Breath of Love

by Ophelia Bell

  His family name, and the name that the company shared—Magnus—already had a strong reputation for effectiveness and discretion, which clients preferred. Leading it was a role he was good at and enjoyed, though he preferred to delegate as much as possible to subordinates he trusted, like Rafe. In the last eight months since becoming a permanent resident of the city, he’d also become closely acquainted with its darker side, and made a point to learn all those ties in particular. Then in the interest of being thorough to protect the interests of his race, he’d enlisted his subordinates to do the same in every other major city in the world.

  That’s when Kol had found him.

  David “Rocky” La Pietra was the man’s name, though Hallie had only ever mentioned his first name and only on one occasion shortly after the ritual, but Kol had never forgotten. He’d only learned the man’s full identity when he found mention of Hallie in the information sent from his subordinate, a lesser Shadow assigned to the East Coast. It was only a brief connection, but the details were enough for him to be sure. He’d discovered evidence of a six-month relationship that had begun in New York City, followed by Hallie’s departure and David ultimately chasing her to Boston. She couldn’t have known the ties he had in that city, but she must have believed there was no safe place to run from him when she left the country entirely. A brave move for anyone, cutting ties the way she had.

  Braver still to accompany Kol back to a place where she’d never felt safe.

  “I will keep you safe,” he said softly.

  Hallie closed her eyes, the dark fringe of her lashes casting a shadow on her cheeks from the glow of sunset through the window. A sad smile tugged at her lips. “Thank you. I wasn’t thinking about David, though.”

  Only one other thing could cause her to look at him the way she did just then, and the look broke his heart. He swallowed thickly, understanding well enough that need she felt, though possibly not as keenly as she. To have lost a child, even one unborn, must have destroyed her. He realized in that moment that the father of that child hadn’t been the only thing she had run from, and his gut clenched with regret over feeling so fortunate that it had been his arms she had found, that had made her stop running.

  “Oh, baby, don’t look at me like that,” she said gently. “I know we’ve been trying so long, but you gave me hope, and I haven’t lost it.”

  At that moment the plane tilted as it parted ways with the runway and Kol clutched at the seat. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to will away the itchiness rippling over his skin. Worse than that was the urge to summon and unfurl his wings to catch the air his instincts told him he was soaring through already. Even though he was flush with energy from their lovemaking that morning, he found it tricky to control the urge. It always began with his skin erupting into obsidian scales. Their rigidity was apparent now, and his horns threatened to follow suit.

  Hallie’s voice broke through the struggle, grounding him. “I think about her every day. Or him. Which would you prefer?”

  Kol sighed, accepting her diversion, and relishing the sound of her voice. “What do you mean?”

  “Do you want a boy or a girl?”

  He opened his eyes and smiled at her. “Yes.”

  She laughed. “Fair enough. I didn’t want just one either.”

  “There’s a bigger question for us,” he said. In a lower voice, “What color do you hope for?”

  “I didn’t think we had a choice. Isn’t it genetic?”

  “The personality traits that help determine color are, but that’s only part of what gives us our color. My mother was a Shadow, like me, but you’ve met my siblings.”

  Hallie nodded, smiling. “Polar opposites to you, those two. How did that happen?”

  “The Twins had a different human father than I. Mine was a political spy. My mother and he had their fingers in all the royal intrigue in Europe at the time. But the Twins’ father was different. No less devious—the man was a thief by trade, and a smuggler—but what he did, he did for fun as much as money. His personality was infectious, joyous, even. Where Father taught me the things I know to run this business, Audun taught me how to enjoy life and love. I think Mother loved him for that as much as the gifts he would bring her.”

  “So you’re saying it was his personality that made them golden?”

  Kol had vivid memories of his mother’s second mate. Technically third, but he’d never met the first one, as the man who had awakened Astrid Magnus had promptly gone insane and been sent to the Monastery to live out his days under the care of the monks there. Audun had changed his mother in subtle ways. Infectious was no understatement, because he’d affected Kol’s father almost as much, as well as the employees bonded to his mother. The days when Audun would return from his latest adventure had always been the highlights of Kol’s youth. It had been Audun who had encouraged Kol to love whom he wanted and damn the consequences.

  “It’s more complicated than that. His joy was shared by Mother. Where she was calculating and devious with Father, she was bright and joyous with Audun. The Twins were a product of that shared joy in life.”

  Hallie listened raptly and he wondered why the subject had never come up before. Until now, the subject of children had been so abstract—something they strove for but dared not truly hope for until the Verdanith was finally assembled.

  “What about Reds?” Hallie asked.

  “Fierce passion, in love, or war. Geva’s mother was our Queen before, but she had an affinity for men who were battle hardened, as his father was.” Before Hallie could ask, Kol continued down the list, enjoying telling her more about his race. “Greens are born from mates who value both life and wealth. There are only female Greens. Blues are the most spiritual-minded dragons. They say that they are the closest to the Mother. Their colors are the most varied, too—like Issa—she’s not precisely blue, you may have noticed. I never knew her parents, but her father was a Guardian and her mother was a virgin who had been cloistered for the sole purpose of sacrificing her to the brood. I heard she fell in love with her Guardian afterward and they had a passionate relationship, but she took up worship of the Mother once she learned our ways.”

  “What about Guardians? Are they always male?”

  “Yes. Guardians are most often born to a couple who are together out of convenience or necessity. They may love each other but their relationship is founded more on goodness, justice, and purity of life.”

  Hallie screwed up her face. “Sounds boring as hell. Poor Roka.”

  Kol chuckled. “We tend to develop our own personalities, in spite of our parents. Roka was a determined guardian when we were young. The strongest and most competitive Guardian and passionate about his role. No doubt he’s been a valuable help to Rafe in their search for Rafe’s Red. I wouldn’t be surprised if Roka’s first child is a Red.”

  “What…what color would you like?” she asked tentatively, as though the concept was still alien to her. Sometimes Kol had to remind himself that this was all still very new to her. Her eager acceptance of him at the beginning still astounded him.

  “I haven’t given it much thought. I’d like a healthy child more than anything. Ours may be Red or Gold, but we may have a Shadow considering how prone we both are to dark moods.”

  “I’d like that,” she said, eyeing him thoughtfully. Her gaze grew distinctly focused in a manner he knew well, as much a signal of her intentions as the scent of her arousal. He had quick enough reflexes to get his seatbelt unfastened before she launched herself into his lap again, her luscious lips against his own, tongue demanding entrance to his mouth.

  He gripped her ass tight in his hands, hurriedly rucked up her dress to get underneath and feel her skin. This time he didn’t hesitate to press his fingers deeper into the wet heat of her he’d only barely touched earlier.

  Hallie moaned a plea into his mouth and pushed backwards against his probing touch. Her hands groped at his waist, fumbled his trousers open and tugged his cock
free. The hot stroke of her palms against his shaft caused his hips to buck involuntarily and Hallie laughed.

  “God, baby, you’re so hard. You should’ve seen the look on Melody’s face when she got an eyeful of you earlier. I wonder if she’s watching now. I would be if I were her.”

  Kol opened his eyes long enough to glance in the direction of the staircase down to the galley where he’d seen Melody disappear earlier. The scent of the other woman was closer than that, now that he searched for it. A flow of magic similar to Hallie’s, though less potent, was converging just on the other side of the open doorway.

  “She’s there,” he said. Hallie’s pussy clenched around his fingers, her slick juices flowing wetter and hotter. “Does that turn you on?” he asked, surprised by her reaction. He remembered Hallie’s heightened state of arousal during the end of the ritual, particularly when both he and Kris were fucking her, but she’d never ventured a suggestion to invite anyone else to their bed since, and he only ever wanted her.

  “Yes.” She moaned her answer against his neck as she undulated her hips, riding his thrusting fingers.

  “Do you want her?”

  “I want to watch you make her come. To watch your tongue do to her what it does to me.”

  “I can’t use my real tongue on her,” he whispered. “She’s an employee—that doesn’t mean she knows what we are. She only knows we’re different, that working for us is a privilege. I’d have to mark her if I showed her the truth.”

  “So don’t use that tongue. I don’t think she’ll complain.”

  Sweet Mother, she was testing him, but in a good way. The thought of being filled with two women’s energy at once made his cock throb painfully.

  “And where will you be while I’m pleasuring her?” he murmured.

  “Right here,” she said, giving his cock a squeeze that nearly made him explode.

  It took a moment after he hit the call button for Melody to appear again. She was even more flushed than before, her face and chest a bright pink that offset the smattering of freckles on her previously fair skin. Her up-swept red-blonde hair looked a little mussed, a wisp of it clinging to one cheek. Her lips parted in a soft O when she processed the haphazard state of their clothing, Hallie straddling him and his fingers still sunk deep in her pussy.

  Melody licked her lips and faltered in her steps toward them. “Y-yes?” she asked.

  Hallie was the one to answer, turning her head to look over her shoulder at the flight attendant. “Mr. Magnus has a fear of flying, Melody. Come help me distract him until we’re ready to land, will you?”

  Kol’s eyes narrowed and he almost objected to Hallie’s assessment of his constitution where flying was concerned, but Melody’s sweet arousal grew even stronger at the invitation. The pretty flight attendant smiled and stepped closer, her eyes drifting to his cock where it was being thoroughly double-fisted by Hallie.

  “Anything you’d like, sir?”

  Her submissiveness was such a strong contrast to Hallie’s demanding persona he was uncertain how to react, but it came to him quickly. Being in command was second nature to him everywhere but in the bedroom, but he could adapt.

  “Are you wearing panties, Melody?” he asked. His voice came out gruffer than he intended, but that was only a side effect of Hallie’s relentless stroking of him. She subsided just slightly, and began to tease soft caresses along the underside of his cock with one knuckle waiting to see what he would do.

  He didn’t think Melody could have gone redder, but she did. “No sir.”

  Kol’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth began to water. “No? What, pray tell, has happened to them?”

  Melody took a deep breath, seeming to gather her courage. The rise and fall of her chest caused her full breasts to press tighter against her blouse and he noted the top two buttons had come undone since he’d first seen her. With the inhalation, Kol could sense the rising swirl of magic around both her and Hallie. The tease of it drove him on.

  “I took them off a few minutes ago, sir. They were too wet and uncomfortable.”

  Hallie leaned in and whispered in his ear a question he almost couldn’t bring himself to ask out loud, but did, just to see if Hallie’s pussy would clench around his fingers like it had earlier.

  “Were you rubbing your clit thinking about my dick, Melody?”

  Hallie shivered against him, her muscles clamping down hard on his fingers.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Why don’t you show me what you were doing?” he asked, catching the rhythm of the game after Hallie’s prompting. His mind spun with the introduction to this side of his mate. Adventurous, curious. He’d known that about Hallie but hadn’t truly explored the possibilities.

  Melody nodded and leaned over to tug the hem of her snug skirt up her thighs.

  “Why not just take that off for now. It’ll just get in your way.”

  “Yes sir,” Melody breathed. She reached behind and unzipped the skirt, then let it fall to the floor. Beneath, she still wore a sheer silk slip that clung to her round hips. “Should I take off the rest, Mr. Magnus?”

  The sound of his name said in that perfectly deferential and entirely sensual way seemed to awaken something deep inside. He’d never lorded over his employees and had it on good authority that they thought he was a fair employer, though the members of the company’s board considered him too soft. Hallie owned him, body and soul, in and out of their bedroom. He’d never felt weak or impotent in his life, except for the day he was sent into hibernation. But this moment felt different. Now he realized he’d had no idea what true power really meant. Now that he understood, he loved it.

  Kol closed his eyes and took a deep breath, held it in and exhaled. He removed his fingers from Hallie’s pussy and rested his hand atop her thigh. She’d apparently become so enthralled with what was transpiring with Melody that she didn’t object to his lack of attention to her. She released him and slid forward on his lap, adjusting herself so her slick heat rested just at the base of his shaft. The tiny nub of her clit throbbed against him, a delicious reminder that she was definitely still engaged in the encounter. His gaze was on Melody, but he was still acutely aware of every single movement of Hallie’s. She began unbuttoning his shirt, undressing him, and he complied silently while deciding what he would do with the lovely Melody.

  “Take it all off,” he said.

  She unbuttoned and shed her blouse, then pulled the slip off over her head and let it flutter to the floor. Her bra followed. Kol took her in, letting his gaze drift over her lush curves, the dark pink of her erect nipples, the narrow trimmed golden triangle between her thighs that pointed to a peek of her glistening clit he was sure must be throbbing and ready for his tongue. She stood still, waiting and expectant.

  “Now show me,” he said. “Show me how you touched yourself.”

  Melody swiveled the seat across the narrow aisle to face him and sat gingerly. One hand went to her breast, fingers tugging at her nipple. Her eyelids fluttered closed as her other hand slid up her inner thigh and she spread her knees, giving him a view of her glistening snatch. The swirl of magic strengthened around her, tangling with Hallie’s familiar energy in the air between them. He was dimly aware of Hallie leaving his lap and kneeling before him, urging him to lift his hips so she could tug his pants off. Once he was naked, he swiveled his seat to face the aisle and hit the button that would lock it in place.

  Melody leaned back in her seat, thighs wide apart, her toes the only parts of her feet touching the floor. Two fingers swirled in tiny circles over her clit, the engorged folds of her pussy glistened wetly with the flow of her juices.

  “Stop before you come,” Kol said in a commanding voice.

  Melody jerked, startled out of her rapturous state. She drew her fingers away abruptly and nodded, sitting forward again. “What would you like, sir?”

  “I’d like to taste you when you come. To have my tongue on that pretty clit of yours.”

  Hallie
had moved out of his line of vision, but he was aware of her just behind him. He heard the zipper of her dress descend, then her lips were at his ear whispering again, this time to let him know the chair could recline flat. The genius of modern technology, he thought, and nodded to her. He sat forward and let her lower the seat. He glanced back at her and their eyes met briefly. The eager look in her eyes urged him on. She bent and kissed him once, letting their tongues tangle languorously for just a moment before pulling away.

  Kol lay back. “Come let me taste you now,” he said, raising his head enough to look at Melody. She rose, and walked the few steps to him. Her knee pressed against the top of his shoulder, warm and soft, as she climbed onto the seat, delicately positioning herself over his face. The scent of her inundated him, her juicy center poised above his lips. He wrapped his arms around her thighs and lifted his head enough to dart his tongue out for a taste, targeting the tip of her clit with precision.

  Melody gasped and shifted her weight, leaning forward to brace her hands on his stomach and lower herself at his urging. The sweet tang of her flooded his mouth when he slipped his tongue deeper. Her soft moans were drowned out by his own rough groan when he felt Hallie resume her attention on his cock, first with her mouth, then only her hands.

  His feet still rested flat against the floor so Hallie had to be kneeling between his thighs. Her masterful tongue slid up his length then back down, up again to swirl around his throbbing tip and suck it into her mouth. The soft swell of her breasts pressed against his inner thighs, hard nipples tickling his balls. The tickling rose higher, the length of his cock embraced by both silken orbs as she slid up along his hard length where it rested against his belly. Sweet Mother, he’d never felt anything quite so exquisite as her breasts embracing him that way. She kept sliding higher, then her warm touch left him.

  Melody paused her undulations over his mouth and he looked through the gap between her thighs down his torso, trying to catch a glimpse of what he was missing beyond his limited field of vision. All he could see were Hallie’s thighs spread and her dripping pussy about an inch too far away from his cock while she leaned in and slid her hands along Melody’s sides. He’d never wished to have a mental link with her as much as he did now, but abandoned the fruitless thought in favor of returning to the task at hand. Melody’s clit pulsed against his tongue and she whimpered. He heard a sigh and the sudden, familiar heat of Hallie’s sweet sheathe finally engulfed him in one long, excruciating stroke. He bucked against her, nearly coming right there from the long needed attention, but succeeded in holding back. The denser swirl of the women’s energy signaled that it wouldn’t be long now.