Page 68 of Grounded (Convergence #1)

Liria stood guard with Thax that night. He told her he could do it alone, that she should get some sleep, but she refused.

One man on watch wasn't enough. He'd have to constantly circle the property.

With her, they halved the work. So, when dawn broke, they both saw the silhouettes of several Aethari warriors against the sunrise.

As the men landed in the circular drive, Liria and Thax went down to greet them.

Seven men in total, all carrying more weapons than Liria had ever worn at the fortress. In addition to pulsers and swords, they had bursters slung across their backs and daggers strapped everywhere. An Aethari man broke off from the group and went forward to meet Thax and Liria near the front door.

“Evellor.” Thax held out his hand to the man. “It's good to see you. I assume you're in charge?”

Evellor—one of the men who had been with the Speaker at the fortress—took the offered hand, but his blue eyes strayed to Thax's shoulders. He cleared his throat and refocused on Thax's face. “Yes. It's good to see you too, Thaxvarien. Your father says you need some help here.”

“We might.” Thax's stare was steady despite the man's obvious discomfort. “Has he told you why?”

“Yes, although I must admit it's hard for me to believe. He said that you flew without wings and a Medean man witnessed it. Can you truly? Fly, I mean. Without wings?”

Liria stiffened even though she knew the Speaker was going to brief them.

“It's true,” Thax admitted. “My time underground stole my wings, but the Source of Magic gave me another way to fly.”

Ah, at least he was leaning into the Source of Magic and avoiding any mention of tech. That might help. Still, she saw strange looks exchanged between the other soldiers.

“I'm also learning to converge,” Thax went on. “Although it works a little differently for me.”

“A wingless Aethari flying and converging.” Evellor shook his head. “It's . . .”

“Impossible,” one of the Aethari soldiers said.

“Is it?” Thax rose from the ground. It was just a few feet, but high enough to make the outspoken soldier's eyes widen.

The Aethari jerked back, even Evellor.

“Dear Source,” Evellor whispered. “It's true. You didn't deceive your father.”

“Of course not.” Liria rolled her eyes. “Why would he do that?”

“It's something that must be seen.” Evellor lifted his chin. His hair—so blond it was nearly white—caught the sunrise and gave him a halo of gold.

Odd, but the imagery made Liria trust him. She nodded. “Fair enough. He is the first of his kind. I suppose his ability must be witnessed to be believed.”

Thax landed. “Liria and I have been up all night keeping watch. We need some sleep, and then we need to pack. Do you have enough men to take shifts?”

“Yes, don't worry about us. Get some rest.” Evellor inclined his head.

“Thank you. Aga is our cook. You can find her in the kitchen. She'll take care of your meals. Just let her know when you'd like to eat. If you need anything else, Girin is the steward. He knows to come by later and check in with you. I should be up in a few hours.”

“Get as much sleep as you can,” Evellor said to both of them. “A move like this won't be easy.”

“Are you accompanying us?” Liria asked.

“On your journey? Yes. We're to watch over you here, see you through your move, and continue to guard you until you are settled and can see to your own security.”

“Glad to have you with us, Evellor. Thank you.” Thax smacked the man's upper arm. “I'll find you later.”

Liria and Thax went inside hand-in-hand, and once they were upstairs, behind their locked bedroom door, they climbed up to the loft, stripped, and fell into bed.

Both were too exhausted to do anything but sleep.

And Liria was anxious on top of that, so she tossed and turned before her mind surrendered to the needs of her body.

No mob came to their door while they slept.

No enemy Aethari descended from the sky.

No one so much as shouted. They woke up later that afternoon and did some packing before they went about their day as usual.

And the next day was the same. And the next.

Life was as idyllic as ever on the peninsula.

Liria started to think that maybe Braxis hadn't gossiped about what he'd seen.

Or maybe he hadn't been believed. Whatever the case, three days passed without incident.

After Liria and Thax packed their personal things for the move, they spent the rest of their time training Thax to converge.

They were on hold. It was all down to Thax's father and when he could find them a new place to live.

The accident on the terrace prompted them to move the table closer to the house for converging.

They had the convergence room set up, but Liria wasn't ready to move Thax's training inside.

There wouldn't have been a problem with training Thax outside except for their new guards.

The Aethari couldn't help getting distracted by the converging and often paused to watch.

Liria didn't like that, but she didn't want to admonish them for curiosity that was perfectly normal, and she didn't trust Thaxvarien's talent yet.

That explosion had nearly killed him, but if they had been indoors at the time, there would have been no “nearly” about it.

Luckily, Thax was a quick learner and an eager student.

He soon reached the point where they were both confident in his converging.

Liria woke up on the fourth day of the Aethari occupation, knowing it was time to take Thax's skills further.

She sighed and shifted beneath the covers, wondering if they'd get another day of peace or if this would be the day when the Speaker vided with news of their relocation.

Or worse, if this was the day the town of Thennis rose up against them.

Opening her eyes grudgingly, Liria slid her stare over to the emergency bags, still waiting near the door.

She insisted on keeping them nearby, even though everything else they packed was in a room under the main stairs.

And by “everything else,” she meant two leather bags.

They hadn't done a lot of shopping beyond the convergence equipment, and all of that would have to be left behind with the rest of the household goods.

“Please, tell me you're awake,” Thax whispered as he eased up against Liria's back.

She smiled.

His hand slid over her belly and then down. “Thank Source. I've been up for over an hour. And I don't just mean awake.”

Liria opened her eyes just as Thax nestled in between her thighs, his hips spreading her legs into a nice morning stretch.

Sighing, she arched her back, and it had the benefit of pushing her nipple against his lips.

Grinning against her breast, he sucked her into his mouth.

Sometimes sex could relieve tensions beyond the physical, and her body shivered as if it knew only Thax could give her the relief she needed from the pent-up anxiety of the last few days.

Hands in his long hair, Liria held Thax to her breast and undulated against him, bringing their lower halves together. Wet flesh teased hard. If the way he thrust against Liria, rubbing her entrance to coat himself, was any indication, he was on the verge of going savage.

They'd been so tired and wary that they hadn't had sex since that day in the garden. So Thax's need was understandable. Just as hers was.

Then Liria felt the shivering in the air.

“Hey.” She leaned back and took Thax's face in her hands to angle it up. “Just you and me. We don't need all of that.”

Thax went still. “You don't like it?”

“It's exciting, sure. But you excite me without it. I don't need you to levitate me off the bed to make me happy.”

“But it's fun.” He grinned wickedly and moved lower on her body.

“And it can be of great assistance.” His hands went between her thighs and spread her even wider as what felt like another pair of hands lifted her ass and angled her into position.

“Is this all right?” And then he licked her from base to top.

Moaning, Liria said, “I guess a little assistance isn't a bad thing.”

“Are you sure?” Thax's breath hit her wet flesh and sent more shivers through her, but these were purely natural. “I can stop if you don't want me to use convergence.”

“You're not converging with your tongue.” She grabbed his hair and pulled him back down.

Laughing, Thax returned to his ministrations.

But his laughter sent a delicious vibration through Liria that had her writhing, and that, in turn, turned his laughter into moans.

With her legs wide apart and her hands in his hair, she rolled her hips up to rub herself against his hot, flicking tongue, seeking that all-encompassing release.

Liria was so close. So close, but she couldn't climb over the edge.

With the intuition of a great lover, Thax popped to his knees and thrust his hips, impaling Liria and giving her the shove she needed to surmount the cliff of ecstasy. With his entrance, she shot over the top, screaming and clutching at his shoulders while her legs clenched around his hips.

“Liri,” he murmured against her throat. “My destra.” He made a grunt of pleasure as Liria came down from her release, and then he sped up.

Falling into a limp sprawl, Liria watched Thax rise onto his hands and thrust faster.

Faster still. His face pulled tight. The muscles in his neck stood out.

There were no extra hands now. It was as she wanted it—just him and her.

And the combination of all of that brought her back up that steady rise.

Watching Thax move was the greatest accelerant for Liria's ardor.

The way his lips parted on harsh breaths.

How the sculpted muscles in his chest clenched and moved down into his rippling belly.

The dramatic undulation of his hips, each graceful swing ending in a hard shove.

It all converged inside her belly. No, even lower.

And then Thax opened his eyes and met her gaze. “I love you, Liri. I love you.”

And there she went, spiraling over the edge again. Liria screamed out her loving response, but Thax didn't mind. To the contrary, he showed her just how much he liked it by locking up against her and joining her in that crashing fall to bliss.

At last, when the screaming settled into sighs, Thax lay down beside her, and Liria settled in against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and said, “I've missed this.”

She smiled up at him. “It's only been a few days.”

“That's forever for us.”

“We've gone far longer than that without even speaking.”

His chest rose and fell heavily. “I missed you then too. I just couldn't make it up, past the drowning sorrow, to reach for you. I'm so sorry, Liri.”

“I know. I wasn't fishing for another apology.” Liria pushed up into a sitting position and looked down at him. “I missed you too. This time, I mean.” She winked at him. “Last time, I wanted to throttle you.”

“Never again.” Thax sat up and took her hands. “I'll never leave you like that again.”

“I know you won't.” Liria stretched and got out of bed. “Shower and breakfast?”

“What I'm hearing is you asking me to have sex in the shower.” He climbed out of bed, his cock twitching.

Lifting her chin, Liria turned and sauntered to the stairs. “I said nothing of the sort.”

“Oh, yeah, we're so having shower sex. Wet, soapy shower sex.” He raced after her.