by Daye, Elissa
When Grant extracted himself to look at his wife his eyes were darkened with desire. He ran his hands down the length of her body, taking in the beauty, the innocence, and the desire that started to color her with a charming flush, and its glow drew him in. “So beautiful.”
His words made her quiver. Never before had she felt as beautiful and desirable as she did at that moment. Not even her dreams had made her feel like a woman, only like an outsider staring at an intimate portrait she might never experience. Grant’s mouth descended again and her mouth awaited its touch, but he moved it away from hers. She felt like protesting, until she felt his hot mouth make a scalding path down her neck. When his teeth nibbled at the base of her neck she felt like she would come undone. Her body writhed under him, and when his shaft teased against her leg she arched against him.
***
Grant groaned into her, his passion creating an uncontrollable frenzy inside. He let a hand move down her body, meeting the curls at her base. He heard the whimpers in her throat, small mewlings compared to what he was about to bring forward from her. He traveled further down and let his fingers slip inside her. He felt her hot nectar flow around him and his breath caught in his throat before his raw voice splintered the silence between them. “So ripe.”
***
Malinda felt his fingers move inside her and her body responded by melting into his hand. She had no idea she could experience such heat so easily, but she had. When his fingers tweaked the nub between her legs she almost convulsed underneath him. She felt a throbbing pain fill her as he continued to work his magic on her. She ached to move against him, to run from the heat he strummed within her. Small yearnings rose from within and a desire to hide from the fear that rushed in her veins. She wanted to feel him over her, doing what she had only imagined up until this moment.
“Let go, Malinda. Come on. That’s right.” She heard the words calling to her and they were like a drug to her soul, as he conducted her through her first wave of desire. She felt a tingling sensation run through her body. It gripped her from her stomach all the way down to her toes, and her thoughts floated away as the fire of his touch seared her soul.
Grant watched as her legs trembled, her bottom writhing devilishly beneath his hand. He lowered his mouth to her breast and sucked in the sweetness of her swollen nipple. His cock was so hard it hurt, but he would not take her until he was sure he could fill her deep without shattering her innocence. He continued to rub her softness and watched as the tremors ran feverishly through her body.
Malinda raised languid eyes to his and sucked in her breath when he looked up from her breast, his mouth still firmly attached to her nipple. His fingers delved deep within her and she felt her body swallow them whole. She could not help but move her body closer to his as she arched against another wave of release. She brought her hands up to the nape of his neck and yanked the tie that fastened his hair. When the golden locks swung free she wrapped her fingers in them, pulling him so close to her chest she thought he would melt into her body.
“Grant?” Her flushed whisper raced across the space between them.
“Mmm?” Grant refused to relinquish the tight rosy bud as he answered.
“Please.” Malinda knew not what she was asking for, but she knew there was more to this dance, much more if she remembered what her dreams had alluded to.
Grant released her nipple and strummed his fingers across the other nipple that had so far been free from his ministrations. “Please what?”
Confusion crossed her face as his eyes probed hers. She did not know what to ask for, but she knew that this was not all there was to it all, that there was something more that could fulfill every inch of her. “I want more.”
Grant sucked in his breath at her words and glanced at her one last time to make sure he had understood her correctly. When he met the glaze of desire in her eyes he knew that she was indeed ready for him, and right now he desired nothing more than to bury himself deep into her. “As you wish.”
His whisper tickled her skin as his whiskers grazed her flesh gently. He rose above her and removed his tunic before moving his hands down to part her legs. She watched him with eyes drugged with desire and bit her lip when she saw the tufts of golden hair that ran from one nipple to another, and a small thin trail of hair that crept down his abdomen, down to the darker hair covering the shaft of skin swelling dangerously between his legs. She did not fear his shaft, not this time. When he came closer to her she ran her fingers over his nipples and smiled as he bucked against her leg.
He maneuvered his body so that his swollen member was right at her entrance and inched the tip just barely inside her heat. Malinda sucked in her breath at the contact and her body longed to swallow him whole, but he moved no further. His hot mouth glided over hers and his tongue darted into her mouth like a thief in the night as he stole the very air she breathed. The tension in her body relaxed for a moment and he moved further into her. Their tongues mated together, mimicking the movements she desperately coveted. She arched her bottom into him and felt him move further away. When she whimpered she felt him tense above her.
“There is plenty of time, Malinda. All the time in the world.” He propelled into her a little further, then pulled back out, small movements that drove her mad beneath him. He was having trouble controlling his impulses, for he wanted nothing more than to take her with every ounce of the firestorm building within him.
“Grant. Please!” She could not control the urgency in her voice, for she was swimming in a pool lined with a liquid fire of desire, a desire that only he seemed to be able to quench. She could not deny that having only part of him inside her was driving her wild with anticipation. She felt the battle within him and decided to take things into her own hands. She wrapped her legs behind him and plucked him into her, as sinfully close to her as she could manage. When she felt him breach her maiden’s head she winced for a moment and let herself relax in his embrace.
“Malinda?” Grant feared what she would say. Would she ask him to stop? Was the pain unbearable for her? He dreaded her next words before they fell.
“Grant.” Her breath caught in her throat, as she struggled against the emotions swirling within her. “Please, don’t stop.”
It was all he needed to hear as he caught her bottom lip beneath his teeth and nibbled softly on its velvety softness. “As you wish.”
They moved together, the magic of the moment lost to neither one of them as the desire built to a storming tornado of emotions. It wrapped around them and twisted them inside out, and they lost every inch of themselves to the rapture that circulated from one body to the other. Malinda clung to him when the first wave hit her, and her whole world splintered apart when he joined her in his own heated release. When they lay spent next to each other, their breaths came in short puffs and a cold breeze clung to the room as she shivered in his arms. She knew the specter had been witness to their passion, but she chose to ignore the hairs that rose on the back of her neck as their breath became visible in the air. Malinda would not let the departed create any kind of wall between her and her husband. She sent a challenging glare into the air and snuggled closer to Grant.
Grant shivered in the cold air and Malinda snuggled closer. “Shall I put more wood on the fire?”
“I think there are other ways to stay warm.” Grant needed no further encouragement.
Chapter 16
Malinda slept fitfully as she tossed around the bed. She awoke to piercing screams that shattered the silence. Grant seemed unaffected by the cries echoing around the empty hallways. She knew at once that the screams belonged to Sophia. Malinda peeled the coverlet away from her, then remembered that she was nude beneath the covers. She quickly pulled on the nightgown that was laid carefully over the settee near the fireplace. She had intended to put it on this evening, but for some reason she had never gotten around to it. She smirked at her sleeping husband, tempted to run her fingers through his blond hair once more, but she knew
it was sometimes better not to wake a sleeping bear. While another round of lovemaking would have been pleasurable Sophia’s cries still echoed in the silence around her.
Malinda lit the small lantern on the table and carried it with her as she left the room. When she opened the door she found Mule standing at attention in the hallway. He sniffed around him and bit at the air with his mouth. Malinda also felt the chill in the air and saw the frost that had gathered on the windows in the hallway, which seemed extreme considering they were currently in the first part of spring. Small snowflake patterns worked their way in the mirrors that hung between the few paintings that covered the walls and her breath blew out of her mouth like smoke from a pipe. She felt a shiver work its way up her back, and her arms trembled slightly.
“Pull it together, Malinda. She can’t hurt you. Well, not really. Follow me, Mule.” She tried to talk herself into an ounce of courage, but her mind was not fully awake, as the night had depleted her cognitive stores. She took a long, slow breath and let her mind create a swarm of energy around her. In seconds a golden shield of light surrounded her and Mule. Its bright color surprised her, for her shield normally contained hues of pastel pink, purple, and blue. She heard Sophia scream again and raced toward her door. She knew that Desiree would not be in there with her, for the maid had asked earlier in the day to have the night away from the manor to attend to her mother. Desiree would have left right after she put Sophia to bed.
The pale image of Maria Timberlin stood over Sophia’s bed. She had always thought that Maria Timberlin would stand serenely over her child watching her from afar, for that was what Malinda saw herself doing if she ever crossed over from this life. But a hateful sneer marked her once beautiful face as her long brown hair blew wickedly around her. Maria pointed at Sophia in accusation, her threat to the child that huddled underneath the covers quite clear. Sophia had tears streaming down her face as she looked up at the ghost in front of her. A large shadow of pink stained the girl’s face and Malinda was suddenly enraged. She gathered energy from the shield around her, created a small orb of light in her hands, and sent the angry blast of light at the ghost hovering over Sophia’s bed. The ghost turned toward her, menace clear in the dark eyes sunk deep in her deadly face. Malinda stood with her feet apart to balance herself as an eminent attack loomed over her. The ghost launched at her, accompanied by a tumultuous shriek that shattered the mirror in the room, but Malinda stood her ground and watched as the ghost bounced off her shield and melted into air. Mule lunged at the specter, but it dissipated quickly before him. A slight hiss echoed around the room at her departure and the mastiff growled in complaint. Malinda snapped her fingers and he sat near the entrance of the door.
Malinda rushed to Sophia’s side and wrapped her arms around her. Sophia stared back at her, awe striking her face. Malinda ran her hands over Sophia’s face and used her skills at healing to create a balm of light to soothe the bruise that was now forming on her face. Malinda continued to focus on Sophia’s wounds until the pink flush left her skin completely. “There, there, dear one. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Malinda did not worry that Sophia would tell anyone about her secret. The child had not spoken a peep since the day she was born. She prayed that one day she would speak, but the love shining in the little girl’s eyes confirmed that she would protect her secret from the rest of the world.
“I will find a way to make this stop, Sophia. But in the meantime, you are going to have to be strong. Do you understand?” Sophia’s head bobbed up and down in confirmation. Malinda smoothed the hair at her forehead and pulled Sophia closer. She started to hum a lullaby that her grandmother had sung to her as a small child. It took longer than she thought it would, but eventually Sophia fell into a restful sleep. Malinda sat in the rocking chair next to the bed and stayed guard as the child slept. When she felt it was safe to leave her she picked up the lantern to walk back to her room, expecting the large dog to follow her, but instead, he walked over to the bed where Sophia slept and lay down on the floor. Malinda knew that Mule had found a new place to sleep.
Malinda was not surprised to find Grant had not moved since she had left him. She crawled into bed beside him and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Soon she was drifting away to another dreamland encompassed with exotic flowers that blew their gentle nectar in tiny bubbles in the breeze. She caught a bubble on her tongue and it burst, sending a warm honey flavor that tantalized her taste buds. In the distance she could see the light reflecting from a large crystal palace and it cast a prism of rainbows on the ground all around it. Malinda knew that the large castle was the same one she had ventured inside in her dream the other night. She wondered where she was, for the beauty surrounding her was so unreal, and certainly something she would never have seen in her lifetime.
“You are in Lena, my child.”
Malinda leapt to her feet at the sound of the voice, but she could not see from where it came. She surrounded herself with a shield of light, a reflex that had come with the many years of training from her grandmother. “Who are you? Show yourself?”
Malinda blinked as tiny spots of light seemed to flitter across the air around her. She thought that she was seeing things, but they grew into larger orbs that touched down on the ground and continued to grow even larger from there. In moments she was surrounded by seven figures, each sculpted in its own vibrant color. She sucked in her breath as the shapes transformed into seven women. By the marks on their faces Malinda knew at once who these women were: The Seven Sisters. Her grandmother had told her tales from the day she was old enough to crawl, all the way up until the time she passed, about the Seven Sisters born to King Liam and Queen Datri of Lena.
The Seven Sisters were all born with sacred marks of the Gods upon their faces, small little crescents at the corner of their eyes, so tiny that you had to look very closely to see them. The Gods had sent each child to Lena to pass down their virtues to the world: Hope, Faith, Charity, Temperance, Courage, Justice, and Love. Queen Datri had foreseen the coming of each child and had known what temperament the Gods had in store for each. Mina was all love and bathed in a deep red light from the moment she was born. Charity and Temperance, twins named directly after their intended virtues, were bathed in orange and yellow lights that were often the only way to tell them apart. Nadia was brimming with the hope of a vivid pink light that circled around her and enfolded her like the petals of a rose the instant she was brought into the world. Creda was surrounded in faith’s green light. Susannah and Dinah were the last set of twins that the queen birthed, and they represented courage and justice. While they looked nothing alike sometimes their blue and purple auras melded together to create a much deeper color.
These Seven Sisters stood before her, their eyes alight with a mysterious glow. Malinda bowed down before them and closed her eyes as she took in a deep calming breath. She knew that she was dreaming, but her dream felt so real that she would not take a chance at disrespecting the sacred seven who had made the women of Lena everything that they were today.
“Rise, Malinda. You are not asleep.”
Malinda rose to find that six of the seven sisters had disappeared before her without making a sound. She could not help but feel relieved to be dealing with just one of the sisters right now. She tried her best to bring a brave smile to her face, but she was in awe of the moment. She searched deep in her mind for something to say, but her thoughts, her very words seemed to have escaped her.
“You have questions about a specter?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
A slight chuckle left Susannah’s mouth and, when she walked closer to Malinda, her blue dress rustled around her. She reached out a hand to Malinda and waited for her to make the next move.
“Of course you know. I’m sorry, I should know better.” She put her hand in Susannah’s hand and sucked in her breath as the world turned like a kaleidoscope around her. When the world had calmed around her once more she found that th
ey were standing in a room with walls so high, she had to crane her neck to see the top. Each wall was lined with books in all shapes and sizes, along with other strange little oddities that Malinda could not even make heads or tails of.
“This is the Library of Ages. Anything you think to seek, you shall find within these walls. You may come back anytime you choose.”
“Will you be here as well?”
“No, my child. We always try to meet the women when they first seek shelter within the forgotten walls of Lena, but we do not spend the majority of our time here. We find you to be virtuous enough to take your place among us. Please use what Lena has to offer. You may call upon us here any time you need assistance. Your grandmother has taught you well. We ask only that you remember the ways and spread them to others who have lost their way.”
Malinda turned to answer Susannah, but her image had disappeared before she could say another word. She sighed sadly, for she suddenly felt so alone. She sat down at the large ivory table in the middle of the room and put her head in her hands. What question should she ask? What was the biggest problem at hand right now? Susannah had hit the nail right on the head actually. She had a specter problem, and the whole situation, at the very least, was a disaster waiting to happen. She raised her head and looked at the books around her. She had no brilliant idea to help her find the books that would answer her question, so she did the only thing that came to mind. “How do I protect myself and others from a specter, a spiteful ghost intent on causing bodily harm?”