“Jurek, I don’t want you to go all freaky on me, but I have to say something to you. Promise me you won’t turn dark and bust things up in here.”
“Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this?”
“Because you’re not the warm and fuzzy kind of guy.”
“Hmmm. So?”
She fiddled with the sheet, looked at her crummy fingernails, and then quickly hid them.
“I wanted to tell you that I love you.”
“Oh that. Well, I know that,” he said is if he’d known it forever.
She looked at him and said, “You know that? Is that all you’re going to say?”
“Am I supposed to say something else?”
“Yes! I think something like, I love you too Liasare, would be nice,” she said, sticking her lower lip out.
He gazed at her then and something shifted in his eyes...something she couldn’t quite define, but it was there nonetheless. He brushed her hair off her face and tucked a loose strand behind her ears. “Hmmm. I suppose you would think that. I’m not an emotionally verbose kind of man Liasare. If you want me to say those things to you, then of course I will. I will tell you this though. When I found you in that dungeon, my heart bled for you as I felt it fracture into a million pieces. When I saw what your body had endured, my mind nearly cracked,” he swallowed the thick burning that had quickly formed in his throat, making it impossible for him to speak. Moments passed before he was able to go on. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “When you didn’t eat or sleep for days, neither did I. I was dying on the inside, not understanding why you wouldn’t talk to me. Liasare, you hold my heart in the palm of your hand and my soul is right there with it. They’ve been with you for quite some time, only I was a fool and wouldn’t admit it. I may not praise you with flowery phrases, but what I feel for you cannot be described by a single word. That I would give everything I own for you, including my life, goes without saying. No one could ever feel for you what I do Liasare.” He kissed her lips then and tasted the salt of her tears.
“Why don’t you ever say those things to me?” she asked as she put her forehead against his.
“Because I believe that actions speak much louder than words...I know, a very cliché saying but a truer one has never existed. I very much intend to show you how I feel every day of our lives. So my love, if you want me to say those words to you, I will, but I may need to be poked as a reminder every now and then, because they don’t come easy for me.”
He kissed her then and she felt something different, something entering her mind and soul. It was fulfilling, like he was pouring himself into her, sharing a part of himself that he’d kept buried beneath layers of protected armor, not ever allowing to surface. Liasare felt it empowering her, lighting her up from within her depths. She pulled away from him, gazing into his eyes, seeing herself mirrored in them. Understanding crashed into her, making her reel from what she now knew to be true.
“It was never fear for me if we made love. It was fear that you wouldn’t be able to disguise your true feelings, wasn’t it?”
“Partially,” he whispered. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to prevent my love from pouring into you, but the element of power was the other concern at the time. You were so sensitive to my touch, I feared for your safety Liasare. But I still fear for you because of my enemies too.”
“I’m not following.”
Jurek closed his eyes and she immediately felt their connection had been severed. He felt the same loss of feeling, for his eyes opened in surprise. The corners of his mouth slightly curved, as he let out a faint huff. “There is a lot I have to learn it seems. I have so much to tell you Liasare. Some of it you may not like, I’m afraid.”
He lifted her off of him and stood, extending his hand to her.
“Come with me.”
“Where?” she asked curiously.
“You wanted to frolic in the waterfall, didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah. But right now?”
He laughed, “Why not?”
“Weren’t we talking?”
“We can talk anywhere.”
Okay, she knew he had a point there. “But wait! I don’t have any clothes,” she worried.
“Liasare, this is my sanctuary...our sanctuary. No one comes here unless I summon them. You don’t need clothing anywhere here. Ever.” He flashed her a heated sexy grin. Her body instantly responded, flushing with heat as her heart thrummed in rhythm.
She placed her hand in his and followed him across the terrace and down the stone path to the series of waterfalls. It was heaven for Liasare as she stepped into the cool water, letting it slide across her skin. He pulled her beneath the shower of the first waterfall, and she laughed as the water spilled down her head, shoulders and back, sensuously kneading her muscles and relaxing her. Jurek watched as her skin glistened with the water sluicing down her body and found it was impossible to keep from touching her. His fingers traced the path the flow created from her neck, to her breasts, across her abdomen and hips and then followed it with his mouth, sucking and nibbling along the way.
Liasare was burning for him and even the cool spray of the waterfall couldn’t dampen the heat that had built within her. Jurek knelt before her, trailing kisses along her abdomen, until he reached the surface of the water. Standing, he lifted her up, settled her on his length and in one thrust he buried himself within her depths.
“Yes, Jurek,” she moaned as she pressed herself tightly against him, wrapping her legs firmly around his hips. “I’d always wondered how it would be with you, but I never thought it could possibly be like this,” she said breathlessly.
“Ah, Liasare, neither did I. You make the universe disappear before my very eyes. Tell me you want me.”
“I want you Jurek,” she answered him. “Tell me you love me. Now, while you’re inside of me.”
“Ah Liasare, I love you, so much more than I can say,” he said. “I need you more than anything I’ve ever known. I never knew how much I needed you until I thought I’d lost you. I’m half a man without you. I’m going to make you come for me now Liasare. I want to watch you. Please look at me. You’re so lovely when you climax.”
“Yes, please, Jurek.” He rotated his hips and then there was that flow of energy, that current of power that surged from him into her, hitting her on that very spot, making everything separate and break apart as each nerve ending caught fire with the explosion of her orgasm. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she might have screamed.
Jurek was definitely sure, because when she screamed his name, he cried out hers in return and followed her down that path to ecstasy.
Afterward, they floated in the pools under the waterfalls, relaxing. Liasare felt her body and soul healing in the waters. Under Jurek’s touch she began to feel the pieces of herself knit together again, only this time not only was her body stronger, but her mind was becoming more fierce and she knew her life now had direction, something that had been missing until she met Jurek. She still feared the unknown, and there were many questions Jurek had yet to answer, but her trust in him began to grow and take root that night, giving her faith in herself, their love for each other and their relationship.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Liasare, come with me please. Liasare.” The voice was calling to her again. This was becoming a frequent thing, the beautiful woman of her dreams.
“What is it now?”
“Your time is nearing. You must be prepared.”
“For what?”
“You are the Key,” the beautiful Praestani woman said.
“Please. For God’s sake, would you just tell me what key? How am I supposed to know how to prepare if I don’t know what to prepare for?”
“Jurek will show you the way. Trust him. You must trust him. He will not fail you. He holds your heart within him. Let yourself go and trust him.”
“Tell him to trust me. He’s the one with trust issues, not me!”
Yeesh, this woman
and her trust thing are driving me nuts!
“Hey, who are you anyway?”
“Someone who cares for both you and Jurek. Some who cares about the prophecy.”
“Okay, well, come back to me when you can tell me more. Right now I have to go back to sleep.”
“Liasare, what are you doing?”
“I told you to come back when you can tell me what this key is. Quit wasting my time. I’m tired of all of this already.”
“Liasare, wake up. What are you dreaming about?”
Liasare opened her eyes to see Jurek leaning over her. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and blinked several times.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“You were yelling in your sleep, something about a key and trust. What were you dreaming about?”
Liasare sat up and scratched her head. “I’ve been having this weird dream. This lady, and she has to be Praestani from her bald head and tattoos, keeps telling me I’m the key to something and I need to be prepared. Then she tells me to trust you.”
“What the fuck Liasare!” Jurek yelled as he flew out of bed and began pacing.
“Okay, what the hell is going on? Now you’re weirding me out!”
“How long has this been going on?”
“I don’t know. It’s happened another time I think.”
Jurek was at her side in a flash. “No guessing Liasare. I need exacts.”
“Hell Jurek. I don’t know. What is this?”
“What did she look like?”
“Like Naroo!”
He rolled his eyes at her. “Specifics, dammit.”
“I don’t know. It was a fucking dream! I didn’t know I was going to get interrogated over it. She was beautiful, like all the Praestani women I’ve seen. Bald with those lovely tattoos and those absolutely stunning eyes like yours. What else can I tell you?”
“Was she tall, short, thin, heavy?”
“She was perfect. Tall, and slender. Someone I would kill to look like. Her face was utter perfection...it was so beautiful I wanted to touch it. She glowed.”
“Dear gods, you saw my mother.”
“What the hell are you talking about and why would I dream about your mother?” she asked, unconvinced.
“It wasn’t exactly a dream. My mother’s dead and has been dead since shortly after my birth. She came to you Liasare in a vision.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know you don’t. Let me explain,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Jurek told her more about himself and the Praestani’s that night than ever before. The Praestani race was kept secret for several reasons, some of which he’d already shared with her. But there was another one and that was because the race was beginning to die out. The main reason for this was when Praestani’s gave birth, the infants could only maintain their forms as energy, and as infants, they were at their ultimate in power, uncontrollable and dangerous. The mothers, while wanting and needing to care for their children often faced death at the very hands of the infants they recently birthed.
Horrified by what he’d just told her, she just stared at him. “So you’re telling me that the women of your race are killed by their own babies? I thought the Praestani were immortal?” Liasare asked in shock.
“We are, but we can be destroyed by another Praestani. Only we have the power to destroy each other.”
“My God, how horrific for those poor mothers.”
“It is. And now many of them opt not to have children because the mortality rate is so high for both mother and child.”
“Can the child not be taught to change forms?”
He shook his head and softly said, “Liasare, imagine teaching a newborn to read. It would be much the same. It’s impossible. They revert to energy because early in life it is what’s most comforting to them. They don’t know any different. They often starve and can’t be fed because they are in such a powerful state. It’s why I never met my mother. She died when I was only a day old. She wouldn’t let me out of her arms and I destroyed her.”
Liasare looked at him and her eyes filled with tears. “Don’t shed them for me, because I survived. Shed them for the woman who comes to you in your visions. She never got to hold her own child, for he killed his own mother,” he said.
She walked to him until she stood before him and took his hands. “You may have killed your mother, but you did it because you were unaware of what you were doing. The man who stands before me would never consciously do such a thing. I’m sorry for the tragic thing your race faces, but I can’t help but think there is an answer to change this somewhere.”
“Perhaps, but we have bigger things on our hands right now. I think my mother is visiting you because of your role in the prophecy.”
Liasare brightened and said, “Yes, she mentioned the prophecy, but wouldn’t tell me anything about it. I tried to press her, but she wouldn’t budge.”
Jurek squeezed her hands. “Don’t feel bad. She won’t tell me either. The only thing I know is what it says and that’s not much. And that I’m supposed to play a part. Liasare, do you believe in hell?”
“Yeah, I do. I visited hell Jurek and don’t ever care to go back.”
“Not that I’m trying to belittle what you experienced, because that certainly was hell, but I mean the real hell as in demons and all.”
“Yeah, I believe in it. Why?”
“Because I think that’s what the prophecy is all about and I believe hell is getting ready to break loose on the universe.”
“Oh my God!” Liasare said, tuning ashen as she began remembering something.
“What? What is it?”
“When I was in that dungeon, the man who controlled those vile creatures told me I had one last chance to tell him what I was, but I told him to go to hell. His response was that he was already there. Could he have been the devil?”
Jurek went back to the bed, taking Liasare with him. “Not likely. Lucifer would never waste his time doing the dirty work. He’ll always send one of his flunkies to do it for him. He wouldn’t waste his time getting his hands dirty in the messy parts.”
“Well, I think he was there on behalf of the big L then. And there’s one other thing.”
“What’s that?”
Liasare looked at her hands as they twisted the bed sheet.
Jurek stared at her and finally asked, “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you’re about to tell me?”
“I think I have super mojo powers,” she declared as she looked at him.
He furrowed his brow and asked, “Elaborate.” He got up and poured them both a glass of water.
She knew when he used one word demands, she was headed for a bumpy road.
“When I was in chains, the creepy guy who controlled those nasty creatures gave the order for me to be raped. One of them attempted it, but when he tried, as soon as he touched me, I fried him...literally. Extra crispy Jurek. And the first time they tried to bite me, a light came over me and protected me.
Jurek stared intently at her. “Pull it forth. Now. I want to see it.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“Oh yes you can and you will. You will learn to harness it and use it to the best of your ability so it can serve you Liasare. That’s what it’s there for, why you were gifted with it. Do you understand?”
Liasare closed her eyes for a moment, and tried to feel it within her but there wasn’t anything she could grab onto. She searched her mind for anything, but it felt like a blank compartment. She shook her head.
“My power is a part of me Liasare. I don’t seek it out; it’s there at my disposal, always waiting on me. Treat it as such and perhaps you will see it. Let it find you.”
Frustrated, she said in a raised voice, “But I don’t know what I’m seeking. I pulled it out when I thought I was dying. I don’t remember how.”
“Come here,” he pulled her into his arms, on top of his lap, as he lay back amongst the
pillows. His legs and arms cocooned her as he began to talk to her. “Lay back on me, love and relax. Close your eyes.” She felt his breath fan across her cheek as he spoke softly in her ear. “Now think back on what you saw that night...not your surroundings, not what was happening to you. I want you to block all of that from your mind. Now concentrate solely on what you saw when the light came forth. From where did it emanate? What color was it? Did it erupt from a single part of your body or was it a diffusion that covered all of you? Think about it all Liasare before you answer. Reach into the depths of your mind to remember.”
He was quiet then, letting her think about what thoughts he put in her head.
Moments went by when she answered, “The first time, it was an eerie blue light that covered my entire body. I didn’t realize what it was until they went to touch me. It was like the light burned them. They screeched in pain when they tried to touch me. The second time it must’ve been way more intense. When that disgusting animal tried to shove his ... his thing into me,” she shuddered and Jurek hugged himself around her, trying to shield her from those gruesome memories, “my light burst forth, but this time it was so bright, it was almost painful to look at, and it literally fried that monster.”
“Can you remember how you felt when that happened?”
“No!” she cried. “I was so freaked by the whole situation, I wasn’t thinking properly Jurek.
Sliding his hands up and down her arms, he asked, “Liasare, do you want me to trance it out of you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
He shifted her slightly, took her chin, turned her head toward him and said, “Look at me, sweetheart. You know I have the power to reach into your mind and discover what we need to know, right? Like when I would ask you something and you wouldn’t answer, but then suddenly you’d find yourself compelled to answer me, even though you didn’t really want to?”
“Yeah, you’d hypnotize me and it would really piss me off.”
Jurek gave her a crooked smile. “Guilty as charged, but it wasn’t hypnosis, per se, it was trancing. I can do that now, if you’d like. When I trance you, you’ll remember things from your subconscious.”
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