Page 39 of Darkness Births the Stars #1

I couldn’t resist giving her buttocks a slightly condescending slap afterward, my voice taunting. “Perhaps some of that arrogance is well deserved, mmm?”

Baradaz glared at me over her shoulder, the effect diminished by the perspiration darkening her hair and a streak of mud on her cheek where she must have pressed her face against the ground.

“One redeeming quality does not even begin to balance the scales,” she goaded me, eyes glowing with a fiery light.

Oh, I loved it when she was defiant like this.

It gave me ample reason to have my way with her. To move behind her while she remained on her hands and knees in front of me and plunge inside her without warning, claiming that welcoming wet heat once more.

“ Lyr !” She arched her back in response like some wanton feline creature, pushing against me with a loud groan.

I was relentless, another hard thrust following the first, my need for her drowning out everything else.

All my thoughts scattered, drifting away like glittering grains of sand in the storm of sensations.

The precision of my mind distilled into one task only: to push myself inside her again and again.

Soon I had to grip her hips tightly to prevent her from sliding away in the mud, her body jerking with every thrust. The sounds my punishing pace drove out of her were the sweetest music to my ears: groans and whines, my beautiful little nemesis reduced to her most base desires.

When she collapsed with a strangled moan, though, I felt a twinge of concern, instinctively reaching out with my magic to ensure she still wanted this.

What I found—her mental shields opening for me as easily as her body—soothed all my doubts.

Her hunger was perhaps even greater than mine, an all-encompassing tempest yearning for more.

“The Lady of Light,” I whispered to her mind in a half-intimate, half-mocking drawl. “So eager to be taken like an animal in heat.”

To my surprise, my words did not ignite her ire.

Instead her desire sharpened, a chaotic mix of please and don’t stop and yes, like this trickling back into my own thoughts.

The last remnants of my control shattered.

One hand in her hair, one around that tempting throat, I dragged her body up against mine.

The new angle made her cry out, a few more thrusts sending us both flying in glorious abandon, our power pulsing outward in a rippling shockwave.

This time, I needed a few moments to recover. Collapsed on top of her, my face buried in her sweet-smelling hair, I idly played with a strand of it until I could breathe again. Her body was soft and warm, a stark contrast to the cold of the Other around us.

“Have you ever done this with my brother?” The question slipped out before I could stop myself. Part of me didn’t want to know, and yet…

“No.” A soft sigh. Baradaz shifted beneath me, probably uncomfortable with me crushing her like this. “We decided to wait until our union is blessed by the Allfather.”

Her words brought a disbelieving laugh to my lips. Oh, but that meant…

I had been her first. Whatever happened, I would always be the first she had shared her body with. The mere thought made my cock harden within her so quickly I was astonished myself.

“Maker,” Baradaz said, as my hips moved against her in a questioning little thrust. “You are so predictable.” I groaned in disappointment as she shifted out from underneath me, clearly annoyed. “Would you even desire me if I weren’t your brother’s bride?” she asked, getting to her feet.

I blinked up at her in all her disheveled, mud-splattered glory. Maker, she was gorgeous. Especially when she was angry. I grinned. “Who says I desire you? ”

Her eyes narrowed as she glanced down at the very prominent proof of my desire for her, though she didn’t resort to the easiest taunt. “You’re always watching me,” she said instead, proving once again she was no fool.

“Ah, and that fed your pride, didn’t it, little queen?” I reached for her hips, pressing a tender kiss to her stomach, softening the sting of my words. “No one can resist your beauty, not even the one fallen into the darkness.”

By the Allfather, I already missed her warmth. I cupped her buttocks, drawing her back toward me, hoping she could be persuaded to have another go at this.

“Did you think it would feel like this?” Baradaz didn’t fight me as I pulled her onto my lap, her legs going around me, her lips finding mine. The kiss was deep and lingering, the languid caresses of her tongue mimicking the way I slid back inside her without the slightest resistance.

“Like what? An endless hunger that can never be satisfied?” To be truthful, I had never felt more than a passing curiosity about this act, too occupied with my quest for knowledge and power to ever take a lover.

I had judged the mortals’ obsession with coupling somewhat foolish, though understandable, as procreation was their only path to achieving a little immortality.

As Baradaz moved her hips in agonizingly slow circles on top of me, I realized I might have missed a few vital facts.

How desiring another transformed something appearing ridiculous into a thing of beauty; how my unease at having someone so close was drowned out by the overwhelming need to lose myself in her heat and her touch.

Time lost all meaning as the pleasure grew at a torturous pace, a groan leaving my lips as she grabbed my shoulders to get enough leverage to speed up our movements.

I had never seen her eyes shine brighter than in that moment, a silver fire that burned into my very core, her forehead pressed against mine, every gasping breath shared.

“Maker, you are so beautiful.” My involuntary murmur caused her smile to deepen, exposing the sharp tips of her small teeth.

She clenched around me teasingly, driving a helpless moan from me.

“I still hate you,” I forced out with difficulty, trying to hold on to the last remnants of my sanity. “In case you wondered.”

She laughed, her teeth scraping along the tip of my ear in retaliation, a shiver running down my spine. “I know. Oh, believe me, I know.”

I kissed her laughing mouth, eager to drink down her joy, that luminous beauty I craved more of now it had fallen so unexpectedly into my grasp.

“Perhaps our hunger can be satisfied,” she murmured when I allowed her to breathe again, her hands in my hair, tilting my head so our eyes met. “You just have to let go.” Her voice sounded both in my mind and in the endless space around us—a plea and a command. “Let me in, Belekoroz.”

It was the first time she had used my true name, and the sound of it resonated through me with unrelenting force.

We were completely covered in mud by now, pieces swirling around us in a wild maelstrom, merging and sundering again and again.

Her powers brushed against mine, seeking entrance, an aching need pulsing through us to intertwine our minds as intimately as our bodies.

A part of me wanted to yield, to give her what she desired, but unease trickled in. I was afraid to let her in completely. She only thought she understood me. The moment she felt everything, saw every dark secret in my heart, she would surely recoil in horror.

“I can’t.” The admission tumbled from my lips.

Baradaz’s eyes met mine, a feral light flashing through them. “Oh yes, you can. ”

Without warning, her fingernails sharpened to claws, burying into my shoulder blades as she shifted her hips once more, adding a pain to the pleasure that was so exquisite, I shuddered in complete surrender.

The feeling of my blood gushing over her hands, of her mouth capturing my hoarse scream, of her clenching around me in the beginning of her climax, was so glorious I could not help myself.

I gave in. Letting my mind touch hers completely, all shields down.

We lost control over our physical bodies, our very beings dissolving into each other, unfettered magic swirling around us in a vortex of light and darkness.

For one overwhelming, blinding moment, it felt as if I were back at the beginning of it all, the fire of the Flame burning through me, the power of creation in my grasp.

Only this time, I was not alone. I could sense her, her Light tempering my Darkness in perfect harmony, and I knew…

The knowledge seeped out of my mind like water between my fingers.

The crash back to reality, into having a body again, was harsh. My shoulder blades pounded with stabbing pain, the cold of the Other biting into my skin, Baradaz’s warmth in my arms no longer enough to keep it at bay. She had moved back a little, still on my lap, gently caressing my hair.

“Careful, Baradaz,” I said, my voice all but gone. “If you wander too far into the darkness, you might lose your way.”

Her eyes were very warm as she regarded me calmly. “I am not afraid of the darkness,” she answered.

I am not afraid of your darkness, I heard.

“No, you are not.” Whatever she had seen in my mind, it did not horrify her, impossible as it seemed. “Wild little thing,” I said affectionately, tugging on a stray curl of her fiery hair.

I might have been able to save part of myself if there had been even a trace of guilt in her, one tiny sign of regret.

Instead, her eyes shone with a wonder that was almost painful to behold.

I felt it inside her when she stared at me—an ethereal feeling I couldn’t name, dared not name, which charred me with its light.

Only it was not just inside her; it had taken root inside me as well.

Small and radiant, an unfamiliar contentment buzzed within me as I drew her back into my arms, pressing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

Did I leave a trace of Darkness in her, too?

I thought I knew the answer. It satisfied me more than anything else in my long existence.

She did not offer to heal the wounds she had inflicted on me, although she must have seen me flinch when my tunic touched the bloody gashes on my shoulder blades.

Indeed, there was a pleased little smile on her lips as we made our way back to a part of the Other where the Veil was thin enough to easily step back over into Aron-Lyr.

I noticed a streak of mud adorning her cheek as we walked beneath the light of the sun again, drawing closer to the green hills and high-arched wooden halls where our fellow Aurea dwelled.

I stopped her with a touch on her arm, wiping away the dark stain on her skin.

“This is not the escape you think it is,” I said softly, an acknowledgment of all I had seen within her. The thirst for knowledge and freedom, the yearning to lose control, the hunger for more. The awareness that she could never truly give in to those desires.

My brother’s bride was not what I had thought her to be. Not at all.

For a moment, her gaze fled mine, my observations too close to the secrets in her heart. Then she met my eyes.

“It is also not the victory you think it is.” Her expression hardened. “I am not a prize to win.”

But, of course, she had seen everything as well. My sharp ambition, the contempt for those holding me back, the piercing envy I felt toward my brother, the conviction that nothing Aramaz had been granted, I did not deserve more.

After ages of humiliation, how could I not revel in this? Knowing she had been mine, even for a brief moment?

“I am aware of that,” I lied, catching her hand to press a kiss to her skin. “Give me some credit, my queen.”

To my surprise, she let the topic slide, a self-satisfied smile appearing on her lips. I think I know now how to create my guiding lights,” she said, her eyes on me, curious about my reaction.

“How splendid. You can be proud of yourself. Few learn so quickly.” I chuckled drily, hoping to mask my sudden apprehension. “And enjoy it so much.”

Baradaz blushed prettily at my knowing remark, hesitating visibly. I waited, fully expecting her to tell me this would never happen again now that she had what she had wanted all along. Proof of my misdeeds. The knowledge she needed. Really, I should applaud her ruthlessness if she did.

“There are still some things left in the Other I would love to explore.”

Her breathless confession made me stare at her.

“Baradaz…” She couldn’t mean what I thought she meant.

“I want to do it again.” Her mind brushed against mine with the intensity of an unexpected, open-mouthed kiss. “Perhaps next time you can show me how to use my mouth on you.”

To leave no doubt about her intentions, she sent me an image of what she was thinking of that nearly brought me to my knees.

She left with a laugh, her hair streaming behind her like flames, her white dress as pristine as ever. I suspected she knew exactly what she was doing to me. Sadly, I lacked the willpower to stop her.

Once inside the privacy of my tower, I traced the deep gashes her claws had left on my skin, making them bleed anew as I probed my flesh. I shuddered both in pain and a dark, terrible pleasure at the sensation, at the thought that she had been inside me just as much as I had been inside her.

It would take only a bit of my power to remake this mortal body as flawless as before, but I did not. Instead, I allowed those wounds to scar, a visible mar on the fair form I preferred to show the world these days, proof of the hold she had over me.