A promise.
She smiled down at the snake and met Charu’s eyes.
“Yes, I won’t leave your side.”
His lips curved upward.
“Come, Meredith.”
They left the small house and shortly after the entire town fell far behind them. Meredith didn’t care. Her eyes continuously sought out Charu; even when they drifted to the horizon, she felt that pull between them. Everything had changed in that house. He’d protected her, valued her, showed a part of his soul to her. Now the road held possibilities.
She felt peace at Charu’s side even as a thread of steel buried deep within her. She didn’t know what claim the lauchume had on her, but she would see him sealed away in the lantern and end this devastation on Earth. She would accompany Charu until the end. Even if her sanity drained away, she wouldn’t leave him alone in his task.
Chapter 15
They hadn’t even arrived at the coast yet when Charu veered south. They’d been, up until that moment, en route to Portland. Meredith had begun to suspect that perhaps that was their destination, so she’d been taken by surprise when Charu deviated from the usual westward trajectory just as they approached the outskirts of the city. It had been days since they’d slept in a real bed.
She couldn’t complain too much, since she often woke cradled in his arms. In many ways, it beat waking in a lonely bed, no matter how comfortable the mattress. She knew her nightmares were getting worse. Nighttime seemed to be when her mind attacked her the most viciously.
They didn’t speak much during the day. Or rather, he didn’t. Meredith reached a point where she couldn’t stand the silence any longer and would ramble on about anything she saw, or things she missed from the world before everything went to shit. Rarely did he say anything in return, although at times he made sounds of agreement or distaste. Apparently, her adoration of candy corn wasn’t shared by her companion when she’d offered him some of her stash from her backpack.
She knew he’d been humoring her when he took the offering. Although he could be coaxed to share food with her, he hadn’t liked the look of the bright orange candies. Still, he’d taken one at her request... and then spat it out with a muttered curse.
His actions spoke far louder than his silence. Not only did he cradle her during the night when she needed the comfort the most, he even smiled more, his air of menace softening more every time he looked at her. She began to look forward to those silent exchanges that seemed more profound than any discussion she’d ever had with another guy.
She’d heard women talk about what it felt like when a man caressed them with their eyes, but she’d never experienced it. It always remained as something vague in her mind that seemed more like exaggeration than fact. But that was before she felt his eyes slide over her, the inferno in their depths heating everywhere they touched in his perusal.
He never spoke of his desire, but she felt it as assuredly as she felt her own. Not only desire, but something beyond that. He may not have spoken any words of passion, or the thing growing between them, but he watched her. He was always watching her now. It was a sharp contrast to their initial days together when he preferred to stride far ahead, ignoring her existence.
The lamp, which for the past few days had begun to glow with a gradually increasing red tint the further south they walked from Portland, flared with blindingly bright pulses. Meredith squeezed her eyes shut against the painful shine. She hadn’t noticed that Charu stopped until his arm slammed out in front of her. She ran into the thick muscle of his arm. The impact stole the breath from her lungs, and she wheezed. She grimaced, rubbing the dull ache on her sternum
“What the hell was that for?”
His brow quirked and the arm that blocked her moved forward, gesturing ahead.
“I thought you might not enjoy walking into that.”
Sliding forward, she craned her head and drew in a startled breath. Charu stood at the edge of an unexpected precipice. Only his primary serpent circled around him, leaving the impressive expanse of blue muscled flesh bare to her view. But even that wasn’t enough to distract her from the sight up ahead. The road and surrounding landscape dropped into a deep canyon carved into the stone. It was like something huge had burst out of the earth or burrowed into it.
“What the hell is the Grand Canyon doing outside Portland?”
His finger ran through the air as if tracing the outline of the canyon. In the hard light of the lamp, the movement looked as if it were cutting a bright trail through blacklight.
“Look. See the darkness, the taint upon the cuts in the earth? This is not natural nor made by men.”
“Honestly, I’m really, really trying not to think of that,” she mumbled, unable now to ignore that flare of the dark-light that seemed to be revealed by the lantern.
He slanted her a curious look.
“You are afraid.”
“I feel a bit vulnerable, yeah. Whatever made this has to be huge.”
Charu made a dismissive sound.
“Do not worry. I will not allow anything to harm you.”
“That’s all well and good, but that doesn’t solve the issue of me being unable to defend myself against something that’s not human. I think given that I’m on the lauchume’s wish list, that’s a pretty realistic concern.”
He considered her words and, after a moment, nodded his head. Turning toward her, he set both of his large hands on her shoulders, completely encompassing them as he looked down at her.
“The lamp gave you a part of its essence. You have the power to protect yourself. Learn how to use it.”
She recalled the way she’d landed him on his ass days before. She had no idea how she did it, much less how to replicate it. She lifted her hands and stared at her fingertips, willing them to flare with light once again.
The air around them remained frustratingly undisturbed and normal.
Charu’s deep laughter cut through her irritation and refocused it on him. He ran his hands down her shoulders until his fingers met her hands and tangled with hers. She felt the warmth of his skin and something deeper beneath his manifested flesh. It was as if a well of power rushed up from within him to toy with his senses.
He leaned forward, his breath stirring her hair. The musky spiced scent of him filled her lungs and her annoyance fell away. She felt the brush of his lips against her temple as he whispered into her ear.
“It is not a separate thing to summon but a part of you now. A light buried deep inside, twined around your spirit. Send yourself seeking within and find the light source.”
Meredith hesitated, feeling a little silly, but closed her eyes. He still whispered in her ear, as she allowed herself to drop within her mind. It was as if she were traveling through her veins, settling down deeper to the center of herself.
Finally, she felt it—the pulse of power—and grabbed ahold of it.
It lit her up within, and her body sang with the energy.
“Very good,” he murmured. “Now open your eyes.”
She cracked one eye open and then another as he pulled away. His red eyes filled her vision until he stepped away, a proud smile tilting his lips. Her eyes drifted down and her breath caught at the sight of the aethereal glow weaving around her fingers and lower arms. It seemed to burn from every part of her body that she could see. She wondered what she looked like.
“You are exquisite.”
He said it so quietly that she thought she was hallucinating again, but no, admiration was clear in his expression as his eyes roved over her. She felt her cheeks warm with pleasure and, to her horror, the glow around her body intensified.
A masculine smile split his lips, his double fangs flashing at her. Adrenaline spiked through her body, but this time it wasn’t from fear. A bolt of lust singed her, her light changing to a rosy golden hue.
His breath drew in sharply and she laughed. Time to refocus.
“So, uh, what do I do now?”
The glow of his eyes
intensified with a white heat at the center of its usual red glow. He closed his eyes, his jaw working as if he were trying to rein himself in. A shiver ran through him but then his eyes opened, and he focused on her.
Heat still flared in the depths of his crimson gaze, but it was controlled.
“Focus on it and focus its path. Tell it what you want it to do so that it does no more than what you request. Do not expend your power wastefully so that you exhaust yourself. The full power of the lantern has the ability to disperse and destroy darkness in its many forms. You should be able to strike and injure beings of Aites.”
“Anything else?”
He shrugged.
“You don’t know?”
“This is an unprecedented occasion. Never has the lamp given its power to another before.”
Her gaze strayed down to the lamp, glowing from where it hung.
“Maybe if I held it...”
“No.” His denial was like a sharp slap across the face, but the look of concern on his face softened the blow. “The power of the lamp is dangerous; of all the beings of Aites, only I can handle it safely. It infected you at a distance for a reason I still do not understand. I don’t know what it would do if you were exposed to direct contact with it. I do not wish to endanger you.”
The implication of what the lamp could do left her cold and gave her a new respect for it, though it didn’t dampen the hold it had on her.
“Could it kill me like the possession of a wulkwos?”
“It is uncertain.”
“Right.” She struggled to focus on the patch of dark-light wavering in front of her. The more she looked at it, the easier it became.
Drawing in a breath, she focused on a larger flare of dark-light and reached out a hand. She directed the power to strike the column of living darkness. The light puddled in her palm before bursting from her hand, projecting into her target. The column of dark-light swayed and then broke into fading wisps. It left a sunlit opening in the darkness for a moment, but then the gap filled back up.
Meredith scowled.
“Well, that did nothing at all.”
Charu laughed.
“A small flare will not banish it all, but that was impressive nonetheless.”
The honesty in his voice and the unmistakable pride in his eyes resurrected her self-esteem, which had suffered quite a battering since the ravagers came. It was just a start, but she no longer felt helpless. She turned and beamed up at him, confidence swelling within her.
Yeah, that hadn’t been too bad at all. She’d keep practicing.
She glanced one way and then the other, pursing her lips. It really was a huge chasm.
“So, how are we going to get around that?”
Meredith scrambled to the side as his wings suddenly manifested, unfolding as the enormous black feathers fanned the air around them. Unlike the first time she’d seen his wings, she was close enough to truly appreciate the sight. Every perfect inky black feather shimmered with a blue iridescence. One of his wings lightly brushed her arm and she raised her gaze to meet his.
The heat in the red light of his regard intensified. His wing folded around her, drawing her closer until his powerful arms swept around her. For a moment, he held her tucked against his chest, his arms and wings both enclosing her. His head tilted down toward her as if he thought to kiss her, but then his wings fanned out and flapped with long pulls through the air as he leaped over the canyon.
A scream lodged in her throat as her world tilted in his arms, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she gripped him in a panic. He laughed again as his arms tightened around her. He shot forward and they gained altitude, soaring over the chasm. Loose strands of her hair, knocked free from her hat, fluttered around her. It teased her skin as she looked down into the chasm and saw that the black light had not only fringed the crevice but seeped out from its depths. Her heart hammered in her chest. It seemed to reach up for her, threatening to rip her out of Charu’s arms. She knew that was ridiculous. She doubted it was sentient the way the lamp was, but there was an undeniable malevolence to it that she couldn’t shake.
She tucked her face into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent. Meredith turned her head, resting her cheek on his shoulder, to see the landscape slide past them. Her fear dissipated and turned to wonder. They were flying free from all constraints and threats on the ground. For this bright moment, she felt like she was one with Charu, moving through a never-ending expanse of time and space.
It was incredible!
She wrapped her legs around his hips to anchor herself securely around him as she surrendered herself to the indescribable pleasure of soaring through the sky with him. His grip grew tighter and he shifted his hips. The contact between them stoked Meredith’s own lust as the bulge of his arousal slid along her covered sex. Her breath hitched and a muffled groan escaped her lips as her body lit up with pleasure. She instinctively pressed herself closer against him, her body desperate for the contact.
Their differences cut through the haze of lust. It was disconcerting feeling the warmth of him but not feeling the pulse of a living being. It just reminded her that despite what her senses were telling her, he was not of her world. He didn’t have an organic body. It was a depressing thought that she’d be confronted with his immortality at the moment that she felt the closest to him.
Entwined together, they began to drift down. She didn’t want the moment to end but knew it had to. The moment his feet hit the ground, it jarred her physically and spiritually. Her entire being felt ripped away from its haven that she’d found with Charu. Even he seemed reluctant as he slowly set her on her feet.
Pulling back, she looked into his eyes. The predatory focus of his gaze zeroed in on her, the white-hot center expanding. She threaded her fingers through the long tail of his bound mane, luxuriating in the mink-soft strands of hair before allowing her arms to fall free.
Charu pulled himself back up to his full height. His wings were still out and seemed to vibrate with uncertain need. Hesitantly, she trailed her fingers over the feathers of one and watched his eyes close with pleasure, a husky moan trailing out from his lips.
She swallowed as she imagined what those features would feel like trailing over her naked body.
Her hands dropped to her sides and she turned away, uncertain. Meredith didn’t know what she wanted. For most of their time together he’d been either silent or abrupt. She didn’t know how to deal with the intense feelings of intimacy between them, or if he even really felt them at all.
With distance between them once again, Charu’s wings folded and disappeared from sight. Meredith was sad to see them go, but she was grateful at the same time. He didn’t need to be more irresistible—and all those feathers promised all kind of tactile pleasures. He withdrew, but his eyes still gleamed with unrestrained heat.
Oh, yes. She could see her own desire reflected back at her. He wanted just as she did.
The trickle of nearby water offered a welcome distraction. Turning her head abruptly, she laughed happily. The opportunity to drink her fill and get clean after so many days on the road was nearly better than the promise of really good sex.
Grinning, she took his hand and tugged. He tilted his head, giving her a curious look.
“Come on. I hear water. You have no idea what I’ve give to be clean again.”
His eyes hooded and an amused smile graced the somber lines of his face as he inclined his head. They followed the sound of water. It was further away than she thought, but as they drew closer the roar of the water got louder until they both stood in front of a waterfall. The cold spray misted her face.
It was going to be one chilly bath, but she wasn’t going to wait.
Meredith shucked off her clothes and jumped into the water, shrieking as the cold liquid hit her skin. She let out a string of curses and laughed. She turned to speak to Charu and froze. He’d left her to bathe alone. Disappointment settled over her, diminishing the pleasure of
her impromptu bath. Pushing it away, she got back to the task of scrubbing herself clean.
Chapter 16
Charu stepped away from the waterfall, yearning to join her. The sight of her bare skin had made his simmering lust erupt into hot fire within him, soaring to new heights. The desire that thrummed through him was intense pleasure of the like that he’d never experienced before. It was also painful, as his body tightened with preparation to join with his female, and his cock throbbed.
He was certain that had he not left, he would have been tempted to pounce on her like a maddened, rutting beast. He did not go far. He was tortured by the scent of her so close to him and the sounds of her bathing. He sat on a log and drew in long breaths to cool his arousal, his serpent twining around him. Two more slid out of his core and whipped around him in agitation from his heightened lust.
Now he understood why others mated even among the spirit world. Although there was no biological imperative to reproduce, Turnu, with his clever bow, was eager to unite beings by his art. Charu wanted nothing more in that moment but to seek the depths of his female and join them together.
His ear perked as Meredith’s voice rose from the other side of the bushes. He stilled for a moment, worried that something was wrong but then a smile split his face. She was singing. She was terribly off-key and hitting notes that were almost painful, but her voice radiated joy and he craved to hear more of it. He would have edged closer had the bushes at his side not cracked. He swung toward the bushes, his hammer raised.
He hadn’t liked stopping this close to the chasm, but with no sign of the creature, he’d hoped that it had wandered into another area. With how calm everything was, it had been difficult to deny Meredith the simple pleasure of bathing when she’d asked for so little in the many days that they’d been together. She’d never complained.
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