithu,” he said with a nod to her. “This is not the best way to make an introduction. How did it go with Filkothinor?”
Kinsbithu seemed to release a breath of relief. “It didn’t,” she said, looking at Eielawyn. “He refused to leave. His grief for his wife is clouding his judgment. I told him how dangerous it was to stay here, but he won’t leave. He just kept saying that he wouldn’t leave Lordesnoar alone. It became so bad that I had to leave him in the cave weeping in a corner for her.”
“He has to be moved,” Laeros said, looking worriedly at them. “If the guards catch him, they will torture him. He knows too much. He can reveal too much key information about the rebellion, those involved…hell, he knows about me and about King Noesmaneon’s plans in Drisa.”
“He has to be moved,” Kinsbithu said quietly.
“Do you still have the transport for him in Yaeltaran?” Eielawyn asked Laeros.
“I can arrange for it to be ready again,” he said. “This wasn’t attached to the Yaeltaran kingdom. These were men that owed me a favor. I may be asking for too much. They have to fly dangerously close to the Teveoch airspace. It’ll cost a few more drokols, but sure.”
They were all silent for a few seconds. “You have to come with me, Eielawyn,” Kinsbithu said. “You can suggest to him. That’s the only way.”
“No,” said Laeros. “No, no, no. It was already dangerous with two people heading—illegally, mind you—into Yaeltaran. But three? I don’t like it.”
“We have no choice, Laeros,” said Eielawyn. “Filkothinor can’t be caught, and he won’t leave the cave. The guards are extending the parameters of their search farther and farther each day. They’ve already started to search the caves on this side of the bay. If they catch Filkothinor…I don’t want to say it, but it may be better to kill him before they can torture any information out of him.”
“Eielawyn!” Kinsbithu exclaimed in shock. “You can’t be serious?”
Eielawyn was silent, as was Laeros. “She has a point,” he said. “Filkothinor has done so much in the rebellion. The information he’s gotten for us, Drisa, Balknae, and even Yaeltaran and Valwithia is priceless. He’s not only invaluable to the rebellion, he’s invaluable to Balaedras. If you can’t suggest to him to leave—and this is only as a last resort—you might have to kill him.”
It wasn’t something the either she or Kinsbithu wanted to do, but they also knew that they wouldn’t let him be tortured by Balaedras until he spilled his guts about all and everything he knew. Sometimes death was the only option.
“Then I have to go, Laeros,” Eielawyn said. “I can suggest to him. He’ll leave. I’ll make sure he and Kinsbithu are safely in Yaeltaran and then head to Yaelvoch. I’ll ask Glywyn and Draedon to help me gain legal passage back here. No one will be the wiser.”
They all agreed, getting out of the transport and heading back inside to the dance. They’d decided to try again with Filkothinor the next Sixth day. She would leave a sign on her shop door announcing the store was closed due to illness.
She didn’t stay at the dance. There was no reason to. He wasn’t there. And whether or not she wanted to admit it, she wanted to see him. But as she left, walking down the empty streets to the small house she had near the beach, the fact that her aura hadn’t affected him—that she couldn’t suggest to him, and that she couldn’t read his thoughts—left her with a peculiar feeling. And that nagging question of why persisted, even as she began to r
ebuild the brick wall she’d let crumble around her heart for him. The bricks somehow didn’t want to cooperate as easily as they had before.
Chapter Eight
He was angry, but it was more than that. He was hurt and confused also. Making love to her was something he’d wanted from the moment he’d met her. It was more than he’d ever imagined it could have been. He felt complete, but she’d used something on him. Maybe what he felt was nothing more than the aura that she admitted to using.
He strode through the camp, oblivious to who he bumped into or of those around him. His thoughts were centered on Eielawyn, which was wrong. He knew it was wrong to dismiss his duty as a guard to think of her, but he was helpless to do otherwise.
“Hey!” Shahneeris said, grabbing hold of his arm, as he absently walked by. “Are you all right? I must have called to you four times. Anything wrong?”
Raenos gazed around the encampment, at the men reporting to their posts, those getting ready for the evening patrol. He was supposed to be off, but felt the need to head out, leave Yaesdrah, and clear his mind.
“Shit,” he said softly and nodded. If there was anyone he could confide in, it would be Shahneeris.
“Then come with me. I’m off duty. I was heading over to the dance in town.”
“No. No, not there,” he said, finally taking notice of her dress shirt and slacks. Shahneeris wasn’t the type of woman that liked dresses. She felt more comfortable in shirts and pants, but her makeup was tastefully applied, and her hair was styled for the event.
“Okay. Then let’s take a drive. Come and unburden your mind to Mama,” she said with a smile. Raenos followed her to get into one of the smaller transports.
She drove to a lookout in the hills above Yaesdrah. From that vantage point the town and the sea beyond could be seen, yet the rocks and boulders made the distance between the hills and town impassable. Yaesdrah was strategically situated between the sea and the rocky hillside. Perfect for defense against those wanting to attack.
“So,” said Shahneeris. “Who’s got you all stressed out?”
“Why do you think…?” Shahneeris raised an eyebrow to him. “Her name is Eielawyn,” he said.
“Is this the one you were speaking to me about a few weeks ago?” Raenos nodded but stayed silent. “You know for me to impart any kind of wisdom, I’ll need to know more than your nod is giving me,” she said to him with a smile.
“I…um…I kissed her a while ago.” He glanced at Shahneeris. Seeing no judgement, he continued. “She’s frustrating. She hates anything to do with the royal guard—me—I mean. Because I’m a royal guard. I thought she hated me…but then—” He took a deep breath. “Tonight…in her store…I went there to talk to her because she seemed upset when we were dancing—”
“You went to the dance, and you two were dancing?” Shahneeris nodded. “Okay. Harmless. Continue.”
Raenos glanced at her again. “At her shop, something happened. It happens every time I’m near her, Shahneeris. It’s as if I have to touch her or die. I’m drawn to her, and…we…I made love to her in her shop.” Another glance. “It was amazing. I’ve been with women before, but this was different. More. I felt connected to her in a way I’ve never felt connected to any woman. But…”
“But?”
“But she did something to me. I don’t know how or when, but she said she released her aura on me.”
“Aura? She’s vaedra?” Shahneeris said, sitting up in the seat, and staring at him with wide eyes. “She said that she was vaedra? Damn.”
“You believe that shit?”
“It’s not shit, Raenos. They exist. It’s not just some myth that Gaeldos was fixated on. I’ve known of one vaedra in my life. I wasn’t lucky enough to be with her, but she’s a very good friend of mine. I didn’t believe in the myth any more than you, until she told me a few years ago.”
“So this aura isn’t some kind of spell, like a witch can cast?”
“The sex was phenomenal, wasn’t it? You just passed the fuck out into this orgasmic unconsciousness, huh?”
“No. I mean, yes, it was the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had, but I didn’t pass out. That’s why she was so shocked. I don’t understand what all of this vaedra shit is. When I was a guard under Gaeldos, he sent us after two women he said were vaedra, but I just thought it was another of Gaeldos’ fucked-in-the-head beliefs. I follow orders. I don’t ask questions. But vaedra are real?”
Shahneeris was nodding. “My friend—Kiawyn—she’s a Mocmoran vaedra. Well, half-Mocmoran. But all vaedra. The vaedra lineage is passed down maternally. The aura is what vaedra emit during pleasurable sex with someone they’re attracted to, or someone they…love. It has to be at least some kind of attraction in order for a vaedra to release her aura. Otherwise, it’s just bumpin’ uglies in the dark, so to speak. She didn’t do anything to you, Raenos. But most men pass out from the intensity of their orgasm. It can’t be helped. Which is why I have to ask, how you weren’t affected by her aura?”
“Shit,” he said with a frown. “I accused her of using something on me.”
“She did,” Shahneeris said with a sly smile. “Her pussy. But forget about that. Why the hell didn’t you pass out?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t believe in any of this shit. I thought it was all just a part of the vaedra myth.”
Shahneeris sat silently looking out toward the town below them. “What’s your lineage? What clans do you belong to? Your mother was from Morhais, right?”
“Yes, she was from Morhais. But she was only half-Morhacian. She preferred to call herself Teveoch, though. My mother never talked about her family or the other half of her lineage.”
“Take your shirt off and turn around,” said Shahneeris, waving her hand over the small button sensor above them to turn on the interior light. “Let me see your marks.”
He unfastened the parts of his shirt that hadn’t been ripped apart by Eielawyn, and couldn’t help the small smile on his lips from that memory. “This isn’t going to show anything about my mother’s line, Shahneeris. You know it only shows the paternal line.”
“That’s what I’m checking. Your father was Morhacian, right? He was part of the royal court?”
“Again, yes. But I can only go by what I was told by my parents and our family physician.”
Shahneeris stared at his back for some time. He felt her trace a finger down the center of his spine as if she were reading a map. For all intents and purposes, his lineal tattoos were a map. A map of his familial line. But it was only for his father’s line, not his mother’s.
“Not saying anything, but I’m not getting anything out of this, and I usually like taking my shirt off for a woman,” he said with a chuckle.
“Shut up. If I were attracted to men, I would enjoy the show. In college, I thought I wanted to major in semiotics,” she said as he stayed positioned with his back to her. “The study of signs and symbols, meanings of symbols and ancient texts and tattoo translation. I was going to join the Interspecies Transcultural Adaptive Communications Division of the guard. The ITACD. That was until I found out that they put you up close and personal with yaorg and the hyaeth people. It scared the shit out of me. That’s why I switched to tactical defense. I’ll kick ass in a minute, as long as the ass I’m kicking doesn’t want to eat me, or doesn’t stand over ten feet tall.”
“And the tattoos?” He could admit that he was curious. His father, Xiaxion, was part of the royal treasury. He was part of the royal court. Highborn. Because of that, any child of his would be born with the tattoo of a highborn showing the paternal lineage. Being part of the treasury, he was required to travel throughout the land of Ai on business for the realm. It was how his parents had met and married. His mother was not highborn, but her parents were somewhat wealthy. She was from the town of Piolk in the northlands. The northland people spoke a different language and were a mixture of many cultures around Ai. But if asked, they never associated with anything other than be
ing Piolk. After his parents divorced when he was five, his mother took him back to Piolk until his father demanded to have his son with him at the age of twelve. Raenos only understood later that it was because his father wanted his son groomed to serve in the guard. His parent’s divorce was due to his father giving his mother what she thought were vitamins during her pregnancy that she later found to be the biological enhancers that many Morhacian women took. He’d deceived her, and her trust of him vanished.
“Well?” he asked Shahneeris again.
“Put your shirt back on,” she said with a sigh. “You want the truth, or the truth?”
“Tell me.”
“Your first tattoo is the house of Xiaxion, of course. The symbol shows the signs of Morhais lineage. Highborn, of course. Then there is the house of Okthahlmod. I’m assuming your grandfather?”
Raenos shrugged his shoulders. “Okay. I have no idea. The old man wasn’t so forthcoming about his family.”
“Fine, but you know that the house of your father—his symbol—shows the matrilineal connection of his child’s mother. It shows basically some of the lineage of the mother.”
“No. I never knew that. I never cared much about what was on my back, Shahneeris. It just was.”
“The symbols of highborn are kind of supernatural. For our symbols to appear through our skin at birth is something only highborn Morhais have. The symbols of our paternal lineage appearing down our back at puberty? It’s fuckin’ weird, in my opinion. But those symbols—tattoos—trace our right to highborn status. The lower right point of your symbol leans clearly to showing a Mocmoran connection, Raenos. And the turn of that point is special. The way that the end of the symbol turns out. No other symbol will have that turn unless they are connected through blood. It’s a special turn, Raenos. Vaedra special. I can’t say one hundred and ninety-nine percent sure, but I’ve recently started to study the vaedra, their abilities, culture, biology, and everything about them. That difference on that symbol clearly leans to vaedra. Somewhere along the line, your mother’s blood has Mocmoran vaedra in it.”
Eielawyn [The Maidens of Mocmoran 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 9