It’s a whole family. Aww, they’re so cute!
Minutes passed as the birds finished their meal. Then the babies hopped about their nest flapping their wings. The parents stayed nearby, their heads constantly turning to search their surroundings for danger. I dared not even breathe as they finally declared it safe, and the babies climbed out of their nest. They clung tightly to the branch and then let go. My heart was in my throat as they fell. One caught on and flew away. Then another. But the smallest one was still falling. It flapped one wing then the other but couldn’t seem to find its coordination. A cry of denial was lodged in my throat as it plummeted toward the ground.
A foot from the ground a burst of wind wrapped around the bird and forced its little wings open. The wind helped the bird to find its rhythm until the little guy caught on and flew off with its family.
I stared in awe at the back of the man in front of me. That was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen anyone do. My heart melted.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about what you said. About who I really am.” Jaxon turned to me, his face still carefully blank. “The thing is, I’ve been searching for so long for who I was, for everything I lost as a child, that I’d never tried to understand who I am. My very first memory is of Bennett taking me by the hand and telling me it would be ok. He and his mother are the only real family I’ve ever known. My sister was ...”
I swallowed thickly, imagining what he must have gone through. “I’m guessing Natalie wasn’t a very nice person even before she went off the deep end.”
“No, she wasn’t. Especially to me. Those first years living with Bennett’s family, I would cry and try to hide every time she came near. Of course, I was a traumatized three-year-old. But Nat made it worse.”
“Bennett would find me in whatever hiding spot I’d crawled into and spend hours coaxing me out. He would dry my tears and give me ice cream.” A small sad smile lifted the corner of his lips for a brief second. “He might have left me there if he knew that I would follow him around like a puppy most of his life with a huge case of hero worship.”
“I don’t really know him, but he seems the overly protective type. Like someone else I know,” I said pointedly.
“I learned from the best.” He combed his fingers through his hair, a rueful look in his eyes. “You’re right, he wouldn’t have left me. He’s too damn responsible for that.”
He twirled his fingers to form a mini-cyclone and tossed it from hand to hand. “My whole life I’ve taken the easy road. Usually, that was following wherever Bennett led. I’ve been more of a figurehead for the House of Arrows, never really a leader.” The cyclone disappeared, and Jaxon stared over my head like he was ashamed. A lost look in his eyes that scared me. I hated that look and the self-disgust in his voice. I hated the distance between us.
Then change it, Dia. You know you want to.
“Even becoming a lawyer was partly to help Bennett out. Our people needed someone to smooth things over in the human world. I was good at research and tests came easy to me, so why not. I graduated high school at seventeen, completed my undergrad bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, followed by three years at Harvard Law School.” Anger vibrated in his voice when he mumbled, “Nothing but the best, of course, for the stepson of Dr. Jude Young.”
He must have noticed my concern and his anger disappeared as if it had never been.
“Don’t do that,” I blurted out.
His brows furrowed in confusion. “Don’t do what?”
“Hide your emotions,” I said. “You were angry. Then you pasted on the happy ‘nothing-could-possibly-be-wrong-with-me’ face.”
“Because there’s nothing to tell. I’d been the Kyrion of my House since I was three, even though Dr. Young took care of the official stuff as my guardian. The Kyrion are trained from birth for their roles and are generally expected to take their thrones at the age of sixteen.” He shrugged. “Bennett’s dad was more of an asshole about duties than most, but it’s not a big deal.”
I concentrated on the grass below his feet. It grew taller and twined up his legs. Pink wildflowers bloomed as the grass reached his waist. He laughed and cussed as the grass tickled along his bare arms. A pink flower tickled him under the chin. The hopelessness that had been sinking his shoulders lower and lower was replaced by wild laughter.
When his laughter died down, I walked up to him and brushed the hair from his face. “You are more than you give yourself credit for. Molly worships the ground you walk on, and she’s nobody’s fool. Bennett trusts you to handle all of the lawyer-y stuff, right? I didn’t see him standing over your shoulder telling you what to do when you were questioning the guides earlier.” I opened my heart and let everything I felt show on my face. “I hated what you did to me, but I don’t hate you. I’m scared to death by what you make me feel, and I don’t know if you feel the same. How could I when you’re always hiding?”
I placed a kiss on his cheek and walked away.
“Dia, get back here and get me out of this. Dia!”
22
I walked through the pine meadow toward the rocky cliff. Jaxon continued to shout at me, but I ignored him. He may not have figured out who he was, but he had a chance to decide who he wanted to be now. I was scared that he would choose to be the playboy and not the man I loved. I had finally admitted it—to myself and him. It was his turn now.
I entered one of the openings in the rock and found an archery range. The room was long and cylindrical. Lights lined the rough walls and ceiling. White bags with red targets in various sizes lined the back wall. Down each side of the wall hung bows of all sorts. Beneath them, hung rows of quivers, filled with arrows. A large black safe sat in the corner opposite the doorway.
The room crackled with energy and the air toward the end of the range seemed to waver. Jaxon appeared a second later. His faced flushed. A couple of buttons ripped off his red shirt. Pink petals in his wild hair, his eyes wide as he searched the room. His chest expanded with a deep breath when he saw me, and another button popped off his shirt. He stalked toward me with the predatory grace of a lion.
I barely had time to react before he lifted me into the air and captured my lips in a frantic kiss that stole my breath. His hands shifted from my waist to my butt and he lifted me higher. My long apricot-colored skirt pooled around my hips as I wrapped my legs around his waist. His lips gentled on mine, the tone and tempo changing to something softer. He pulled away, and I grunted in protest. He laughed and kissed the tip of my nose.
“I can’t believe you wrapped me up in flowers,” he complained, but his eyes were shinning with laughter. “And then left me.”
I let out a breath, tension draining from me to see the light back in his eyes.
His expression turned serious when he cupped my cheek. “Dia, I’ve almost lost you twice now. Once to a maniac and once to my own stupidity. I’m sorry for shutting you out. I’ve been hiding my feelings for so long, it’s become a natural reaction. I don’t want to hide who I am anymore. Not from myself, and especially not from you. But I’m a work in progress. I’m trying to figure out how all of my pieces fit together.” He brushed a finger down my cheek. “There is so much I regret now—hurting you most of all.”
I brushed the hair back away from his face and pink petals fell to the ground.
“We all have regrets. My mother fought depression for most of my childhood. Some days she couldn’t get out of bed. Even on her good days, she wasn’t really all the way there with me.” A tear trickled down my cheek. “I hated that she was so weak to let my father’s leaving make her sick. She finally got help and became a great mother. But I promised myself I would never be like her. Now I know what she went through, and I’m so sorry that I resented her for all those years when she was hurting.”
“You were a child, Dia. Don’t beat yourself up over that. She was the only parent you had. It was her job to take care of you, not the other way around.”
No, it shouldn’t have b
een my job. But she had been grieving the loss of her eldest child and trying to raise another all by herself. Any lingering resentment I’d had toward my mother was gone. The first thing I planned to do when I got home was hug her and tell her how very proud I was of her. She had beaten back the darkness for me, and I was eternally grateful.
“I’ve forgiven her for that,” I said. “And I forgive you too.”
“You are the most amazing person.” He stared at me in awe. “I wasn’t looking for love, but it knocked me on my ass with a pink glitter picket sign. I never had a chance.”
My mouth had gone dry, and for the first time ever I couldn’t think of one thing to say.
“Well, now I know. Kissing you doesn’t shut you up but telling you I love you does.” He smirked, clearly amused that he had made me speechless. “You don’t have to say anything. I know you’ve been through a lot. We’ll take it slow—”
I slid my hand up around his neck and pulled his mouth down to mine. His taste overwhelmed my senses like a potent wine as we drank greedily from each other. His groan vibrated across my tongue as his hand slid up my thigh. More. I wanted his hands all over every part of me.
When I rubbed myself against the obvious bulge in his pants he hissed and pulled away. His beautiful midnight-blue eyes had that lighter blue ring around them again, and it was pulsing with the heavy thud of his heart. He held my thighs, keeping me secured to him, but kept our upper bodies as separated as possible.
“I thought you wanted me?” My old insecurities reared their ugly head. I pushed against him, but he wouldn’t let me down. “I get it. Ok, I’m not really your type. I don’t have breasts the size of melons or that creamy white skin like Nikki. You don’t want to be seen with a dirty gypsy girl, fine. Let me go.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jaxon’s eyes were wide in shock. “I told you I love you. I’ve never said those words to another person. How could you think I don’t want every part of you? Every single inch of you is amazing. You’re my exotic little Tigerlily. You’re strong, smart, and so damn beautiful you take my breath away.”
He pulled me against him and kissed my lips. “I want to be with you, Dia. I can’t be near you without my heart beating out of control and my cock getting hard. But I won’t be taking my brother’s lead this time. I won’t risk losing you again to lies or half-truths.”
What truth did I need to know that could keep us apart? My heart was beating out of control. My stomach twisted in knots dreading what he might say. “What do you mean?”
“You are my mate. I knew I was incredibly drawn to you when we first met, but I knew for sure you were meant to be mine the first night on the island. Do you remember when we were in the throne room and our eyes met? I felt the Desmòs—the bond—form between us then.”
I remembered he had risen from his chair like he had been electrocuted. “You looked horrified,” I said.
“That wasn’t horror, but terror. My bachelor days were officially over as of that moment.” He chuckled, then his expression turned serious. “A bond-mate is sacred to the Paldimori. They are our other half, able to join with us in a connection so strong that we share everything. Our thoughts. Our powers. Our lives. I never expected to find mine. But here you are.”
He pressed our hips together tighter and my breath hitched. “A bond-mate—when the link is fully formed—is the same as a wedding to the Paldimori. It is activated through sex. It means that if I get inside you, that’s it. There is no going back for either of us. We will be connected for life and you will be my wife.”
I gulped, trying to wrap my head around everything he had told me. Could I open myself so completely to someone? There could be no secrets in a connection that close. No place for either person to hide. “I’m scared,” I whispered. “What I feel for you, there’s no comparison. It’s so big. I’m afraid it will swallow me up. I don’t want to lose myself.”
“I’m scared too.” Jaxon brushed the hair back over the bare shoulder revealed by my tank top and kissed my nose. “I’m afraid of what you’ll see inside me when we’re joined. But I’m more afraid of losing you. I lost everything once, and it has loomed over me my whole life. I won’t lose you. We don’t have to do anything right now, we can take it slow. I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me and cherish it. And I would be deeply honored if you decide to someday become my wife.”
He meant that. He would really not have sex with me until I was ready to be his wife in every way that meant to his people—our people. I loved him even more for that. What did I want? When I looked past the fear of getting my heart broken again, all I found was a giddy joy that was ready to burst out of me like an exploding piñata.
Jaxon loved me. I had felt it in every gentle touch. He showed it every time he got all grumbly and protective. But most of all he showed that he loved me when he treated me like an equal. He asked what I wanted and let me make my own decisions even if he didn’t like them. Jaxon gave me something Dan never had—respect.
“How do you feel about cats?”
Jaxon laughed and spun me around. “I will love your cat just as I love you.” My heart skipped a beat when he said those words.
His eyes burned with a fierce heat as the light flared around the edges again. “You’re sure? You’ll be tied to me in every way possible. Heart. Mind. Body.”
Every thought in my head was my own—now that I’d learned to block out the ghosts—and they were all filled with a future that was suddenly looking very bright.
“You already own all of those pieces. I love you beyond words and I don’t want to wait to make you mine. Yes, I’ll marry you—”
“—Jaxon Eros Baines. That’s my full name. You’ll need to know it for later. When I’m making you mine, forever.”
The wind swirled around us as he sealed his lips to mine. My body felt like it had burst into a thousand shards and then was put back together. I tore my lips from his to find we were back in the pine meadow. “How ...?”
“Teleporting.” He grinned mischievously. “I have a few more tricks I’ll show you some time. Right now, I have other goals in mind.”
He released my butt and let me slide down his body. My bare feet touched the ground and the grass felt like it hugged me. Jaxon grabbed my hand and spun me around until my back was to his front. He raised my arms up and pressed my hands to wrap around his neck.
“Hold on tight.” He whispered, then we lifted off. My heart raced as we hung in the air several feet off the ground. Wind whistled through the caves in the cliff, filling the air with notes and I laughed. The wind was playing the Aladdin song “A Whole New World.” Jaxon’s hands trailed down my arms. Then down my sides where his fingers brushed the sides of my breasts. My laughter cut off as arousal tightened my nipples. “Give me your hand.”
I placed my opposite hand in his and he spun me out. My skirt flew up around my hips. Then we were pressed together, chest to chest. One hand smoothed down my hip to my thigh and brought my leg up to wrap around his hip. His arousal pressed hot and hard against me. He dipped me back and placed kisses from my neck down to the top of my shirt. His fingers trailed up my thigh pushing my skirt higher. His mouth nuzzled against my breast as his fingers traced the outer edge of my underwear. My breath caught and held. Then released on a moan when his mouth closed over my breast through the fabric of my shirt and his hand cupped me.
“J-Jaxon, please,” I shamelessly begged. It had never felt like this. Like every part of my body was focused on him and waiting eagerly for his touch. He pulled me upright, then sent me spinning out again. Ordinarily I would have loved to dance with him, but my body ached for his touch. I spun back to him and his smirk. He glanced down, and I followed his gaze.
How had he gotten my skirt off? Oh, there goes the underwear too. Wind is a handy power.
My eyes closed on a groan as cool air met my heated core. My hands gripped his biceps to keep my knees from buckling and he chuckled.
Oh, two c
ould play at this game. I ran my hands up his chest and started unbuttoning his shirt. Then kissed each inch of tanned skin revealed. When he tipped back his head, I padded the ground below us with a thick bed of clover and surrounded it with red tiger lilies. I grew a soft vine from the ground and wrapped it around his ankle. I pulled his shirt off and tossed it aside. My tongue traced the low waist line of his jeans just before the vine yanked him to the ground. Jaxon landed on his back with an oomph.
I smiled triumphantly until he flashed me the most wicked looking grin I’d ever seen. Then I was flying through the air to hover right over top of him.
“Do you know what I’ve been wondering since our first meeting …” Jaxon leaned up to capture my lips and my mind went blank. He pulled away, and said, “… If you taste like strawberry shortcake?”
I frowned at him in confusion. Then my eyes widened as the wind maneuvered me around, then dropped me with my knees on either side of Jaxon’s head. He didn’t waste any time putting his theory to the test. I shivered at the first slide of his tongue. Squeaks issued from my mouth as he gripped my hips and pressed me down so that there was nowhere to escape. Great Mother Goddess, the man was good with his mouth. Ecstasy unfurled within me, growing by leaps and bounds. Then bloomed into a riot of colors as I tipped over the edge.
I braced my hands on my knees as Jaxon placed gentle kisses on my thighs. The wind picked me up once more and laid me out over Jaxon like a blanket. I sighed as I rested my head on his chest and his fingers combed through my hair. I swirled my fingertips along his firm chest in random patterns to the beat of the song still being played by the wind. I traced his hipbone poking over the waist of his jeans, and he went still beneath me. I raised my head to look at him and the blue around his irises flared.
Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set Page 44