Chloe hadn’t known that happiness like she felt in the Twilight with Sparrow could exist for her. She wouldn’t have believed it had someone told her.
She hadn’t believed it when Sparrow had said basically that very thing.
But they were together now, in this beautiful place, and Chloe didn’t care if they ever left. Worries about her job, her house and possessions, her ex-husband were as far away as she supposed earth was from the Twilight. And the idea that she might never need worry about any of those things again sparked a kind of joy she wondered if she really deserved.
Sparrow’s arms were wrapped around her midsection. She sat on his lap facing away from him, and they had actually put on clothes for a change. She’d grown comfortable being naked in his presence in this place, but one or both of them kept getting derailed as they tried to grow her powers. The lessons kept stopping early, because they seemed to have made it their mission to have sex in every corner of his cottage and the whole outdoors.
They both thought maybe even a little clothing would help them focus better. She wore a long white nightgown that had once been his mother’s, and he wore soft white pants that were similar to sweat pants but a silkier material. He didn’t wear a shirt, and Chloe thought maybe he was going to have to put one on if she was supposed to concentrate on anything except the firm muscles of his chest and abs.
“Chloe?”
“Sorry.” She’d been thinking about his lean, hard body again.
“Think flame.”
His hands found hers. As she closed her eyes, she heard the fire being born, and felt the heat against her face. Chloe smiled as she opened her eyes to see the crackling fire in the hearth.
“You did it.” He kissed her behind the ear.
“I think we did it.” She giggled when he nibbled her earlobe. “I couldn’t do any of this without you.”
She turned to look at him over her shoulder, then decided that wasn’t enough, and spun completely to wrap her legs around his hips.
Sparrow tilted his head and regarded her with a wry smile. “I was merely the key to unlock your power, my love. Everything you’ve done with it since, that’s been all you.”
Chloe’s breath caught. Of course they’d said they loved each other, but hearing him so casually call her my love like that moved her in ways she’d have been hard-pressed to describe.
“I’m glad you won,” she said in a rush.
“The Selection?”
“Yes. I’m so glad it was you. I suppose it was always going to be, wasn’t it? This was destined, long before you ever took an interest in joining the palace guard?”
Sparrow pressed his lips to hers with a sigh. “It must have been, Chloe. Because I refuse to believe that what we have would be possible for me with anyone else.”
No, Chloe could never feel this way with another. The sense of belonging, the rightness, that was because of Sparrow, not just some random winner of a grueling set of physical and mental challenges to earn her hand.
She loved him, not what he’d done for her.
And the clothes they’d donned so they could focus on something other than themselves were no longer doing the trick. Chloe slipped her gown up, and slid her hand into Sparrow’s silky pants to grip his cock. He was already hard, once again perfectly in sync with her and her needs.
“No one else could have made me feel this way,” she whispered to him as he held her hips and lifted her up until his cockhead pressed against her. With a groan from both of them, he lowered her around him.
“My goddess,” he breathed against the skin of her neck.
“Yes?” She rocked against him until they both shuddered in pleasure. The fire roared in the hearth and burned white hot before dying back to glowing embers.
***
Sparrow, again in his silky, soft pants but this time wearing a thin, short-sleeved shirt as well, sat at the rough-hewn kitchen table and tossed an apple into the air. Chloe, in another of his mother’s nightgowns, thought eat, and a bite disappeared from the apple in mid-air though she never moved. The crisp sweetness of it rested on her tongue, and she chewed it, delighted.
Sparrow caught the apple and took a bite, chewing as he smiled at her. “Excellent, Gaia.”
Chloe still wasn’t used to the name, but it felt right in a way it hadn’t before. And then she wondered if he could take a bite out of an apple by merely thinking…
Chloe arched her brow and looked down the lean, strong line of Sparrow’s body, her eyes resting on his pants and the treasure she knew lay behind it. Without moving, she thought of what she’d like to do to him with her tongue. The light musk of him filled her senses, and the tang of him spread over her tongue.
Sparrow dropped the apple and gasped, reaching for the table next to him to steady himself. “Chloe!”
She laughed, but didn’t let up. She thought he might drop to his knees, but instead he lurched forward, gasping, to grab her arms and pull her to him for a hungry kiss.
“That’s a use of your powers I never considered,” he said with another soft laugh.
He was pulling her against him so she could feel what she’d caused with her “powers” when three loud raps sounded against the front door of the cottage.
The sounds startled Chloe, but Sparrow went rigid. His green eyes glanced at the door, then down at her. “This isn’t right.”
“Your mother’s been gone for some time. Maybe someone else doesn’t know and wanted to say hello?”
Sparrow gave his head one quick shake. “No, it’s unlikely, even—”
Chloe had already left his arms and stood at the door by merely thinking it. Sparrow’s discomfort over someone at his door had prompted her to handle it for him, and as soon as she’d thought it, she’d appeared there.
“Chloe, wait,” he said, reaching toward her. But she wanted to see who’d wandered into their space, because the sooner they found out, the sooner they could exchange niceties and the person could leave.
She was eager to explore her newfound powers and what sounds she might draw from Sparrow with them for the rest of the night. Chloe opened the door, expecting to see someone who looked like they belonged here. Someone like Sparrow, perhaps.
She hadn’t expected Norman.
Chapter 18
No, no, no. Something was wrong. Not just with the unexpected knock on his door, but in the Twilight itself. Something was wrong. No, don’t open—
He was too late.
Chloe swung the door open. And Sparrow knew what was wrong, knew the source of heaviness he felt creeping its way into the air and darkening the light of his home.
A demon stood at his door. And the demon smiled at Chloe.
Sparrow rushed forward, coiling his lightning with the intent to strike at the hateful thing and send it far away from there, if he could. This one was powerful, and filled with the darkest hate imaginable.
Sparrow’s father had been a powerful demon, and Sparrow was half, but they had never toyed with the darkness. Their power didn’t come from hatred, bloodshed, or pain.
The one who cast a shadow in his doorway thrived on those things. Craved them.
Sparrow breathed in, intent on loosing the full force of his power upon it.
“Norman,” Chloe gasped.
Sparrow froze, scrambling to understand. Norman, the ex-husband she ran from, who was intent on getting her back. Norman who had turned hard and cold after he married her, and had blamed her for losing his baby. This was Norman.
Norman was a demon. It explained so much.
“Wife,” Norman spat, not even glancing at Sparrow. He clearly thought Sparrow was no match for him, so the demon didn’t care what he did.
Sparrow would show him the error of his ways.
Sparrow lunged forward again, to move past Chloe and teach this vile creature a lesson, but he sensed a growing heat around Chloe, one he’d learned to recognize as her powers gathering. Almost like a hot breeze that didn’t ruffle a curtain or flutt
er the leaves in the trees, but that warmed him. Perhaps him alone.
He sent a bolt of his firefox toward Norman. Its brilliant light exploded and propelled the unwelcome intruder several yards back, landing Norman on his back. Smoke and flickering electricity short-circuited from where he was standing.
Sparrow tsked when he saw Norman still able to move. It made sense. That man was a demon, all right. Normal humans wouldn’t have been able to withstand his firefox attack.
“Sparrow, don’t,” said Chloe.
“But—”
“This is my fight. If you fight for me that this whole Gaia thing is useless. I must do this by myself.”
Sparrow looked away. As much as he hated it, he couldn’t go against his goddess’ order.
“How…” Chloe hesitated, uncertainty in her eyes. “You said humans couldn’t come here.”
“They can’t. He’s only half-human. That darkness pressing down on you? It’s evil.”
“I know, but he—”
“Not just ordinary evil. He’s a half-demon.”
An amused laughter reverberated. Norman managed to get back on his feet. “How clever you are, blondie.” His eyes threw dagger at him. Pure venom.
“But you’re a half-demon,” Chloe said to Sparrow “You’re not like him.”
“Because his magic, his powers, are dark. Mine are not.” Sparrow pushed Chloe behind him, shielding her from Norman. “Allow me to deal with this cretin, Gaia. The likes of him will sully your hands.”
Norman kept advancing, lumbering. He took a deep breath, sniffing the air. “Ah. You’ve been unfaithful, Chloe. You have his stink. What am I going to do with you, my cheating little wife?”
Sparrow took a step forward. Chloe’s fight or not, this foul thing wasn’t going to go on taunting her.
Chloe pushed Sparrow aside.
Sparrow protested. “But, Gaia—“
One glance from her silenced his objection. Sparrow knitted his brows. Somehow, his Gaia had changed. There was a regal air in her. A holy aura.
“How many times must I tell you, I’m not your wife anymore. I want nothing to do with you. Ever. Leave this place while I’m still feeling charitable.”
“Chloe, Chloe, Chloe,” Norman cooed. “What you want, my dear Chloe, doesn’t matter to me anymore.”
“Did it ever?” she asked. “Because I don’t think it did.”
Norman shrugged. “You’re beautiful and kind. I do like those things. But no. Your well-being only matters to me up to the point that you bear my child. You failed before, but we’ll get it right next time.” Norman lunged for her, reached out to grab her wrist, but Chloe stepped back at the same time Sparrow struck out with a bolt and knocked Norman backward. Unfortunately, instead of blowing back out the door, he flew at an angle and slammed into the wall.
He shot to his feet and shook his head, an ugly smile on his face. “You won’t stop me, little fox. I’m here to claim what’s mine.”
“Umm, hello? I divorced you, remember? Don’t tell me a decade in the big house turned you into a new kind of stupid?”
Norman chuckled. “I don’t mean you—it’s what you can grow in your belly for me.”
And Sparrow knew then why his eyes looked mad, and why he wouldn’t let Chloe go after all this time.
Why he’d been so enraged that she’d miscarried their child.
“I want a child,” Norman ground out, his eyes flashing red at Sparrow. “And if you try to stop me, I’ll kill you.”
“You can try.”
“Enough!”
Sparrow and Norman both flinched at the sound, a louder one than Chloe could have made with her voice. This was her inner voice shouting at them, confused, distraught. “Last warning, Norman.”
“I’m getting what’s mine,” Norman growled. “You robbed me of my rightful place before. I want it now.”
“What the hell are you yapping about?”
“Your child, Chloe,” Sparrow spoke softly. Norman didn’t seem eager to explain, and she had a right to know why he’d hounded her all this time. “His father must be a demon, because his mother wasn’t. Half-breeds like him aren’t as powerful as his father. But he can become a full-fledged demon by drinking blood. The blood of his firstborn child.”
“Is that true? You were going to kill our baby had I not had the miscarriage?” Chloe rasped out, horrified.
“That was always the plan.”
“You’re the new Gaia, Chloe. Drinking the blood of your child and his wouldn’t just make him a full demon, but perhaps the most powerful demon in existence.”
Chloe blinked several times, her hands dropping to her sides as she glared at Norman. “You knew about it? I didn’t even know.”
“Of course I knew.” Norman snorted. “Why do you think my father chose you for me? Did you think I fell for your big tits and your pretty smile? A senator of his stature taking in a girl with no breeding, no estate, the daughter of our gardener, just because his teen-age son has a crush? Please. I could have had anyone I wanted with the kind of power my father commands. But he saw the power in you, and knew what that meant for me.”
Sparrow wanted to end this. He wanted to kill Norman, not with his lightning, but with his hands.
Chloe grabbed his arm and yanked him back. “Stay!”
All of a sudden, Sparrow’s body was petrified. Couldn’t move a muscle. He cursed inwardly. He forgot that Gaia had the power to bind those who served her. She really didn’t want him meddle in this situation.
Chloe swallowed. “Your father knew who I was, you said?”
“It was an incredible stroke of luck. You could be lucky too, you know. Give me a child, let me sacrifice it and become powerful beyond measure. Maybe I’ll keep you around. For fun. Or to see if the blood of a second-born provides any kind of a boost.”
Sparrow jerked to free himself from the sacred binding of his goddess. But Chloe’s power kept him immobile. Chloe charged at Norman and tossed him off like a hand swatting a fly and sent him smashing into the wall. He crumpled to the floor, grunting in pain.
“He won’t be down long,” Sparrow warned her. And before the words were out, Norman rose again.
“Impressive.” Norman tilted his head, bones popping. “But you haven’t had much practice, and I’ve done nothing but practice while I sat in prison thinking about all the things I was going to do to you when I got out.”
“Gaia, release me. Chloe!” Sparrow barked.
But she was no longer the woman he knew.
Chapter 19
Chloe knew Sparrow was her protector. He’d fight Norman, to the death if necessary, to keep her safe. And Chloe loved him for that.
But this was her fight.
Norman had ruined her life. He’d been mentally and emotionally abusive, and then physically abusive. He’d left her with no self-esteem or sense of self-worth. He’d left her no choice but to run, and then he’d tracked her down and made her life hell anyway.
And then Norman had found her here. When she’d opened the door to him, thoughts of all her powers fled. The fact that Sparrow called her goddess left her mind. For a brief moment, she was just Chloe again. Scared, abused, stalked Chloe.
The hopelessness she’d felt when she saw his face had been like a physical blow.
And Chloe wasn’t ever going to feel that way again.
Norman drew back and jerked forward, a wave of heat slamming into Chloe and catching her off guard. She gasped, but righted herself without even having to take a step backward. She remembered the lessons Sparrow had taught her during their time here. Unfortunately, they’d been more about calling the animals, feeling her power and using it in small ways than using it as a weapon to defend herself. They hadn’t gotten that far yet.
But you are Gaia, Sparrow’s voice sounded inside her head. You already know how.
She glanced at Sparrow, who nodded and stepped back. He wore a slight grin, a confident one. As if he knew she had everything well in hand.
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Chloe never had really trusted herself, but she trusted Sparrow, and he believed in her.
That would be enough.
She drew energy into herself with a great breath, pulling it in from all around in and compacting it. With every part of herself she pushed, sending it toward Norman in a narrowly focused bolt.
Norman flew off his feet and, this time, backward out the door. Chloe followed.
He shot back, a bolt hitting her to the right side of her chest, high on her shoulder, burning a hole into the white gown she wore. The pain was incredible, but instead of dropping her to her knees, it angered her. It fortified her.
She drew in a breath and became aware of the sky darkening, the once blue sky now an ominous gray.
Because of me. I’m doing that. As the pain in her shoulder intensified, the wind whipped against her, blowing her gown first one way and then the other.
Sparrow’s voice again. You are.
“I want that child!” Norman was forced to shout, the wind stealing the words as he said them.
“No,” Chloe said softly, but it was a booming sound that seemed to fall down from the sky in every direction. She pushed again, and sent him flying at least forty feet backward. He slammed into a tall tree and rolled down the trunk to crumple into a heap at its base.
She didn’t run, but was in front of him in an instant, merely by thinking it. Chloe sensed Sparrow always just a few feet behind her. As she looked down at Norman, she realized her miscalculation. He flew into the air on his own power this time, and circled her, blasting her from every direction.
Chloe sensed Sparrow charging Norman and told him, with a thought, to stop. She knew she didn’t need him to rescue her, and communicated that to him without speaking or looking at him.
She stumbled, dropped to one knee, but the pain of the blasts almost lifted her up in a righteous fury as she shot to her feet and pushed with everything she had in Norman’s direction, the strain of it giving her a sense of being drained, emptied as her vision went white.
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