by Amy Sumida
“I don't want to share you,” Darcraxis snarled at me. “This”—he thrust deep—“should be mine alone. You should be mine alone. I have built worlds with you. We created races of people together and species of animals. Life. But then you were torn away from me.”
Darc grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back so he could glare down at me, still pounding his body into mine. He licked the blood and salt from my lips, his breath panting hot across my skin. I wrapped my legs tighter around him and held on. It was all I could do.
Darc's fist opened, and I lifted my head to brush my lips across his. The water around us began to go black; Darkness leeching out from the god in my arms. The shadows swept around us and rolled across my skin, caressing me tenderly, in direct opposition to their master. As if, even when enraged, parts of Darcraxis wanted nothing more than to love me.
“Our life has changed,” I said between kisses along his jaw. “I know that you understand that. I know that you've had to accept a lot to be with me again.” I leaned back to look at him. “That's why your offer upset me.”
“I have changed along with our lives.” Darc gentled his movements, the thrusts of his hips slowing to an undulation. “I see the benefit of having them bound to us. And I see how happy they make you.”
“We've talked about this, Darc. I don't need any more men in my bed or my heart. We'll find a way to keep the RS satisfied without adding someone else.”
“Ah, yes.” He grimaced. “So you say. And yet you have a man in your heart whom you can't have in your bed, and I'm afraid of what that will do to us, my fire.”
“I don't love Lucifer like that,” I protested.
Darc lifted his brows at me as his hands dropped to my ass. He worked me sensually, thousands of years of experience showing in every movement. The brush of his lips across my cheek. The depth of his thrusts. Even the way his fingertips traced the edge of my ass. I moaned and rubbed my breasts against his chest. Every sensation felt sacred.
“Don't lie to me, Elaria,” Darc's voice had the edge of a blade in it. “I saw you with him. I saw the love in your eyes.”
“You have no idea what you saw.” I grabbed his face and held it still. “Look into my eyes now; this is what love looks like. This is love that would fight for you and beside you, kill anyone and anything who thought to hurt you, crawl on hands and knees across a sea of knives for you, and even give up this immortal life for you. Look at me, Darcraxis!” My fingers clenched in his hair. “Is this truly what you saw in my eyes when I looked at him?”
Darc's eyes widened then softened. Just like that, his anger abated. His throat worked convulsively and a tear trickled down his cheek.
“My fire,” Darc whispered as his hand went to my face, his thumb brushing my cheekbone, “you humble and shame me. No, this is not what I saw in your eyes. Perhaps jealousy and fear clouded my perception. But your light has banished those clouds, and I see clearly again. Will you forgive me for my doubts?”
I went liquid against Darc, my hands slipping down to his shoulders. “Always, my darkness. No matter what you do, I will forgive you and accept you. Tear apart the worlds, and I will still look at you the way I do now.”
The ocean rushed around us, and we fell back into it, bodies entwined. That blissful fullness and the determined slide of his flesh into mine. His tongue moving over my skin. His mouth sucking my nipples into its wet heat. His hands kneading, spreading, and pulling me ever closer as though he could merge us into one being. It all lifted me higher and higher and as Darcraxis laid his mouth over mine and breathed sustaining air into my lungs, pleasure overtook me and rushed through the sliver of stone in my throat, out into the sea to echo around us as it once had sounded in deep space.
Chapter Fifty-One
Later that night, Cerberus and Freya went to spend some time alone further down the beach, leaving my men and me on a blanket before the fire. I sprawled between them, feeling like an ancient priestess adored by her acolytes. It was a hedonistic heaven, and I almost gave in when their hands started to wander beneath my clothing. But I wanted something more than sex from them; wanted to give them something more.
The episode with Darc had made me wonder how many of my men felt as he had. I needed to nip this Lucifer nonsense in the bud once and for all. Darc was partially right; I did love Luke but not as I loved all of them. I couldn't stop myself from caring for Lucifer, but I could stop myself from caring too much. And I wanted these men—the men I'd committed to—to know that I would never let someone else come between us. I wanted them to feel my love for them as I did.
I slipped free of their hands and moved onto my knees before them as a soft piano began to play. I said a quick thanks to Kyanite before rolling into the velvet beginning of “To Make You Feel My Love.” The men leaned back to watch, their faces going soft with surprised delight. I didn't sing for them often; not for them alone without an audience or enemy to be enchanted. But this was more than a private performance. I coaxed magic into my words and laid it before them, letting it seep slowly into their bodies. Into their hearts.
Their eyes widened; deep sapphire, glittering emerald, sparkling alexandrite, warm gold, and cool silver. The priceless treasure of the men I loved. I put my heart into the song. So much power in such gentle music. I laid my love bare and showed them everything they meant to me; what lengths I would go to for them.
I called up their fears and soothed them with my music. Stroked the beasts running wild in their souls and calmed their churning depths. My vows and protests hadn't sunk in. These men were too proud and powerful for mere words to assuage them. They needed to see it for themselves; feel what I felt. I pulled them inside me with my magic and set them loose in my soul. Thoughts bared for their perusal, emotions stripped of all barriers, and love burning with the eternal fire of a goddess.
Their faces blurred before me. I blinked the tears away and opened my arms. They took hold of me again, pulling me across muscular thighs and into the center of their circle. Silken hair brushed my skin along with silken lips. The hands of kings and warriors slid over me possessively. Hardened bodies pressed against mine. My song faded away but the love I laid bare bloomed brighter.
“Never doubt my heart,” I said to them. “You six are my world. I need nothing more than this.”
“We don't doubt you, little bird,” Torin said as he nuzzled my face with his. “The RS and her growing power have unsettled us, not you.”
“But whenever you feel like singing to us again, by all means, do so.” Banning kissed his way down my throat.
“Or you could show us your devotion in other ways,” Declan suggested as he slid my dress up my thighs.
“And we're back to sex.” I chuckled and shook my head.
“Sex is divine,” Darc declared. “The most magical experience that a physical body can have. There is nothing shameful about it, my fire.”
“I didn't mean to imply that there was.” I stroked the angles of Darc's stunning face. “Just that all of you seem to be focused on feeling that magic.”
“If you want to simply lie here and stare at the stars with us, we'll be content with that.” Gage laid his chin on my hip and stared up at me. “Although, I'll likely stare at you more than the heavens.”
“Speak for yourself, Griffin,” Declan growled as he dove between my thighs. “Go ahead and stargaze, my love, don't mind me.”
My panties slipped away and Declan's face replaced them, nestling in against my sensitive flesh. I moaned as his mouth settled over me, and he began to love me in the way he enjoys most. I started to reach for him, but other hands caught mine, lifting my arms above my head. My clothing slid away, as did theirs, and soon my lovers and I were pressed flesh-to-flesh.
I turned my head and reached for Slate's weeping shaft, but he took my hand and kissed it.
“Just lie there and enjoy, sweetheart,” the Zone Lord whispered into my ear. “You've given us a hell of a gift tonight and now, we want to give you
something in return.”
Slate's lips slid down my throat and came to rest at the crest of my breast. Wet and hot and sucking. His tongue lashed at me as his hands massaged me. Gage had taken my other breast while Banning and Torin massaged my legs, spreading them wider for Declan's ministrations. He paused only briefly, when the other men lifted me and Darcraxis slid underneath, then Declan returned to lapping at me greedily. I sprawled over Darc's massive body, settling the thick hardness of his sex between the cheeks of my ass. Darc's hips pumped, moving his shaft languidly against me as his hands moved over my head to massage my scalp.
I began to writhe and tremble. The men held me as I crested, convulsing through my first orgasm. As the shivers rolled away, Declan rose to his knees and gently set the crown of his sex at my entrance.
“Before you begin, spread some of her honey lower for me,” Darc's deep voice rumbled through his chest to tickle my cheek.
Declan grinned at us and reached down to rub his fingers over my sex. He slipped them inside me, and I cried out, hands clutching Slate and Gage tighter to my breasts. They sucked at me harder, moaning.
“Just like that,” Declan purred, cradling my sex with his hand as I pumped over it. “Roll that pussy over my palm. Get it good and wet so Darc can fuck your delectable ass.”
I groaned, and Slate lifted his head to catch my gaze with his silver one.
“I taking them both, Elaria; I'll fuck your pussy first and then your ass. But first I need to taste you.” Slate slid his finger over my clit then brought it to his lips. He sucked on it and moaned. “Fuck, that tastes amazing.”
“The best thing I've ever had in my mouth,” Declan agreed with twinkling eyes as he withdrew his hand and moved it lower to spread my arousal over that other place.
Declan's finger slipped inside me there, pumping briefly. I cried out and pushed down on him, letting him work me open. Darc moaned through my movements and nuzzled my neck.
“Easy now, lover,” Declan slipped his finger free. “You have something much better to satisfy you with. And I need to get inside you before I burst.”
Declan pushed my thighs wider apart and took himself in hand. I looked down my body and watched the pale length of him sink inside me with one powerful thrust. While I moaned through that pleasure, Darc moved into position as well. The God of Darkness eased into me much slower than the Alexandrite King, inching his flesh gently past my tight muscles. I relaxed for him, and he seated himself fully; a movement that coincided with Declan's thrust.
“Yes!” I shouted, filled deliciously; stretched around my lovers in the most intimate of embraces.
“Oh, fuck, I can't resist,” Slate groaned and moved his head down my body.
My eyes shot open just in time to see Slate set his mouth at the apex of my sex, just beside Declan's pounding pelvis. Both Declan and I stared at the gargoyle in shock. It wasn't something I would have expected from the Zone Lord.
“I'm not holding back for you, Gargoyle,” Declan warned. “You're going to get slapped by my stomach.”
“Ask me if I care?” Slate growled then sucked at me furiously.
I screamed with pleasure so brilliant that the stars seemed to explode above me. My whole body shook as my men poured their passion over and into me. The dirtiest things started coming from my mouth unbidden. Naughty, nasty things that would likely make me blush later. But beneath those base words yawned an endless ocean of love that drew all of us into it.
The bond RS formed between us burst to life and joined our thoughts, bodies, and hearts. My pleasure compounded as I felt what the men were feeling, and they cried out as they were given a taste of my ecstasy, but the eyes that stared at me weren't full of mere lust; they held love. Love that would fight, kill, crawl, and die for me. As I screamed my release, I knew that nothing could be more beautiful than this, and no one could ever tarnish this beauty; not even ourselves.
The cage was open but none of us wanted out.
Keep Reading for a sneak peek into the next book in the Spellsinger Series:
Out of Tune
Coming to Amazon April-May 2019
Chapter One
The Zone Lord stood at the balcony railing, staring across his zone like a king surveying his kingdom. He wore only a pair of tailored slacks, zipped but unbuttoned. I knew they were unbuttoned because I'd watched him slip them on several minutes earlier, after he had left our bed. The crystal bed in our palace was positioned to face the balcony so I didn't have to leave it to watch Slate, but I did.
I slipped over the side and drew on the silk robe that I'd hung over one of the giant quartz points that formed the headboard. The entire bed had been formed of a single cluster of enormous clear quartz, scooped out in the center to support a mattress. The sides had been smoothed down as well so that only head and foot of the bed had those amazing points; the foot holding much smaller shards than the head.
I padded away from the amazing bed on bare feet and joined my boyfriend on the balcony. His shoulders tensed as I approached, and I frowned at that. I had a feeling that I knew what had driven him out here so early in the morning, but I couldn't imagine why he wouldn't want me joining him.
“If you'd rather be alone—”
“No, of course not,” Slate murmured and turned to reach back for me and draw me up beside him and against his side. “I'm just... unsettled.”
“The Zone looks better than it did before,” I noted, referring to the work that had been done to fix the damage Gargo, God of the Gargoyles, had done to the Oregon Zone when he came to kill us in my great-grandfather's body. Long story.
“Yes.” He frowned. “I'm grateful that so many beneathers helped us repair the damage.”
“But?”
“But I feel strange, sweetheart.” Slate glanced down at me, his silver eyes turning a strange bronze in the faux sunrise of the Zone's programmed lighting.
For a second, he looked like someone else.
I shivered. “What do you mean?”
“I feel as if...” he made a derisive sound and shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Tell me, Slate,” I insisted. “Secrets could kill us.”
Slate sobered and nodded. “You're right. It's not a secret, El. I just feel as if the other shoe hasn't dropped yet. Killing Gargo was too easy.”
“You call that easy?” I chuckled.
“He was a god.” Slate didn't laugh. “I keep feeling as if we're missing something.”
“Gargo is gone,” I said firmly. “If he wasn't, we'd know. I'm the first person he'd make aware of the fact.”
Slate grimaced. “I suppose you're right. He hated you above all others.”
“You can't win them all,” I said flippantly and winked at him.
I finally won a chuckle for that.
“There's just one thing that keeps bugging me,” he said. “I remember you telling me about the time when you were Faenestra.”
“Yes.”
“She made your body immortal—truly immortal as no other beneather is—by simply inhabiting you.”
I nodded and scowled. A small knot of fear was inexplicably forming in my gut.
“It was her soul that gave you your immortality,” Slate went on. “But you cut her away and put her in a prison of Darc's magic.”
“Yes, we did. She'll never come back.”
“Are you certain?”
I hesitated. There had been a moment recently when rage had threatened me, and I thought that Faenestra might rise inside me, reborn through the small remnant of her in my soul.
“Honestly, I can never truly be free of Faenestra because I am Faenestra,” I admitted. “I'm different from her only because of my experiences.”
“So, if the right experience happened to sway you back to what you once were, you could become her again?”
“If I'm not vigilant, possibly.”
“And what of Lucifer?” He asked. “You said that you had to stop him from letting the Devil back in when he rescue
d you from Petra. Does he have a piece of the Devil inside him still?”
I paused. I had trapped Faenestra in a prison but I'd merely released Lucifer's Devil after I removed it from him. What happened to a god soul after it was severed and released? A god soul is pure energy and energy doesn't die, it merely transforms.
“He may have the taint of the Devil inside him,” I whispered. “Or the Devil may be haunting him.”