Page 14 of Celestial Alphas (Nexus #2)
Chapter
Thirteen
“ A re you sure this is the right place?” Aleksander asks me for the fifteenth time. Or second time. I mean, in all fairness to him, I did make him stop our car on a road in the absolute middle of nowhere and hike through a forest for an hour in the pitch dark. Whatever Onyx or Finnegan has done has meant no one stopped our car or even looked twice at us as Alek drove out of the city in a Land Rover, right through the open gates. It took us five hours to reach Edinburgh, where Alek took me shopping for some clothes, and we had lunch before leaving for the market.
“I promise it is. You can trust me. I’ll need you alive and I didn’t bring you into the big bad forest to murder you or anything,” I answer with a big smile. I’m happy to be back in my choice of black leggings and a black crop top under a very nice brown leather jacket the same colour as my hair.
He flashes his torch at me and shakes his head. “You said that in a really funny, not so jokey tone, which makes me think you are bringing me out here to murder me. You really need to work on your jokes, Gwen.”
“Okay, I’m seriously not here to murder you,” I repeat, but I can’t stop myself from laughing just a little. My laugh echoes around the trees.
“Again, I have no idea if you’re being serious.” He uncomfortably clears his throat. “Tell me something about you while we walk.”
I deflect like a pro. “I don’t know much about you, so how about you go first?” Before he can say no, I carry on. “I know that you don’t have any family, because you lost your uncle and aunt recently. So, what happened to your parents? If you don’t want to say, then tell me about anything to do with you.”
Aleksander crosses his big arms. “I had a mum, and she died when I was a toddler in a Vian attack. I don’t know much about her, and I don’t know anything about my father. My last remaining family that died recently, they were my mother’s sister and brother-in-law. They put me in a private school in Starlight City after my mother’s death, and I didn’t really see them often, but they would send me gifts and money to give me the best opportunities. They would have me over for Christmas.”
“Why didn’t they just adopt you?” I ask.
“They were kind people, but they just didn’t really like kids. When I got older, they were warmer to me. I can’t blame them.” He answers so honestly, and it’s refreshing. I actually think he doesn’t blame them at all for not taking him in, even when most people would. I can see he is thankful to them, and I saw him when he learnt of their deaths. He was sad. I smile at him. “There’s more I want to tell you, Gwen. But telling you about my past means fully trusting you, and I need you to remember something first.”
Back to that? “You keep asking me to remember something, but I don’t understand. We never met, so how could I possibly know something about you or remember something?”
Alek looks up at the stars, hidden well by the tall trees. The overwhelming smell of pine and mud fills my senses as the wind blows. It’s cold but not bitter, even when it’s November already. It won’t be long until it’s Christmas, and part of me wishes I could skip that part of the year because it was the only time I was happy with my parents all day. They loved Christmas, and now it reminds me they aren’t here. “You do. You’ve just not figured it out yet.”
“I don’t like playing games,” I counter.
“Neither do I. This isn’t a game to me. Well, I guess if you want to call it a game, it’s one I’m playing for keeps. I want forever with you.” My cheeks flush. “And what I tell you will hurt you, because it hurt me, and I see in your face that there will be a line that we will need to cross together. It has to come from you, not me.”
“You’re so confusing, and I thought I was the mysterious one in our strange bonded group,” I mutter.
“I’m taking the title of the mysterious one. Can I ask you something, though?”
I nod. He can ask, doesn’t mean I’m going to answer.
“What priest gave you your Nex dagger?” He slips my Nex dagger out.
I knew he had it, I could feel it, but I was wondering when he would give it back to me. “Thief.”
He grins in a way that sends my stomach bursting into butterflies. He has a good smile, a really sexy smile. “If you tell me, I’ll give you it back.”
“I could just command it to come to me. We have a great bond. It’s kind of like Thor’s hammer.” I proudly wink. “It’ll just come to me.”
For a second, I wonder if he even knows what I’m talking about, or does he think I’m mad. “Are you claiming that you’re worthy?”
“I’m impressed that you know that comic book reference. It was my father’s favourite,” I admit to him. We spent so many hours reading comics together in all different countries across the world. I never imagined a day I wouldn’t be able to read another comic with him. “And yes, I am always worthy of my Nex dagger. It was in France. He… I don’t want to tell you too much about him because I know what he did was extremely illegal and against all the Nexus laws. But he was sympathetic to my father and my issues.” I look forward. “He made me work for it. The innocent looking, old priest knocked me onto my ass probably a hundred times before he helped me. This dagger, it was actually my father’s. None of the other weapons called to me, but this did. My father was so proud.” I call it to myself now. Alek lets it go easily, and it floats into my hand. I slide it into my jacket, easy for me to grab it in a hurry. “What about you? Your power is crazy. You can make different Nex weapons like it’s a breeze and use them all. That’s an incredible power.”
“It takes control, but yes, I can,” he begins to explain. “Any weapon I’ve seen, I can remake my own version.”
“Can you give them to people?” I ask next.
“No. Except Finn. He can take them.” I’m surprised by that.
“Can any of the others? Do you think it’s a mate thing?” I question.
“They’ve never tried and…I don’t know. I really don’t know.” I stop in my tracks as I feel it. Alek must too, because he steps closer. The forest just got warmer, like a summer breeze suddenly blew through, and it’s not warmth, it’s magic. “What is that?”
“Folk magic feels warm,” I whisper. “We are close.” The forest starts going eerily silent, all the owls’ noises fade, and even the trees don’t seem to crack and stretch in the breeze. Fear makes me want to stop, to turn back, but I know it’s the market. It’s not meant to be easy to find, or everyone would be here. I make myself walk, and to my surprise, Alek moves with me. “Let me do the talking, okay? And pull your cloak up. There’ll be a lot of Vian here. We don’t want to risk being seen, as Severi will be looking for me. For you too now.”
“Let him try,” Alek growls. “We have unfinished business.”
“He’s Vian and could kill you,” I mutter and shake my head. “Once we are in the market, we will be reasonably safe. Remember the rules. No drawing blood, no fights. You can’t attack anybody in here, not even if they go for you. Their fate will be sealed, but yours won’t be.”
He takes my hand, winding our fingers together. “Understood, but if anyone touches you, they’re dead.”
I don’t tell him, but I feel the same. I want him not to act if he is attacked, but it doesn’t mean I won’t go bat shit crazy on anyone who tries to touch Aleksander. It kind of scares me how much he has snuck himself into my chest and made himself at home. I was brought up not to care about other people, to never let anyone close, especially my mates, but here I am, breaking every rule my parents taught me. They must be turning in their graves.
The gap in the trees lines up perfectly with the bright full moon hanging high in the sky. I lean down, brushing off some leaves. “The old stories about a ring of mushrooms being a fairy trap weren’t so far from the truth. The humans’ warnings were smart.” I lean down and touch one of the mushrooms in the circle, and it glows under my palm, the same way it did for my mother. Bright violet-blue light bursts from the circle before shooting off into the sky, and suddenly the forest is not empty at all. It’s full of stalls with red, black and white tents, thatched huts, and brick buildings, with a pathway straight down the centre of it. Streetlights line the middle of the night market, with star-shaped tops that are glowing bright orange.
The sky is alive with waves of magic now, purple glitter in waves that move across the sky. The market is packed and loud, with people selling everything from little creatures enchanted with spells to potions, and one stall we pass is just selling enchanted orbs that show you desires or fears. I’m not going anywhere near that. I glance up at Alek to see his reaction, and he is wide-eyed in shock. It’s cute. I grin. “It’s real. Told you so.”
“It’s real,” he repeats, tightening his hand in mine. The way he tenses tells me he has spotted a folk creature, and I follow his gaze to one moving through the crowd. Folk kind of look like humans, except they’re much taller. All of them are over seven feet and willowy, like trees. Their skin is the brightest white, but it’s not skin at all; it’s almost bark-like and tough everywhere in jagged bits. Their faces are eerily straight, more rectangular than round like a human. There isn’t hair on them, and the only part of them that doesn’t look like a tree is their eyes. They don’t bother wearing clothes; instead, they wear leaves in a belt around their waist, and I know they wield incredible magic. Magic that should be feared. Unfortunately, a few of them look our way when we walk into the crowd. I didn’t want to attract any attention, but I feel eyes on me from every direction. Too many eyes. “The night market is busy, and there are many Vian here. Nexus too.”
“Ignore them,” I whisper quietly. The hundreds of people in dark cloaks to hide their identities make it easy for us to slip into the crowd. Everyone that comes here wants something, and then they want to leave. We can do the same and get out without being seen. For Rhodes, we have to.
It takes me a while to remember my way through the market, following the dusty red brick floors. My eyes flicker across to see a young woman with a black chain around her tanned neck, attached to the foot of folk selling wooden furniture. Her eyes meet mine, blue, reminding me of Finn’s eyes, but I don’t look for long because I can’t help her.
Alek seems to understand I need a distraction. “Finnegan’s father once told me the folk were once the legendary warriors of the Nexus and that we created them somehow to fight our wars against the Vian, but they turned on us. Do you think that’s true?”
“No idea,” I admit.
“The Gods are real, and apparently the folk are too. What else hides from our knowledge?” he questions.
Everything. Nothing. I don’t know and I really don’t want to. I’ve never wanted to learn the secrets of the universe or shit like that; I just want a normal life without a psychotic Nexus being.
The thick smell of incense and smoke greets me as I turn a corner, and I see a large tent, far bigger than the others, nestled near the centre of the night market. A big tower of smoke, pure jasmine incense, comes out the top of it, and there are two folk standing in front of the door. They’re holding spears in their scaly, long-fingered hands. It’s clear they will stab me if I try anything. “I’m here to make a deal. Your leader once made a deal with my mother. He told her she was always welcome back. I’m hoping the same message extends to me.”
They look between each other, and I pray to the mortal, the wolf, the snake and, fuck, all the Gods that this works. Please. Please… “Your blood is always welcome here, and so are you, Gwenieve and Aleksander.” The folk guards step aside, holding the tent flap and revealing the folk healer I remember from all those years ago. He’s different from all of them. Instead of his skin being white, he’s green. The most stunning shade of green I’ve ever seen. Dark, vibrant green that glows like a forest. He is the very reason I think they resemble trees. He is wearing clothes, a tailored dark green vest, cloak and trousers. “Come in with your mate, Gwenieve.”
I find it interesting he can see the bond between us, or is it that obvious now? The room is lusher than I remember it, and clearly they have been doing well for themselves. It was quite barren last time, but now it’s filled with thick rugs, beautiful fabrics hanging from the ceilings, and couches. Ridiculously expensive statues of goddesses and gods from human history are everywhere. There are also at least a hundred plants, all exotic and rare, littered around the space. He leads us in, and we sit down on the couch in front of the incense fire spilling smoke in a twirling pattern all the way out through the roof centre. “Thank you for agreeing to see me.”
“You look like her, your mother, I mean.” He sits down. “Aleksander, my name is Hyalar. I am one of the leaders of the folk and a specialist in healing. Gwenieve met me as a child, and I knew I’d meet her again.”
“My mate’s childhood is full of secrets, it seems,” Aleksander answers. “It is an honour to meet you. I mean you no harm, and I am glad you let us in.”
He inclines his head in acknowledgement, but he looks to me expectantly, so I get right to the point. “I remember you from when I was a child, and I need the same thing that my mother came for.” I hold my hands together in my lap. “She brought her injured friend with her, but I can’t do that, so I need something I can take back to one of my mates. To Starlight City.”
“The home of the Nexus.” His eyes, so ancient and full of warmth, watch me. “I warned your mother that running from Starlight City would not end well for any of you, but she did not listen to the future I foretold for her as a gift. A gift blessed to her in your name.”
I frown. “I didn’t know you told her about the future or that you could do that.”
“I warned your mother twice. Once when you were only a baby, and the second was the time when she came here to save her sister. I warned her there’d be no third time.”
“Wait.” I stop him. He sits back slightly. “Sister? She didn’t have a sister.”
“Yes, the woman she brought here was her younger sister.” He watches me again. “You didn’t know, but I am no liar. When you are as old as I, you learn lies are harmful to everyone. I prefer not to partake in speaking them.”
I can’t even process that the woman I barely remember is my aunt. Not right now. “Thank you for telling me that.”
“I can see versions of the future that will happen and versions that will not. I will see the likelihood of everything from the stars falling and rising, the world turning. I live on, immortally as it happens, and I mark history of our kind in my mind. One day, we will need stories to save the future, and I fear that day is coming soon.” Alek and I look at each other. “You should have come sooner.”
“Will you help my mate? We brought money, two million pounds, and it can be transferred to you immediately.” Alek told me he has it from Onyx. It’s a lot of money, but I will repay Onyx with the money from my family. All that matters right now is Rhodes. “I remember my mother gave you, like, a hundred thousand, and that was years ago, though. I’m hoping this is enough. If not, we can get more money?—”
“I do not want your money.” He cuts me off and his tone is final.
My heart breaks. “Please, look. It’s my mate. He is good and kind…and he has to live. Please. I will give you anything for it.” I’m not leaving without something to help Rhodes. I can’t face him otherwise. It’s my fault he is in a coma, and it will be forever my fault if he doesn’t wake. He deserves to have a future, a life, and he can’t lose that because the Vian came for me.
Hyalar rises to his feet. I stand too, as does Alek. No, he can’t leave. He doesn’t leave, but instead he walks to me. “I will give you the healing potion that will wake and heal your mate…in exchange for a drop of your blood.”
“I can’t spill blood in the night market, or I’ll be trapped here. You don’t want my Nexus trapped here, Hyalar,” I warn him. “Tricking me isn’t a good idea.”
“No tricks. I make the rules for the night market, and I will not trap you here. You have my word,” he vows, and I remember he doesn’t lie.
“Why do you want my blood?”
He watches me with those eerie, all-seeing eyes. “I want the blood of the most powerful creature to walk this earth in a thousand years. I want the blood of a Nexus who has no idea what she is yet.”
I shiver. For Rhodes. This is all for him. “Fine, yes.” Alek tries to stop me, but I hold my hand out to Hyalar, and he grabs it like a greedy kid on Halloween. He runs a long fingernail down my palm before pulling a vial out and catching my blood in it, letting it drop into the vial before closing it with his thumb. He slips it into his cloak and pulls out the other vial with a green foam hovering in it. I clasp my hand around it and nearly squeal in excitement. I can wake Rhodes up. “Thank you. We will be leaving now.”
Alek walks away with me, but before I get far, I pause. “What is the Morrigan? I heard it during my time with the Vian, and I was curious.”
“Your destiny, old one,” he answers, walking away to the other side of the tent. Creepy but alright. “When you come to me next, you will not leave. When you see me next, fate has a plan for your future, Gwenieve. It is not time yet.”
He disappears through the back of the tent, and it is silent as Alek looks down at me. “I have a bad feeling about this trade.”
I don’t have it in me to tell him I felt the same, right at the moment I gave him my blood. But I’d do it a thousand times over to save Rhodes… I just hope Rhodes doesn’t hate me when he wakes up and finds out the truth about his monster mate.
Aleksander slides his fingers through mine, his hand warm against the rural Scottish cold air of the night as we step out of the tent and both of us freeze. Aleksander might not know who he is, but he could tell from the way I react that it’s not good this Vian in particular is waiting for us. My connection to my Nexus is immediately dulled with his power, just like that time in the alleyway where Finnegan came for me. We both know Finnegan isn’t coming for us here, but I have Aleksander, and I don't have to hide how good I can be at defending myself this time. Samar leans on the side of a half wall. Next to him are two beefed up Vian grunts. He lowers his hood, watching me with a dark smile and he is still bold, covered in markings that I learnt label him as a high up Vian. He pushes off the wall and opens his mouth to speak, but Aleksander smoothly beats him to the punch. “I’m playing nice for the rules of the market, but I remember you. You attacked my mate in Starlight, and she clearly knows you, which means you’ve likely hurt her before. You’re a walking dead blood bag to me. You have ten seconds to say your last words.”
I shiver from the cold brutality, the protectiveness in Aleksander’s voice. Just damn. I didn’t know having my mates protect me like this could be such a turn on, but it is. “Everyone’s looking for you. I didn’t think you’d be brave enough to come to the folk market, though. When I saw you, I sent word to my prince. He should be here soon.”
I laugh for a long moment. “The folk ban the royals from the market. He won’t even be able to find it. Do you think I’m dense enough to come here if Severi could find me?” I arch an eyebrow. “For the king’s best Vian, you’re pretty stupid.”
He grits his teeth. “You won’t be saying that when he gets you. It’s prophesied, your future, and you can’t escape it.” I tighten my hand in Aleksander’s. Prophecy? “Brave or stupid. I could never put my finger on what it was for you. All that time with our prince and you didn’t break down. The torture, your parents’ deaths... all of it?” He shakes his head and Aleksander growls when he looks at me for a moment, when it’s like he can see the memories playing across my mind. My heart is racing, and I can’t control my reaction to the memories of that time. “The Vian are in uproar, after what happened to the prince’s home. What you cost us, well, quite a few of our king’s favourite soldiers suddenly ended up dead in the forest. Do you know what they did to Severi for losing you?”
“I don’t care.” I snarl. “Aleksander, this is Samar and he’s a coward who I’m pretty sure only gets hard when he sees people in pain.” I tap my chin as Samar looks ready to lose it. “Oh, in fact, there’s a better word for that. He’s a pussy.”
“You’re a total bitch!” He shouts at me.
“Time’s up,” Aleksander’s voice rolls like thunder in a storm. “I’ll fucking kill you.”
“You can’t spill a drop of blood or start a fight. We will all get locked here...forever. The rules of the folk far outweigh the war between the Vian and Nexus.” Samar taunts.
Aleksander really doesn’t look like he cares. “That’s a problem for after I’ve ended your pathetic excuse of a life.”
I grab his arm before he can step forward. “Don’t. Not yet. Please trust me.” He looks into my eyes and whatever he sees there, whatever trust he can manage to dredge up for me, makes him pause. I turn to face Samar. “What do you want?”
“You, of course. Come with me, peacefully, and we won’t kill your mate.” He is being so serious, and I shouldn’t laugh, but I do. I can’t help it. Every one of my laugh’s winds Samar up, and I grin to myself. Angry men are easy to escape, especially because they aren’t thinking straight.
“I’m not going with you.” I chuckle.
“Don’t you all know what they did to Severi? You’re so heartless not to give a shit about your mate?” He watches me with a coldness only a Vian could show. “They tied him up and each one of the knights was allowed to do their own justice to him. He screamed and screamed and screamed. It lasted a whole twenty-four hours. So painful.” My heart’s racing in my chest and my Nexus pushes against Samar’s power. She is really fucking mad. The ground at my feet starts to turn a pale grey, the mud leeching from brown into nothingness, but she still can’t take over. “Uh-uh, you’re not allowed to use powers here either.”
Aleksander looks at the paleness of the ground, spreading around his shoes but not touching him. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to having someone at my side, alive and unhurt, and my power not killing them. I kill everything and yet my mates can stand there, at my side, not showing a little of fear. They know what I am and the risks, but they stay and it’s strange. A good strange. I don’t often let myself wonder what it would have been like if I didn’t reject them, if I told my parents no and made another choice at fifteen. I can’t change the past, or fix the future, but a part of me is glad I was taken to Starlight City and met them. “We’re leaving. You and I, Samar, will meet again and next time you won’t get a chance to walk away.”
“That’s not happening.” Samar pulls out a long dagger, the gold blade sparkling. Oh, it’s pretty. I want it. Even my Nexus perks up at the sight of such a pretty dagger. My Nex dagger might get jealous, but I’m keeping that one. Aleksander moves in front of me in a blink, all of his powerful body blocking my view of my new dagger. Sigh.
Alek growls low. “If you think the threat of being trapped here will stop me from defending her, you don’t know anything about me. No one touches her. Ever. Let me guess, you were never blessed with a mate to defend? With an ugly face like yours, I can see why the gods chose your fate. Now move the fuck on and pretend like you didn’t see us.”
“Does your mate want to tell the story of how we know each other? I was there in the house, tasked with making sure Severi behaved with his mate. All these feelings in a young seventeen-year-old Vian, who just found his mate, and none of those feelings could get in the way of his true fate and the reason he was born. I was the one that was there and held down her mother as your precious mate drained her of her life and killed her. Killed her dad at the same time, too. He didn’t fight her, though. He smiled at his daughter as he died. Her mum fought. She screamed and tried to run away from her daughter, called her a monster in her last moments after I held her down and threw her back in the room with Gwenieve.” Sickness rises in my throat, and I know my cheeks are wet with my tears. It’s like it’s happening again, the worst moment of my life. “What were her last words to you, exactly? Ah, I know. She regretted ever choosing you, the monster she could never control—" He doesn’t get another word out because Aleksander punches him straight in the mouth, so quick and hard, that Samar doesn’t get a chance to use his powers on Alek. I blink, panic flooding my chest as Samar roars in pain. His blood splatters across the air. It feels like the world slows down as the drops fall to the ground. Right before the ground shakes, old magic blasts through the air like a wave, sending us all flying backwards until I slam onto the ground with a smack.
I climb to my feet, holding my arm up against the dust in the air. “Alek!” My shout echoes as I search for him, stumbling on one of the Vian, who crawls away from me.
“GWENIEVE!” Alek’s roar echoes from my right, and I run to him, finding him by the tent. There is a cut on his forehead, blood dripping down his cheek. I rush up, touching his cut and wincing for him. He cups my face too, searching me for any injuries before taking my hand and we run without saying a word. We run straight towards the market. The folk are in chaos, packing up the market as dozens of folk flood into the forest. Shit. They seem to run right past us and no one looks our way...at least so far. Hopefully Samar is knocked out, before the folk realise it was Alek that drew blood first. We need to get out of here now.
Alek grabs me, pulling me down and behind a stall as hundreds of folk run past in a tight formation. He cups my face. “Your mother was scared and, she didn’t mean them. I never want to see that devastating look on your face again. They forced you to kill them. You didn’t choose it, and you are not responsible. I will forever hate your parents for taking you from me but, they did it to protect you, and their last moments shouldn’t be what they are judged on.”
“You didn’t know my mother. How would you possibly know she didn’t mean them?” I whisper.
“Because I know you and I know that she did everything to keep you safe. That is love. Her last words don’t deserve to be taunted or said as a joke by some fucking Vian that’s going to die and be forgotten.” I look up at him and smile. “Now we are getting out of here. Ready?” He pulls out the gold dagger. “I saw you eyeing it up. Couldn’t leave without it.”
I can’t help the massive smile on my face as he hands me my new dagger. This is the best day. “I’m ready and thank you. I was almost tempted to go back and get it.”
“That would be crazy, Gwen,” He laughs as we climb to our feet and begin running through the back of the stalls towards one of the exits.
“It’s about time you learnt I was—" I wink at him and that’s my mistake. I’m not looking where I’m going. I slam straight into a stall, literally falling right over the top of it. The stall is full of potions, and they smash onto the surrounding ground, but one explodes onto my neck, the glass smashing but only nipping me a little bit. Some bright purple fizzing liquid disappears into my skin, smelling like roses and sweets. My eyes widen as big as Alek’s, who’s shaking his head as he picks me up. “What the fuck was that?”
I try to wipe it off, but the liquid is fully absorbed into my skin. “I don’t know.” I pat my pocket and Rhodes’ potion, relieved to find it is okay.
“We don’t have time to find out right now!” Alek is looking behind me, and I don’t want to look to find out what he wants us to run from. “Time to go, mate!”
We run straight through the marketplace, through the absolute chaos of other people who are leaving too. I don’t think they’ll keep us here, mostly because they know that I would stay and destroy everything. My Nexus would have the biggest tantrum if they tried to take Aleksander from us. I have a feeling that the folk are scared of me and rightly so. Sometimes it’s good to have my Nexus, even when she’s crazy and scary. We run like the market is on fire, my hand tightly in Alek’s. After a few minutes, when we are so close to a random exit, a wave of heat flows straight from my stomach and bursts across my body, crawling up my spine. I nearly fall over from how intense that was. What the fuck? Alek tugs me along, completely unaware of what’s happening. Thankfully, we crash straight through the exit barrier, and outside into the still and quiet forest. The folk let us go and they could have stopped us from leaving if they wanted to. I have a sinking feeling they got what they wanted with my blood, and they were all too happy for me to leave.
“We didn’t come out in the same place.” Aleksander explains, looking around in the darkness of the forest. I don’t know how he can tell. It all looks the same to me. “The car’s at least a mile in that direction. My Nexus is good at finding things with your scent on it.” He finally looks at me, where I’m holding my stomach, and my legs are getting weak. “Are you okay to run?”
“Yes,” I answer, my cheeks burning. Like hell am I telling him why I can barely move? We jog through the forest, through the thick leaves that line the floor, and everything is going blurry the longer we run. Another, much stronger wave hits me, and I nearly fall over, but Alek catches me. Every inch of where he touches me feels like it’s burning, and not in a bad way. Heat flows through my body, particularly between my legs where I’m soaking wet. It is so intense, and I can’t do anything about it. My body feels like every inch of my skin is turned on.
“You’re burning up. What the fuck was in that potion?” Alek questions, holding me to him.
I just want to rip his clothes off and get him to help stop the burning. The need. The throbbing between my legs. Gods above, this is mortifying. “Alek, I think it was a sex aid potion.”
His lips twitch, and the tension leaves his shoulders. The fucker finds this funny! “A sex potion?”
“Yes!” I protest. “It’s not funny.” He tries to hold in a laugh, but he can’t help it. I whack his chest. “I’m incredibly horny to the point where it’s actually fucking killing me with pain. In places. Put me down!”
He does and I lean up against the tree. Alek doesn’t know what to say as he stares at me for a moment, and another wave of pleasure absolutely makes me want to pass out. I’m inches away from stripping my clothes off and playing myself in front of Alek in the middle of a fucking forest to stop the pain. Oh my gods, I’m going to die of embarrassment. I’ve heard of sex potions, but I thought it was like a running joke. Apparently, no one was joking. “Do you trust me?” Alek questions, his body inches from me. He is handsome, in a way that should be illegal, and it’s all I can focus on right now. It’s dark but I can see his hazel eyes, the shades of brown and green, the specks of blue that look like diamonds. Alek runs his hand through his short black hair, the muscles in his arm flexing and I’m sold. I know what he is asking—to help me. My heart’s racing as I nod. His lips slam into mine and yes, it’s everything I want and more. My body bursts into life, the heat burns in a good way as I feel him tugging down my leggings and one boot, pushing them down until my hoodie is all that’s blocking the cold air from me. My body is in such a haze of pleasure that I can barely think as he suddenly drops to his knees. He pushes my body against the tree, his hand flat on my stomach. He looks up at me for a second. “I want to say I’m doing this to help you, but fuck, I’m not. This is for me. I’ve wanted to taste you from the second we sat down at the dinner table in Onyx’s house. This is for me.”
He pushes my legs apart and I barely have time to think about what he’s doing before his hot tongue slides up my sex, before finding my clit and swirling his tongue around it. I think I see all of the gods in that moment. Oh, my god— “Alek!” I moan his name like a prayer, and he growls against my sex, his hand keeping me in place against the tree as I squirm. No one has ever done this to me and now I’m certain I’m addicted and never want him to stop. I dig my hands into the tree at my back, not caring about the bark cutting into my spine, not caring about anything except for how his tongue feels against me, how his other hand is gripping my thigh. The orgasm that is burning up my spine, begging to be let out is all that matters. This feels fucking amazing. The heat building in me feels like it’s exploding throughout every inch of my body. “Alek.” I whisper his name, unsure what I need, but he somehow just knows. Alek moves his hand from my thigh and slides a finger inside me, and then another. I moan and he groans against my sex, the sound vibrating through my body. “Fuck you’re so tight.” I can’t think of anything but Alek. I dig my hand into his hair, my moans echoing around the forest right before I crash into an orgasm that rips my soul apart and puts it back together better than before. I feel like I actually transcend out of my body and explode into starlight. I clench around his fingers, moaning as he pumps his fingers in and out of me, extending the exhilarating pleasure until I’m shaking, a totally content mess as he looks up at me. He wipes the back of his hand across his mouth. Something about that is extremely sexy. I’m breathless, unsure what to say. Do you say thank you in this situation? He slides my sock back on, and then my leggings, and boot. Finally, he drags my leggings up to my waist. “Feeling better?”
“Yes,” I whisper, still breathless. I’ve finally come down from whatever the fuck that potion was. “I’m pretty sure I just saw all of the five animal gods for the first time.”
He grins at me, readjusting the impressive length outlined in his trousers...am I ready for more? Have I forgiven him or is this just a moment? I don’t know. “I’m glad I sent you there to see them. You taste fucking amazing. I know the humans talk about going to heaven, but I’m pretty sure I just went there.”
“I’m sorry I basically just attacked you in the forest, thanks to that potion.” I blow out a breath.
He holds his hands up. “Please attack me whenever the fuck you like.”
I reach for him, and he steps back. “We need to get out of this forest and if you touch me, I’ll have you right here on this forest floor. I’m desperate for you, Gwen, and I don’t know how much I can stay in control when I can still taste you on my tongue. I don’t want that yet. You don’t fully trust me; you haven’t chosen me as your mate and there is a lot we need to work out first before you decide you want forever with me.” His eyes soften. “When I first have you, fully have you, when my cock is buried deep inside that tight pussy that I just felt clenching around my fingers, I want to make sure no one’s going to hear your screams except for me.” My cheeks burn as I take in that fact. “I still have to earn your forgiveness. Sex can’t be what makes you forgive me, Love.”
I nod, knowing he is right. Love? I like the nickname, kind of. It’s sweet coming from Aleksander. “For the record between us... I’m getting there. I just don’t know how to trust anyone and everyone I’ve ever loved has hurt me. Or died.”
“I’m never hurting you or leaving you. Not for death, not for anything.” He firmly vows. “And I’ll wait until the end of time for you to learn how to trust me with your heart. It’s okay.” It’s okay. I don’t think I expected him to say that. I rejected him and hurt him, and he is still waiting for me. We both messed up so much and I’m so fucked up in the head, in the heart, I don’t know how to get to where we can just be together.
We walk through the forest in comfortable silence before we eventually find the car. I pat the potion in my hoodie pocket, just needing to feel it there for the moment. I pop it in the middle compartment of the car for Alek to see before we take off. We drive for about half an hour before he finds a fish and chip shop with bright, shining lights outside. “I’m hungry, and I know you must be. I’m going to go and get us some food. What do you like?”
“If they have scampi bites, they are my favourite, and loads of salt and vinegar on some chips, too.” I ask.
He nods, before climbing out of the car. I watch him through the car window as he grabs the food for us and brings them back in. “You’re going to have to help feed me some of them as we drive. I don’t want to waste any time getting back to Rhodes.”
“I will,” I say, piling the food on my lap. The heat is nice as the car warms up. It just starts to pour down with rain as Rhodes takes off. I put the chips onto a fork for him and hand them to him one by one. As we carry on, and I eat my scampi bites in relative peace and quiet. I open the last packet and blink. “What is this?”
“Deep fried Mars bar. I’ve not had one before and apparently, it’s the best way to eat them,” he explains. “Try some and then hand me a bit.”
The chocolate and deep-fried goodness is an expert mix and I’m pretty sure the Scottish have found a life cheat code with this food. Alek loves it, too. When we have finished, I place the bag of rubbish in the back and share a bottle of water with Alek. It’s strange to feel so relaxed. In fact, my Nexus hasn’t said a word or even muttered anything. She seems thrilled with herself. Of course she is. She treats orgasms from her mates like trophies for her collection. I watch the lights of the road for a while. “I have an aunt.”
“How do you feel about that?” he gently questions.
“Strangely hopeful. I remember her, but not much, to be honest. Not even her name. After she was healed, I woke up one morning, and she was making pancakes. We had this very run down, old, rickety place in France and the cooker had never worked. She told me she was good at fixing objects like cookers, it was her gift. She stayed with us for probably a few weeks after she was healed. She was kind, sweet almost, and the opposite of my mother’s nature.” I blow out a long breath. “I don’t know what to make of her being my aunt. I wish I’d focused on her more now. Either way, she left without saying goodbye to me. My mother and father never spoke of her again and anytime I asked, I was told she was gone and that was it.”
“Do you think she knew about your Nexus? And what happened to make her injured enough a potion was needed?” He muses.
“I don’t know.” I rub my arm. “She didn’t look like my mother. She was nothing like her, in fact. I guess that’s why I never put two and two together.”
“Do you want me to help you find her?” I look at him. “I can find almost anyone.” Not me though. That must have pissed him off.
“Yes.” I admit. “I remember her saying she was from Morriganis City. You know the team we played against before the bomb?”
Alek reaches over, placing his hand over mine. “She is your family, therefore mine now, too. I have connections in Morriganis City who can help and, if all fails. I’ll take you there myself and get you in to find her. From one parentless orphan to another, we will find her.” I turn my hand over under his hand, link our fingers, admiring how small my hand looks nestled in his. “Now let’s wake up Rhodes and sort our bond group out.”
“For Rhodes.” I agree, leaning back and watching the night sky. He has to wake up.