by Sam Cheever
“What am I hearing ahead?” I asked, more to pull myself out of my depressing thoughts than out of any real desire to know.
His gaze jerked to mine. “A waterfall. It feeds the entire forest with a special water filled with life magic. I thought it would be a good place for you to rest. The mist will strengthen you.”
I nodded, not really caring. Suddenly I was almost too tired to keep walking. I stumbled and Torre’s arm snaked out, wrapping around my waist. He tugged me close with a strength that I didn’t remember him having before. His arm was like an iron band around my waist and when he lifted me into his arms, clearly intending to carry me the rest of the way, I shoved at his shoulder. “I don’t need you to carry me. I’m okay.”
“Be still and let me do this. You’re dead on your feet.”
“No, really...” I tried to climb out of his arms.
“Stop it, Darma!” His command, hard and unyielding, caught me by surprise and my mouth snapped shut.
A slight grin curved his lips. He was probably as shocked as I was that he’d shut me up so easily.
I’d like to say I continued to resist being carried. Unfortunately that would be a lie. By the time I felt myself being lowered onto a surprisingly soft surface, with the roar of the nearby falls as white noise, I was barely awake. My head and hand throbbed and my muscles were soft with weariness.
I dragged my lids open, remembering that Torre and I needed to talk. “You have to mark me.”
He lowered his lips to mine. Pleasure swirled though me at the remembered taste, the delicious heat of his fine body, and his sweet, smoky scent. “You rest. We’ll talk when you awaken.”
I shook my head, my hands still clutching his soft shirt. “No, I...” The thought flitted away, leaving me clutching at frustration and the sure knowledge that I was running out of time. Torre lay down beside me, pulling me close to the heat of his long, muscular body, and spoke to me in the husky tones of Hades. I recognized the word for love and felt my limbs melting into the soft surface he’d laid me on.
Then, against my best efforts to stay awake, I slept.
~SC~
It was dark when I came awake. I sat up, shoving hair out of my face as I looked around. Torre was gone and the cave was dark. The wet roar of the falls covering the entrance blotted out any other sounds and I wondered what was going on beyond my little hidey hole. I shoved to my feet and, though I wobbled a bit, realized I felt much stronger than I had when Torre had brought me there. I couldn’t help wondering if the healing waters of the waterfall had something to do with that.
I left the cavern, shrinking back against the vine-covered rock to avoid the dangerously rushing water. By the time I reached flat ground, I was feeling damp but refreshed. On an impulse, I stuck my damaged hand into the heavier mist just beyond the fast-falling stream and sucked in a breath as the silvery moisture seared into my ugly wound. It burned like fire against the damaged flesh. The heat quickly lessoned though, leaving behind a soothing coolness. I didn’t know if it would help but I figured it couldn’t hurt.
“Feeling better?”
I jumped at the sound of Slayer’s deep voice, spinning toward the sound. “You scared the crap out of me.”
He strolled out of the shadows with a grim smile on his handsome face. “Sorry. I was coming to see how you were doing.”
“I feel better, thanks.” I looked around. “Where’s Torre?”
Slayer didn’t try to hide the fact that my question bothered him. “He, Astra and Dialle have gone to help Gerch and the rest. They were set upon just outside the forest by death dragons. Caninra’s doing a perimeter of the forest.”
I nodded. “Good. I’m glad the Hellhounds are coming. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
Slayer stepped closer. He reached out and gently clasped a ragged ribbon of hair. “What happened here?”
I frowned at the torn piece of hair, remembering the shot of uncontrolled energy I’d thought was only a vision. “I’m not sure.”
He released the length of hair and touched my chin, lifting it gently. Warmth sparked in his golden eyes. “I know what you’re planning.”
Heat infused my face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yes you do.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and tugged me closer. I sucked air as my belly encountered a long, hard ridge beneath his leather battle pants. “Slayer, I...” I shoved at his chest but he easily resisted my paltry efforts to create space between us.
“I won’t let you tie yourself to him to save me.”
I shook my head but couldn’t think of anything convincing to say.
Slayer spread his fingers, rubbing his thumb in slow, sensual circles against my exposed skin. Desire twisted deep in my core, spreading heat in a building spiral through my belly. “You and I have danced around our feelings for a long time,” he murmured huskily.
I found a soft curl of hair between his pecs and twirled it around my finger, avoiding his gaze. “That’s because us being together is a bad idea.”
“Why?”
His question caught me off guard. I looked up and immediately regretted it. The hunger in his gaze pulled at me, digging into my resistance. “Because...we work together for starters.”
Slayer’s lips parted, drawing my attention. His mouth was one of the sexiest things about him. It was wide, with a full, bite-able lower lip, and filled with perfect white teeth and canines that were slightly enlarged, like a royal devil’s. My gaze caught on that sexy lower lip and my tongue came out to sweep across my own lips before I realized what I was doing.
Slayer pressed closer, until I was pretty sure we were running the same air through our lungs. “It would be wrong to bind yourself to the royal, Darma.”
I swallowed hard, tearing my gaze from his mouth. “That’s none of your business.”
He stiffened and let go of me. I immediately regretted the distance between us, both physically and emotionally. His expression was filled with anger. “I guess I didn’t believe you were so cruel. But don’t worry. I won’t make that mistake again.” He turned away.
I panicked. “He loves me. How is that cruel?”
Slayer stopped, slowly turning back. “Do you love him?”
“I...” Suddenly I wasn’t sure. “I loved him before. I’m sure I could...”
Slayer was suddenly pressed against me again. I didn’t even have time to react before he was wrapped around me, his lips devouring mine.
My brain told me to shove him away and run. My body thought my brain was a stupid twit. My fingers slipped through his hair, holding him in the kiss as I tilted my head and deepened it.
Passion turned my world inside out as he backed me against a smooth barked tree and pressed his erection against my belly.
Heat flashed in my sexual core, tightening into a growing coil of desire that made it hard to breathe. Every bit of the lust I’d been holding back in the months I’d been working side by side with the sexy Slayer burst free as his tongue tangled hungrily with mine. His taste a perfect ignition point for the cravings I’d been trying to deny since we met.
I moaned softly against his lips, my nipples hard nubs that pebbled with exquisite need against his chest.
Sensing my surrender, his kiss became more demanding, his touch more urgent. Cool mist touched my backside and I realized he’d somehow managed to rid me of my battle leather. I gasped as a thick, slightly calloused finger found the moist folds of my sex, sliding through them to press the tiny bud at the apex of my mons.
I thought I’d been hungry before.
I’d had no idea.
Pleasure exploded through me at his gentle but firm touch. Heat flared from the tiny bud he was so expertly caressing, turning my thighs to rubber. I sagged in Slayer’s arms and he held me effortlessly as he stroked my clit until lights burst before my eyes and I screamed his name, my eyes closing as bliss swamped me.
Before the last ripple of my orgasm ended, Slayer was on h
is knees before me, his hot lips covering my need-charged mons.
I gasped as his strong lips engulfed me in wet heat, gave a little scream as he sucked the nerve-drenched nub into his hot mouth, and moments later, screamed his name to the stars high above our heads. Delight rolled over me again, each wave taking its measure of my sanity until I was mindless with ecstasy.
My knees gave out and Slayer caught me before I hit the ground. As he settled me gently onto the moist earth, he crawled between my legs and looked me in the eyes, the thick head of his erection nudging my still pulsing entrance.
I was warm and pliable and half dazed with pleasure, but I recognized the question in his sexy eyes.
I ran a fingertip over his strong jaw, the soft black stubble tickling my skin. I dipped my fingertip into one of his sexy dimples, my heart tightening as I realized how much my handsome partner had come to mean to me over the months.
The question in his gaze wasn’t a simple one. There would be no simple answer. If I let him in, literally and figuratively, it would be the end of my plan to let Torre mark me. I would have no way to protect Slayer from Morta. I would not be healed. But in that moment, I realized our fate had been sealed long ago. By denying our feelings for each other, we were trying to deny destiny.
Destiny would not be denied. And if I was going to die, I wanted the chance to taste his love just once. I wanted to offer him the gift of my heart before it was too late.
So I gave him a soft smile and, with no regrets, opened my arms to destiny. “Yes, Slayer. I want you inside me.”
He dipped his head and kissed my fingers. “Are you sure, Princess?” He tucked his hips and the thick head of his shaft pressed against my clit. Breath stealing delight flooded me again.
“I’ve never been more sure.”
He opened his mouth and took one of my fingers inside, bathing it in wet heat that sent pleasure in a lazy spiral all the way to my toes. On the heels of that lazy decadence, he thrust deep, stretching me wide, and coherent thought died. Unbridled sensation took hold, consuming everything in its path.
I closed my eyes and sucked in Slayer-scented air, my sensual core coiling with expectation as my body recognized his. Awareness blossomed under the effects of his taste, his touch, and the measured thrusts that stretched my sex deliciously tight. I held my breath as my body acclimated to his girth and then, as my inner muscles began to relax, I wrapped my legs around him and urged him with my body to move.
His first stroke was a revelation. His second a sensual lure, and by the third time his flesh brushed delightfully against mine, I was delirious with the promise of what was to come.
Slayer slid his hot hands beneath my buttocks, pulling my hips off the ground so he could bury himself deeper inside me. His hips rocked faster, his head falling back on a moan of sheer pleasure as he plunged to the hilt and withdrew, drawing out every thrust until the sexual tension turned my muscles to iron and my core to molten lava.
I reached up and tweaked the rigid buds of his nipples and he gasped, his eyes flying open and his swirling, black-speckled gaze locked onto mine. I felt the intensity of his regard like a fist in the belly and something inside me slammed open. Energy spun away from the place where I’d learned to hold it close and my aura burned silver and gold, bathing Slayer in celestial colors.
As if the heat of my aura called to his, a dark silver glow flashed from Slayer’s skin and created sparks on the air around us.
The intensity of those sparks grew as Slayer’s body claimed mine, turning the night into a dance of light that silvered the dense greenery around us. The magic sizzled and grew, sparking wildly wherever our bodies touched, and turned simple pleasure to exquisite bliss.
My breath stuttered, locked in my lungs as release burst beneath my skin and I reached for the edge of my pleasure, finally grasping it as the energy we built together reached a fever’s pitch.
My channel tightened as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through me. Slayer hesitated, his big body going rigid as he roared out my name. Fire burst on the air above us, twin peaks of silver and blue that danced to the rhythm of my heartbeats against my ribs.
Slayer thrust one last time, burying the hard thickness of his shaft to the hilt and collapsed over me as his orgasm tore through him.
Spent and blissfully happy, I melted against the ground and pulled his scent deep into my lungs as my body throbbed under the last soft waves of pleasure.
Slayer covered my mouth with his, a gentle teasing of lips and tongues that kept the magic purring inside my breast even as my body warmed hopefully again. After a moment he lifted his lips from mine and looked deep into my eyes. His fingers skimmed a ribbon of golden hair from my cheek and he smiled down at me. “I knew our being together would be earth shattering.”
My heart stuttered as his smile revealed the sexy pair of dimples. I laughed softly. “You did, huh? And you were basing that on what?”
He tucked his hips and I sucked delighted air. “On the fact that I’ve never wanted a woman as much as I’ve wanted you.”
His words caught me by surprise. I’d expected him to be cocky, even snarky, but he seemed genuinely touched by our lovemaking. It was a side of Slayer I’d never seen before. And I wanted to see it again. Many, many times.
A distant howl disturbed the silence and Slayer’s head came up. “That’s Caninra. I told her to warn me if anything breeched the perimeter.” With a final touch of lips that filled me with regret that our interlude was apparently over, Slayer pushed to his feet and offered me his hand. “We’d better go see what’s up.”
I let him pull me to my feet but, when he would have turned away, I sank into his arms and dragged him into another prolonged kiss. My sexual core tightened hopefully under the sweet press of lips but Slayer set me at arms distance. “We’ll finish this later. You have my word on that.”
With a disappointed sigh I reached for my clothes and made myself a promise. I would happily kick the ass of whatever nasty creature dared to spoil our fun.
I’d much rather spend more time getting to know Slayer, and less time fighting a frustrating battle against Morta’s dead and deadly army.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
That’s Fairy Bad
When sneaky little evil bugs are involved,
Never trust what you think you know.
Caninra stood at the base of a massive tree whose branches spread wide in several directions. The thick leaf cover blotted out the bright sliver of moon and the silvery sprinkling of matching stars. I almost didn’t see her standing there, dressed in black leather, with her black hair falling over her shoulders and back. She turned to us as we stepped beneath the tree’s umbrella-like spread. “Fairies.”
I frowned. “Dark fairies? Can they even access the forest? I thought dark worlders were rejected from it.”
Caninra glanced at me. Her gaze was dark against her pale skin, the very center of each eye flaring with red. The look she gave me was hostile, her posture stiff. As I had every other time I’d come face to face with the Hellhound keeper, I wondered why she disliked me so much. Maybe it was a bitch thing.
Caninra shrugged. “They smell like light fairies, but I’m sensing dark magic in them.”
“How is that possible?” I asked no one in particular.
Caninra shrugged.
“They’ve taken refuge in the royal court,” Slayer responded. “Maybe they’re succumbing to their darker natures.”
“Or their madness has finally taken them over,” Caninra added.
King Aelfric’s light fairies had chosen to disregard the celestial admonition not to live among humans and, as a result had lost Heaven as a protector and had cut a deal with Dialle the First—the current Dialle’s father—for protection. Unfortunately, their determination to live among humans had been more damaging to their minds than anyone could have imagined. Madness was a serious and growing problem for King Aelfric’s people. In fact, rumors had started to fly that even the good king’s min
d was starting to twist.
Slayer moved up next to Caninra. “Where are they?”
The hound keeper pointed toward a spot in the distance, near the base of the mountain range. A soft glow shimmered behind the vegetation, dancing as the wide, green leaves swayed in a sultry breeze.
I moved in for a better look. “Maybe they can’t come inside after all. It looks like they’re hovering at the edge of the forest.”
Caninra shook her head. “They’re in. I felt the change in the magic when they breeched the perimeter.”
Slayer frowned. “Then what are they doing?”
Caninra lifted her inscrutable gaze to his. “If I had to guess I’d say they’re waiting for something...or someone.”
A horrible thought occurred. “Could they somehow create a barrier that would allow Morta to breech the perimeter?”
“That’s what I’ve been worrying about since I spotted them,” Caninra said. “I don’t know that it’s ever been done, but it is theoretically possible.”
Silence throbbed between us while we all digested the horrific possibilities. Then Slayer turned to Caninra. “How long until the others return?”
“An hour at most,” she responded, her eyes flashing the color of flame. “My people are closer.”
Slayer nodded. “Then let’s go see what we’re dealing with here. Whatever the fairies are planning to do, it’s clear they haven’t done it yet. Maybe we can speak to their better natures.”
~SC~
Unfortunately, it turned out that the better natures of the fairies in the forest had long ago stopped being better. In fact, I would say they tended toward worse.