The balance shifted, Lee’s white-blue beam of holy fire gaining the upper hand and pushing Eliza’s spell back. She snarled, shifting to shout words at him as it cut off.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing!” she cried.
“That’s never stopped me before.”
Lee gritted his teeth tight enough to make his head pound and jaw ache. He gripped his wrist, forcing every bit of himself into finishing it, bringing it to an end.
Light flashed, and he heard Eliza let out a shrill, inhuman scream. It cut off as the holy fire overwhelmed her defenses, engulfing her in a blindingly bright surge of mystic power. Lee fell forward onto his knees as he released his ability, feeling the air thrum and pulse around him.
There was a puddle of blood on the ground, and unfortunately, he was pretty sure it was his. He felt the floating island shake underneath him. Wisps of crimson energy swirled upward into the air, remnants of the power that had made Eliza into the monster she’d been.
He felt out again, wishing he could still feel Tess as he had during the fight. Wishing he could see her face one last time. He closed his eyes, and for an instant, he could almost hear her calling his name.
CHAPTER 41
“Lee! Oh gosh, Lee! Please be okay. What were you thinking? Why would you let yourself lose so much blood?”
The ground was still shaking underneath him, and it made it extremely hard to peacefully drift off as he’d first intended. Lee opened his eyes, blinking several times in utter disbelief.
Tess was crouched over him, naked and fully embodied as though he’d pulled her into his mystic stream, though he was sure he hadn’t. He couldn’t have. He’d watched her fade out of existence.
“Am I dead?” he muttered. “Is this the real afterlife?”
“No, you’re not dead!” snapped Tess. “That’s why we need to… what are you doing?”
He’d started poking her breast, half expecting his hand to sink into it as it would have while she was ethereal. Other than confirming that Tess had really soft and perky boobs, it hadn’t really done anything.
“This isn’t happening,” he said. “This is a trick.”
“What?” Tess scowled at him. “Lee, we don’t have time for this!”
“You could just be the Unavowed Queen in disguise,” he said. “How do I know you’re really Tess?”
He watched her stamp her foot on the grass and tighten her hands into fists. “Lee Amaranth, you are so mean!”
Lee felt his jaw drop open. “Tess… it’s you!”
He pulled her into a tight hug, feeling her continue to squirm.
“I appreciate the warm welcome, but we need to get out of here!” she said. “Hurry!”
“Here.” He quickly took off his jacket and passed it to her for what little modesty it amounted to. It was big on her, but she was still very much naked underneath.
They held hands as they raced toward the edge of the top island. Lee had so many questions, but his focus quickly shifted toward not dying as he got a better sense of the situation they were in.
The Zephaphine Islands were falling, one by one, crashing down into the campus below like failed flight experiments. It was happening in reverse order, beginning with the lowest island and gradually working upward.
“There’s no direct path for us back into the tower,” said Lee. “We’re going to have to find another way to make it across.”
He rubbed his hands together, weighing his options. He’d channeled Widow before under similar circumstances, taking advantage of the spider girl’s silk line to save himself from a fall. He was in the process of whispering her true name when he realized, somewhat late, that he no longer had access to Tess’s essence.
“The pact…” he muttered. “It’s gone. I didn’t even think about it.”
Tess furrowed her brow. “The pact between us?”
“Yeah, I can’t use your essence to…” He trailed off, realizing a more relevant fact. “Tess, you’re a mage!”
“I’m no mage,” she said. “I was a student at Primhaven, and I could cast minor spells, but…”
“It’s all we have right now.” Lee seized her by the waist and turned her to face the edge of the island. “See the balcony below us?”
It was a good fifty feet down from where they stood, too far for them to drop safely unaided.
“Lee, I was never very good at this,” she muttered. “You know that. Elemental magic was hard for me.”
“We just need a simple wind cushion,” he said. “You can do it, Tess. I believe in you!”
He threaded his fingers through hers and gave her a quick kiss. The sensation of her lips against his brought back a part of him he hadn’t realized he’d lost.
“Okay,” said Tess. “You’re right! I can do it! Hang on to me, Lee!”
He hugged her from behind, noticing again that she was super naked. Tess assumed the elemental casting stance, and after taking several cute, exaggerated breaths, extended her hands downward toward the balcony, not a second too soon.
The island they were standing on suddenly dropped out from beneath their feet. Tess screamed. Lee kept a tight hold on her, leaning forward to orient them toward their drop zone even as they began a wild, somersaulting tumble.
The wind stirred through his clothing as they landed, Tess’s spell slowing them to a reasonable descent for the last few feet. Lee felt her laughing underneath him. He grinned and started laughing too.
The moment only lasted for a few seconds as he heard the lift rising up the balcony. Lee’s first impulse was to prepare for another fight, but when the door slid open, Harper stood on the other side.
“What… in the world?” she muttered, staring at Tess, who blushed and tried to cover her still mostly naked self.
“Harper,” said Lee. “This is Tess.”
“How is this even possible?” asked Harper. “Are you sure it’s really her? What happened to the Unavowed Queen?”
“I won,” said Lee. “I’m not sure about the rest.”
“Eliza didn’t destroy me when I faded,” said Tess. “It was more like she captured me. When you defeated her, Lee, all of the power released in the wake of her death responded to you. I felt myself about to disappear, and then it was as though you used Eliza’s power to give me, well, a second body!”
“It was me?” muttered Lee. “I… brought you back to life?”
Tess nodded. Lee was still shaking his head.
“We can’t stay here,” said Harper. “I managed to hold off the zombie trolls outside of the First Tower, but there’s more on the ground, moving to surround us. We need to leave.”
“Right,” said Lee. “Let me just…”
He wavered on his feet and coughed into his hand. As he opened his palm, he saw blood and quite a bit of it. Harper moved to catch his shoulder as he fell forward onto the floor.
“Can you help me?” asked Harper.
“Of course!” said Tess. “I would love to.”
“We’re going to have to find you some clothes on the way out of here, too,” said Harper. “The snow won’t be quite as forgiving of your nudity.”
CHAPTER 42
The blood loss finally caught up with Lee, and the next few minutes passed in a daze of stumbling steps and Tess and Harper helping him walk. They found some of Odarin’s clothing, a comically oversized robe and gym shorts along with boots for Tess, and managed to sneak out past the trolls.
Primhaven still had snowmobiles in the shed, and Lee rode on the back of Harper’s for the trip back to the cabin. He was dimly aware of Tess, new to operating a vehicle not drawn by a horse, nearly flipping hers a couple of times, but in the end, all three of them made the trip without incident.
Lee felt faint as he tried to stand up from the snowmobile, and then he tasted snow. The next distinct sensation he could place was being in bed and having sheets and a blanket pulled over his newly naked body.
“What…?” he mumbled.
“Sh
hh…” Tess’s face appeared in his vision. She folded her arms and rested her chin on his chest. “Your body temperature was really low when we got here, Lee, so Harper said we should get you into bed and warm you up.”
He felt the sheets pull back, followed by Tess climbing into bed next to him. It wasn’t until her body made contact with his that he realized she was just as naked as he was.
“Whoa,” he said, feeling a little dumb. He still could barely believe what had happened, even with Tess pressing herself against him, now as a living, breathing woman. She didn’t need to be in his mystic stream. She didn’t need any help from him to touch him or kiss him.
“It’s strange, isn’t it?” whispered Tess. “I’m so far from being used to this again. I keep bumping into tables and… well, the door. Phasing through physical barriers is a hard habit to give up.”
“You’re so warm, Tess,” he mumbled. He ran a hand across her face, and then down to her breasts, touching her as though for the first time. He heard her giggle, and then it really did feel like the first time.
“I think I’m more ticklish, too,” she said.
“Really?” Lee kissed her cheek, enfolding her in his arms. He felt himself getting stiff down below and started grinding into her. “Does that tickle?”
“Pervert,” said Tess.
“Where’s Harper?”
“She’s…” Tess bit her lip and quivered slightly as Lee let his hand slip between her thighs. “…Outside. Keeping watch, just in case. We’re due to switch in a bit.”
“Well, you’d better get to warming me up,” he said. “Chop chop.”
“Lee Amaranth, I’m not your ghost anymore,” she said. “Which means I no longer have to take orders from you.”
“When did you ever take orders from me?”
Tess’s poker face was abysmal, and Lee saw her dimples dancing as she tried to keep from laughing. He shot his hands into her armpits and started tickling her, which turned to wrestling as she tried to pin her arms down at her side to prevent his access.
The angle basically found itself as Tess lifted her hips in an attempt to wrap her legs around him. Lee had a clear view of her face as he speared his full length into her. She gasped and blushed simultaneously, eyes looking briefly unfocused, a slight tremor running through her lower lip.
She looked like a woman experiencing sex for the very first time. Lee wasn’t sure whether that did more to fluff his tool or his ego. He kissed her deeply, running one of his hands through her hair, feeling a bit like she must as if he’d never felt her so completely before.
“Mmm…” she moaned. “You’re… pretty big. Um, down there. It feels—”
He chose that moment to pull back a little and then thrust forward. Tess let out a gasp, followed by a high-pitched, pleasured squeal as he continued the motion, pumping into her.
“Your body is soft, Tess,” he whispered. “And so firm all over.”
He kissed one of her pert, perky breasts, breathing on the nipple. Her hair was splayed out across the pillow like strands of brown silk, her eyes fluttering between open and shut.
“Oh, God, Lee,” she whispered. “If you keep going like that…”
“Like this?”
He pounded into her, pulling one of her arms up and caressing her wrist with gentle dominance. She wasn’t a ghost anymore. Their pact was null. But she was still his. She would always be his.
He felt her bucking into him, stretching her legs wide. Lee pulled one up to his shoulder and heard her gasp as he thrust even deeper. To have her with him, like this, was beyond what he could ever have dreamed during those dark moments in the lift when he’d thought he’d lost her.
“Lee!” she cried, her voice turning the single syllable of his name into a lewd promise.
“You’re mine, Tess,” he said. “Now and forever.”
She tensed, and a thin squeal came from her throat. Her back arched, and for a moment, it seemed as though Tess could do nothing more than breathe and float in the depths of her pleasure. Lee was grinning, despite his own unfulfilled lust as he watched her. He slowed down and planted a soft kiss on her lips.
“That was…” Tess shook her head. “I guess… it’s more than just being more ticklish. Lee, that was—”
There was a single knock at the door before it swung open. Harper entered the cabin, raised an eyebrow as she saw them, and proceeded to take off her winter gear.
“I haven’t seen any trolls in pursuit, but we should still keep the watch up,” she said. “Tess, would you mind taking over for the next hour?”
Lee had to admit, Harper was doing an admirable job of pretending like the two naked people in the room with her weren’t tight against each other under the sheets in a room that smelled thick of sweat and sex. He felt Tess cup his cheek and smile at him.
“Of course,” she said. “It’s okay, Lee. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Be careful,” he said, squeezing her hand.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Relax. I’ll be right outside. Harper, would you mind attending to Lee? I think he could use some… warming up.”
She hopped out of the bed like a naked pixie, bouncing over to her discarded clothes with cute little steps.
“I’d say you already made, ahem, significant progress,” said Harper. The two women exchanged an interesting look with each other.
Harper sat down on the bed, but she waited until Tess had finished getting dressed, blown Lee a kiss, and slipped out through the door before saying anything else.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
Lee cleared his throat deliberately and looked down at the obvious tented portion of the sheets over his crotch. “Fine. Still a little cold.”
“Is that so?” Harper let her hand rest on his inner thigh, pinkie finger against the base of his hard shaft through the sheets. “Tess seems very… comfortable with the idea of sharing you.”
“She’s been comfortable about it from the beginning.” He shrugged. “She’s just that type of girl.”
“She’s a sweetheart,” said Harper. “You be careful about hurting her, Eldon. She’s more vulnerable now, and I don’t just mean physically.”
“I love her, Harper,” he said. “I will never do anything to hurt her.”
She smiled at those words, shaking her head in a way that reminded him of those rare moments back when he’d still been her apprentice and done something right.
“Can you keep your hands to yourself?” she asked.
Lee chuckled. “I can make an attempt at it.”
He watched as she pulled off her sweater, her large breasts bouncing within the bra she wore underneath. Her jeans soon followed, but she kept her underwear on, to his disappointment, as she joined him under the sheets.
“This might get in the way,” said Harper. She prodded the tip of his cock with her finger.
“If you’d given Tess and me five more minutes, it wouldn’t be an issue.”
From the way Harper was smiling, he got the sense that she’d chosen that particular moment to interrupt them intentionally. She nestled beside him, letting her intense eyes scan over his chest and face.
“Put your hands above your head,” said Harper.
“Why?”
She narrowed her eyes. “The trust between us still has a long way to go before completely recovering. Now, Eldon. Put your hands above your head.”
He rolled his eyes and did as requested. Harper disappeared under the sheets. He felt her moving around and heard the sound of her bra and panties finally coming off and dropping to the floor.
“Harper,” he said. “If you keep acting like this, it’s going to be awfully hard for me to keep from…”
A tight, wet sensation stole the end of his sentence. Lee groaned, hearing a faint slurp come from underneath the sheets as Harper’s head began to bob up and down. He bucked his hips, feeling like he was already on the verge, given how Tess had started him off.
He’d never exp
ected to feel Harper’s mouth on his tool again. She could do things with her lips and tongue, wet and precise, but it was more than just that. Harper had been his master, so stern and sharp with her words. Feeling her use her sharp tongue for something so much dirtier than telling him off, was, well…
“Oh, Harper!” Lee reached a hand down, unsure of whether he was intent on slowing her down or pulling on her braid to guide her.
She stopped in mid-suck and caught his arm by the wrist. A small pop came from underneath the sheets as she pulled her mouth back.
“I thought I told you to keep your hands to yourself,” she said, authoritatively.
Lee pulled the sheets back. “Everyone has their limit.”
She was quite the sight, naked, posed over his cock like a tiger poised to strike. Her breasts jiggled as she straightened her back, large and plump, with faint pink nipples that nearly blended into her pale skin. She smirked at him, shook her head slightly, and pushed his hand back toward the pillow as she started to get back to what she’d been doing.
Except Lee had reached his limit. He wanted her, and though he’d grown so used to following her lead, he just couldn’t do it, not this time. He took hold of Harper’s braid, grinning at the look of surprise on his face.
Slowly, not hard enough to cause pain or jerk her neck, he began reeling her in by her hair. Harper resisted for an instant before catching his eye. Whatever she saw in his expression, be it hunger, lust, or raw confidence, was apparently enough for her.
He ran one hand up her body, the other still gripping a fistful of finely braided blonde hair. He groped her breasts. He squeezed her ass and gave it a small spank, which drew a measure of her ire.
“Eldon…” she said.
He sat up in the bed, pulling back on her braid to expose her neck. “Harper.”
He planted a kiss on the side of her chin and then repositioned, pushing the front of her body down into the pillow while still holding her braid. Harper raised her hips for him, though she had a look on her face that was half glare and half excited smile.
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